The sun was fully up by the time Yan Shuo stepped out of the jade hot spring. He stretched, feeling his joints pop in a deeply satisfying rhythm.
He looked down at his new body. The dark purple bruises were entirely gone. The sickening, sickly pale skin of a starved outer disciple had been replaced by a healthy, glowing complexion. Beneath his skin, he could feel the vibrant, rushing current of his newly repaired meridians.
Ninth Level of the Qi Condensation Realm.
He let out a low whistle. In his past life, it took him three years of brutal fighting, starving in the wilderness, and nearly getting eaten by spirit wolves to reach this level. This time? A single night of cultivation in the spiritual spring with his wife had pushed him there.
"Husband?" a soft, sweet voice called out.
Tantai Zhi emerged from the water behind him. The crimson silk clung to her flawless figure, entirely soaked, but with a casual wave of her pale hand, a gentle breeze of warm spiritual energy washed over them. Instantly, both her hair and her robes were perfectly dry.
She walked up to him and immediately wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her chin on his chest. She looked up at him with those wide, hopelessly devoted golden eyes.
"Did you sleep well?" she asked, completely ignoring the fact that she had just sliced a mountain in half ten minutes ago.
"I slept wonderfully, Wife," Yan Shuo smiled, casually patting her head. He walked over to the grand wooden wardrobe the Grand Elder had left behind in his haste. He opened it and pulled out a set of pristine, high-grade white silk robes. "But I think we should go check on that 'emergency'. It would be rude to keep our guests waiting after you gave them such a warm welcome."
Tantai Zhi pouted, her grip tightening around him. "Let them wait. They are just annoying bugs from the Righteous Alliance. If they bother you, I can just go over there and crush them right now."
Yan Shuo paused as he tied his sash. The Righteous Alliance.
A hundred years ago, the Righteous Alliance was the massive, hypocritical coalition of major sects that had hunted him down to steal the Heavenly Dao Relic. He had blown up their entire leadership council when he detonated his core. Apparently, like rats, they had survived and rebuilt themselves.
"No need for crushing just yet," Yan Shuo said, his eyes gleaming with a lazy, pragmatic amusement. "Let's go see what they want. It's been a long time since I've seen a Righteous Alliance envoy. I want to see if they are still as arrogant as I remember."
Tantai Zhi's pout vanished, replaced by a radiant smile. If her husband wanted to go look at bugs, then she would happily take him to look at bugs. "Whatever Husband wants."
The Main Peak of the Azure Sword Sect was a scene of absolute chaos.
The protective spiritual barrier that had guarded the Sect Master's hall for five hundred years was gone—sliced cleanly in half by a massive, lingering trench of crimson sword Qi that had melted the stone pavement into glass.
Standing in the center of the ruined courtyard was a young man dressed in dazzling silver armor and pure white robes. His chin was tilted up so high he was practically staring at the sky. This was Lu Feng, the special envoy of the Righteous Alliance.
He was at the late stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm. To a small place like the Azure Sword Sect, he was an absolute genius. He was used to being treated like royalty wherever he went.
But right now, his handsome face was twisted in fury.
"Sect Master!" Lu Feng barked, pointing a scabbard at the groveling old man. "I came here bearing official orders from the Alliance, and your sect greets me with a sword strike that nearly took my head off?! Is the Azure Sword Sect planning a rebellion?!"
The Sect Master was sweating so heavily his robes were soaked. He was caught between a rock and the terrifying Saintess herself.
Either way, he was dead.
"Envoy Lu, please calm your anger!" the Sect Master pleaded, bowing repeatedly. "It was a misunderstanding! Our... our Saintess was simply startled! She has been in secluded cultivation, and the loud announcement disturbed her peace!"
"Disturbed her peace?" Lu Feng sneered coldly. "Does she think she is above the Righteous Alliance? I don't care if she is your precious Saintess. Summon her immediately! The Alliance has detected a massive surge of demonic energy in this region last night, and we demand her assistance in investigating it!"
The Sect Master whimpered. He knew exactly what that 'massive surge of energy' was. It was the Soul-Binding Marriage Contract between the Saintess and the worst trash in the sect. But he didn't dare say that out loud.
"You don't need to shout. We can hear you just fine."
A calm, deeply relaxed voice drifted into the courtyard.
Lu Feng turned around, his eyes flashing with irritation.
Descending gracefully from the sky on a cloud of condensed crimson Qi was Tantai Zhi. Her beauty was so profound, so utterly flawless, that the entire courtyard fell into a dead silence. Lu Feng's breath hitched in his throat. He had seen many fairies and jade beauties in the Alliance headquarters, but none of them could even compare to a single strand of this woman's hair.
Greed and lust instantly flared in Lu Feng's eyes. If I can bring a beauty of this level back as my dual cultivation partner...
But then, Lu Feng noticed the person standing next to her.
Yan Shuo stepped off the crimson cloud, stretching his neck lazily. He was dressed in elegant white robes, but his aura was painfully obvious.
Ninth Level of Qi Condensation.
To a mortal, that was superhuman. But to a Foundation Establishment genius from the Central Continent like Lu Feng, it was the aura of a glorified servant. An insect.
What made Lu Feng's blood boil, however, was that this 'insect' was holding the untouchable Saintess's hand. And she was leaning against his shoulder, looking at him with an expression of pure, concentrated devotion.
"Who are you?" Lu Feng demanded, his voice dripping with venom. He completely ignored Yan Shuo and looked directly at Tantai Zhi. "Saintess, I am Lu Feng of the Righteous Alliance. Why is a filthy Qi Condensation slave standing so close to you? Have your sect elders forgotten how to discipline their servants?"
The Sect Master, still kneeling on the ground, closed his eyes and started praying to his ancestors. He's dead. The envoy is a dead man.
Yan Shuo didn't look angry. He didn't puff out his chest or draw a weapon. He simply turned his head and looked at Tantai Zhi.
"Wife," Yan Shuo said, his voice mild and conversational. "He called me a slave."
Tantai Zhi stopped leaning against his shoulder.
She didn't scream. She didn't draw her sword. She simply turned her gaze toward Lu Feng.
The temperature in the courtyard plummeted to absolute zero.
The bright morning sun suddenly felt like an illusion. A suffocating, world-ending spiritual pressure slammed down on the courtyard, infinitely heavier than the strike that had destroyed the barrier.
Lu Feng's arrogant sneer vanished in a fraction of a second. The silver armor he was so proud of groaned, bending inward as if an invisible giant had just stepped on his chest.
"A slave?" Tantai Zhi repeated. Her voice was barely a whisper, yet it rang in Lu Feng's ears like the tolling of a death bell. Her golden eyes were completely dead, swirling with a manic, bloody darkness. "You dared to speak to my husband. And you called him... a slave?"
BANG!
Lu Feng was violently forced to his knees. The jade pavement beneath him shattered into powder. He opened his mouth to scream, but the pressure was so immense it crushed the air out of his lungs. Blood burst from his nose and lips.
"S-Saintess... wait!" Lu Feng choked out, his eyes wide with absolute, mind-shattering terror. He tried to summon his Foundation Establishment Qi to resist, but it was like a drop of water trying to push back the ocean. His cultivation was completely locked down.
"I am going to peel your skin off," Tantai Zhi stated plainly, taking a slow step forward. "I am going to extract your soul, refine it in a ghost flame for a thousand years, and feed your physical body to the lowest swamp rats."
She wasn't exaggerating. She was completely serious.
"Wife, wait a moment," Yan Shuo said.
He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
Instantly, the world-ending pressure vanished. Tantai Zhi stopped in her tracks. She turned around, the dead, murderous look in her eyes instantly melting back into a sweet, incredibly docile smile.
"Yes, Husband? Do you want to kill him yourself?" she asked, her voice light and cheerful.
Lu Feng collapsed on his hands and knees, violently coughing up a mouthful of blood and broken teeth. He stared up at Yan Shuo, his brain completely failing to comprehend what was happening. Who is this man?! Why does the strongest woman I've ever seen obey him like a loyal beast?!
Yan Shuo walked forward, his hands clasped casually behind his back. He stopped right in front of the kneeling, bleeding envoy.
"You mentioned a surge of demonic energy," Yan Shuo said calmly, looking down at Lu Feng. "The Alliance sent you here to investigate it. Why?"
Lu Feng glared up at him, his pride still trying to fight through the terror. "You... you trash. The Alliance will not forgive this. If you kill me, the grand army will wipe the Azure Sword Sect off the map!"
Yan Shuo sighed. He hated repeating himself. He glanced back at Tantai Zhi.
"Wife. Break his left arm."
CRACK.
It happened so fast Lu Feng didn't even see her move. One second she was standing behind Yan Shuo, and the next, Lu Feng's left arm was twisted backward at a horrifying, unnatural angle.
A blood-curdling scream ripped from Lu Feng's throat as he collapsed onto his side, writhing in agony.
"I asked you a question," Yan Shuo said, his voice still perfectly even. He didn't look like a teenager. He looked exactly like the ancient, ruthless warlord he used to be. "Why is the Alliance looking for demonic energy here? You have five seconds before my wife breaks your right leg."
"The Relic!" Lu Feng screamed, tears streaming down his face as the arrogance was completely beaten out of him. "The Heavenly Dao Relic! The Alliance's grand seers detected a ripple in the Heavenly Dao last night! They believe the inheritance of the old Demon Lord Yan has finally appeared in this province! They sent me to gather the local sects to search for it!"
Yan Shuo's eyes widened slightly in realization.
Ah.
When he signed the soul-binding contract with Tantai Zhi last night, his soul—the soul of Demon Lord Yan—had reconnected with the Heavenly Dao to finalize the vow. The old fools in the Righteous Alliance hadn't sensed demonic energy. They had sensed him. They thought his inheritance was buried out here.
A genuine, highly amused smile spread across Yan Shuo's face.
A hundred years had passed, and these idiots were still chasing his shadow.
"I see," Yan Shuo chuckled softly. He looked down at the pathetic, sobbing envoy.
He could have Tantai Zhi kill him right now. But Yan Shuo was a pragmatist. Killing a low-level messenger boy would just make the Alliance send more annoying bugs. He needed them to back off so he could enjoy his soft rice in peace.
"Listen to me very carefully, Envoy Lu," Yan Shuo crouched down, meeting the terrified man's eyes. "You are going to go back to your grand Alliance. You are going to tell them that you searched the Azure Sword Sect, and you found absolutely nothing. No relics. No inheritances."
Lu Feng nodded frantically, spitting blood. "Yes! Nothing! I swear!"
"And," Yan Shuo continued, his smile turning slightly colder. "You will tell them that the Saintess of the Azure Sword Sect is currently married. She is happily enjoying her honeymoon, and her husband hates loud noises. If the Alliance sends another envoy here to disturb my peace..."
Yan Shuo stood up, dusting off his pristine white robes.
"My wife will pay your headquarters a personal visit. Understand?"
Lu Feng looked past Yan Shuo to Tantai Zhi. The breathtaking woman was smiling sweetly, but she gently tapped the hilt of her blood-stained sword with one finger, her eyes promising unspeakable horrors if he disagreed.
"I understand! I understand completely, Lord Yan!" Lu Feng wept, scrambling to his feet despite his shattered arm. He didn't even summon his flying sword. He just started running down the mountain stairs as fast as his legs could carry him, desperate to escape the nightmare.
Yan Shuo watched him go, feeling incredibly satisfied.
He turned around and opened his arms. Tantai Zhi instantly rushed into them, hugging him tightly.
"Husband is so merciful," she murmured against his chest, her eyes sparkling with adoration. "You spared that bug just to send a message. You are so smart."
Yan Shuo chuckled, wrapping an arm around her waist and leading her back toward their private peak.
"I simply dislike cleaning blood before my morning tea, Wife. Now, I believe the Grand Elder left behind some very expensive spiritual tea. Shall we go brew a pot?"
"Only if Husband lets me feed it to him," she smiled.
Yan Shuo sighed happily. Living as a pampered waste disciple truly wasn't a bad life.