Cultivation Prodigy

Cultivation Prodigy

"Mozi... what exactly did you mean by that?" Qin Yumu stared fixedly at Qin Mo, his eyes strangely gleaming.

"What did I mean? I just don't understand why the Wang Family is always targeting me. First Wang Renbi, then Wang Yuyan—it's utterly baffling."

"Qin Mo, Wang Renbi is one thing, but how could you not know why Wang Yuyan hates you?" Qin Yuanze's words gave Qin Mo a jolt. Had he been seen through? After all, he had come from an improper source. And Wang Yuyan's hatred for him was plain for anyone to see. Could it be that he... had pulled up his pants and turned heartless?

"Half a year ago, something went wrong in my cultivation. I nearly suffered qi deviation and injured my mind. There are many things I can't remember anymore; I only remember those close to me and important matters." Qin Mo paused, then asked, "I truly don't remember Wang Yuyan. What exactly is between us?"

"Damn... Mozi, are you all right? Qi deviation is no small matter! Don't force your realm up so quickly!"

"Cut the nonsense. Tell me what happened."

The two exchanged a glance. In the end, Qin Yuanze began explaining it to Qin Mo. Three years ago, Qin Lan had brought Qin Mo to the imperial capital to congratulate the new emperor on his ascension. Qin Mo possessed Elven Race blood, making him exceptionally handsome and delicate. His father was one of Great Xia's five realm cultivators, and more importantly, he had only one older brother. In the future, he was bound to become a prince with a one-character title. Naturally, such a second-generation young master attracted swarms of "matchmakers" who came knocking to propose marriage.

But Qin Lan used Qin Mo's young age as an excuse to turn down every proposal. At first, everyone assumed Qin Lan was dissatisfied with the families seeking marriage. Only after the newly appointed empress personally proposed on behalf of her younger sister and was rejected did everyone finally abandon the idea. Qin Lan and Qin Mo's standards were too high; did the father and son have peculiar tastes? Could they be planning to find Qin Mo an elven wife?

At this point, Qin Mo finally understood his father Qin Lan's helplessness back then. He naturally knew why Qin Lan had rejected every proposal: the secret of his body could not be exposed. If he took a wife, how could someone sharing his pillow fail to discover that he possessed the Nirvana Flame Physique?

"What else? What does any of this have to do with Wang Yuyan and me? Did her family also propose marriage to me?" Seeing Qin Yuanze fall silent, Qin Mo could only ask again.

"...Her elder sister is the current empress... Her family's proposal was different from everyone else's. The proposal was her own wish. She begged her sister to propose to your family on her behalf, only to be rejected. This made her the laughingstock of the noble houses. Wouldn't that count as a grudge? Wouldn't she resent you?"

"Her sister is the empress—the empress, Mozi! How many people in Great Xia would dare refuse to give the empress face? Only you two freaks, father and son. They even said it wouldn't interfere with you taking concubines later, yet you still refused. That's simply unforgivable!" The bear beside him roared again, visibly agitated. Such a beautiful woman had not been scooped into his bowl—what a monstrous sin!

Qin Mo stood frozen for a long while before finally coming back to himself. Forget the distant past—even the fact that his princely title had not been properly advanced was likely the empress taking revenge on him. So what if he had been blind with his eyes open? He had despised her sister, beautiful as a flower and fair as jade. Did he really think the imperial harem could not meddle in politics?

"Outrageous! Marriage is supposed to be voluntary. So what if she's the empress? So what if she's the empress's sister? What's so great about that? Waaah... ahhh... ahhh!" Qin Mo began roaring too, hatred filling his heart. Damn that short-lived Qin Mo—how could he be so good at stirring up trouble? Being handsome wasn't his fault, but refusing to let the empress take advantage of him was apparently his fault. Why hadn't he agreed back then? Now that he had arrived, he could have enjoyed the ready-made feast. How delightful would that have been?

"Mozi... um... don't tell me you've forgotten the empress too?" The way Qin Yumu looked at Qin Mo changed, and there was even a flicker of admiration in his eyes.

"I... Don't tell me the empress also... had something with me?" Qin Mo pointed at Qin Yumu with a trembling finger. Terror filled his chest. If he had indeed had an affair with the empress, then wouldn't coming to the imperial capital this time be the same as delivering his own head to the emperor?

"Qin Mo, what nonsense are you spouting?" Qin Yuanze sprang to his feet, while Qin Yumu clambered onto Qin Mo's arm and used his furry paw to cover Qin Mo's mouth.

Naturally, Qin Mo had no desire to be molested by a bear. The three of them tussled wildly, nearly bringing the tent down. Only after a long while did their emotions settle. Qin Yuanze slowly explained everything to Qin Mo, and only after listening did Qin Mo realize just how enormous a mess he had caused.

The Longxi Wang Clan was deeply rooted in Great Xia. Duke Shui, Wang Xuanji, was the current clan head. His younger brother, Wang Xuanye, had been granted the title Duke of Wuwei several decades ago on account of military merit. With two dukes in one family, the Wang Clan had thus entered the ranks of Great Xia's top aristocratic houses.

Before Wang Xuanye rose to power, he married a woman of the Xu Clan, and the two loved one another deeply. After their marriage, the Xu Clan woman gave birth to two daughters in succession. The elder was Wang Yushi, and the younger was Wang Yuyan.

After giving birth to Wang Yuyan, the Xu Clan woman was left with a lingering illness. Several physicians examined her and concluded that she would find it difficult to bear more children. Wang Xuanye had only just been granted the title Duke of Wuwei and was at the height of his prestige, so the clan began seeking a new secondary consort for him.

At this critical juncture, the Prince of Chenliu took a liking to Wang Xuanye and was willing to marry his daughter, the Lady of Mou Nan, to Wang Xuanye as a secondary consort. For a county princess of the imperial clan, becoming a secondary consort already counted as marrying beneath her station. Under immense pressure from all sides, Wang Xuanye agreed to take the Lady of Mou Nan as his consort.

The Xu Clan woman also came from a powerful family in the Western Regions, and the Marquis of Zhangye was her blood brother. She had naturally developed a fierce temper. The husband and wife had a tremendous quarrel, and the Xu Clan woman threw down the harsh words, "If she stays, I leave." In a fit of anger, she returned to her natal home, though Wang Xuanye forcibly kept their two daughters behind. If even the daughters had returned to their mother's family, it would no longer have been merely a quarrel between husband and wife—it would have become a prelude to divorce.

From then on, the sisters Wang Yushi and Wang Yuyan began a childhood starved of love. The sisters rarely appeared outside the Wang residence, and even when they did appear a few times, they remained silent, drawing pity from all who saw them. After marrying Wang Xuanye, the Lady of Mou Nan gave birth to three sons in succession. With sons to elevate her standing, she gradually became arrogant and overbearing.

Just as the two sisters were about to be forgotten, the Lady of Mou Nan obtained an imperial decree from the palace. The emperor intended to adopt the elder sister as his goddaughter and marry her into the Greater Yuezhi of the Western Regions as queen to its old king. That year, Wang Yushi was fourteen, while the king of Greater Yuezhi was already forty.

The sisters stormed into Duke Wuwei's military camp. Before all the officers and soldiers, the elder sister, Wang Yushi, loudly questioned her father, "Must a legitimate daughter of the Longxi Wang Clan be handed away like goods and merchandise?"

Duke Wuwei Wang Xuanye was caught between advancing and retreating. He occupied the crucial northwestern region, and the Silk Road stretched westward from Wuwei, bringing astonishing profits. Without the clan's support, he could never have held firm in Wuwei, that land rich enough to drip oil. Moreover, the Lady of Mou Nan had borne him three heirs. This time, he was being asked to send his eldest daughter away for a political marriage, and he was torn in both directions.

Wang Yushi saw hesitation and helplessness in her father's eyes—but not a trace of familial affection. She wept bitterly in the military camp. "I, a woman of the Wang Clan, would rather die than become a barbarian's plaything!"

The Lady of Mou Nan had brought several dozen guards from the imperial palace, intending to place Wang Yushi under house arrest. Once the marriage convoy reached Wuwei, they would send her to Greater Yuezhi. Before the greater good of the nation, how could a lone, weak young woman resist her fate?

But... at that moment, fourteen-year-old Wang Yushi's ferocity erupted. Before everyone's very eyes, she slew more than twenty imperial guards in succession, shocking every officer and soldier present—and shocking Wang Xuanye even more.

At the Lady of Mou Nan's vehement insistence, Wang Xuanye had never taught the sisters the Wang Family's cultivation techniques. Yet the realm Wang Yushi revealed was astonishingly already the Mysterious Realm. She was only fourteen. Wang Xuanye would never forget the look in his daughter's eyes. Those watery eyes held no resentment, only hollow despair.

Wang Yushi was taken away by the imperial court. Killing imperial guards and defying an imperial decree—either charge was a capital offense. When she was escorted to the capital, only her younger sister Wang Yuyan and an old steward left behind by the Xu Clan accompanied her.

Only then did Wang Xuanye learn that his daughter Wang Yushi was a cultivation prodigy. Guided solely by the oral teachings of an old steward with a military background, she had sensed the primordial qi, comprehended the Dao on her own, and cultivated the tyrannical, explosive Breaker Manual to its utmost limit.

With Wang Yushi's talent, she could have caused Duke Wuwei's branch to surge in strength. Sadly, she had been sent down a road of no return by a muddleheaded father.