Translator: Fate Translation Checker: Silavin Recently, Gu Changge had been pondering about the matter regarding Demon-Burying Abyss, hence he wished to head to Peach Village to inquire Tao Yao about it. At the same time, as a Master, he could also pay his disciple, Yao Yao, a visit. Nonetheless, Gu Xianer was not in the family residence, so if he were to go to Peach Village alone, the old men there would surely suspect that he went with an ulterior motive against Peach Village. Therefore, he decided to wait for a little longer in the family territory until Gu Xianer was finished with her own business. Simultaneously, he could also complete his other arrangements. However, a piece of news took him by surprise. “Young Master, Lady Xianer has left the residence for half a year, but we have yet to receive any news about her,” a servant reverently reported. “It has been half a year, yet she never contacted us once?” Gu Changge then furrowed his brows, not knowing what Gu Xianer was doing. Some time ago, in the Godly Illusion Tomb, he noticed that Gu Xianer was frustrated about something, but since she never brought it up, he never cared to ask about it. Judging by Gu Xianer’s personality, she would never trouble others to help her with a matter she could resolve herself, especially one in which her parents were involved. “No, back when Lady Xianer returned to the residence, without leaving any order, she left alone. She also noted that she didn’t want anyone from the family to follow her,” the servant answered. “Understood. You may leave now.” Gu Changge nodded as he steadily tapped his finger on the table. He was planning to wait for Gu Xianer to return so he could bring her along—as a fitting excuse—to Peach Village. However, it seemed she would be taking her time. Given how it took her half a year to tend to such a frivolous matter, there was no telling how much longer she would need. [Heavenly Tide Realm isn’t that far from the Boundary Marker Sea. It may be hit by the shockwaves from the battle with Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains. Anyway, back then, her grandfather went there to hunt for her, in an attempt to refine some precious blood for her, but he was unfortunately engulfed by the waves of Boundary Marker Sea. Gravely injured, he vanished without a trace.] [Coincidentally, Heavenly Tide Realm is a Lower Realm where the family of Gu Xianer’s mother resides. Her parents went looking for her grandfather, and now, it’s been over ten years since they last returned to the Gu Family Residence.] Gu Changge suddenly recalled the news back when he instructed his servant to help Gu Xianer find traces of her parents. [Supposedly, Gu Xianer shouldn’t have bumped into many obstacles on her way to look for her parents and her grandfather. After all, she had the Immortal Gu Family backing her. Even if her parents’ still hold onto a grudge and are unwilling to return, they would not be able to stop her from returning.]. With that in mind, Gu Changge instantly smelled out a scheme, which might not have been formed or assisted by Gu Xianer, but she was definitely related. “Men, get ready. To the Heavenly Tide Realm.” Gu Changge squinted his eyes and ordered with an enthralling look. He could sense that Heavenly Tide Realm would bear the brunt from the war against Eight Wastelands and Ten Domains. After all, among the countless Lower Realm Worlds that neighboured Boundary Marker Sea, the Heavenly Tide Realm was the closest to it. … The Heavenly Tide Realm was a vast, borderless ancient world filled with excellent talents and rich lands. Although it was nowhere as big as the Upper Realm, it was regarded as the most popular among the nearby Lower Realm Worlds. Within, spectacular mountains and rivers were limitlessly grand, and by looking down from the sky, one could perceive the vaporising spiritual energy and wafting Celestial Mists amid the huge cities, making them seem like a paradise in the mortal world. There were countless, incomparably prosperous divine cities levitated in the sky, accompanied by downward gushes of waterfalls, while vibrant mists and clouds floated in the air. In the Heavenly Tide Realm, apart from the ancient clans, there were mighty Holy Lands—with long history and legacies—that oversaw all lives. In every ancient city, traces of heavenly mists of different shades could be seen. The ancient cities were filled with elites, including innumerable formidable cultivators and young prodigies. In this world, the standard of cultivation was high, and in some aspects, it could even rival that of certain regions in the Upper Realm. But of course, the Heavenly Tide Realm would remain significantly inferior to the Upper Realm if they were thoroughly compared, and such discussion would even be considered bizarre. After all, the disparity of the powers, legacies, and World Principles of those two worlds were simply too great. In recent years, many formidable cultivators from the Heavenly Tide Realm had ascended to the Upper Realm, leaving behind rumours that inspired countless. At times, formidable cultivators could be seen descending to the Heavenly Tide Realm to look for young ones that possessed extraordinary Talents to train them back in the Upper Realm. Therefore, as time went by, to those of the Heavenly Tide Realm, the Upper Realm was no longer mysterious. Though, the latter still retained its nobleness. As one of the ancient families with the longest history in the Heavenly Tide Realm, the Shen Family possessed terrifying influence over millions of kilometres around its base. Even the other Holy Lands of the Heavenly Tide Realm were afraid of them Essentially, the Shen Family shared a deep bond with a certain terrorising force in the Upper Realm, and even those who came from the Upper Realm couldn’t help but be courteous, not daring to offend the Shen Family. Though, such a matter was no secret among forces in the Heavenly Tide Realm. At that moment, in a palace, a number of Elders with menacing auras were donning stern faces as they were suppressing their anger during a discussion. From time to time, fierce quarrels could be heard, leaving the members of the Shen Family mountains away, stunned. “Since Xian’er isn’t willing, we shall speak no further about it. We are the dignified Shen Family. Can’t we afford to compensate them? Indeed, he rescued Xian’er’s grandfathers, but that happened over ten years ago. Xian’er is an adult now. Can’t a lady decide for her marriage? Are we going to force her? Let me ask this first. Do you even dare to force her? We all know that her body carries half of the Gu Family’s direct bloodline? If Xianer was born in the Upper Realm, she would have been a prominent goddess! So how does the unknown good-for-nothing deserve to marry the prodigal damsel of the Shen Family?” The Elder who was speaking appeared calm yet intimidating; his tone was somewhat harsh and his words were particularly sharp. Yet, the others in the palace weren’t able to argue with what he said. “But we made the promise right in front of them back then, and it was proven by the document written by Xian’er’s grandfather. If this were known to others, the Shen Family would be humiliated!” In response, an Elder with an amiable face beside him bitterly grinned, seemingly helpless. “Humiliated? What for? Three years ago, that brat came over. Seeing that he once rescued Xianer’s grandfather, we treated him courteously and politely, knowing that his body was cursed by a unique situation. His Spiritual Sea was fractured, we spent days scouring for precious materials – heavenly herbs and age fruits solely for him! When have we ever mistreated him?” “Back then, we made it clear that if his body did not recover in three years, the marriage agreement would be deemed void, and the Shen Family no longer owed him anything. Now that three years have passed, there are still no signs of improvement in his body. And now, he’s blaming the Shen Family, not recognising the agreement three years ago. How am I supposed to bear with that?” The mean-looking Elder exclaimed out of exasperation. Hearing that, the rest couldn’t help but feel bitter. Essentially, the agreement three years ago was frankly made as a joke. Given the Shen Family’s wealth and resources, there was no way they couldn’t deal with a fractured Spiritual Sea. Back then, they merely brought up the ‘agreement’ to express that the fractured Spiritual Sea was merely a frivolous issue, and should it fail to be cured, there was naturally no need for the marriage agreement to be in effect. After all, seeing that the person behind Li Xiu was extraordinary, they thought Li Xiu would be worth befriending. Apparently, Li Xiu was truly proven unique as his fractured Spiritual Sea never bettered even in the slightest despite the precious materials spent on him, and none had a clue what exactly happened to his body. As such, they felt helpless, since the agreement three years ago was merely verbal as they didn’t keep any reliable proof for it. Thus, despite their desire to admit, they could do nothing about it given how unreasonable the other party, who defamed the Shen Family to be ungrateful and refrained from recognising them, was. And now, Shen Xian’er brought up the matter and expressed her reluctance to marry the good-for-nothing, the family found themselves troubled for not having a solution to the problem, since the matter was decided by her grandfathers. “Dear Elders, perhaps we should put an end to the discussion. All I want in my life is to achieve the Great Dao, and I have no intentions of getting married. Even without the incident three years ago, I will never agree to the marriage. When my grandfathers return, I shall explain this to them myself.” All of a sudden, a young woman walked into the palace. She seemed to be about thirteen years old. Donning a beige dress, she was blessed with stunning features and snowy, flawless skin; her figure was tall and slender, surrounded by a calming sensation, as though she was never wavered by external stimuli. Even her tone of speech was awfully calm. Seeing the approaching young woman looking to be around fourteen, everyone in the palace was dazed for a moment before forcing awkward grins. The Elder who was speaking earlier revealed an amicable expression and said, “Don’t worry, Xianer. Now that your sister is with the family, no one will dare to force you against your will. Marriage or whatever, all we need to do is destroy the evidence. That good-for-nothing with a fractured Spiritual Sea does not deserve to be with you.” The young woman, whose name was Shen Xian’er, nodded in response. “Understood. Thank you, Second Granduncle.” Thereupon, those in the palace refrained from speaking any further. Although Shen Xian’er was born in the Shen Family, half of her blood was of the Gu Family, and if the Gu Family were to know of this, they would unquestionably forbid her from staying here any longer. Nevertheless, due to a certain circumstance, Shen Xian’er’s parents didn’t want the Gu Family to know about her existence. Otherwise, she would have headed to the Upper Realm to cultivate instead of lingering in the Heavenly Tide Domain. “Then, regarding Li Xiu’s matter, it’s decided. I shall explain to that old man in person,” the Elder who was speaking continued, and he sounded quite hostile towards the man named Li Xiu. And so, the crowd nodded without saying anything more. Meanwhile, on a spiritual fog-filled mountain that resembled the Celestial Realm, a man and a woman, along with a young woman, were muttering about something. The man appeared heroic; his aura was daunting and his face was full of determination; the woman was very captivating, looking at the young woman with a pampering expression. The young woman, on the other hand, wore a wide-sleeved noble dress. Her beauty was breathtaking—her hair was as smooth as clouds; her features were flawlessly charming and elegant; her snowy skin was as delicate as the finest gemstone. Her expression was highly cold as she carried a peerless celestial energy. The young woman was none other than Gu Xianer. “Your sister has made a choice personally regarding the matter. Don’t you worry about it. You are quite similar to your sister, but all she thinks of is the Great Dao. Your grandfathers shouldn’t have set up this marriage years ago.” Indubitably, the couple were Gu Xianer’s parents. In that instant, they sounded somewhat disaffected upon the mentioning of Shen Xian’er’s issues as they told Gu Xianer not to be concerned about it. “I understand. Xian’er decides what she wants. No one can force her.” In response, Gu Xianer nodded as she behaved maturely before her parents, as though she was a caring sister. After she came here, she was only informed that her parents thought something terrible happened to her during the years she had disappeared. Although they were devastated, they wanted an heir, so they gave birth to another daughter who was three years younger than her and named her Shen Xian’er. Nevertheless, due to the incident in the past, her parents grew to bear a grudge against the Gu Family, hence was reluctant to return. Even the surname of their second daughter was ‘Shen’ instead of ‘Gu.’ Such a matter was never mentioned to the Gu Family. If Gu Xianer hadn’t come over, she would have remained oblivious to the fact that she had a younger sister. Although Shen Xian’er’s personality was somewhat similar to that of hers, the former wanted only to achieve the Great Dao without giving in to distractions. As a matter of fact, she possessed brilliant cultivation Talents which were far superior to that of her peers. Even if she were in the Upper Realm, she would still remain a prominent individual that could trump unrivalled young prodigies. Apart from that, there were all sorts of untold stories, which Gu Xianer was only aware of after visiting the Shen Family. As for the marriage, one would have to start from over ten years ago. Back then, when Gu Xianer’s grandpa went to the vicinity of Boundary Marker Sea to hunt in an attempt to capture the beasts that possessed special bloodline in order to refine its precious blood for her to use to cultivate, he was unexpectedly slammed by the waves of Boundary Marker Sea which left him critically injured. After knowing about it, her parents, along with fellow members of the family, scoured everywhere for him, but for a long time, they could not find a single trace of him. Followingly, upon receiving a piece of shocking news from the Gu Family, they grew absolutely depressed as all their hopes were shattered, after which they decided to live in the Shen Family Residence. On the other hand, Gu Xianer’s maternal grandfather, who was of the Shen Family, immediately attempted to search for her paternal grandfather upon being informed of the news. Coincidentally, that was when her younger sister was born. Unfortunately, Gu Xianer’s paternal grandfather was found, but her maternal grandfather ended up being trapped with him. Having been trapped for many years together, they had faced life-threatening dangers. At that most crucial time, a mysterious Elder suddenly appeared and rescued the two of them before tending to their wounds. At that moment, the Elder was followed by a child, whose name was Li Xiu, and the background of both the Elder and the child was unknown, hence they remained mysterious. In order to show their gratitude to the Elder, while also considering that he possessed extraordinary abilities, Gu Xianer’s grandfathers had a discussion before introducing themselves and swore an oath, in which they promised that they would repay the debt and would allow Shen Xian’er, who was just born, to be his disciple. Sadly, the Elder did not agree to it and expressed that he had no intentions of accepting a disciple. Hence, the two grandfathers had a change of mind. Seeing how the child was of mature age, they decided to arrange a marriage, to which the Elder did not hesitate to agree. With that, the arranged marriage between Shen Xian’er and Li Xiu came into existence. As of late, the Shen Family basically forgot about such a matter, since the Elder instantly departed with the child without a trace after agreeing to the marriage. Despite the Shen Family’s effort to search for him, they couldn’t come to a fruitful result, so they treated it as a mere dramatic, mindless promise. Alas, a young man named Li Xiu popped up at the doors of the Shen Family Residence out of nowhere with the agreement written by Gu Xianer’s grandfathers in his hands and demanded the actualisation of the marriage. At once, the members of the Shen Family were stupefied, never expecting the event back then was real. Nevertheless, considering that they were indebted to the other party, the Shen Family did not trouble Li Xiu. Not only did they allow him entry, but they even tried to help him mend his fractured Spiritual Sea. As for the mysterious Elder back then, the Shen Family did not see him, and so they suspected that Liu Xiu was actually his disciple. Nonetheless, they still welcomed Li Xiu with open arms. However, Li Xiu’s Spiritual Sea was quite unique. Not only was it fractured, but the spiritual energy didn’t seem to be able to amass within. Despite the spirit herbs he consumed, which became wasted resources, he never showed any signs of recovery. And so, Li Xiu became a local laughing stock as many claimed that the Shen Family had a good-for-nothing for a son-in-law, which certainly embarrassed the Shen Family, yet they couldn’t revoke the promise they had made years ago. To them, what was worse was the fact that Shen Xian’er had only cultivation in her mind, and she was quite disgusted by the idea of marriage. Besides, she merely met Li Xiu a couple times over the span of three years. “Li Xiu’s personality and mannerism are dubious. Over the course of three years, he came everyday only to water the flowers and plant some grass. He never cared about anything else. No ordinary person could possess such self-control.” Heaving a sigh, Gu Xianer’s Mother, who was from the Shen Family continued, “If his Spiritual Sea weren’t so problematic, he might stand a chance, but he just had to be a piece of trash that can’t even cultivate. Sometimes, I, for some reason, sometimes get the impression that he is an Ancient Monstrocity, who has experienced the many ups and downs of the world. Isn’t Xian’er being unnecessarily burdened now? Our fathers shouldn’t have swore that oath. Out of everything they could have promised, they just had to go with Xian’er’s marriage. Hearing that, the father awkwardly chuckled. “There’s no point in dwelling on the matter now. We’ll see how the family handles it, since no one would dare to force Xian’er against her will.” Then, Gu Xianer nodded and coldly replied, “This is indeed unjustifiable. But the Shen Family spent three years of resources on Li Xiu. Frankly, that is more than enough to repay the debt. By then, an amount of remuneration is more than appropriate. If his mysterious Master were to return and express his dissatisfaction, we’ll have him come up with another condition.” Her idea was quite simple. No matter how unjustifiable Li Xiu’s action was, she would never allow her younger sister to suffer. All of a sudden, a divine rainbow shot towards the mountain, and the person walking coming out of it was none other than Shen Xian’er, who just left the palace. As she overheard the conversation, she looked at Gu Xianer and said, “Thank you, Sister.” “Right, Xianer, you’ve been tending to your younger sister’s matters all this time, but you’ve never mentioned your own. What do you plan to do with the Gu Family? At the end of the day, the Gu Family still owes us for what happened back then. Gu Changge was so young, yet he was so ruthless. You liked him so much back then, yet he treated you so cruelly,” the mother suddenly asked with an agonised expression, and she was visibly vexed when she brought up the Gu Family. Upon those words, the father grew silent, as that was the very reason as to why he never returned to the Gu Family Residence all these years. He was awfully conflicted, being unable to accept the tragedy, which Gu Xianer had to shoulder in her young age. If it weren’t for their inability, they would have gone straight to Gu Changge and question his actions. In response, Gu Xianer shook her head and clarified, “Mother, it’s a big misunderstanding, so don’t worry about it anymore. The members of our branch are now living very well, and Gu Changge isn’t as vile as you describe to him. He simply bears an unspeakable secret.” Since the matter involved Gu Changge’s secret, although Gu Xianer knew that her parents were worried about her, she would never reveal it as that would only cause unnecessary burdens. “Sister…” Shen Xian’er looked at Gu Xianer. She knew what happened to Gu Xianer ever since the former was merely a child, and she was very sympathetic towards what happened to Gu Xianer during the latter’s childhood. At times, she would even assume that Gu Xianer no longer lived, to which she planned to cultivate in order to avenge her older sister. Although she had never met Gu Changge, whose name was mentioned by her parents, she had nothing but hatred for him. She would never have expected one of the same family, Gu Xianer’s cousin, would pull off such a malicious act at such a young age. Silavin: WTF? Who would name their child using the same pronunciation? The difference is just the ping. But, it is too bloody similar. Shěn xián er gù xiān er 沈娴儿 顾仙儿