[Update attempt 125: data retrieved successfully! Upgrading...] [Upgrade successful! Max-Level Comprehension Module bound! New function unlocked: Max-Level Comprehension!] System: [With this module, the host's comprehension will reach the highest level in the world. Any cultivation technique can be completely mastered after just a couple of glances!]
Before Chen Mu could even ask, the system had already learned to answer ahead of him.
Perhaps this counted as a kind of evolution, too?
"Oh..."
Chen Mu rolled over, fluffed the flattened pillow back up with both hands, stood it upright, and lay against it.
After basking in the sun, it had a lovely scent that made him feel safe, comfortable, and relaxed.
[Checking in...] [Check-in successful! Congratulations, host, on receiving the supreme-grade Heaven Rank cultivation technique, World-Destroying Thunderstrike!] System: [The host can try it personally to verify its authenticity! No cheating young or old!]
"No need. I believe you." Chen Mu raised a limp, boneless hand, his eyes tightly shut, showing no intention of opening them.
He embodied laziness to its fullest.
System: [...]
Elsewhere.
After handing the marriage contract to Chen Mu and leaving Qingyun Manor, Liu Xiangnan looked noticeably more cheerful, as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
He thought that women really did only slow down his sword draw.
How could they compare with cultivation!
Once he returned, he would first enter secluded cultivation for six months or a year.
"Boy, you didn't disrespect the young lord, did you?"
Three Human Immortal Realm cultivators rubbed their fists and palms, questioning him with sinister grins.
Dark lines crossed Liu Xiangnan's forehead. He hurriedly shook his head and waved his hands in denial. "I wouldn't dare! I've returned the marriage contract, and the young lord has no intention of holding anything against me. Please judge fairly, seniors!"
He watched them exchange glances and step aside.
Without a second thought, Liu Xiangnan hurriedly took out his flying sword, intending to leave the Tianyuan Holy Land.
He could already feel that the crotch of his trousers was a little...
He glanced back.
As he gradually flew farther from the Tianyuan Holy Land, those people had shrunk to the size of ants.
At last, Liu Xiangnan could release the heavy breath he had kept trapped in his chest.
Yet, just as he turned around—
Hundred Swords came hurtling toward him!
With the force of a hurricane, they surrounded Liu Xiangnan.
Fortunately, he reacted quickly. Otherwise, torn clothes would have been the least of his problems.
As the Holy Son of the Sky Sword Sect, Liu Xiangnan knew perfectly well that this was one of the sect's finest inner-court techniques, accessible only to prodigies.
And those who could cultivate such a technique to this level were rarer still—as scarce as phoenix feathers and qilin horns!
It was not hard to guess who had come.
He looked over. Though the keen sword edges slightly distorted the air,
he could still see Ye Qingcheng standing in midair atop a long, gleaming sword, her eyes brimming with hostility.
Before Liu Xiangnan could speak, Ye Qingcheng demanded, "What are you doing here? Do you intend to oppose the young lord?"
Before this, Ye Qingcheng had felt neither affection nor hostility toward Liu Xiangnan. He had simply been a senior fellow disciple, nothing more.
As for their marriage arrangement, since the elders of her family had settled it, Ye Qingcheng, as a junior, could only obey.
Even if they truly married, it would not change her goal of pursuing strength and becoming one of the strongest.
It was only a marriage alliance, anyway. A marriage in name alone was perfectly normal, wasn't it?
But if Liu Xiangnan intended to use that relationship as a reason to make trouble for Chen Mu or the Tianyuan Holy Land,
Ye Qingcheng would never stand idly by.
She did not want Liu Xiangnan alone to drag down the Ye Family and the entire Sky Sword Sect.
"Don't misunderstand, Junior Sister Ye. Even if I'd eaten a bear's heart and a leopard's gall, I would never dare oppose the young lord."
Liu Xiangnan raised both hands, his smile strained and cold sweat trickling down, and continued, "I only came to return our marriage contract."
Although he was her senior fellow disciple, Ye Qingcheng was stronger than him.
If they truly fought, Liu Xiangnan would be no match for her.
"Return the marriage contract?" Hearing Liu Xiangnan's words, Ye Qingcheng withdrew her Sword Formation. The Hundred Swords merged into one and returned to her hand.
"That's right. Return the marriage contract." Liu Xiangnan nodded firmly, utterly certain.
"Your lineage agreed?" Ye Qingcheng asked again.
At that, Liu Xiangnan gave a self-mocking smile. "How would they dare refuse? When they heard you'd been chosen by the Holy Lord to become the young lord's woman, they rushed to find me and told me not to delay even a moment—to hurry and return the marriage contract."
"They insisted I sever every tie with you, lest we bring retaliation from the Holy Land upon ourselves!"
"I was merely chosen to serve as the young lord's guard. Nothing more! Sorry for the trouble, but please tell them not to spread idle speculation and stir up trouble," Ye Qingcheng said emotionlessly.
"Oh? Is that really all? A guard?" Liu Xiangnan chuckled.
"What are you laughing at?" Ye Qingcheng suddenly turned, drawing her sword. It rang out as she pointed it straight at the back of Liu Xiangnan's head.
Boom!
The sword qi swept up the hair at Liu Xiangnan's temples, and he felt an invisible, cutting pain against his cheeks.
"I'm laughing at how naive you are. With his strength and talent, how could he possibly need your protection?"
"Strength? Talent?" Ye Qingcheng found it increasingly difficult to understand what Liu Xiangnan was saying.
"When I went to Qingyun Manor earlier to hand the marriage contract to the young lord, I was fortunate enough to witness him display his strength. He possesses a supreme-grade heaven-tier Thunder Spiritual Root! Not one in hundreds of millions has it!"
"You should know what a Heaven-Rank Supreme Spirit Root means, especially one of the Thunder Attribute, shouldn't you?"
Faced with Liu Xiangnan's question, Ye Qingcheng fell silent. How could she not know?
The dominance of the Thunder Attribute often gave its wielder the upper hand against opponents at the same realm.
With a supreme-grade heaven-tier Thunder Spiritual Root, someone who reached the Human Immortal Realm could even contend with a Quasi-Emperor!
It was a spiritual root attribute countless cultivators dreamed of possessing, and it held the top spot in the rankings year after year.
"No wonder the young lord's strength has been improving so quickly. So he really does possess Dual Talents!" Ye Qingcheng murmured.
Her conjecture had finally been confirmed.
"So, the young lord clearly has greater talent than you. Even if his cultivation realm is lower than yours now, with the Tianyuan Holy Land's resources, surpassing you would be effortless for him."
"In that case, why would they specifically choose you to go to Qingyun Manor and serve as his guard?"
"Speaking of which, I truly envy you, Junior Sister Ye. The future Holy Lord's wife! When the time comes, please do look after us fellow disciples of the Sky Sword Sect." Liu Xiangnan cupped his hands.
Though her emotions surged like a tide, Ye Qingcheng forced them down and maintained a calm expression. "All I need to do is obey my orders!"
"And another thing..." Before leaving, Ye Qingcheng did not forget to remind Liu Xiangnan to speak and act cautiously—disaster came from the mouth.
She returned to Qingyun Manor.
Standing before the entrance,
Ye Qingcheng had told herself more than once not to take Liu Xiangnan's words to heart.
Yet her mind simply would not stop replaying them.
Chaos. Everything was a tangled mess!
"The future Holy Lord's wife... Is someone like me truly worthy?" Ye Qingcheng pressed a hand to her chest. Never before had her confidence plunged so far into the depths.
"The future Holy Lord's wife? You want to be my younger brother's wife?"
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