Wen Zhongqing looked at his daughter kneeling before him, his expression complicated.
“You’ve truly decided?”
Wen Mei nodded slightly, her expression firm. “Father, my injuries have already healed. You don’t need to worry about me. To me, staying in the clan to cultivate won’t bring much progress. I’m unwilling to stop here. Father, Dongling is truly too small. The primordial spiritual energy of heaven and earth is thin. Rather than compete with Dongling’s cultivators over the few resources available, I might as well go outside and make my own way.”
Wen Zhongqing froze. He had not expected his daughter to say such a thing.
He carefully studied the daughter kneeling before him, his gaze sweeping over her incomparably charming face. In a low voice, he said, “Mei’er, do you know why, on the path of cultivation, female cultivators are always fewer than male cultivators? Why those who achieve the great Dao are mostly men rather than women?”
Wen Mei hesitated, then said, “Because women are naturally weaker than men, and women have too many things to consider and take into account. All kinds of reasons delay a woman’s cultivation, unlike men, who can be more decisive and free.”
“Exactly.” Wen Zhongqing said cruelly, “Since you understand this, do you know what kind of outcome awaits a woman whose beauty is too outstanding?”
Wen Mei’s heart trembled slightly, and she looked up at her father.
She opened her mouth, her tone rough. “If a woman is overly beautiful, and she possesses powerful martial strength and a strong background, then it is only natural. Who would dare covet her? But if she lacks exceptional ability and a background strong enough to protect her, it will easily attract covetous eyes and disaster.”
“Yes. You understand that too. Then do you know that in Dongling, with the Wen clan’s status, no one would dare do anything to you. But once you leave Dongling, the Shengwu Continent is vast, and the Wen family of Dongling counts for nothing. Alone, with low cultivation and such looks, who will protect you?” Wen Zhongqing asked.
Wen Mei’s hands, hanging at her sides, clenched tightly, blue veins showing.
How could Wen Zhongqing not see her unwillingness? He could not help sighing. “You are the most talented child of this Wen generation, and also the child I am most proud of. But you have a heavenly-grade water-attribute spiritual root. To male cultivators, you are excellent cauldron material. If someone discovers your spiritual root, I fear it will bring you terrible disaster. As your father, I truly cannot bear to see you ruined because of it.”
Wen Mei pressed her lips together and said nothing.
After a long while, she raised her head, looked seriously at her father, and said, “In that case, I’ll destroy this face.”
“Mei’er!” Wen Zhongqing cried out in shock.
Wen Mei could not help laughing. “Father, as you said, since a woman’s beauty easily attracts disaster, then I’ll simply discard it. Compared with the advantages brought by appearance, I would rather walk a great road to the heavens and contend for the endless path of the Dao. What does it matter whether I have anything else?”
Wen Zhongqing’s heart shook with fear. He instinctively wondered whether his daughter had been provoked by Ning Zhezou.
He said earnestly, “Mei’er, although you and Ning Zhezou were not fated, you must not lose heart because of it. With your character, looks, and heavenly-grade spiritual root, are you afraid you won’t find a suitable dual-cultivation partner? There will surely be many fine men for you to choose from…”
“Why must I find a dual-cultivation partner? Can I not cultivate alone?” Wen Mei asked calmly.
Wen Zhongqing was dumbfounded.
His daughter really had been deeply provoked!
Wen Mei knew that her father was still rather traditional by nature and did not want to say too much to shock him. Since she had already made her decision, she would not change it.
Half an hour later, Wen Mei left Wen Zhongqing’s study.
On the way, she encountered the younger generation of Wen disciples returning from the martial training field. Wen Xian led them, and the other Wen disciples followed at her side, taking her as their leader.
Seeing Wen Mei, everyone came forward to salute, calling her Fourth Miss.
Wen Mei was the number one among the Wen clan’s younger generation. When these young disciples saw her, they all respectfully called her Fourth Miss.
Wen Xian’s expression instantly became extremely ugly.
These days, Wen Mei had been staying in her room to recover, rarely appearing before others. Without Wen Mei around, Wen Xian had become the most outstanding Wen disciple on the training field, and naturally everyone’s attention had focused on her, following her lead.
Yet the moment Wen Mei appeared, the situation immediately changed. She, Fifth Miss Wen, could only retreat behind her.
Since she was injured, why couldn’t she recover for a little longer?
Wen Mei nodded at everyone, offered a few words of encouragement, then drifted away.
Wen Xian called after her and hurriedly followed, smiling as she asked, “Ah Mei, how are your injuries? Are they healed?”
“Almost,” Wen Mei said simply.
Wen Xian did not believe her. She glanced at Wen Mei’s face. That charming, beautiful face was excessively pale, and even the colour of her lips was so faint it was almost invisible, much like Wen Qiao, who had always been bedridden in the past.
Thinking of Wen Qiao, Wen Xian felt another wave of regret.
Although Wen Qiao was a sickly invalid destined not to live past twenty, she had at least married Ning Yuzhou. With Ning Yuzhou’s position in Emperor Chenghao’s heart, as long as they won over Wen Qiao and Ning Yuzhou, and had Ning Yuzhou put in a few good words before Emperor Chenghao to speak for their third branch, then with Emperor Chenghao’s support, wouldn’t their third branch be able to take down the Wen family?
The second branch was useless. How could it compare to their third branch?
Wen Xian grew indignant in her heart, and some of it inevitably showed on her face. Her words also became sarcastic and mocking, implying that Wen Mei’s reputation did not match reality. Not only had the Lin Tai Hunting Valley trial failed to bring back any resources for the clan, but the clan had also spent many spirit pills treating her injuries.
Wen Mei’s steps paused, and she turned to look at her.
“What are you looking at me for? Am I wrong?” Wen Xian said confidently.
In this year’s Lin Tai Hunting Valley trial, because foreign cultivators had joined in, many innocent people had died tragically. Even the Wen family had not been spared. More than half of the disciples sent for the trial had been killed or injured, and the losses were heavy. However, Wen Xian had been very lucky. She had not directly encountered those foreign cultivators and had even fortunately brought back quite a few resources, earning praise from the elders.
This made Wen Xian extremely pleased with herself.
Sure enough, their third branch was the capable one.
Wen Mei sighed, then suddenly said, “Fifth Sister, don’t worry. Dongling is too small. I don’t care for it. In the future, I won’t compete with you for the Wen family either. If you are capable of taking the position of Wen family head, you are welcome to fight for it at any time. I won’t snatch it from you.”
“What?”
Wen Xian looked at her suspiciously, thinking she had misheard.
Wen Mei no longer paid attention to her. She reached out and patted her shoulder as encouragement, then turned and left.
Wen Xian watched her in uncertainty, not understanding what Wen Mei meant by those words, and thought Wen Mei was just making fun of her.
It was not until more than half a month later, when Wen Xian heard that Wen Mei had left Dongling and gone to parts unknown, that she finally understood what Wen Mei’s words had meant. At the same time, she realised that what Wen Mei had said that day had been both a farewell and a mockery—at least, that was what she believed. She did not believe Wen Mei could be so kind.
However, Wen Mei had already left, and even if Wen Xian wanted to find her, she could not.
—
With the final stroke completed, the talisman paper glowed with brilliant spiritual light. A yellow-grade high-quality Thunderstorm Talisman was finished.
Ning Yuzhou placed the completed talisman to one side, rubbed his neck, which had grown stiff from concentration, and turned to look for Wen Qiao, only to find that she was not indoors.
He released his perception and heard dull thuds coming from next door, like the sound of heavy objects striking the wall.
Ning Yuzhou got up and walked next door.
Next door was a rather spacious training room. When the residence had first been built, Ning Yuzhou had specially planned it for himself. Although he could not cultivate at the time, he could still practise some ordinary martial arts to strengthen his body and temper it for future cultivation.
The training room door was half-closed. Ning Yuzhou pushed it open and was immediately smacked in the face by leaves.
He was somewhat stunned. Pushing aside the vines blocking the doorway, he leaned in and saw that the situation inside the training room was worse than he had imagined. Everywhere he looked, Wen Qiao was dragging a cluster of vines around, chasing a little rabbit with great energy.
The demon rabbit was simply too fast. Although it had already slowed down as much as possible for Wen Qiao’s sake, it was still not something Wen Qiao, at the Yuan Bright Realm, could catch. Even with the Stone-Gold Python Vine helping to block the demon rabbit’s path everywhere, the agile little rabbit still escaped. Instead, after the hard vines missed their target, they struck the walls and floor, leaving cracks everywhere.
If the training room had not been reinforced with formations when it was built, this human and rabbit would probably have already demolished it.
The first to notice Ning Yuzhou was the demon rabbit.
When it saw Ning Yuzhou, it knew the alchemist who delivered spirit pills had arrived. Its hind legs kicked against the flying vines, and it leapt rapidly toward Ning Yuzhou.
Ning Yuzhou was almost knocked flying by the demon rabbit and retreated several steps.
As a weak cultivator whose mind was far more agile than his body, Ning Yuzhou could not suppress the demon rabbit by force and could only threaten it with spirit pills.
“If you do this again next time, you’ll be punished with one month without spirit pills.”
Demon rabbit: “…”
Seeing the demon rabbit hit Ning Yuzhou, Wen Qiao knew how strong this rabbit was and hurried over. She asked with concern, “Are you all right? Are you hurt? Wen Tutu, come and apologise to your older brother.”
The demon rabbit glanced at her, jumped onto her shoulder, and crouched there, looking at him with a pair of watery ruby eyes, wearing a repentant expression.
Ning Yuzhou blinked. His gaze moved from the demon rabbit to the girl with flushed cheeks.
He hesitantly asked, “Ah Rao… Wen Tutu and older brother are…?”
Wen Qiao was still dragging the Stone-Gold Python Vine in her hand. She stood obediently before him, her sweet voice soft and gentle. “Wen Tutu is its name. I originally gave it a few names—Wen Rabbit, Wen Little Rabbit, Wen Big Rabbit… Unfortunately, it didn’t like any of them, so we finally settled on Wen Tutu. Also, it calls me older sister, so you’re older brother, aren’t you?”
Ning Yuzhou: “…”
For a moment, Ning Yuzhou did not know what to say. He realised that in the short time he had not been paying attention, his little wife seemed to have changed somehow, and this change was quite astonishing.
For example, the little girl was now holding that section of Stone-Gold Python Vine. This demon vine was not only hard, but as heavy as metal. Yet the little girl was easily carrying such a long length of it while chasing a rabbit around without breaking a sweat. Her cheeks had even gained a faint blush. Although she still looked soft and delicate, she now seemed a little more lively and adorable.
The little girl stood there with a demon rabbit named Wen Tutu perched on her head. Both the girl and rabbit looked at him with adorably innocent eyes, making Ning Yuzhou inexplicably forgive them—as if no matter what they did, it could all be forgiven.
Although he did not know what exactly he was forgiving.
Ning Yuzhou gave a light cough, pressed down the strange emotion in his heart, and asked with a smile, “What were you doing just now?”
“Uh… cultivating,” Wen Qiao said quietly. The corner of her eye caught sight of the ruined training room, and she felt somewhat embarrassed.
Ning Yuzhou walked into the training room, originally wanting to find somewhere to sit, only to discover there was not a single intact place.
Wen Qiao casually tossed over the section of Stone-Gold Python Vine and stimulated its growth. Branches quickly sprouted from the vine, soon forming something that could be sat on. Wen Qiao tugged Ning Yuzhou’s sleeve and sat down with him, saying embarrassedly, “This section of Stone-Gold Python Vine is something I broke off from your space. I found that it works better as a weapon than a sword.”
Seeing her series of actions, so practised and casual, Ning Yuzhou knew she had already found the combat method most suitable for herself. She had abandoned other weapons and was using spiritual plants as weapons, capable of both attack and defence.
At first, Wen Qiao had indeed wanted to practise swordsmanship.
She had called the demon rabbit over because she wanted it to spar with her. However, the demon rabbit’s level as a sparring partner was truly too high. The difference in strength between the two was huge, and the demon rabbit did not know how to restrain itself. Wen Qiao could not even touch a single hair on it. Instead, it seized the chance to pounce on her, hug her leg, and rub against her with all its might, just like in the demon cultivator’s cave dwelling.
The demon rabbit still treated her as that little seedling that could not move.
In a moment of desperation, Wen Qiao threw out a section of Stone-Gold Python Vine she had stored in her storage bag and instinctively stimulated it, causing it to rapidly grow vine branches and wrap up the demon rabbit that was clinging to her leg.
The demon rabbit was careless and was wrapped into a ball by the Stone-Gold Python Vine, hanging in midair. It took a great deal of effort before it struggled free.
Wen Qiao discovered that this move worked, so she abandoned the sword and switched to using the Stone-Gold Python Vine as her weapon, chasing the demon rabbit all over the place, surrounding and intercepting it. They had fought all the way until now.
The Stone-Gold Python Vine in the space was growing extremely well. Wen Qiao had been delighted when she saw it, so she took a section, originally intending to make it into a sword. Who knew that before the sword was even made, she discovered that the Stone-Gold Python Vine was quite suitable as a weapon—especially when it produced a large number of vines. It was very convenient for tying up rabbits.
After hearing Wen Qiao’s explanation, Ning Yuzhou smiled. “It seems I’ll need to find you some high-rank spiritual vine seeds in the future.”
Wen Qiao looked at him happily. “That would be even better.”
Then he pinched her slender wrist, truly unable to see how such delicate hands, seemingly too fragile to withstand a bend, could lift such a heavy Stone-Gold Python Vine.
Wen Qiao rubbed her nose. “Maybe after I transformed into a demon body, my strength increased.”
She could feel the changes in herself. Not only had her body improved, her strength had also increased, and her perception of spiritual plants had become sharper. In her hands, the Stone-Gold Python Vine was like a part of her own body, easy to control and use for herself.
After that, Ning Yuzhou examined her body and conducted several tests, confirming Wen Qiao’s guess.
After fully transforming into a demon body, her body was indeed much better than when she had been human.
Ning Yuzhou thought for a moment and felt that Wen Qiao could completely disguise her combat style as that of a wood-attribute spiritual-root cultivator. As long as she concealed it well, her half-demon identity would not be easily exposed.
Seeing the husband and wife each doing their own thing and ignoring it, the demon rabbit suddenly leapt toward Wen Qiao and jumped onto her head, nestling there like a snowball.
Ning Yuzhou turned his head to glance at it, met the demon rabbit’s red eyes, then lifted it up and threw it out.
The demon rabbit persistently jumped back and clung to Wen Qiao.
This was its little seedling.
Seeing that Ning Yuzhou’s smile had faded a little, Wen Qiao inexplicably felt guilty—although she did not know why she felt guilty. She quickly pulled the demon rabbit off and said righteously, “Wen Tutu, I’m busy right now. You can’t just hug my leg whenever you like. It’s inconvenient.”
If it could not hug her leg, then it would nest on her head.
“Not on my head either!”
Then where could it go?
“Nowhere.”
“…………”
Ning Yuzhou looked at the girl and rabbit and found that they communicated without any obstruction. He could not help wondering: after transforming into her demon body, had the language barrier between plants and animals finally been broken?
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