Marriage Alliance

Bai Junya was coming back? Hadn't she gone to join the Star Sect?

Hanyu was astonished. And Bai Jingliang had looked so bitter and resentful when he spoke—almost as if he hoped she wouldn't come back.

"I really don't want her coming back at a time like this."

Bai Jingliang let out a breath, his voice full of bitterness.

"Why?"

Hanyu asked, surprised and confused.

Bai Jingliang gave a wry smile and slowly explained...

The Bai Family was a cultivator lineage in the Tianning Prefecture area. The two Bai siblings were direct descendants of the main branch, so from childhood they had been given the best resources and burdened with the highest expectations.

"When my sister was born, the family discovered she had a Single Spiritual Root. The whole lineage rejoiced. They thought the day would finally come when our family rose to prominence."

"But my sister had a calm temperament from the time she was little and didn't like cultivating, so she was constantly criticized. That continued until I was born..."

Hanyu asked thoughtfully, "You have a Single Spiritual Root too, don't you?"

Bai Jingliang nodded and continued, "The year I was born, they discovered I had a metal-type Single Spiritual Root. My father even managed to secure the position of family head because of it."

What kind of feng shui was this? Two children in a row with Single Spiritual Roots. Hanyu was dumbstruck. That kind of aptitude was enough to knock on the gates of any major sect.

Bai Jingliang's birth had also drawn the entire family's attention. The reasoning was simple: Bai Junya was a woman, while Bai Jingliang was a son. Sons were often seen as the continuation of a family line, and as a sign of whether the family could remain prosperous through the next generation.

So Bai Jingliang had worked hard from childhood, and he was just as devoted to cultivation.

"My sister and I have always been close. I used to think that as long as I worked hard enough, no one would be able to force her to do things she didn't want to do."

"I even thought that if I became strong enough, I could let my sister do whatever she wanted."

As Bai Jingliang said this, his eyes couldn't help turning red.

"Those rotten old fossils actually want to use my sister as a bargaining chip in a marriage alliance with the Qin Family."

The Qin Family was another great lineage that had held sway in the area for centuries. With the cultivators of this generation growing stronger, it had risen to become an Aristocratic Clan with a voice in Tianning Prefecture.

The two families had never been close and rarely interacted. The Qin Family, in particular, had long shown signs of wanting to suppress the surrounding clans, while the Bai Family had no fondness for them.

A few months ago, the Qin Family's legitimate heir caught sight of Bai Junya in Tianning City and was instantly captivated by her beauty.

It was true that few men could resist falling for a woman like her.

But that man happened to be the Qin Family's eldest son. An ordinary person might have only dreamed of it; he had enough power to force many people's hands.

Marriage alliance! The very words had hit like a bomb, throwing the lives of the Bai siblings into chaos.

Bai Junya naturally didn't want to be treated like a tool, traded away as a bargaining chip for profit.

And Bai Jingliang couldn't possibly let his sister suffer such humiliation.

But even Bai Jingliang's father couldn't withstand the clan elders' pressure. They claimed that the family head had to make sacrifices for the prosperity of the entire Bai Family, waving the banner of righteousness as they forced Bai Junya into the match.

Later, Bai Jingliang came up with a desperate plan: send his sister far away. Linglan happened to be visiting their home then, and the two girls were close friends, so he set his sights on the Star Sect.

Hanyu sighed and shook his head. "You should've sent her to a major sect instead. That way, she might really have found protection. The south..."

The southern sects couldn't compare to those in the Northern Border. That was common knowledge. As Hanyu had traveled north, the sects had grown stronger and stronger. Perhaps it was because of the geography: the south was poor, so how powerful could the sects willing to settle there really become?

Hanyu could guess the rest of what had happened.

Bai Jingliang shook his head with a sigh. "It's not that I never considered it. But the major sects had too many rules. They wouldn't accept disciples unless it was time for their recruitment, and we didn't know anyone inside. There was no way to get her in, and we couldn't afford to wait. In the end, we had no choice but to choose the Star Sect in the south."

The Bai Family had surely approached the Star Sect. Most likely, Lin Daozong wouldn't offend an Aristocratic Clan over a disciple's family affairs—not to mention that there might even be two clans involved.

The Star Sect could count as a force in the south, but in the eyes of the Aristocratic Clans in the Northern Border, it clearly wasn't enough.

Hanyu speculated silently.

"Instead of encouraging their younger generation to venture out, these clans cling to one corner, spending all day dreaming of their ancestors' past glory. Then, when the end comes, they have to rely on their daughters to forge marriage alliances. A clan like that is bound to fall apart sooner or later."

Bai Jingliang spoke bitterly.

Not every Aristocratic Clan could follow in the Divine Machine Institute's footsteps and use its family name to force its way into the ranks of the Nine Sects.

But plenty of clans dreamed of doing just that.

Tianning Prefecture.

A crowd had gathered by the banks of the Bailu River, gazing into the distance. A middle-aged couple stood among them, their expressions troubled. The man looked to be about forty, with some gray at his temples. His chiseled face bore the marks of time, and the sky-blue brocade robe he wore lent him a scholarly air.

The woman looked to be in her early forties, but she had taken excellent care of herself, and time had left hardly a trace. Only the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, which appeared when she frowned, hinted at her age. Her features were lovely; she must have been a remarkable beauty when she was young.

The tip of a pleasure boat had appeared in the distance. Lin Ruojun showed no hint of joy. Instead, her eyes reddened as she dabbed at her tears with a handkerchief.

"My lord, does she really have to come back?"

A flash of sorrow crossed Bai Chong'an's face, but he could only nod gravely. "Didn't we go through the same thing?"

Lin Ruojun kept wiping her tears, her heart heavy with grief. She had once been a sacrifice to a marriage alliance herself, and she couldn't bear to see Bai Junya suffer the same fate. At that moment, she hated those clan elders with all her heart.

"They keep saying they're doing it for the family, but why don't they offer up their own daughters?" Lin Ruojun muttered.

Bai Chong'an couldn't answer her. His expression remained troubled as he slowly let out a breath.

The pleasure boat in the distance had grown clearer. Two graceful figures stood beside its railing.

They had left amid a lively bustle, but were returning to a much quieter welcome.

It was the same boat bringing her back, but her state of mind was completely different.

Bai Junya gazed into the distance, heavy-hearted. Linglan had lost her usual liveliness and had been grumbling all the way.

"Our Sect Master is just too afraid of trouble. It's not like your family would actually come after us, is it?"

Bai Junya forced a smile and said, "You can't say things like that once we're ashore."

Then she sighed. "You really shouldn't have come back with me."

Linglan planted her hands on her hips, her eyes wide with indignation. "If I don't come along, what if they bully you?"

Bai Junya smiled bitterly to herself. That silly girl—if even the Star Sect's Sect Master was powerless, what could she do to help?

"If your family really insists on marrying you off, I'll take you and run away," Linglan said earnestly.

"You want a pill?"

Hanyu paused. Bai Jingliang had just been venting his frustrations when he suddenly asked whether there was a pill that could make him stronger.

Was he trying to cram for the exam at the last minute?

It wasn't impossible. Hanyu seemed to specialize in producing just this sort of pill.

So he asked Little Glazed, but she wasn't interested.

"A mere Single Spiritual Root—no fortune, no cultivation. One pill would take half his life."

That was quite a boast. In the Artifact Spirit's eyes, even a Single Spiritual Root was only worthy of being called "mere."

"Don't you have anything more reliable?"

"He'd at least need an innate ability!" the little Artifact Spirit huffed.

The bottle was more likable. Its price was unknown, but anyone could eat whatever it spat out. The little Artifact Spirit was more like a picky rich dog, seemingly catering only to cultivators with great fortune or heaven's favored children.

Hanyu grumbled inwardly.

When Hanyu shook his head, Bai Jingliang let out a long sigh and could only smile wryly. "I have to go meet my sister. Still, thank you for being willing to listen to all this. I've been bottling it up for so long and had nowhere to talk about it."

"Maybe in those people's eyes, all I've said is just a joke."

I've always wanted to explain what life is like for Aristocratic Clans outside my Cousin's family. It felt a little bare to lay it out directly, so I tried to flesh it out with an actual situation.