Choose a Wife!

Liu Yueru extended a hand that had been impeccably cared for and lightly flipped through the pile of candidate lists. She gave a cold snort. "What sort of standing does our Zhang Family have?"

"The ancestor is still alive! How can we just pick some crooked melons and cracked dates to fob him off? Chen'er's wife has to be a dragon among men. Even if she isn't one now, she had better have been before!"

Zhang Yunhai gave a bitter smile. "Sister-in-law, I understand all that. But the problem is, those with good aptitude have their sights set sky-high."

He pointed at several names on the list, indignant. "Look at this one, that dual-spiritual-root girl from the Li Family. I just sent someone to sound her out, and she replied outright, 'How can sparrows understand the ambition of a swan?' She even said something like... she'd rather marry a hero among rogue cultivators than a... good-for-nothing from an aristocratic clan."

Zhang Yunhai lowered his voice on the last two words.

He was afraid of hurting his nephew's pride.

Zhang Chen merely shrugged. He didn't mind. So what if he was a good-for-nothing? Once the system started up, he'd show them what it meant to never look down on a poor young man.

"And there's this one, an inner-sect female disciple from Qingfeng Sect. When she heard we wanted to propose, she threw the matchmaker right out and said it was out of the question unless Chen'er could withstand three of her sword strikes."

Zhang Yunhai grew angrier as he spoke. "Those women are so respectful whenever they see someone from the Zhang Family. But when it comes to marriage, every last one of them is so practical."

"After all, Chen'er is only at the Third Layer of Qi Refining. In this world where the strong rule, he really does... lack a little appeal."

A brief silence fell over the hall.

That was reality.

The Cultivation World valued wealth, partners, dharma, and location. A Dao Companion was someone who supported you in your cultivation.

Marrying a second-generation heir with mediocre aptitude might bring wealth and splendor, but it would pretty much end the path to the Great Dao.

Female cultivators with even a little ambition weren't willing to take that road.

"Since the usual approach won't work, we'll have to try a different one."

Liu Yueru suddenly closed the list, a glint flashing in her peach-blossom eyes.

She looked at Zhang Yunhai. "Second Brother, did you leave out a certain kind of person from this list?"

"What kind of person?"

"Someone who used to be a genius, with sky-high ambitions, but then suffered a misfortune and fell into the dust—someone in urgent need of resources or protection."

The corners of Liu Yueru's mouth lifted slightly. "They have a good foundation. If we can cure them, we'll have come out ahead. Even if we can't, their children won't have poor aptitude."

At his mother's suggestion, Zhang Chen nearly choked on a segment of tangerine.

His mother's business acumen was wasted. It was a shame she wasn't playing the stock market.

Still, this idea was practically a perfect match for his system!

The system's rewards were based on an overall rating, and aptitude and special physiques counted for a great deal.

A person's current cultivation, on the other hand, was far less important.

Zhang Yunhai froze for a moment, then his eyes lit up. He slapped his thigh. "Sister-in-law, brilliant! There is someone like that... Let me think. There really is one!"

He searched the very bottom of the list for a while, then pulled out a sheet of paper that had yellowed with age.

"The Lin Family. Lin Qingxue."

At the name, Zhang Chen's eyebrows lifted slightly.

He remembered her.

The East Mountain Islands were both vast and small.

Whenever the great clans held gatherings, Lin Qingxue had been the brightest pearl among them.

"The Lin Family is just a small Foundation Establishment clan under our Zhang Family's protection," Zhang Yunhai explained, pointing to the information. "But three years ago, Lin Qingxue was a genius who made quite a name for herself."

"She had a Mutated Ice Attribute Dual Spiritual Root and Earth Grade Upper aptitude. She established her foundation at fifteen and was hailed as a once-in-a-century prodigy. A Major Sect had even wanted to make an exception and recruit her."

"But..."

Zhang Yunhai changed tack, his voice tinged with regret. "Heaven is unpredictable. Three years ago, she went out to train and accidentally entered an Extreme Cold Secret Realm. She made it back alive, but she was afflicted with Extreme Cold Poison."

"The poison is strange. It not only eats away at her meridians, but devours her Spiritual Power as well."

"Over the past three years, her cultivation has fallen from the Foundation Establishment Early Stage all the way to the Qi Refining Fifth Layer. The Lin Family exhausted its entire fortune trying to treat her, but her condition hasn't improved at all. Many have declared she won't live past thirty! Now, the Lin Family has given up on her."

Liu Yueru's eyes lit up. "Mutated Ice Spiritual Root? Earth Grade Upper aptitude? She once reached Foundation Establishment? What does she look like?"

"Exquisite."

Zhang Yunhai summed her up in two words. "Even now, haggard with illness, she can't hide her beauty. Three years ago, our Chen'er wouldn't have been worthy of carrying her shoes. But now..."

"That's the one!"

Before Liu Yueru could make the final call, Zhang Chen, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly spoke.

He felt his heart beating a little faster.

A Mutated Ice Spiritual Root!

It was a rare sight in the Cultivation World, even rarer than an ordinary Heaven Spiritual Root.

A female cultivator with this kind of physique would definitely give birth to exceptional children!

And if the system's rewards could help her recover her cultivation, she wouldn't just be a good wife.

She'd be a powerful fighter, too!

She was practically made for him.

"Chen'er, are you sure?"

Liu Yueru looked at her son with concern. "She's sickly, and they say she won't live past thirty. Her personality must be cold and distant, too. She won't be easy to get along with."

"Mother, didn't we agree to take a gamble?"

Zhang Chen replied earnestly. "Offering someone help in their hour of need is far more memorable than adding flowers to brocade. Besides, I believe a good person will be blessed by heaven. Maybe once she marries into our family, the ancestor's blessings will cure her!"