"Well... anyone with a normal mind wouldn’t have such thoughts."
"That illegitimate son would surely kill for the chance to marry a young lady of the Liu family."
"Exactly."
"Father, what are your thoughts then? You called us here, so you must have already made a decision. Are you really going to make Liu Yan marry him?"
Liu Yongzhi remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "It’s impossible for Liu Yan to marry him. She is already engaged. Gongsun Wenjin is aware of this engagement, and he agreed to it at the time."
"Father, do you mean... Liu Ruoxi?"
Before Liu Yongzhi could speak, Liu Ruoxi jumped to her feet in a panic. "Grandfather, I’ll say it again—I refuse to marry him! He’s just a bastard. I wouldn’t marry him even if you beat me to death. I can’t afford to lose that kind of face."
Liu Yongzhi shook his head. "Ruoxi, I know this is unfair to you, but there’s nothing we can do. Your sister is already engaged, so the obligation falls to you."
"No, Grandfather! Why don’t you have my oldest uncle’s daughter marry him? Can you really bear to push me into a fire pit?" Liu Ruoxi bit her lip so hard it almost bled in her anxiety.
"Ruoxi, leave me out of this. Speak for yourself," her oldest uncle interjected. "Although marrying an illegitimate son is a grievance for you, the other party is still half a member of the Gongsun family."
"No! I’m not marrying him regardless. The man I, Liu Ruoxi, marry must be a Dragon among Men, a peerless genius! Grandfather, didn’t you say that with my looks, my future fiancé wouldn’t be any worse than my sister’s? But why is my sister’s fiancé a genius from a major family in a Three-Star City, while mine is just an illegitimate son? Grandfather, I don’t demand to marry into a Three-Star City, but shouldn’t it at least be a Two-Star City? At the very, very worst, he should be a young master from a One-Star City, not some status-less bastard! Grandfather, tell me, is my request really too much?"
Liu Yongzhi exhaled heavily. "Your request isn’t too much. I had originally planned to marry you off to someone further away and of much better standing. However, man proposes, but God disposes. You can only blame me for drinking too much back then and agreeing to this engagement. You have no choice but to marry that Ye Xuan."
"Grandfather! Why? I won’t marry him!"
"There is no ’why.’ You will marry him whether you want to or not."
"Grandfather... Father, please say something on my behalf," Liu Ruoxi pleaded, on the verge of tears. "I don’t want to marry a bastard. I’ll be laughed out of town."
Liu Zhengyuan closed his eyes. "Ruoxi, listen to your grandfather. You are the only one who can marry him."
"Father!" Liu Ruoxi finally broke down into tears, feeling incredibly wronged.
"Ruoxi, why are you crying? Whoever made you cry, I’ll beat them to death," a man appearing to be around twenty years old said as he wiped away her tears. He was Liu Zhengyuan’s fifth son, the one closest to Ruoxi, though his mind was a bit slow.
"Ruoxi, crying won’t do you any good. The matter is settled," Liu Yongzhi finalized. "Zheng Yuan, have someone send a message to the Gongsun family. Tell them that our Liu family will have Liu Ruoxi fulfill the agreement from back then. But remind him that the Gongsun family cannot hide their resources. Whatever should be given to Ye Xuan and Ruoxi must not be shortchanged in the slightest."
Meanwhile, in the Lingxuan Courtyard.
Inside Ye Xuan’s room, he was actively consolidating his cultivation. As soon as his foundation was stable, he planned to resume Alchemy, seizing every available second to elevate his strength.
Just then, Blood Princess’s voice echoed from within the Demon Subduing Scripture. "Master, it’s so dark... I’m so scared... and I’m so hungry..."
It had been two days since Ye Xuan emerged from the Forbidden Area, and Blood Princess had stayed inside the Demon Subduing Scripture this entire time. Aside from her, there were three hundred and fifty zombies inside. Having gone without blood for a long time, the zombies had lost all their strength and were piled up in a corner like dry firewood. They would only become active if Blood Princess issued a command or if they saw a living person.
Ye Xuan had originally planned to leave these zombies in the Forbidden Area, but after some careful consideration, he figured these monstrosities might come in handy in the future. He had learned from Blood Princess that the zombies also carried her bloodline virus. This meant that if the zombies sucked someone dry, they could turn that person into a zombie as well.
In the future, if any family dared to anger him, he would besiege their city with a zombie horde. Additionally, Ye Xuan also had the virus in his body, though it would only trigger upon his death.
"Hungry?" Ye Xuan frowned, clearly unconvinced.
"Master, I’m really hungry... Just let me have a sip, just one sip, please! Master’s blood smells so sweet..." Blood Princess pleaded, practically drooling.
Ye Xuan pondered for a moment. "Fine."
Creatures like Spirit Corpses could level up if they drank blood every day. If he could cultivate a Spirit Corpse to the level of a Corpse Demon, who in this world would dare to mess with him?
With a thought, Blood Princess appeared beside him. The moment she materialized, the surrounding air turned cold and sinister. This was the natural aura of a Spirit Corpse. The only way to conceal it was to continuously advance her rank.
"Drink," Ye Xuan said, extending his arm.
"Master, you’re the best!" Blood Princess’s eyes lit up. Without a moment of hesitation, she sank her fangs into his flesh.
It felt cold, like ice.
GULP, GULP.
His blood was draining rapidly. Blood Princess’s definition of "one sip" was definitely not small. In just a brief moment, Ye Xuan’s face turned noticeably pale.
"That’s enough," Ye Xuan hastily stopped her.
Blood Princess pulled away, looking unsatisfied. Just like before, she licked the residual blood off his arm completely clean.
"Master... I want more..." she whined pitifully.
Ye Xuan’s face twitched. He didn’t dare satisfy her request. With a shift of his mind, he sent her straight back into the Demon Subduing Scripture, ignoring her ensuing protests.
He thought, "She still wants to drink? Letting her have a few more sips will only damage my body. Still, is my blood really that sweet? Ah, right. I did consume Dragon Blood."
Shaking his head, Ye Xuan closed his eyes and resumed consolidating his cultivation.
An unknown amount of time passed before Ye Xuan finally opened his eyes again.
The moment he did, his pupils violently shrank. His body was no longer in his room; he was standing in an open clearing. He looked up and saw a towering town wall.
Carved above the wall were the four large words: Ye Family Main Town. A Dragon Totem fluttered in the wind atop the battlements.
"What’s going on?" Ye Xuan murmured in astonishment.
Although he missed the Ye Family Main Town dearly, wasn’t he just at the Gongsun family’s home? How did he end up back at the Ye family?
Amidst his confusion, a gatekeeping disciple let out a cold shout. "Hey, I’m talking to you! Pay the toll if you’re entering the town. If not, step back and don’t block the people behind you."
Ye Xuan was utterly dumbfounded. Putting aside the mystery of how he got here, he had to pay to enter the Ye Family Main Town? Did this gatekeeper not recognize him? And even if the guard didn’t know his face, how could he not recognize the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon embroidered on his chest?
Just as Ye Xuan was puzzling over this, a woman’s icy voice rang out from behind him.
"Ants. So noisy!"
Ye Xuan turned his head and saw that the speaker was a woman in a pink dress. She had exquisite features—an absolute beauty. If she wasn’t, the others waiting in line wouldn’t be staring at her so intently.
As her voice fell, the woman raised her right hand and made a sudden crushing motion.
BOOM!
With a muffled explosion, the gatekeeping disciple’s head was crushed into a bloody mist from a distance.