That night, after Lin Fan was struck down the hillside by Wang Li, he fell into a coma. Amidst his blurred consciousness, he heard an old, weak voice echoing in his mind: "Lin Fan, to protect your Divine Soul, this Master has exhausted a vast amount of spiritual energy, and my Meridians are even more severely damaged. With my current strength, I can only save you one more time. If you fall into life-threatening danger again, it will be the end of our relationship as Master and disciple."
"Rest assured, Master. A gentleman does not stand under a crumbling wall; next time, I will definitely prioritize protecting my own life."
"It is good that you understand. You should be waking up soon. This Master has calculated that your peach blossom luck is very strong today; I fear you may find your true Fated Daughter. This Master protected your Divine Soul, while the woman who rescued you in the Snow Valley healed your body with her superb medical skills."
Lin Fan was overjoyed upon hearing this. Could it be that my nearly thirty years of bachelorhood are coming to an end today?
He gradually opened his eyes, and the stinging sunlight shone upon his handsome face.
After adjusting to the bright light, he discovered he was actually wearing a red wedding robe with a large red flower on his chest, sitting in a red bridal sedan carried by four people using spiritual energy.
The old man carrying the sedan heard the sound from inside and laughed heartily: "Haha, the little lad is awake! My Young Miss happened to be gathering herbs on the mountain when she saved you from your heavy injuries. However, she saw your body while giving you a medicinal bath, and you accidentally touched her body while struggling. The women of our Medicine Immortal Valley have always been conservative; to avoid violating ancestral teachings, we could only hastily hold a wedding for you."
Lin Fan heard that she was a conservative woman, and he had heard of the Medicine Immortal Valley—the Valley Master was at the Half-Step Dao Integration stage. As such, waking up to find himself with a wife filled his heart with wild joy.
But he still asked cautiously: "I'm just a bit curious, what is your Young Miss's appearance and cultivation level like?"
"The Young Miss is at Half-Step Nascent Soul, just a step away from the Nascent Soul stage; she is a Prodigy among Prodigies. As for her figure and appearance, anyone within a hundred miles would be shocked upon seeing her. In my hundred and eighty years of life, I have never seen a woman with a figure and face like hers."
Lin Fan's heart suddenly quickened, leaping with such joy it nearly burst from his chest. 'Eldest Young Miss, I hope you will forgive me for taking a concubine.'
In his heart, the strong could break rules; as long as he was strong enough, it wasn't impossible to have the Tianchi Saintess marry down to him. Thus, his wicked designs on Ji Shengyao had never died.
The old man led Lin Fan directly into the wedding chamber: "Cultivators do not care for red tape. Once you two sign a Heavenly Dao contract, you will become Dao Companions, so the Young Miss felt it better to enter the bridal chamber with the son-in-law first."
Lin Fan naturally didn't mind—in fact, he was even more delighted. He sat on the edge of the bed with his legs crossed, his grin nearly reaching his ears, until he heard the heavy "thud, thud" of footsteps outside the door.
The door was pushed open, and an incredibly tall, exceptionally burly figure appeared. The woman had a square face, tiny eyes, a bulbous nose, and massive muscles. She held a mountain-splitting axe, but what made Lin Fan truly break down was that she was wearing a red wedding robe wider than a duvet.
This truly was a rare sight within a hundred miles, a face and figure that would shock anyone who saw it. Lin Fan retreated into a corner in terror: "Don't come over here!"
The woman picked Lin Fan up in a princess carry and threw him onto the bed with a "bang." Lin Fan had not yet recovered from his heavy injuries, and with his body drugged, he couldn't circulate his spiritual energy at all.
Watching the massive shadow descend from the sky, he was powerless. The woman jumped high and spread her arms, smashing down toward the bed.
With a "crash," the bed collapsed completely, leaving a floor of wood chips and ruins.
"Get off!"
Lin Fan threw a kick at the behemoth, his handsome face growing more and more distorted as he clenched his fists, veins bulging.
He thought of that enchantress's merciless slap at the Hehuan Sect, thought of her smashing him into the riverbed with a sword to dig through sand, and thought of her not only slandering him in front of his goddess but also striking him down the hillside with a palm.
Thinking further, the high-and-mighty goddess of his heart was working day and night, exhausted to the bone, and his heart bled. Propping up his bride's three-hundred-and-eighty-pound body, he said: "It's not impossible for me to marry you, but I need you and the Medicine Immortal Valley behind you to kill someone for me!"
On that same morning, Wang Li was leading Ji Shengyao through a canyon where howling gales and snow flew wildly.
Ji Shengyao hid behind Wang Li, using the other's slender body to shield herself from the blizzard. But the further they walked, the more her legs felt like lead, becoming increasingly strained. The gale gradually turned a ghostly blue, and the snowflakes became like falling blades.
Ji Shengyao's favorite pastime was burying herself in a deserted corner of the Tianchi Holy Land library to read miscellaneous books, so she immediately knew this was the Hurricane Canyon. Because spiritual energy gathered here, even the wind and snow were laced with it.
Until her feet felt stuck in the snow, aching and painful, she finally couldn't help but protest loudly: "You enchantress, it's one thing not to have a flying boat, but you don't even know how to fly on a sword! Walking through this canyon on two feet, my legs are going to be ruined!"
"I've blocked eighty percent of it for you. Besides, I'm leading you through this canyon because it's greatly beneficial to your cultivation."
If it were her Master, Ji Shengyao would definitely say "It's okay, I can hold on," but this was the enchantress, and she wanted to make things difficult for her: "I can't walk anymore. We've been walking the whole way; find me a flying boat."
Wang Li was somewhat helpless. She went to the System page and said loudly: "System, give me a flying boat."
[flying boats, carriages, Flying Swords, and Flying Sword Techniques require a Level 3 System to unlock. If you need them now, I can give them to you for triple the villain points. Additionally, I can only give you the lowest-grade carriage and Spirit Horse. I have the right to overdraw once per stage. If you ask me for something not in the mall again, I'll be powerless.]
"Fine!"
[Spirit Horse: Nascent Soul Peak (Upgradable). Carriage: Incredibly sturdy, possesses the effect of a Spirit-Gathering Formation. Cultivation speed 1.5x, Dual Cultivation speed 2.5x.]
With a flash of white light, a luxurious carriage decorated with red silk and pulled by two white horses appeared before Wang Li.
Ji Shengyao was first surprised, then looked thoughtfully at the Storage Ring on Wang Li's hand: "You're really not simple; that Storage Ring can hold living things!"
"Get in. Don't your feet hurt? Lift your skirt and take off your shoes. I'll rub your feet and transfer some spiritual energy to relieve the pain..."
Ji Shengyao's face flushed bright red. She considered whether she should just keep walking. When she opened the carriage door, her face turned completely crimson: "You dead enchantress, you're really thinking about that kind of thing every single day! Rubbing my legs and feet is a lie; I see you want to devour me right here on the street! Look at what kind of carriage this is—you pulled out a bed!"
Wang Li looked and saw that the carriage opened up into a bed, with mattresses and quilts spread directly on the floor. The large red quilt even had the character for 'Happiness' written on it; it turned out to be a sleeper carriage.
Though a slight blush colored Wang Li's cheeks as well, she remained unhurried: "Get in, take off your shoes, and lift your skirt for me."
Hearing this, Ji Shengyao was somewhat alarmed and couldn't help but shudder: "Ah? My feet suddenly don't hurt anymore. How about we keep walking..."