Yan Shuo stared at the glowing golden characters floating above the heavy parchment. His past life had taught him one absolute truth: there was no such thing as a free lunch in the cultivation world. If someone offered you a heavenly treasure, they usually wanted your soul in return.
But as his eyes scanned the terms of this Soul-Binding Marriage Contract, his veteran brain struggled to compute the sheer absurdity of it.
Party A (Tantai Zhi) swears to protect Party B (Yan Shuo) with her life.
Party A will share her cultivation base, heavenly resources, and lifespan with Party B.
Party A will annihilate any enemies that threaten Party B.
Party B's obligations: Belong exclusively to Party A. Stay by Party A's side.
He looked up from the scroll. The breathtaking woman was still staring at him with that intense, hungry gaze, completely ignoring the fine mist of blood that used to be three outer sect bullies floating in the breeze behind her.
"Is this a joke?" Yan Shuo asked, his voice steady despite his broken ribs. "Because if it is, it's a very elaborate one."
"I do not joke," Tantai Zhi said. Her voice was soft, but it carried a weight that made the air tremble. "Sign it."
"My meridians are shattered," Yan Shuo pointed out calmly. He wasn't trying to reject her; he was testing her reaction. "My dantian is leaking. In the eyes of the martial world, I am less than a stray dog. You are... well, you just vaporized three people by blinking. Why me?"
Tantai Zhi took a step closer. The tip of her blood-stained sword rested against the dirt. She reached out with her free hand and gently cupped his bruised cheek. Her touch was surprisingly warm, a stark contrast to the freezing killing intent she had just displayed.
"Because you are mine," she whispered, her golden eyes swirling with an emotion that bordered on madness. "You have always been mine. You just forgot."
Yan Shuo's eyes narrowed slightly. Always been hers? Did the original owner of this body know her? No, impossible. The kid was a nobody. Which meant... she was talking to him. The old monster who blew himself up a hundred years ago.
How did she know? Who was she?
He pushed the questions aside. It didn't matter right now. What mattered was the current situation. He was weak, he was in pain, and a peak-level expert was offering him the ultimate protection in exchange for playing house.
A foolish, arrogant young master would have slapped the contract away, screaming about his dignity and how he would rise to the top with his own two bare hands.
Yan Shuo just sighed. "Do you have a brush? I don't exactly have any Qi to bind it."
Tantai Zhi's terrifying, unhinged smile softened into something genuinely radiant. It was like the sun breaking through a blood-red sky. She lifted her own thumb, bit the tip until a drop of crimson blood welled up, and pressed it against his lips.
"Use mine," she murmured.
Yan Shuo didn't hesitate. He tasted the metallic tang of her blood, rich with an unimaginably vast spiritual energy. He pressed his thumb against his own lips, picking up the blood, and firmly stamped it onto the bottom of the golden scroll.
Buzz!
The moment his print settled, the contract burst into a pillar of golden light. It shot straight into the sky, piercing the clouds.
Yan Shuo gasped. An invisible, unbreakable thread suddenly slammed into his soul, connecting him directly to the woman standing in front of him.
It wasn't a master-servant seal. It was a true, equal soul-bind.
Instantly, a massive, ocean-like wave of pure, refined Yin energy flooded across the bond. It didn't crash into him aggressively. It flowed like a gentle, warm river, guided entirely by her careful control.
The agonizing pain in his chest vanished. He heard a series of soft cracks as his broken ribs magically snapped back into place. The black impurities clogging his pathetic meridians were instantly flushed out, replaced by a smooth, glowing spiritual power. Even the crack in his dantian began to slowly seal shut.
Yan Shuo let out a long breath, rolling his shoulders. He felt better than he had in a hundred years.
Damn, he thought, a genuine smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. This soft rice is delicious. I should have done this in my past life.
"Husband," Tantai Zhi whispered, her eyes glowing with absolute delight. She stepped completely into his personal space, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his chest. She breathed in his scent like a starving person given a feast.
Yan Shuo awkwardly patted her head. "Uh. Right. Wife."
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The tender moment was violently interrupted by the sound of tearing wind.
A dozen figures plummeted from the sky, landing heavily in the forest clearing. They were dressed in grand, sweeping robes of silver and blue—the official colors of the Azure Sword Sect's upper echelon.
At the front was a middle-aged man with a long beard and a panicked expression. It was the Sect Master himself, followed by the entire council of Core Elders. They had felt the overwhelming burst of energy from the contract and rushed over, expecting a natural disaster or a demonic invasion.
When the Sect Master saw the clearing, his face drained of all color.
He saw the mist of blood painting the grass. He saw the terrifying, untouchable Saintess, Tantai Zhi, standing in the middle of the carnage.
And most horrifying of all, he saw the notorious garbage of the Outer Sect, Yan Shuo, standing right next to her.
The Sect Master's knees instantly gave out. He dropped to the dirt, bowing his head so fast it cracked against a rock. The other elders immediately followed suit, trembling like leaves in a hurricane.
"Saintess Tantai!" the Sect Master cried out, his voice thick with terror. "Please quell your divine anger! We felt your spiritual pressure and came at once!"
Tantai Zhi didn't move. She kept her face buried in Yan Shuo's chest, her arms wrapped tightly around him.
Yan Shuo just stood there, awkwardly patting the back of the most dangerous woman in the world, staring down at the groveling Sect Master.
The Sect Master didn't dare look up. He pointed a shaking finger directly at Yan Shuo.
"This trash disciple!" the Sect Master shouted, trying to sound righteous and furious to appease the Saintess. "He must have offended your holy eyes with his mere presence! I apologize for the filth of our Outer Sect! Please, allow me to execute this useless garbage personally, so your pure hands do not have to get dirty!"
One of the elders chimed in, eager to please. "Yes! We will tear his limbs off and throw him to the spirit beasts! We swear he will never bother you again!"
Yan Shuo raised an eyebrow. He looked down at Tantai Zhi.
He felt the air around them stop.
Literally stop. The wind died. The rustling leaves froze in place. The ambient spiritual energy in the forest completely crystallized.
Tantai Zhi slowly pulled her face away from Yan Shuo's chest. She turned her head to look at the kneeling Sect Master.
Her flawless, beautiful face was devoid of all expression. Her golden eyes had turned as cold and dead as a frozen grave.
"Execute... who?" she asked. Her voice was barely a whisper, yet it echoed like thunder in the minds of every elder present.
The Sect Master swallowed hard, cold sweat pouring down his face. "T-The trash, Saintess. The crippled boy. Yan Shuo."
"I see," Tantai Zhi said simply.
She slowly let go of Yan Shuo. She took one single step toward the Sect Master.
Crack.
The sheer gravity of her killing intent slammed into the elders like a falling mountain. The ground beneath them instantly shattered, forming a massive spiderweb of deep craters. Three of the weaker elders immediately vomited blood and collapsed, their bones groaning under the pressure.
The Sect Master was pressed flat against the dirt, completely unable to breathe. His eyes bugged out in absolute horror. He had no idea what he had done wrong.
"You wish to tear his limbs off," Tantai Zhi stated, her voice echoing with a demonic resonance. Her red robes billowed around her, making her look like a goddess of slaughter descending upon the mortal realm. "You wish to throw him to the beasts."
"S-Saintess... mercy..." the Sect Master choked out, blood leaking from his nose.
Yan Shuo watched the scene with mild amusement. He felt zero pity for these old fools. In his past life, these were the exact type of hypocrites who would smile at you while stabbing you in the back. Now, they were getting pressed into pancakes because they tried to suck up to the wrong person.
Tantai Zhi raised her hand, her pale fingers curling into a claw. The air around the Sect Master's throat began to violently compress.
"He is my husband," Tantai Zhi declared. Her voice washed over the mountain, echoing into every single courtyard, training hall, and meditation cave of the Azure Sword Sect. "His life is my life. His enemies are my enemies."
She turned her cold, dead gaze across the terrified elders.
"And you just threatened to kill my husband in front of me."
The Sect Master's eyes rolled back. He was actually going to die. The supreme expert of the continent was going to be strangled to death in the dirt of the outer sect slums over a boy who couldn't even wield a wooden sword yesterday.
Yan Shuo decided it was time to step in. Not because he cared about the Sect Master, but because if she killed the entire leadership, he wouldn't have anyone to assign him a nice, quiet courtyard to drink his morning tea.
"Wife," Yan Shuo called out casually.
The terrifying, mountain-crushing pressure vanished instantly.
The elders collapsed into the dirt, gasping for air like dying fish.
Tantai Zhi immediately turned around. The demonic, world-ending killing intent disappeared from her face, replaced by a soft, eager, deeply obsessive smile. She practically skipped back to his side, grabbing his arm and hugging it tightly against her chest.
"Yes, Husband?" she asked sweetly.
The contrast was so extreme it gave the surviving elders whiplash. The Sect Master lifted his head from the dirt, staring at the scene in complete, mind-shattering disbelief.
The untouchable, icy Saintess. The woman who had just nearly wiped out their entire ruling council with a single glance. She was currently rubbing her cheek against the arm of the outer sect's biggest piece of garbage, looking at him like he was the only thing that existed in the universe.
Yan Shuo gave the Sect Master a polite, business-like smile.
"I think they get the message," Yan Shuo said to her, patting her hand. He looked back at the elders. "Right, Sect Master? We wouldn't want any misunderstandings about tearing off my limbs, would we?"
The Sect Master stared at Yan Shuo, then at the lingering golden light of the contract floating faintly in the air above them, binding their auras together.
"M-Misunderstanding," the Sect Master stammered, his teeth chattering so hard they nearly cracked. "A complete... misunderstanding. Young Master Yan... no, Lord Yan! This one was blind! This one failed to see Mount Tai!"
Yan Shuo nodded approvingly. He liked smart people.
"Good," Yan Shuo said. He casually leaned against his terrifying wife, fully embracing his new role. "Now, my chest still aches, and my outer sect hut is a bit drafty. I believe the Inner Sect has some very nice, high-grade spiritual hot springs?"
Tantai Zhi's eyes lit up with dangerous, eager excitement. "Hot springs? Oh, Husband, we absolutely must. I need to personally inspect your meridians tonight to ensure your full recovery."
Yan Shuo paused. The way she said personally inspect sounded highly suspicious.
The Sect Master violently slammed his head against the ground again. "Of course! The highest peak! The Grand Elder's private estate is yours! Please, Lord Yan, take it! Take whatever you want!"
Yan Shuo smiled. Farming spirit herbs for sixty years sounded exhausting anyway.
"Lead the way," he said.