Chen Jinyu

The Sixth Day of the Sixth Month.

The sky was clear, the breeze gentle and warm.

A suitable day for marriage.

The Golden Saber Sect's Chen Family was marrying off a daughter, a major event in Guo Bei County.

The prominent clans, major gangs, and every official from the county magistrate, deputy magistrate, registrar, and judicial clerk of Guo Bei County had all prepared congratulatory gifts.

When Chen Xiangyan, the Yama Saber, declared that bloodshed was forbidden today, the streets immediately became peaceful.

Ordinarily, the "Six Rites" would never have proceeded so quickly, but martial folk had little patience for the pedantic scholars' customs. Once an Auspicious Day had been chosen, they went straight to the wedding procession.

Red paper covered the ground, flowers were scattered along the streets, and Continuous Feasts stretched across several blocks.

Zhou Yi spent a thousand taels of silver, making the wedding exceptionally grand and lively.

His Father-in-law, Chen Yi, was extremely satisfied with this son-in-law. Though he was not skilled in martial arts, his younger brother Chen Hong was the sixth strongest of the Golden Saber Sect's second generation, so he naturally understood Zhou Yi's prospects.

Now that he had discovered Zhou Yi was not only extraordinarily talented but also wealthy, he was even more delighted.

After a full day of festivities, the wedding procession and ceremonial bows needed no detailed account. Zhou Yi did not clearly see his wife's appearance until they entered the bridal chamber.

Chen Jinyu. Her name was beautiful, and so was she.

Her brows resembled a crescent moon, her eyes autumn waves, and her skin outshone snow. She possessed the bearing that only an ancient noble household could cultivate. In modern society, she would absolutely have been a woman Zhou Yi could only admire from afar.

Outside, Zhou Yi had drunk several jars of wine while making the rounds, reeking of alcohol, yet his mind remained perfectly clear.

Having reached Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound in External Forging, his force permeated his five viscera and six bowels. With a single tremor of Internal Qi, he could expel the alcohol through his pores.

After considering for a moment, Zhou Yi said, "Chen Jinyu, let's get acquainted. My surname is Zhou, given name Yi. By my master's seniority, I should call you Cousin."

Chen Hong was Chen Jinyu's biological uncle, and she was three years younger than Zhou Yi.

Chen Jinyu's feelings were tense and complicated. She wondered why this was different from what her mother had described. "I... you... Husband..."

Zhou Yi gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "I am devoted to martial arts and have no interest in romance. From now on, I'll sleep on the floor, and you'll sleep on the bed."

As he spoke, Zhou Yi moved the bedding to the floor and slept fully clothed.

This marriage was only for the Primordial Chaos Technique, and Zhou Yi did not wish to entangle it with further emotions. A false marriage could keep feelings separate through material terms. If they truly became husband and wife, he would have too many attachments in this world.

Since he could not attain the supreme state of forgetting all emotion, he would simply be emotionless—cutting off the threads of affection with a swift blade and leaving behind no karmic ties.

Chen Jinyu bit her lip. "What about Mother..."

"We'll agree on our story. We'll say that, in order for me to break through to Innate Grandmaster, I should not lose my virginity."

This was a very convincing reason. Having received Xiahou the Swordsman's inheritance, Zhou Yi was no longer the youth ignorant of martial arts that he had once been.

Xiahou the Swordsman's inheritance lacked only an Internal Refining technique; it contained descriptions of every martial realm.

External Forging tempered blood and qi, granting the strength of a thousand jin.

Postnatal Internal Refining condensed Internal Qi.

Innate Grandmasters wielded the power of heaven and earth.

Xiahou the Swordsman was hailed as the Number One Swordsman Under Heaven, yet he had only reached the peak of the Postnatal realm. With the aid of sword intent, he was no weaker than an ordinary Innate Grandmaster.

According to Xiahou the Swordsman's records, aside from the Heretical Demonic Paths that harvested yin to supplement yang or harvested yang to supplement yin, martial artists who retained their primal yang had a somewhat greater chance of breaking through to Innate Grandmaster.

Chen Jinyu's face flushed crimson. She gave a mosquito-like hum, taking it as agreement.

Ever since succeeding in External Forging, Zhou Yi could fall asleep the moment he closed his eyes and wake at the slightest rustle of wind or grass. He had already reached the peak of the human body.

Yet tonight, Zhou Yi tossed and turned, unable to sleep. After all, it was his first marriage.

No matter how often he reminded himself that this was merely a transaction, he could not avoid having complicated feelings.

Chen Jinyu cautiously pretended to be asleep, but Zhou Yi could easily tell from her breathing that she too was unsettled.

"Jinyu, I don't want to deceive you."

Zhou Yi's voice was ethereal, as though he were muttering to himself, yet also as though he were speaking to Chen Jinyu.

"I agreed to marry you for my master's sake because I wanted the Chen Family's Internal Refining method..."

Chen Jinyu remained silent, her fingers gradually tightening around the blanket. She kept reminding herself that marriages were arranged by parents and matchmakers. Hadn't her elder sisters all married the same way?

Zhou Yi rose, took out the Sandalwood Box from the cabinet, and removed the Xiahou Sword Scripture. After thinking it over, he took out the entire Sandalwood Box and handed it to Chen Jinyu.

"This contains the sword arts left behind by the Number One Swordsman Under Heaven, as well as the True Sword Dao Method passed down by a Daoist True Man. Take them to the sect master."

Zhou Yi's voice was firm, allowing no refusal from Chen Jinyu. "This is more than enough to repay the Chen Family for the Primordial Chaos Technique. In the future, you may ask me to do three things. Consider it what I owe you."

Chen Jinyu opened the Sandalwood Box and casually flipped through the two sword manuals.

Born into the Chen Family, even if she did not understand martial arts, she had been exposed to enough to recognize that if these two manuals appeared in the martial world, they would absolutely trigger a bloody storm.

Chen Jinyu's eyes sparkled as she looked the man before her up and down.

"You clearly knew that my family had me marry you to win you over. Why would you still..."

Zhou Yi shook his head without explaining. The education he had received since birth was utterly incompatible with this world, and he had no desire to change his values.

Besides, this world was only a temporary stop. In the future, he would still travel through countless worlds.

Every world was different. Must he adapt to each one individually? If he changed again and again, would his True Self not instead be assimilated by his Other Self?

The True Self was the True Self—only by holding fast to one's heart could one remain oneself!

"I have no interest in managing household affairs, so I'll need you to put in more effort from now on."

Zhou Yi made a small joke. "In that case, I'll owe you even more."

"If you need me to do anything, just say it. Preferably something that only requires me to kill someone. That's cleaner and won't waste time."

As Chen Jinyu listened, she suddenly covered her mouth and smiled, placing the Sandalwood Box beside her pillow.

"I married you, so we are family now. Let this count as the betrothal gift you gave me."

Zhou Yi laughed silently. This girl adapted to her new role rather quickly. It was he who had become too fixated.

"You're not sad?"

Lying on the bed, Chen Jinyu slowly said, "What is there for me to be sad about?"

"My eldest sister married into the Liu Family for the Chen Family's business."

"My second sister married the young master of the Canal Gang. He was hideously ugly, only because the previous gang leader and Grandfather were martial brothers."

"My third sister had it worst. The man she married frequented brothels and caught a disease."

"My fourth sister married Zhu the Clerk, an old man in his forties."

"My fifth sister..."

Among the Chen Family's third generation, more than ten daughters had been married off. Chen Jinyu recounted them one by one: what their husbands' families were like, what their lives after marriage were like.

"I think I've actually been rather fortunate. Mother told me much about you—an exceptional martial arts talent, a young hero, and not bad-looking either..."

"You don't want to manage household affairs, so I'll handle them. At least I'll have something to do instead of being bored at home every day."

After listening to Chen Jinyu, Zhou Yi felt much less guilty.

After all, this was an ancient world. Zhou Yi would not go with the flow, but neither did he wish to overturn its rules.

Defying heaven was generally something hot-blooded youths did. Zhou Yi had long passed that age.

"Jinyu, in a few days, I'll teach you a method of brewing liquor."

"Brewing liquor? What kind of liquor?"

"White Liquor."

"What kind of liquor is White Liquor?"

"It is clear as plain water, so it is called White Liquor."

Chen Jinyu's eyes shone brightly. She was not some sheltered young lady who understood nothing. The Chen Family had established itself in Guo Bei County through the sabers in their hands.

The finest liquor available now could not achieve such water-like clarity.

Even the strongest liquor was judged bland and tasteless by martial arts experts.

If there truly was a secret method for brewing "White Liquor," it would be an immense fortune.

"When will you teach me? I'm very clever. My tutor praised me, saying that if I had been born male, I would have had the talent to become a top scholar!"

"I first need to cultivate the Purple Sun Sword Qi."

Zhou Yi said, "Otherwise, whether the White Liquor method brings fortune or disaster remains uncertain..."

After being enlightened by many fellow Daoists, this poor Daoist had attained great realization and knew he was wrong. She was the fated female lead!