Chapter 8

The journey back was silent. As the protagonists of the wedding, they were of little consequence, and their departure drew little notice.

Upon returning to the cave dwelling, Ji Yan’s expression softened. He looked around, his smile radiating warmth. "Is this where you live?"

Gu Changqing gave a dry chuckle. The dwelling had been decorated with faint hints of celebration, but as he lived alone, it consisted of only one bedroom and a living room.

"The arrays are quite good," Ji Yan noted, examining them with curiosity. The combination of lethal arrays, illusion arrays, and interlocking traps left him somewhat speechless, though his intuition told him that such safety consciousness was essential.

"They're alright," Gu Changqing replied with a smile. He had been forced into it; the sect not only had Nascent Soul cultivators in charge but also hidden demons and traitors. To avoid accidents, he had to be prepared. The sect’s waters were deep. However, compared to the outside world, it was still very safe—the demons only dared to lurk, not show their heads, which was why he had been able to keep a low profile.

He had never expected a marriage contract to fall from the sky, saddling him with a major headache. The mere thought of "rebirths" and the like gave him a migraine.

"Here, for you," Ji Yan said, beaming as he produced a storage bag. He appeared as warm and radiant as the sun. But could one really get close to the sun? Proximity only scorched, not to mention that this man was also mentally unstable.

"This is..." Gu Changqing asked, confused.

Ji Yan smiled. "I promised to give them to you."

Inside the bag were two property deeds, several bottles of medicinal pills, two magical artifacts, and three thousand spirit stones.

Gu Changqing paused. "There was no need to be so hasty." Despite his words, he accepted the items with a reserved composure, though his movements were not slow at all. Very well, he had come to terms with it. At worst, he would just treat the man like an ancestor to be worshipped. Setting aside the fact that Ji Yan lacked memories of his past life, even if he were to recover them, a reincarnated person had their advantages; they might even be able to avoid risks.

Ji Yan smiled with satisfaction and glanced at him. "Where shall I sleep?"

Gu Changqing self-consciously offered up his only bedroom. "Senior Brother, please endure it for a few days. Once the sect matters are settled, shall we head to the Northern City?"

"Once the sect matters are settled?" Ji Yan murmured, thoughtful, before smiling. "Then I shall trouble you, Junior Brother."

"Not at all, not at all." At the time, Gu Changqing thought that when Ji Yan wasn't having an episode, his temper was quite good.

...

"Bang!" After Ji Yan entered the room, he quickly shut the door. The boundary between inside and outside was absolute, instantly dispelling the slightly eased atmosphere.

Gu Changqing sighed and began his cultivation meditation. It didn't matter if cultivators slept at night. Ji Yan’s spiritual roots were destroyed, his dantian sealed, and his body frail; giving him the bedroom was the least he could do—consider it rent. Gu Changqing was a pragmatist; he would be leaving in a few days anyway. A few days of inconvenience was a small matter.

He would later realize that he had felt relieved far too soon.

Gu Changqing swallowed a pill and began to circulate his Green Wood Longevity Technique. Time flowed slowly. At night, the moon was bright and the stars sparse; a faint moonlight spilled into the cave, nourishing his soul and magic power.

Suddenly, a loud "bang" came from the bedroom. Gu Changqing slowly stopped his cultivation and frowned. "Senior Brother Ji? Senior Brother Ji?" he called out tentatively. He didn't want to deal with the troublesome person in the room, but the contract’s feedback told him that something was wrong.

There was no movement from the room. The link through the contract was flickering, as if it might snap at any moment.

"Such a nuisance," Gu Changqing muttered under his breath. He rushed into the bedroom to find Ji Yan lying on the bed, pale, blood trickling from his lips, his breath as thin as a thread.

"Why must you do this?" Gu Changqing felt utterly helpless. Clearly, Ji Yan had tried to force open his sealed dantian and had been severely injured as a result. With that broken body of his, dreaming of breaking a Golden Core cultivator's seal wasn't just wishful thinking—it was pure suicide. Even if he were in perfect health, a mere fourth-level Qi Refinement cultivator could not break through the power of a Golden Core; it was a futile effort, a gap in strength that could not be bridged.

"Do you have no sense of your own limitations?" Gu Changqing complained internally. He stepped forward to examine Ji Yan, only to find more meridians shattered and the poison-fire from his spiritual roots gnawing at his dantian. His body was a wreck.

"Sigh," Gu Changqing sighed. "Don't drag me down with your death wish." Muttering, he channeled a wisp of Green Wood energy into Ji Yan's body. The energy carried a hint of vitality, enough to preserve his life, but nothing more.

Ji Yan lay there listlessly, his features possessing a fragile, heart-stopping beauty.

"Looking like this..." Gu Changqing’s eyes flickered, and he began to look pained.

...

The next morning, Xiaoquan Peak. The excitement of the previous day had yet to dissipate. The fellow disciples were still gossiping about the newlyweds who had stolen the spotlight.

"Junior Brother Gu is truly blessed."
"Indeed, he got both the person and the wealth."
"Senior Brother Ji is as graceful as ever."
"It's a pity we aren't direct disciples; otherwise, we might have had a chance. Someone like Senior Brother Ji—if I could be his dao companion, I would gladly sacrifice years of my life."

They were envious and jealous. As ordinary inner-sect disciples, everything Gu Changqing now possessed was a goal most of them would struggle a lifetime to achieve. People simply could not be compared. Just because of a better background, he had surpassed them all. The inner-sect disciples didn't feel they were inferior to Gu Changqing. Each of them had fought through countless hardships to enter the inner sect, with cultivation at least at the seventh level of Qi Refinement. Yet, because of their origin, they didn't even have the qualification to compete for a dao companion.

Fortunately, there was still the matter of the contract backlash, which gave them some small comfort.

"Eh? Is that Senior Brother Gu?"
"Why is he alone?"

Gu Changqing walked out of his cave with a pained expression, making no attempt to hide his sorrow.

"Senior Brother Gu, where is Senior Brother Ji?" the others asked, rushing over. The newlyweds were supposed to pay respects to their elders today, yet Gu Changqing was alone. There was definitely a problem. Their faces were filled with gossipy anticipation.

"He..." Gu Changqing looked devastated and panicked. "He tried to cultivate yesterday and was severely injured. I... why am I so unlucky?"

"Ah?" The disciples were shocked, glancing at each other. It was only the second day of their marriage. Their envy turned into pity, and they looked at Gu Changqing with sympathetic gazes.

"Is Senior Brother Ji in grave danger?" If something happened to Senior Brother Ji, Senior Brother Gu would surely be implicated. They no longer felt envious. To be saddled with such a self-destructive partner—marrying him was a curse. They had heard rumors a few days ago that Ji Yan was injured while breaking through, but since he recovered quickly, they hadn't thought much of it. Who knew...

"Wasn't his dantian sealed?"
"Senior Brother Ji, he..."

Even with a sealed dantian, he could still be this reckless. Everyone felt sympathy, and the message in their eyes was clear: *Senior Brother Gu, please accept your fate.* Given Ji Yan’s penchant for self-destruction, Gu Changqing would likely suffer the backlash before he even reached the Foundation Establishment stage. Once his vitality was ruined and his hopes for Foundation Establishment dashed, even with extra assets, he would have no future to speak of. This wasn't a marriage alliance between two peaks; it was a death trap.

"Sigh!" Gu Changqing looked sorrowful, secretly congratulating himself. Now he wouldn't be the center of unwanted attention. He was sure these fellow disciples would help spread the word.

"I must report to my Master. Please excuse me, fellow brothers." Gu Changqing covered his face, looking utterly lost and heartbroken as he walked away, continuing to advertise his miserable situation along the way.

...

Guanlan Pavilion. The main hall was carved with jade and exquisitely beautiful. Yu Jinghua sat in the main seat, with his direct disciples on either side, waiting for the newcomers to offer tea. Who would have thought...

"Master, your disciple is suffering..." Gu Changqing fell to his knees and wailed, showing his grievance. *If you forced me to marry, you must compensate me for Ji Yan’s recklessness.* "He is currently hovering between life and death. If he meets an unfortunate end, what am I to do? My heart is heavy with grievance."

Gu Changqing cried until he was a mess of tears and snot. One had to know that a cultivator’s vitality was limited. Generally, after the age of sixty, it began to decline. Thus, few could attain Foundation Establishment after sixty unless they obtained rare treasures. When he married Ji Yan, the condition set by his Master was that he would be helped to reach Foundation Establishment, minimizing his losses. Even if Ji Yan’s health was poor, he had decades to live—enough time for Gu Changqing to reach the peak of Qi Refinement. But if Ji Yan died now...

Gu Changqing was only at the sixth level of Qi Refinement. If he suddenly suffered the backlash, his vitality would be severely damaged, his lifespan halved, and his chances of Foundation Establishment before thirty would be zero. He would be ruined.

While he sobbed, someone else was secretly rejoicing. "Ninth Senior Brother, yesterday was your big day. How could you not keep a closer eye on him? Master has already notified the Fire-Control Peak. You should consider how you will explain this to Daoist Ji," Ye Zexuan said, rubbing salt in the wound with schadenfreude. He was the junior brother who had lost his spirit vein to Gu Changqing and was an admirer of Senior Sister Bing Ning.

"Master..." Gu Changqing didn't argue; he only looked at his Master with pleading eyes. Ji Yan was a person, not an object—how could he watch him every second? Plus, the man’s dantian was sealed; who would have expected him to be so suicidal as to try and break a Golden Core cultivator's seal?

Yu Jinghua looked irritable. He had hoped the troublesome business with the Fire-Control Peak was over, yet only a day after the contract was signed, a crisis had emerged.

"What do you intend to do?" Yu Jinghua asked, his voice cold and tinged with anger.

"I ask that Master decides," Gu Changqing replied, lowering his head respectfully, deftly shifting the blame. He was just a weak, helpless, and pitiful person. If he got compensation, great. If not, he had already achieved his goal: no one would envy him for marrying a "golden doll" anymore, and the storm surrounding the marriage contract would pass.

"Ninth Junior Brother, stop making things difficult for Master. If you can't look after your own person, what will happen next time if this is solved?" Chen Yifeng sneered and rebuked him.

Yu Jinghua agreed. Ji Yan was also a handful; his body had only just recovered, and he was already cultivating again. Who had the energy to clean up such messes?