Lin Ming, the pride he had shown earlier still lingered in his smirk. The memory of those cousins' mocking faces played repeat in his mind.
"A hundred years…" he murmured, chuckling softly. "Let's see who laughs then."
He walked toward his bed and sat cross-legged. The faint fragrance of sandalwood hung in the air — a gift from the Jade Harmony Sect, supposedly to calm the mind before marriage.
Calm, however, was the last thing on his mind.
He looked down at his hand. A simple jade ring gleamed faintly around his finger — the Heavenly Marriage Token, the physical manifestation of his agreed engagement.
"Open Heavenly Marriage System!"
Then,
A faint shimmer in the air before a panel of light appeared before his eyes, made of pure spiritual essence — clear, translucent, and oddly beautiful.
[Heavenly Marriage System]
[Host: Li Ming]
[Age: 19]
[Spiritual Qi: 0]
[Comprehension: 0]
[Realm: None]
[Spiritual Root: None]
[Physique: Utter Mortal Physique (Common Grade)]
[Abilities: None]
[Wife Candidates]
[Wife Log]
[Wives: 0]
[Fiancée: 1]
Li Ming stared at it for a long moment.
Then, he sighed.
"Utter Mortal Physique…" he muttered. "Common grade… no Qi… no comprehension… no root…"
Each word stung more than the last.
It was one thing to know he was a mortal. It was another to see the heavens record it so mercilessly.
"If ridicule could kill," he said to himself, "I would've died long before my first cultivation lesson."
Still, as the soft glow of the panel shimmered, a small smile crept across his face.
"But even heaven has a sense of humor," he said lightly. "A mortal man about to marry a disciple of the Jade Harmony Sect. If that isn't irony, I don't know what is."
He dismissed the panel with a thought and lay back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. The faint glow from the lantern cast shifting shadows above him.
His thoughts wandered back to the system's most curious feature — the shared progression between husband and wife.
When the system had first appeared, it had explained its core principle.
In other words, once he and Su Yueru were wed, everything she cultivated, learned, or comprehended — from Qi to techniques to insights — would also flow into him.
A perfect duality. A perfect union.
And a perfect disaster waiting to happen.
Li Ming's smile faded slightly.
"If she cultivates too fast…" he murmured, thinking aloud, "and I rise along with her, then… people will start asking questions."
He imagined it vividly — the astonished elders, the suspicious looks, the countless whispers.
"How could a man without spiritual roots suddenly cultivate at a Nascent Soul pace?"
"What trickery is this?"
"Could he be some demonic cultivator hiding among us?"
Even the Jade Harmony Sect, his soon-to-be in-laws, might not remain kind if they believed he had stolen their disciple's fortune.
He rubbed his temples and groaned.
"Heavenly blessings, yes… but heaven's scrutiny as well."
His gaze drifted toward the small wooden box on his table. Inside it lay a single pill —
The Spirit Root Revival Pill.
A gift from Su Yueru herself.
A symbol of hope and futility.
Everyone in the Lin Clan knew it didn't work. It never had. There were countless cases of "mortal geniuses" hoping for miracles, swallowing dozens of such pills, only to die disappointed and bloated with spiritual residue.
He opened the box and picked up the pill, holding it between two fingers.
"The pill that cures nothing…" he muttered with a half-smile. "But the intention behind it is worth more than gold."
He studied the pill's smooth surface, lost in thought.
Then his eyes lit up.
"Wait…"
He sat up abruptly.
A spark of mischief flickered behind his calm gaze — the same spark that made his uncles sigh and his cousins wary.
"If… after the wedding night… I show signs of Qi circulation…"
He smirked, his fingers twirling the pill.
"Then everyone will think this pill worked."
The realization was deliciously simple. He could use the Spirit Root Revival Pill as the perfect cover story.
After the marriage ceremony, once he and Su Yueru consummated their union, his spiritual roots would inevitably awaken through the Heavenly Marriage Contract System — binding his growth to hers.
To the world, it would look like a miracle brought on by love and a lucky pill.
To him, it would be the beginning of divine deception.
"So," he said aloud, his smirk widening, "after all, I'll become the first man in history whose roots were revived through a combination of alchemy and… Sex."
He leaned back again, laughing quietly to himself.
He could already imagine the faces of those arrogant Jade Harmony disciples — the ones who had dreamed of winning Su Yueru's hand but were too cowardly to confess.
Once word spread that her husband had miraculously gained spiritual roots after their wedding night, every single one of them would turn green with envy.
"They'll choke on the word 'dual cultivation'," he said with amusement. "The moment they realize the act they crave to gossip about is what made me stronger…"
He shook his head, suppressing a grin.
"Heaven forgive me," he muttered, "but I think I'm beginning to enjoy this Dao."