~~~

Meng Yue made her way out of the Xiao Sect’s main house with a serene smile on her face. The moment she took one step outside the building, her form vanished. It was merely a movement technique, but Meng Yue felt it was proper to use it. Making a big impression was always good.

The woman of such beauty that men would cut their arms off if she but asked reappeared several miles away on a rooftop. She mentally congratulated herself on a job well done. By showing up at the wedding, she had given the Xiao Sect’s Patriarch a lot of face. No one would be able to say anything bad about Xiao Zheng for a long time.

Meng Yue smiled proudly.

It had been a last-second decision, but it had worked out beautifully. Why, everyone in the Xiao Sect had been overjoyed to see her! They hadn’t even been able to meet her eyes from the joy! They had kept such a respectful silence for her! Truly, Eastern Port City had very well-behaved people living it!

To think her sisters thought she’d embarrass the Sect!

“Sister Yue is strong and beautiful, but her gifts are best used away from boring meetings.”

“Sister Yue is great at cultivation. I envy her strength. Perhaps it is better if Sister Yue focuses only on that?”

“I don’t mean to offend, but the image our Divine Frozen Palace wants to maintain and the image Sister Yue projects…. Sister Yue understands, right?”

“Yue, I won't mince words. You are utterly without skill in diplomacy. You’re quick to violence and not at all subtle. When angered, you are without mercy. It is as if you never left the Renegade Realm. If we let too many people see you, they’ll get the idea that we’re all unthinking savages.”

To think those four had the gall to say such things to her!

Who did they think they were!

When had she ever made the Divine Frozen Palace look bad? When?

Meng Yue had been so angry with her sisters that she had left to hunt. The need to kill something had been strong. Luckily, she had found a Ravenous Silver Wolf, a fine specimen at that. It had taken almost a month to chase it down and kill it. As she was beating it to death, Meng Yue imagined it was her sisters’ faces staring back at her instead of the wolf’s.

It had been a fairly satisfying endeavor.

After killing it, Meng Yue realized she was very close to Eastern Port City. For someone as powerful as her, a city that small usually wasn’t worth remembering, but as one of the Five Fairies of the Divine Frozen Palace, Meng Yue knew the names of all the Sects they were allied with as well as their central locations.

The Xiao Sect wasn’t worth mentioning next to the Divine Frozen Palace, but it was still among the Top 100 Sects of the Empire.

It had only been proper for her to pay a visit, right?

There was absolutely nothing wrong with that. Meng Yue most certainly hadn’t just gone there to prove she could represent the Sect without looking like an angry savage.

Not at all.

Besides, nothing but good had come from her actions! A Body of Extreme Yin! To think such a small city hid such grand treasure!

The moment she had felt that Qi, Meng Yue knew she needed to take that girl as her disciple. Ah, to think she had found someone worthy of being her personal disciple in a place like this. The ways of Heaven were amusing. She had even negotiated the terms to take the girl without a single altercation.

That would show those four!

Meng Yue could almost imagine the jealousy in their eyes when they learned her disciple had a Body of Extreme Yin. That would be a sight to see!

Still, Xiao Zheng should have known better.

To think he’d put on a meager effort for his daughter’s wedding!

He even admitted right in front of her. The poor girl!

Meng Yue couldn't understand it. The man had begged so fiercely for the wedding to be held. Enough that she had been moved and allowed it to happen. The Patriarch of the Xiao Sect stood on the Second Level of the Emperor Realm, but to Meng Yue, that wasn’t much.

Meng Yue was already in the Ninth Level of the Emperor Realm.

The difference between them was simply too big. It was unlikely Xiao Zheng would ever leave the Human Realms of Cultivation while Meng Yue was only a half-step away from the Divine Realms. There was no point of comparison. If Meng Yue had wanted to take Xiao Zheng’s daughter, she would have easily been able to do so. Instead, she allowed the wedding to happen and even agreed for the newlyweds to live together for a month.

The least Xiao Zheng could have done after being so earnest about it was to put forth his best effort for the wedding. Instead, he had gone as far as to call his effort meager. That was just something Meng Yue couldn’t understand.

Perhaps, the knowledge that the wedding was only for the sake of formality prevented him from putting as much effort as he should have. In other words, he might have only held the wedding to save face. Certainly, there are people who act in such a way.

Another alternative that occurred to Meng Yue was that Xiao Zheng’s efforts had been relative to the quality of the groom.

That was yet another thing that puzzled Meng Yue.

Xiao Shuang was a talented girl who possessed a Body of Extreme Yin. Why would her father marry her to a boy who was only in the Inner Realm? She had been serious when she said marrying Xiao Shuang would be the greatest achievement of the boy’s life. Xiao Shuang was a rare treasure that, with the proper polish, might surpass even her one day.

For a mere boy in the Inner Realm to be able to know someone like that, let alone marry her, was an achievement far beyond what anyone in this small city would be able to match. He should feel happy to have such good fortune bestowed upon him, even if it was unlikely he’d see Xiao Shuang again.

Meng Yue hummed.

The more she thought about it, the more she realized something was off about that boy. She hadn’t paid much attention during the ceremony, but looking back on it, his Qi had not been quite right. There was something about it…

Wait.

Meng Yue’s eyes narrowed. She took a step to the right and moved many miles away, stopping right above a house in the outer districts of Eastern Port City.

“Come out,” she said, her voice firm yet barely above a whisper. There was no need to raise her voice for this person to hear her.

In the span of a breath, he appeared before her. He was an old man with pure white hair and a long beard.

He was not in the Emperor Realm.

This was something Meng Yue understood instantly. This was not someone who stood in the Emperor Realm. His Qi was very well hidden. Indeed, Meng Yue couldn’t believe it had taken her so long to detect him. For an Emperor to be able to conceal his Qi so well was quite a feat.

However, this man was not an Emperor.

The Qi Meng Yue could detect was undoubtedly in the Emperor Realm. She was certain those who managed to see through the first layer of deceit would be shocked upon discovering an Emperor.

There was just one problem with that.

“You are dying.”

Now that he was right in front of her, Meng Yue could feel the sorry state of his Qi. It was hard to believe he was not dead yet. That meant the only reason his Qi felt like it was in the Emperor Realm was that he was dying!

In other words, this person was someone who had at least taken the first step into the Divine Realms before being diminished like this!

“You are blunt.”

Meng Yue’s eyebrow twitched. The old man laughed.

“Relax. It is as you say. The one before you is a dying old man. I have no designs for you or your disciple. I am merely someone who has found a place to die in peace.”

Meng Yue believed him instantly. Her sisters would reproach her for being so trusting, yet she felt no falsehood in him.

“Still, this Old Jiang has gotten way too lax,” the old man said. “Since the most dangerous thing I’ve had to deal with has been a small Emperor, I’ve lowered my guard far too much lately.”

“The boy,” Meng Yue said as something clicked inside her mind. “Is he your disciple?”

“He is.”

Meng Yue’s delicate eyebrows rose.

“I see.”

In that case, she may have been mistaken. It may be that the boy’s and Xiao Shuang’s paths would cross once more in the future.

~~~