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Shen Qingdan’s eyes glinted, and she said in an aggrieved tone, “It seems that Young Master Tang really doesn’t like me one bit. And here I thought that Young Master actually liked me when you saved me that one time outside of Red Plum Ridge.”

“Is that so? Then I truly regret that time when I foolishly helped you stop that attack,” Tang Jie rudely replied. The best way to end a woman’s romantic pursuits was to shatter her delusions.

Seeing that she couldn’t make Tang Jie recall his empathetic heart, Shen Qingdan changed her tone, smiling and saying, “But I was very happy about it. If not for that incident, I would not have chosen Young Master Tang. Who asked you to be so impulsive, pressing me underneath your body? Now that we’ve shared a physical relationship, it’s not proper for me to be with anyone else.”

When Tang Jie had saved Shen Qingdan, he really had pressed her under his body, though he hadn’t expected her to claim it as the reason to choose him as her husband. But despite her soft tone, her eyes were clear and resolved. She clearly had her own thoughts on the matter, not at all like a woman who wanted to be with a man for the rest of her life simply because she had been hugged once.

Realizing this, Tang Jie replied, “If that’s the case, since we’re already that intimate, let’s deepen our relationship!”

He strode toward Shen Qingdan.

Shen Qingdan was clearly alarmed by Tang Jie’s actions, and there was no way she could really let Tang Jie come over and embrace her. She waved her jade-like hand, and a cloudy sleeve floated up to form a wall between the two of them.

Tang Jie used the Chaoswind Step to bypass the sleeve wall. Appearing in front of Shen Qingdan, he reached out to grab her while saying, “Young Palace Lord, there’s no need to be so distant.”

Shen Qingdan was aghast. She raised her arm to thrust her palm at Tang Jie, her palm shining with a jade-like luster.

But Tang Jie was ready, sneering as Shen Qingdan made ready to attack, “The Jade Pearl Hand? That’s perfect. I have a Jade Shattering Finger.”

He thrust out a finger, striking Shen Qingdan’s palm. She cried out, her face wincing in pain, and this was only because Tang Jie was holding back. A moment later, Tang Jie grabbed her wrist while the other hand reached for her waist, coldly saying, “If a beauty wants it, then I should grant her wish and grow a little closer.”

He moved his mouth toward Shen Qingdan’s face.

“No!” Shen Qingdan shouted.

Tang Jie’s mouth stopped one centimeter from Shen Qingdan’s face, and he calmly stared at her.

The girl’s chest heaved up and down a few times before she finally said, “Let me go, and I’ll tell you why I chose you.”

“You don’t need to say anything. I already understand,” Tang Jie coldly said. “The Immortal Fortune Conference has lasted for about a month, and over such a long period, there’s no reason the Wandering Palace shouldn’t have found everything about all the participating students. You should have realized my servant student status long ago. For you to still choose me despite the circumstances can only mean that you were aiming at exactly this status, yes?”

While they might have been able to deceive Tang Jie initially, Tang Jie would have had to be a fool if he couldn’t understand after being given some time. The other party had clearly prepared for this. They wanted nothing more than to use Tang Jie’s status to delay, which was why the young palace lord had made a decision so quickly after learning his status to change to an engagement. If one considered how natural and unrestrained her words had been and considered all the other abnormalities, there was no doubt that they had come prepared. This was how Tang Jie had noticed that something was wrong.

The only thing he didn’t get was…

“Why didn’t you delay the Wandering Palace joining a faction along with it?” Tang Jie asked.

The young palace lord coldly replied, “Do you really think the six major sects would allow that? It’s not like you didn’t see Xie Fengtang’s expression when I talked about putting off the engagement, like that of a ravenous dog. Mother has already given up on thoughts of freedom and is only thinking about me.”

“Then why pick me? Even if you wanted to delay, others would do just fine. As for a reason, you can just find one, and if you really can’t find one, you can just create one. So long as you’re willing to pay, are you really worried about not finding a suitable person?”

The young palace lord arched her brows. “You think that this lady didn’t try? My Wandering Palace got in touch with Godhead Palace long ago, and so long as any one person from Godhead Palace got one of the ten treasures, this lady would select him, even preparing a fake young palace lord for them so that they could really get married. But because of you, Godhead Palace was completely wiped out, not a single person making it through!”

It turned out that the fake young palace lord had been prepared for Godhead Palace. It was no wonder the Wandering Palace hadn’t feared discovery, for Godhead Palace understood this. They only wanted the Wandering Palace, so they didn’t mind the fake young palace lord. As for Godhead Palace and the Wandering Palace privately colluding with each other, this was made obvious by all those Goldplate Soldiers across Red Plum City.

“If there’s no Godhead Palace, there’s still the Thousand Passions Sect and the Seven Absolutions Sect,” Tang Jie replied. He could understand why the young palace lord hadn’t chosen Wei Tianchong, for Wei Tianchong’s image really didn’t put him in the competition, at least when compared to those of the other two sects.

To his surprise, the young palace lord sneered, “I can’t believe you can even say that! The remaining two sects are the ones I hate the most. The entire thing about the fake young palace lord was found out by the Thousand Passions Sect, but while it was fine for them to know, they only knew half the truth and thought that they could use it to threaten us, so they gave us the very lowest bid. They really thought that they could get whatever they wanted from us! My mother couldn’t possibly agree to their terms.”

“Then the Seven Absolutions Sect?”

“‘The Seven Absolutions Sect’? I, Shen Qingdan, would rather die than join with someone from the Seven Absolutions Sect!” Shen Qingdan’s reaction was far more intense than Tang Jie had anticipated. It appeared that she utterly loathed the Seven Absolutions Sect.

But the Seven Absolutions Sect itself didn’t seem aware of this, or else Mu Yi wouldn’t have fought so hard. Even if he wasn’t the most handsome, he might have still privately hoped that the young palace lord was someone who thought that it was what was inside that counted.

Tang Jie was astonished by Shen Qingdan’s stance, asking, “Why is that?”

“It’s all because of those damn Wang siblings,” Shen Qingdan spat.

“‘The Wang siblings’?” Tang Jie was confused.

“Yes!” Shen Qingdan replied. “The Wang siblings are the most infuriating of people. The younger sister, Wang Yun, is a student of Heart Severing Pavilion and is a most petty and conniving person, always spying on other people and trying to learn their secrets, relying on the power of her strong older brother to do as she pleases. Her big brother is called Wang Juemie, and he’s the most outstanding genius in the younger generation of the Seven Absolutions Sect. He’s already reached peak Mortal Shedding and cultivates both energy and blood. When it comes to body refining, he’s on par with you. In a situation like this, do you really think I should choose the Seven Absolutions Sect and throw myself into the net?”

Tang Jie found the description rather familiar, and then he remembered how, in his battle with the Seven Absolutions Sect, Xiao Wen and Mu Yi had been talking about their Great Brother Wang being a body refiner even stronger than Tang Jie.

Tang Jie said, “Could this Wang Juemie be the Seven Absolutions Sect’s ‘Great Brother Wang’?”

The young palace lord glanced at him. “So you also know of him. Yes, it’s that Great Brother Wang. This person is unimaginably strong, and it’s said that the Seven Absolutions Sect has already entrusted him with the ascendancy of the sect. This is precisely why this guy has an unruly and ruthless personality. He uses his name as his title, the Annihilation King (Juemie Wang). In the younger generation, only he dares to call himself a king. It’s said that though he’s at Mortal Shedding, he’s bold enough to battle against Celestial Hearts! Two years ago, I met him once, and he… he…”

Her voice trailed off.

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Tang Jie understood what she was getting at.

The young palace lord was an astounding beauty, her looks completely on par with Xu Miaoran’s. It was commonplace for people to take a liking to her, but this Wang Juemie had presumably tried to force himself on her.

“Yet he didn’t participate in this Immortal Fortune Conference?” Tang Jie couldn’t help but remark. But he soon realized, “The age limit?”

Shen Qingdan nodded. “Precisely! I loathe this man, so I intentionally lowered the age limit to be within five years of me. This man is nearing thirty, so he didn’t have the right to participate. Moreover, if he did participate, none of his peers would be able to win. Compared to him, your Basking Moon Sect’s Bei Canghan and Wu Xianguang are nothing but clay dolls!”

Tang Jie only now understood why the age limit had been made to be within five years. It was precisely so that Wang Juemie wouldn’t have a chance.

The young palace lord continued, “Alas, even then, the Wang siblings wouldn’t give up. And that Wang Yun was petty to the extreme, actively plotting against me. This woman has all sorts of tricks and is adept at stealing and infiltration. One night, she snuck into the Wandering Palace and heard of our plans, after which she began to brazenly spread rumors, putting us in an extremely passive position. There was even one night where she infiltrated my room to eavesdrop on more secrets and almost ended up capturing me.”

Tang Jie immediately recalled the woman he had met that night, blurting out, “So it was her!”

Tang Jie instantly regretted saying that.

Shen Qingdan’s bright eyes stared at his face as she slowly said, “That night… So it really was you?”

———————————

Silence!

A deathly stillness.

After a long while, Tang Jie exhaled. “I really didn’t think that you were still scheming, even now. Did you say all that on purpose? Trying to test me again?”

Shen Qingdan grinned. “Young Master Tang must be joking. Young Master displayed farsight, decisiveness, and adaptability in the blessed land, and Shen Qingdan bore witness to it all. A little ploy like this is nothing but a clumsy trick in front of a master. Please forgive me for this discourtesy. But everything I said just now was true, and there was no intent to deceive.”

Tang Jie coldly said, “I also don’t think someone of your intelligence is capable of playing these tricks. But there’s still a difference between the prepared and unprepared. You had the initiative in the selection of the groom, leaving my mind in panic and unsettled. Being taken advantage of while one’s mind is in disarray is unavoidable.”

Shen Qingdan was somewhat displeased about how he had said that she lacked intelligence for such schemes, but she had had a good upbringing, and she managed to restrain herself. Smiling, she said, “Young Master is correct. As the prepared party versus the unprepared party, this lady has the advantage. In truth, this lady also wished to verify who the hero was that saved this lady that day. Now that it has been confirmed to be Young Master Tang, a great burden has lifted from my heart. I was saying, ‘How could that You Shaofeng be someone capable of saving me?'”

She grinned at Tang Jie, but her words carried a dangerous undertone. The words ‘You Shaofeng’ alone let Tang Jie know that she had a firm grip on him.

At the very minimum, his ability to transform into other people had been exposed.

Although this secret itself didn’t mean too much and couldn’t be linked to the Tang Jie within Ten Direction Valley, at times, only a few clues were needed.

Since Tang Jie could somehow gain the ability to transform, why couldn’t he also gain the ability to form an avatar before he should be able to? And if one also considered the fox that had disappeared from Old Crow Ridge, some answers would become evident.

For Godhead Palace, there were still many far-fetched circumstances surrounding You Shaofeng’s entering the valley, too many things that didn’t make sense. While they thought that they had their answer, there were still many lingering questions.

If someone added some fuel to the fire at this moment, the flame would once more lead Godhead Palace back to Tang Jie.

Tang Jie could not, nor was he willing to, take this risk.

He looked at Shen Qingdan for a while before finally saying, “It seems like you think that you can do whatever you want to me now that you’ve gotten a hold of my weak spot.”

Shen Qingdan smiled. “Young Master Tang, you’re the one who seems like he wants to do whatever he wants with someone else right now.”

Tang Jie remembered that he was still holding Shen Qingdan’s hand.

Grunting, he let Shen Qingdan go, took a few steps back, and sat down. “You clearly know that I’m on good terms with Lady Xu, yet you still insisted on jumping out and ruining things. You clearly know that whoever you pick will become that Wang Juemie’s enemy, but you still picked me… Now that I think about it, I saved you twice. Is this how you reward your savior?”

“You were clearly attacking me in the forest. Does that count as saving me, too?” Shen Qingdan asked with a glare.

“You were hiding and refusing to show yourself, so what’s wrong with me taking you for an enemy lurking in ambush and striking first? Regardless, without this young master sacrificing himself to save you, even if you didn’t die, you certainly wouldn’t have been able to keep your face intact,” Tang Jie replied, waving his finger.

Shen Qingdan glared, clearly angered by Tang Jie’s words. “You still can’t count that as one time. Half, at best.”

“Fine, fine—half. So it’s one and a half times. I’ve saved you one and a half times, and you repay me by throwing me into a trap?” Tang Jie asked back.

Shen Qingdan fell silent.

She wasn’t stupid, but she was still inferior to Tang Jie. The reason she had been able to get one over him was precisely that, as Tang Jie said, the prepared had the advantage over the unprepared. If Tang Jie had been ready, she would have been unable to take control of the situation.

Tang Jie had dropped the matter of the engagement and was now speaking about gratitude and righteousness. Shen Qingdan hadn’t expected him to try this avenue, and momentarily didn’t know how to respond. She wasn’t someone who had spent many years acting shamelessly in internet forums, and she had rather thin skin. Additionally, this was an era that valued loyalty and camaraderie. Tang Jie’s words had left her feeling rather embarrassed, and finally, she timidly said, “It can’t be called a real trap. I just didn’t get your approval. But you also can’t completely blame me for this. Those who took part in the Immortal Fortune Conference knew that they were in contention to be selected as a groom. You had your own ulterior motives, and who can you blame except for yourself that you failed to get away?”

Tang Jie groaned, “If I knew that this would be the result, I wouldn’t have come even if I had to be beaten to death!”

Shen Qingdan raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that? Am I really not on par with that Xu Miaoran in any aspect?”

She was starting to feel a little envious.

Tang Jie smiled. “It’s just that my heart already belongs to someone else. Regardless, your business has left me in a very passive position. You have to give me an explanation.”

Shen Qingdan replied, “What’s there to explain? We’re just going through the motions. If that Wei Tianchong needs to reach Celestial Heart, he might go his entire life without being able to do so. If he doesn’t reach Celestial Heart, you and I might never get married. After a hundred years, we can find any random reason to end the engagement.”

Tang Jie sneered, “So that really is what you were planning. One doesn’t want to marry and the other doesn’t want to be married off, so they’re just playing a game, and you have my secret to threaten me into playing along.”

Shen Qingdan immediately replied, “Your words are a little too ugly. ‘Threaten you’? This Qingdan was curious and tried to test you a little. Since you’re unhappy about it, I’ll keep it to myself. If you keep to your duty, I won’t make trouble for you.”

“I see,” Tang Jie laughed. “It seems you’re afraid I’ll use my status as the Wandering Palace’s groom to make trouble for you all. Truly, reaping all the profits for yourself while making me take all of the blame and trouble! You’ve really thought things through.”

Shen Qingdan went red in the face. “I know that Young Master is being somewhat wronged in all this, and as Young Master truly did save me, you may select several treasures from the palace. While the Wandering Palace is not the six major sects, it does have its own wealth.”

Tang Jie coldly replied, “There’s no need. If I want something, I’ll go get it myself rather than selling off my body. Since we’re all just playing a game, then in the future, let’s just stay out of each other’s business. After a few years, we’ll just find an excuse to cancel the engagement.”

He stood up and walked out of the palace.

Shen Qingdan watched him leave, a complicated expression on her face.

Ever since that meeting, she had actually been paying a lot of attention to Tang Jie. And while she had selected Tang Jie partially because he had fit all the conditions, it also partially had to do with his outstanding attributes. After all, since it was all fake anyway, what was wrong with picking Wei Tianchong? So long as he was promised rich rewards, they could find any random reason to put off the marriage. Why did she have to pick Tang Jie?

Privately, Shen Qingdan had a rather good impression of Tang Jie.

But she hadn’t expected Tang Jie’s stance to be so unyielding and him to be completely unwilling to put up a front.

As the young palace lord of the Wandering Palace, she had grown up accustomed to authority, and while her upbringing had been decent such that she did not grow tyrannical, she couldn’t help but consider herself above others.

She was naturally left uncomfortable by Tang Jie’s rejection, unsatisfied and humiliated. As her beautiful eyes wandered, she came up with an idea and muttered, “Since you refuse to accept me, I’ll do everything I can to seize your attention, hooking your soul before throwing it away, making you resent your decision for the rest of your life! I don’t believe that I can’t compare to Xu Miaoran!”

She had revealed she knew Tang Jie’s secret for fear that Tang Jie would abuse his status as the groom to bother and extort the Wandering Palace, but now that Tang Jie wasn’t bothering her, she chose to bother him.

Truly, the affairs of the world were like a game of go. Who could predict everything?

—————————

That night, Tang Jie returned to his residence and held a conversation with Xu Miaoran through message talismans. After he explained everything to her, Xu Miaoran was finally able to relax.

Rather than breaking up over this matter, the two of them actually grew closer.

Xu Miaoran had long since known that Tang Jie was a servant student, which was why she had insisted that he work as hard as possible. If Tang Jie was able to enter Celestial Heart within one hundred years, there was some hope for their relationship, but the question of Wei Tianchong would remain a problem. Fortunately, so long as Wei Tianchong reached Mortal Shedding, Tang Jie would cease to be a servant. Even if Wei Tianchong couldn’t reach Celestial Heart, Tang Jie would only belong to the Wei Clan and would not have a lowly status. So long as Tang Jie performed well, Xu Miaoran believed that she could persuade her father.

This left Tang Jie rather conflicted. He hoped that Wei Tianchong would shed his mortality early so that he could be free of one of his fetters, but he also feared that if Wei Tianchong shed his mortality too early, the external pressure would compel him to get together with Shen Qingdan, which would be hard to get out of.

As he thought about it all and grew internally conflicted, he ultimately realized that none of this was his problem and that there was no point in him thinking about it. It was best to let nature take its course.

Understanding, Tang Jie threw his head back and heartily laughed before finally falling asleep.

The next morning, the cultivators began to leave Red Plum Ridge. After more than a month, the Immortal Fortune Conference was finally coming to a close.

The Basking Moon Sect delegation, led by Xie Fengtang, boarded a giant ship and set off back home, and with them was the Wandering Palace. This time, when the Wandering Palace entered the territory of the Sageheart Kingdom, it would not be leaving easily. The Basking Moon Sect had already found a good cultivation location for them: Qiong Province’s Kingpass Mountain. Kingpass Mountain was a beautiful area with talented individuals and rich spirituality. It had everything one could need, except freedom.

The giant ship parted ways with the palace upon entering Sageheart, and it needed only one day and a night to arrive at Basking Moon Academy. Awaiting them was a passionate and grandiose welcome, and on the same night, a celebratory feast was held for them.

The Basking Moon Sect students had completed their mission and obtained the Wandering Palace, and Tang Jie had even become the groom to the young palace lord. This was a victory for the Basking Moon Sect, so it was naturally everyone’s victory. Thus, while the person in question was still a little sullen, everyone else was in a good mood.

During this feast, Tang Jie drank himself into a stupor.