Marriage Arrangement

Jiang Mingxuan's face was filled with shock. He lowered his head in disbelief to stare at the half of a broken sword in his hand and muttered, "I lost? How could that be?"

No wonder he was so stunned. Su Chen's Sevenfold Waves of One Sword had actually contained seven layers of force, each more domineering than the last!

Only because Jiang Mingxuan was at the ninth level of the Qi-Attraction Realm and had used a mid-grade Yellow-rank sword martial skill had he been able to take all seven layers of force without injury!

But even so, the longsword in Jiang Mingxuan's hand could not withstand the impact of all seven layers of force and was sliced in two.

Jiang Mingxuan's heart suffered an immense blow as well. He simply could not accept the reality of being defeated by Su Chen across an entire realm.

In contrast, Su Chen showed no joy after defeating Jiang Mingxuan. He merely frowned and muttered to himself, "My cultivation is still too low!"

Simply cutting off Jiang Mingxuan's sword was not enough to satisfy Su Chen.

The power of Sevenfold Waves of One Sword was already formidable, but limited by Su Chen's eighth level Qi-Attraction Realm cultivation, the might this martial skill could display was still limited.

Su Chen knew that his next step should be to raise his cultivation as quickly as possible.

However, Su Chen also knew that defeating Jiang Mingxuan, who was a full level above him, and cutting off his longsword was already an utterly horrifying achievement.

"Little Chen!"

Xu Yin had watched the entire match from the sidelines, her heart pounding in fear all the while, terrified that Su Chen would be hurt. Now that the fight was finally over, she hurried over in a few quick strides, grabbed Su Chen by the shoulders, and carefully checked him from head to toe for injuries.

Only after confirming that Su Chen was unharmed did Xu Yin let out a breath of relief. She looked up at him with a smile, pride shining in her eyes. "Little Chen, you've given your aunt such a wonderful surprise!"

Though Xu Yin was a martial artist, she was still a woman after all. At first, she had not thought so far ahead when it came to Su Chen. So long as he was safe and sound, it did not matter even if he remained an ordinary person.

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But Su Chen had consecutively defeated Jiang Minghao and Jiang Mingxuan in the match just now. That dazzling performance forced Xu Yin to reevaluate her nephew.

At this moment, in Xu Yin's eyes, an unconscious veil of mystery seemed to have settled around Su Chen.

"Su Chen, thank you!" Jiang Tingyi followed behind Xu Yin and spoke softly. Her voice was faint, but Su Chen heard her clearly.

Su Chen smiled faintly, but his gaze shot toward Jiang Shan in the distance. "The wager we agreed on earlier can be paid out now, right?"

At this moment, Jiang Shan's expression was truly spectacular—iron-gray streaked with blue, blue streaked with green. His eyes were so gloomy they seemed ready to drip water as he said in a low voice, "Good. Very good, boy!"

Even if Jiang Shan had been given a hundred chances beforehand, he could never have predicted that his pride and joy, Jiang Mingxuan, would be defeated across a level by a boy at the eighth level of the Qi-Attraction Realm!

Yet Su Chen turned a blind eye to Jiang Shan's murderous gaze and said calmly, "I trust that the head of the Jiang Family would not be someone who goes back on his word. Besides, it is only a small wager."

Was that a small wager?

That was a full thousand Lesser Origin Pills!

Jiang Shan forcibly suppressed the urge to curse. Though his heart was bleeding, he still ordered the servant beside him in a low voice, "Give them to him!"

"What?" Jiang He was greatly startled and hurriedly stopped him. "Big Brother, how can we really give them to them?"

That was a full thousand Lesser Origin Pills, equivalent to two years' worth of shares for the first and third branches combined!

Giving such a vast amount of Lesser Origin Pills to the second branch would leave the first and third branches severely weakened!

"Shut up!" Jiang Shan's face darkened. "Give them to him. Do not delay the important matter that comes next!"

Hearing this, Jiang He could only shut his mouth reluctantly.

It seemed that the important matter Jiang Shan spoke of was extremely significant to the two of them.

Not far away, Su Chen took in the conversation between the two, but his expression remained calm, without the slightest ripple.

Very soon, Jiang Shan's servant ran back and reported, "First Master, there are far fewer than a thousand Lesser Origin Pills in the storehouse."

Jiang Shan looked at Su Chen. "You heard him as well. Gathering a thousand Lesser Origin Pills is rather difficult. We will need some time."

"Three days," Su Chen said.

Jiang Shan ground his teeth, but in order not to delay the important matter that followed, he could only say, "Three days it is."

At Su Chen's request, Jiang Shan wrote a promissory note on the spot, stating that the first and third branches would gather a thousand Lesser Origin Pills within three days and deliver them to the second branch.

With the note in hand, there was no need to fear Jiang Shan and Jiang He reneging on the debt.

It had to be said that Jiang Shan was deeply calculating. Just moments ago, he had looked ashen-faced and heartbroken, but now his expression had already returned to normal, as though he were not the one who had lost a thousand Lesser Origin Pills.

Even Su Chen admired such forbearance.

Compared to him, Jiang He's composure was clearly lacking. Having lost a thousand Lesser Origin Pills for nothing, his anger and distress were written all over his face.

Su Chen had to admit that seeing Jiang He's expression, as though he had swallowed a fly and become constipated, was quite satisfying.

However, when Su Chen thought of the "important matter" Jiang Shan and Jiang He were about to bring up, he had already formed some guesses.

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But in his previous life, this had not come so soon. It only happened some time after the clan assembly.

It seemed that some things had changed in this life. Perhaps those changes were related to his rebirth.

Perhaps more and more events would change in the future.

Jiang Shan cleared his throat, his face having regained its earlier calm. "Next, the second matter of today's clan assembly!"

As he spoke, Jiang Shan paused briefly and cast Xu Yin a glance, his gaze carrying a trace of coldness that was difficult to detect.

Xu Yin's heart trembled, and a sense of foreboding suddenly welled up within her.

She could not explain why she felt that way. Could the second matter Jiang Shan wished to discuss have something to do with her?

"Second Sister-in-law, Tingyi is fifteen this year. She is already a grown young lady." Yet Jiang Shan did not immediately explain what the matter was. Instead, he seemed to be making casual conversation with Xu Yin.

But those casual words set alarm bells ringing wildly in Xu Yin's heart. She abruptly raised her head and stared at Jiang Shan in disbelief.

Jiang Shan chuckled, acting as though the conflicts between both sides had never existed, and said with great warmth, "Tingyi has reached the age for betrothal. A few days ago, Third Brother and I arranged a marriage for Tingyi. Taking advantage of this clan assembly, we thought we would let you know."

"Betrothal? You arranged a betrothal for Tingyi?"

Xu Yin was utterly shocked and blurted out, "Who is the other party?"

Jiang He, standing nearby, had already grown impatient. He quickly cut in, "It is Wang Sheng of the Wang Family! The Wang Family will come with the betrothal gifts in three days!"

The words had barely left his mouth.

Smack!

The crisp sound of a teacup shattering suddenly rang out.

Jiang Tingyi had been so horrified that the teacup in her hand fell straight to the ground and shattered!