"I REFUSE THIS MARRIAGE!"
Bai Yulian's voice rang sharp through the air, echoing off polished stone floors and carved jade pillars.
She stood tall in the center of the hall, dressed in a simple lavender changpao with silver embroidery. Her black hair was pinned with a jade clasp, her gaze unflinching.
On the high dais, the Bai Family's Matriarch Bai Meiling narrowed her eyes. Her crimson robe shimmered with golden phoenixes, and her hair held a soft red hue beneath the sunlight.
"How dare you say such words!" she said, her tone cold and heavy. "Is this how you repay me for the years I raised you?"
From the side, an elder in white robes stood, hands raised in placation, his voice mild. "Please, calm down. Let us not act in haste. I'm sure this can be resolved peacefull—"
"Peacefully?" a sharp voice cut in, slicing through the air like a sword unsheathed.
Mu Yunyao stepped forward, her steps silent. She wore a fitted black robe with red trim, her arms folded behind her. Her eyes glowed faintly with red Qi, and her presence filled the hall with quiet pressure.
"She should kneel and thank the heavens that the Young Master even glanced at her. What right does a girl from a third-rate family have to marry the heir of the Supreme Heaven Sect?"
Gasps rippled through the hall as servants whispered in hushed tones. The elders clenched their jaws, tempers flaring.
"How can she speak so brazenly?"
"Calling us third-rate, this is too much."
"Is the Bai Clan to be humiliated in our own hall?"
Yet amid the rising tension, the higher-ranking family members remained strangely silent. A few of them even lowered their gazes, avoiding the raged elders' eyes.
Matriarch Meiling herself said nothing. Her hands tightened around her jade-inlaid seat.
Then, before anyone else could speak, Bai Yulian took a step forward. Her voice rang clear.
"I, Bai Yulian, challenge Jiang Mingshi. Should he defeat me, I will accept the engagement without protest."
Mu Yunyao's eyes narrowed, the red glow in her gaze flaring.
Matriarch Meiling's grip tightened. A sharp sound echoed as cracks spread across the stone armrest beneath her fingers.
The hall fell into silence as all eyes turned to Jiang Mingshi, seated beside the Matriarch.
He wore dark robes trimmed with gold embroidery, not a wrinkle on the fine fabric. His long black hair was tied with a white jade pin, his figure composed and upright.
He held a porcelain cup and sipped tea in silence, his expression distant.
He looked like a figure from a painting, untouched by the chaos around him.
But inside?
He was trembling.
At any moment, he could choke on the tea.
'What the hell is happening?'
Just hours earlier, theatre actor Jiang Mingshi had been lying in bed, laughing at his friend's cosplay as a Jade Beauty.
Then the wall behind him shattered.
Concrete split, glass rained down, and a truck smashed through.
Then came darkness.
When he opened his eyes, he was lying on wooden floorboards, the scent of aged sandalwood thick in the air.
He groaned, tried to sit up.
As his vision cleared, he took in his regal robes, the silk curtains, the lavish interior around him. Everything looked like something out of ancient China.
He turned to the narrow window.
Clouds stretched in every direction, white and endless. Far below, a massive green dragon glided through the mist, each scale the size of a door, gleaming like jade in the sunlight.
His breath caught. Everything felt too real to be a prank.
He passed out from the shock.
Soon after, when he woke, the memories of the original surfaced. The former Jiang Mingshi had been a sword-obsessed lunatic.
He roamed the sect picking fights with other rising talents, leaving them crippled for years.
And if someone showed even a hint of skill that piqued his interest, he'd cut off an arm without hesitation, snuffing out their future with a casual slash.
As if possessing a villain wasn't bad enough, when Mingshi tried to channel his Qi, he realised his meridians were damaged, his core cracked.
And now, on top of that, he was facing a formal challenge.
To the original sword fanatic Jiang, backing down had never been an option, so refusing would only raise suspicion.
The old Jiang Mingshi had been walking on thin ice. Now, it had only grown thinner.
He sighed.
Mu Yunyao noticed and stepped toward him, offering a slight bow. "Young Master, let's leave. There are far better women lining up to marry y—"
Mingshi raised his hand, halting her words mid-sentence. The unhurried gesture carried finality. Even the hall fell silent.
He set the teacup down, rose from his seat, and descended from the high dais, his steps echoing as he landed on the polished stone floor a few paces from Bai Yulian.
She was at the early stage of the Foundation Establishment realm.
Meanwhile, his own cultivation had regressed from the peak of that realm to the early stage of the Qi Condensation realm.
He cried internally, looking at the difference.
'Just how… fucked up am I…?'
Drawing in a steady breath, he broke the pin-drop silence. "Instead of a duel," he said aloud, voice steady.
Yulian's brows narrowed.
"If you can withstand my one strike, you win. I'll even speak to my father personally to dissolve this engagement."
A wave of hushed voices broke out among the elders. On the high seat, Matriarch Meiling's gaze sharpened. Mu Yunyao's lips curved upward, pride flashing in her eyes.
"I'll even lower my realm," Mingshi added. "How about that?"
Yulian considered, then inclined her head.
Mingshi shifted his stance: left hand clasped behind his back, right hand raised at shoulder height, palm forward, fingers straight and together.
His plan was simple. Attack with whatever Qi he could muster and combine it with old Jiang's strongest palm technique. If she struggled even a little, he could walk away dashingly, making it seem he'd never intended to marry and had used this duel to let both sides save face.
A faint hum filled the air. Spiritual energy gathered at his palm, pulling in the surrounding Qi. Loose sleeves swayed as if tugged by an unseen wind.
Then—
[System Activated]
'Wait… what?'
[Stabilizing the Host's Cultivation]
'What the fuck?'
He struck.
The force erupted like a thunderclap. A shockwave rippled through the hall, warping the air.
Gasps rang out. Several elders half-rose from their seats, faces flickering with surprise. Mu Yunyao and Matriarch Meiling's eyes widened.
Mingshi himself was dumbfounded.
Yulian braced, Qi flaring violently as she raised her guard. The blast struck with a deafening crack, silk tore from her sleeves, hair whipped loose, and the floor splintered beneath her feet as she skidded back.
The force hurled her across the hall. She slammed into the far wall, stone splitting on impact, before bursting through a second and and collapsing in a cloud of dust.
When the dust thinned, she lay sprawled amid the rubble, blood streaking her temple, silk robes hanging in tatters, hands burned to raw flesh.
Several elders shot to their feet. The Matriarch surged up, her expression shifting from stunned disbelief to fury as her gaze locked on Jiang Mingshi.
Mingshi stood frozen, as he realized he'd just turned marriage talks into involuntary spouse-slaughter.
He began chanting under his breath. 'Please don't die. Please don't die. Please don't die…'