An absolutely beautiful woman was standing before Long Chen. She had willowy eyebrows over limpid clear eyes, cherry red lips popped over her pale skin, and a cascading waterfall of hair descended all the way to her waist. When she saw Long Chen enter and their gazes met, Long Chen was struck dumb.

That young woman appeared like a fairy from out of this world. It was as if due to her very presence, the entire room had become a fairyland. For a moment, Long Chen was unable to do anything but stare foolishly at her.

Her cheeks reddened slightly, and she turned away from him. When Mrs. Long saw this, she scolded, "Chen-er, hurry up and greet Meng Qi. She's your future bride."

Mrs. Long's face lit up with happiness when she said bride, but Long Chen was extremely startled since he had never even heard of such a thing.

"Greetings lady Meng Qi." Seeing his mother's stare, Long Chen finally recovered and bowed to her.

A slight blush crept over Meng Qi's face, and she also curtsied back slightly. Although her cherry lips moved a bit, she didn't say anything back in response.

Seeing all this, Mrs. Long smiled and said, "Meng Qi, you and Long Chen are both youngsters. You two can go chat for a bit while I prepare some food."

Giving Long Chen an encouraging glance, Mrs. Long withdrew, leaving only the two of them in the room.

Facing such a beautiful woman, for the first time, Long Chen had a feeling of having no idea what to do. After a long pause, he finally managed to choke out a single phrase. "Please, sit."

Meng Qi shook her head. A complicated expression flashed over her face when she glanced at Long Chen. "I have something to say to you. Can we change locations?"

Long Chen frowned slightly, but he still nodded. The two of them left the Long estate and found a more secluded spot.

Once they arrived, Meng Qi reached into her robes and slowly pulled out a seal. Long Chen almost cried out in shock when he saw it, for he recognized it to be a summoning contract that only Beast Tamers could use.

A fluctuation rippled through space, interrupting Long Chen's thoughts. A huge monster over ten meters long with the head of a lion and body of an eagle appeared in front of them, a majestic aura coming off of it.

Although Long Chen was unable to cultivate before, he still had managed to study up on illustrations of Magical Beasts. This beast was called the Lion Eagle, a terrifying second rank Magical Beast.

The Lion Eagle in front of them had clearly not reached its complete maturity, but in terms of battle strength, ordinary Blood Condensation cultivators were not its match.

This normally vicious beast was exceptionally docile in front of Meng Qi as it quietly lay on the ground.

Meng Qi lightly walked up onto the Lion Eagle's back and then said to Long Chen, "Come up."

Long Chen glanced at Meng Qi. Seeing a hint of haste in her expression, he muttered quietly under his breath and walked on.

This was the first time Long Chen had ever climbed onto the back of a Magical Beast, and he couldn't help being a bit nervous that it might accidentally go crazy and start eating people.

The Lion Eagle suddenly spread its wings, and its huge body brought the two of them soaring into the sky. Long Chen was almost thrown off when it leaped into the air.

Fortunately, a pale hand supported Long Chen, letting him awkwardly recover. But when he saw a faint amusement on Meng Qi's face that seemed to want to laugh, Long Chen couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

"Ahaha, I'm just a bit clumsy..." Long Chen smiled slightly and found a lame excuse.

Meng Qi laughed at that, but she quickly felt embarrassed and turned around.

The Lion Eagle's flying speed was very quick and in just a few minutes, they flew out of the imperial capital and descended onto Sunset Mountain.

The setting sun spilled out a blood-red color that covered the entire imperial capital, an extremely beautiful scene.

Both of them stood at the peak of the mountain, neither of them saying anything. As Long Chen stared at the imperial capital, a trace of helplessness flashed in his eyes.

"Long Chen, I..." Meng Qi hesitated a long while before finally sighing and opening her red lips.

"Are you here to get out of the marriage?" Long Chen didn't turn to look at her. His gaze stayed focused on the imperial capital.

Meng Qi's heart shook and a trace of disbelief appeared on her beautiful face. "You... you already knew?"

"I guessed." Long Chen slowly turned to look at her beautiful, flawless face and said, "Thank you."

"You're thanking me?" Meng Qi asked in confusion.

"Thank you for not bringing this up in front of my mother. You didn't hurt her old heart, and you also let me save face, so I thank you." Long Chen smiled.

Meng Qi carefully looked at Long Chen. A couple of days ago, she had already learned about Long Chen's situation over the past few years.

She had thought that he would become angry when he learned why she had come, and maybe even go completely mad and wildly curse at her. But she had never thought that he would give this kind of response.

"I know you're a proud and gifted woman, for you are already able to control a second rank Magical Beast at such a young age. As for me, I'm just a normal person. We're from two different worlds, so you're not wrong to want this. There's no need for you to feel bad about it." Long Chen laughed lightly, and his smile was very warm and comforting.

But when Meng Qi looked at this smiling expression, her heart ached in an indescribable way. This young man, practically a boy, had already suffered so much misfortune, and now she was personally leaving another scar on him and pressing the salt onto the wound. Was this not too heartless?

"Give me a couple of days and I’ll convince my mother to decline this marriage. I promise you that it won't take too long."

After saying this, Long Chen slowly turned around and walked away. The setting sun illuminated his slim figure on the middle of the mountain path, making him appear somewhat miserable.

Looking at Long Chen’s fading figure, tears streamed out of Meng Qi’s eyes, and her hand covered his cherry lips.

Was I right to do this or was I wrong?

A young woman slowly walked over from behind Meng Qi and quietly consoled her, “Big sis, now that everything’s been said, it’s already over. Although, this Long Chen really does appear pitiful.”

The two women stared at Long Chen’s back until he completely disappeared.

Once Long Chen descended the mountain, his mood became increasingly depressed. From the first moment he saw Meng Qi, he had felt a strong feeling of love and attraction.

Someone like Meng Qi was like a fairy from heaven. For a normal man like Long Chen, it would have been strange if he wasn’t attracted to her.

But just as this love surfaced, it was doused in icy water before it could be expressed.

Long Chen’s spiritual perception was exceptionally powerful, so he was exceptionally sensitive towards other people’s emotions.

The moment Meng Qi had shown her personal power by calling the Lion Eagle, he had already known things were not good.

I’ve lost love before I could even fall in love...

Long Chen was miserable inside, so much so that he wanted to scream madly. He had suffered through so much repression and injustice, but he had never let a single cry out. However, this time, he truly did feel an urge to weep.

He could sense that Meng Qi was a kind woman; otherwise, there would be no need for her to do it like this, and she could have directly declined the marriage.

It wasn’t as if he wanted to have the marriage arrangement annulled, but what could he do? He could scream and cry at the heavens all he liked, but what was the point?

Yes, maybe if he had begged her, then the marriage might have gone through, but at that point, it wouldn’t even mean anything.

It was better to just let it go. Although his heart ached, he could still bear it.

By the time he got home, night had already descended. His mother immediately began to rain questions down on him. What did the two say, did they make any progress, were there any feelings between them…

Doing his best to answer and brush off the questions for a while, Long Chen finally managed to ask, “Mom, how did Meng Qi and I end up in an arranged marriage, and why didn’t you tell me about it?

Pain appeared in Mrs. Long’s eyes when he asked this, but it was quickly concealed again.

She told Long Chen that their two families were initially on very good terms. Their fathers were life and death friends and they decided that their children, if they were both males, would be brothers; if they were both females, they’d be sisters; and if they were one male and one female, they would be husband and wife.

Long Chen sighed. So your generation was all happy and carefree, but now when it comes to us, all we have is bitterness.

“Mom, I feel that I and Meng Qi aren’t suitable for each other.” Long Chen thought about it for a long while, but in the end, he could only face it headfirst.

“What?” Mrs. Long stared at Long Chen in disbelief.

“Ah, mom, don’t get too emotional. What I’m saying is that Meng Qi and I just aren’t suitable. After all…” Long Chen couldn’t continue.

“No, that’s crazy talk! Meng Qi is such a beautiful woman; how is she unsuitable for you?” Mrs. Long was angered so greatly that she couldn’t help but swear.

“Mom, listen to me. Love requires that both parties are willing. You didn’t get our consent before setting this up for us. That’s just too arbitrary.”

“You… are you trying to anger me?!” Mrs. Long couldn’t even understand Long Chen’s words anymore, and she was angered to the point that tears were falling.

Long Chen was extremely embarrassed, but it wasn’t as if he could tell her the truth. All he could do was to stand there as Mrs. Long cursed and cursed. Suddenly, his mother asked, “Chen-er, tell your mother the truth. Is it Meng Qi who wants to get out of this?”

“How could that be possible? Meng Qi is a good lady. It’s just me. I feel that this is too sudden and I can’t accept it,” hastily replied Long Chen.

“No need to say anymore. Child, it’s your mom and dad’s fault.”

Mrs. Long wasn’t stupid. She naturally knew what kind of character her son had. After thinking about it for just a moment, she knew that the situation wasn’t as simple as he said. She hurriedly hugged Long Chen and cried bitterly.

“Mom, it’s not as bad as you think. I just think we’re not suitable right now. That doesn’t mean we might not get along better in the future…” laughed Long Chen. “It’s all part of my plan. First, annul this marriage arrangement, and then let your child use his own skills to pursue her back as a daughter-in-law. Wouldn’t this be the best case situation?”

“Hmph, what part of that is easy? Meng Qi is a beautiful goddess. Who knows how many people are pursuing her. Without this marriage contract, when will you ever get your chance?” She sighed and continued, “But you’re also right. This kind of thing can’t be forced. Since it’s your marriage and you’re now old enough, you can decide for yourself.”

“Thank you mom.” Long Chen finally relaxed.

Mrs. Long took out an old wooden case from under her bed, taking out a thin piece of paper from within it and handing it to Long Chen. “This is your marriage contract. If you want to get out of it, just tear it apart.”

Receiving that thin piece of paper, Long Chen’s heart ached. An absolutely heavenly beautiful woman was about to be lost in such a way. It really was lamentable.