New Marriage Night

The revelry after the banquet gradually faded. Li Shuidao, slightly tipsy, walked into the bridal chamber, hiccuping as he went. "Hic... All these formalities are such a bother. It'd be much more fitting to just get straight to the wedding night, hic..."

Seeing Li Shuidao enter the room, the bride in red, seated at the head of the bed, visibly tensed. She proactively lifted her veil, revealing a face of unparalleled beauty. Though young, the unique allure of a mature woman was already subtly apparent.

Li Shuidao couldn't help but his eyes lit up at the sight of his beautiful wife.

Excellent!

The family is quite generous.

Just as Li Shuidao was about to reach out, Xia Ruoxue stood up directly. With a gentle expression, she said, "Husband, you're drunk. Please have some sobering tea first."

She handed him a cup of red sobering tea. Li Shuidao took the cup and, with a smile, drank it down in one gulp.

"Huh? Why is this tea a little sweet?" Li Shuidao's voice suddenly slurred, and his body began to sway precariously.

He tried to steady himself, but it was no use. He stumbled and lost his balance.

With a thump, he collapsed onto the floor, unconscious.

Xia Ruoxue reached out a hand to check Li Shuidao's breathing.

No breath.

He was dead.

This was the Crimson Star, a rare poison of the martial world, lethal upon contact with blood.

Having personally poisoned her husband, Xia Ruoxue's hand trembled as she reached for the teapot, pouring herself a cup of Crimson Star.

Captured by Li Tianxi, Xia Ruoxue had already resolved to die.

She just didn't want to die a pathetic death. She had to take someone with her, otherwise, she wouldn't be able to vent her anger.

As the cup slowly neared her lips, Xia Ruoxue's expression grew increasingly fearful, her hand trembling slightly...

After all, there is great terror between life and death!

She had no choice but to drink the poison!

Xia Ruoxue knew well that she had already killed the husband she had just married. This Li Family was nothing but a den of bandits; she had no way of escaping.

She could only die...

"Xiao Xue..." A man's low voice called out from outside the room.

Xia Ruoxue, struggling intensely between life and death, suddenly turned her head towards the window. "Lin Yunzhi?!" She immediately went to the window and saw a man dressed in servant's clothes.

"You've finally come," Xia Ruoxue said, tears streaming down her face.

"Everyone outside has dispersed. Let's go quickly," Lin Yunzhi said, taking Xia Ruoxue's arm.

Xia Ruoxue nimbly leaped out the window. Taking advantage of the cover of night, she escaped with Lin Yunzhi.

After the woman fled, Li Shuidao, who had been lying on the floor pretending to be dead, opened his eyes. His gaze drifted towards the direction they had escaped, and he sighed softly.

Even if these two mortals possessed some worldly martial arts skills, they would never be able to escape the Li Family.

This was a family of cultivators!

It was already a stroke of luck that the man could sneak in disguised as a servant, but it was impossible for him to take the bride out.

"Who is it!" a furious roar echoed.

Then came the sounds of intense fighting and a woman's desperate, tragic screams.

"Alas!" Li Shuidao shook his head, a look of 'just as expected' on his face. He took off his bright red robe, revealing only a thin pajama underneath, and lay down on the bed.

He still had to cultivate tonight. He'd sleep for a while and rest his mind...

As for his new wife, Xia Ruoxue, if she wanted to play games, he'd play along. If she didn't want to, then so be it. It didn't matter if she ran away.

Meanwhile... Lin Yunzhi, who was attempting to escape with the bride Xia Ruoxue, was discovered by members of the Li Family and apprehended on the spot.

A moment later.

The runaway bride, Xia Ruoxue, was escorted back by the Li Family members.

Her clothes were tattered, her hair disheveled, and her contorted expression revealed endless pain and helplessness. She stood wearily at the door of the bridal chamber, not knowing what to do.

Li Shuilang's father, and the host of this wedding, Li Haoyun, stood at the door of the bridal chamber and shouted loudly, "Nephew, I've caught your disobedient wife for you. A spring night is worth a thousand gold, hurry up and attend to her."

"Hahahaha..." Several Li Family members around them burst into laughter, not missing this opportunity to mock Li Shuidao.

"He's already dead. You want me to share a room with a corpse?" Xia Ruoxue said through gritted teeth.

Upon hearing this, Li Haoyun and the others were shocked.

Li Shuidao, lying on the bed resting, knew he couldn't keep up the act any longer. If he continued, things would get messy. So, he said loudly, "Thank you, Uncle Haoyun. Please let Ruoxue come in."

Li Haoyun and the others finally relaxed their expressions.

"Xia Ruoxue said she killed you. How did she kill you?" Li Haoyun asked curiously.

"She poisoned me," Li Shuidao said, walking down from the bed with a smile as he explained.

"Hahahaha... Poisoned you?"

"Shuidao is a top disciple of the Five Poisons Sect. Do you think he'd be afraid of your poison?"

"Let's not delay Shuidao from enjoying his wedding night."

"That's right, he still has to train his wife." A group of Li Family members left, laughing.

As Haoyun Li was leaving, he kicked Xia Ruoxue into the room and said, "A moment of spring night is worth a thousand pieces of gold. Nephew, take your time and enjoy."

Slap!

The door closed.

Xia Ruoxue got up from the ground in disarray.

Seeing Li Shuidao sitting casually on the bed, Xia Ruoxue frowned and asked, "Where do I sleep?"

Li Shuidao moved over to the side of the bed, leaving half of it empty.

"I won't sleep with you," Xia Ruoxue shook her head and said.

"Then you can sleep on the floor," Li Shuidao replied coldly.

"Can't you... can't you just yield a little?"

Li Shuidao, who had been lying on the bed with his eyes closed to rest, opened them directly. He sat up, his expression grim.

Without a word, he walked to the table and splashed the cup of poisoned tea directly onto Xia Ruoxue's face.

"Bitch! You still think you can control me," Li Shuidao said coldly.

"This... this is Crimson Star..." Before Xia Ruoxue could finish her sentence, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted on the ground.

Then, Li Shuidao inverted the teapot and opened his mouth wide. The tea flowed down, and the sound of gulping was incessant.

After drinking his fill, he couldn't help but curl his lips and comment, "It's alright. It can indeed help with hangovers."

"Do you want some too?" Li Shuidao turned and asked the windowsill. There was no one on the windowsill, but a palm-sized Jade Toad was crouched there.

The Jade Toad did not answer, only let out two "coo-coo" sounds before hopping off the windowsill and disappearing into the night.

Li Shuidao put down the teapot and left the bridal chamber, heading into the quiet courtyard to begin cultivating the Jade Toad Qi Cultivation Art. This was the foundation of his Dao, practiced daily. Without accumulating small steps, one could not travel a thousand miles.

He crossed his hands and lay down on the ground. The first stance, Golden Toad Embracing Carp, gathered Magical Power.

The second stance, Water Toad Dragon, released the accumulated Magical Power like water from an opened sluice gate, flowing throughout his body.

The third stance, Jade Toad Gazing at Moon, was a unique, indescribable sublimation.

At this moment, Li Shuidao seemed to be enveloped in a faint moonlight.

The bright moon in the sky seemed to be drawn by Jade Toad Gazing at Moon, casting its moonlight down.

The moonlight sublimated Li Shuidao's Water-element Dao techniques.

This was a process of gradual progress and accumulation.

In a hazy state, Li Shuidao seemed to feel the pure essence of the moon cleansing his body and sublimating his Magical Power.

Now!

While maintaining this feeling, Li Shuidao circulated another mental cultivation technique.

"Water is clear and pure, the moon is bright as a mirror. It gathers and disperses freely, flowing for a long time. Spiritual energy merges, inside and outside connect..."

The Jade Toad Qi Cultivation Art and Water Moon Flowing Pearl had strangely connected.