Chapter 137: Fate Arrives

Compared to other populous clans, the Xia Family could truly be described as having a sparse lineage. It was not that the main branch did not want to branch out and expand the family, but rather that the Xia Family struggled to produce heirs. This was especially true for the direct line; the family tree rarely recorded anyone having more than one child.

By Xia Huainan’s generation, there were only three brothers in his peer group. The eldest, Xia Huai’an, inherited the position of family head and had a pair of fraternal twins. The second brother and his wife perished not long after giving birth to Xia Huainan’s niece, Xia Ying. As for Xia Huainan himself, he had no interest in romance and naturally had no plans to marry.

As for who would inherit the position of City Lord of Langyuan City, Xia Huainan’s first choice was naturally Xia Ying. However, if she did not want to take over the position later on and preferred to pursue her cultivation path further, he would not force her. To those obsessed with power, the position of City Lord was a treasure, but to a pure cultivator, it offered little benefit.

But Langyuan City did not need a power-hungry City Lord either. Thus, even if he had not raised Xia Ying himself, Xia Huainan would never consider his eldest brother’s two children. His eldest nephew, Xia Wei, had talent, but he was arrogant and intolerant. Back then, he could not even tolerate Xia Ying and had nearly caused her to go missing. As for his eldest niece, Xia Rui, her temperament was far too weak. Coupled with her lack of cultivation talent, the number of times he had met her was pitifully small.

What he did not expect, however, was that this weak niece of his was actually going to marry into the Lin Family of Xishan City! That man surnamed Lin was indulged in pleasure, and his City Lord’s Mansion was filled with over thirty children. What good could come from marrying into such a place?

Had Xia Huainan not known about this marriage alliance, it would be one thing, but now that he did, he naturally could not stand by and watch his niece jump into a fire pit. He had gone to the main family residence in a fury, yet when he returned, he tacitly allowed the servants from the main family to decorate the City Lord’s Mansion.

Even so, his mood remained quite sour. When he saw Xia Ying return, he could not help but ask in a low, brooding tone, “Xia Ying, could it be that you also have a young man you fancy?”

Xia Ying almost thought she had walked into the wrong place. She looked up and confirmed that yes, this was indeed her uncle. “Uncle, why do you say that?”

“You’ve reached Foundation Establishment? Very good, very good.” As expected, Xia Ying was the most reliable. Xia Huainan adjusted his mood and began rummaging through his storage ring. “Since you’ve reached Foundation Establishment, why didn’t you stay in the sect to stabilize your cultivation? Here, take these to play with. If it’s not enough, go find Bingyun later and have her open the treasury so you can choose some more.”

“I wanted to tell you in person, Uncle. I’ll head back to the sect later this evening.”

Xia Huainan did not try to keep her. “It is just as well that you return to the sect. The City Lord’s Mansion has been crowded and chaotic lately, which is highly disruptive to quiet cultivation. You probably know by now that Xia Rui is marrying into Xishan City, and she will be wed from the City Lord’s Mansion.”

Xia Ying had lost her parents at a young age. Before City Lord Xia brought her back to the City Lord’s Mansion, she had lived with her eldest uncle at the main family residence. While her eldest uncle and aunt did not make things difficult for her, her eldest cousin took an extreme dislike to her and would constantly look for faults. Having no one to rely on at the time, she could only endure it. Who could have known her eldest cousin would grow increasingly out of line, eventually throwing her straight out of the estate? If she had not met A’qing, she probably would not be here today.

As for her cousin Xia Rui, she had clearly possessed a very strong constitution when they were young, but for some reason, she had fallen ill with some sickness as she grew up. She felt increasingly difficult to read. Of course, Xia Ying did not like visiting the main family residence either, only returning when it was time to offer incense at the ancestral hall.

“Why is she being wed from the City Lord’s Mansion?” Xia Ying vaguely knew that Xia Rui was betrothed, apparently to a famous genius from Xishan City. For a time, the city had been abuzz with rumors, with everyone calling it a match made in heaven, a perfect union of talent and beauty.

But looking closely, that genius had already reached the Golden Core realm yet was not on the Heaven’s Pride List. His age was likely on the older side, certainly much older than Xia Rui. Of course, growing up in a cultivation clan, Xia Ying knew that most clan marriages were unions between cultivators and mortals, as this offered the highest probability of producing talented offspring.

For instance, her eldest uncle and aunt. Her first aunt had passed away years ago after exhausting her lifespan. The current wife of the Xia Family head was already Xia Ying’s third aunt.

“Xia Rui’s health is getting worse by the day. I fear she doesn’t have many years left to live.”

Xia Ying’s eyes widened. “How could that be?”

“I’ve already gone to see her. She is emaciated and pale. Since she has no spiritual roots, she cannot take any potent spiritual medicine. With her in this state, if she can be wed from the City Lord’s Mansion, it will at least force the people of Xishan City to treat her with some respect.” Xia Huainan was soft-hearted when it came to his own family after all. Though he looked down on his eldest brother’s ways, his niece was still his own flesh and blood.

As for the news of the alliance between the two cities, even if he had refused to allow it, it had already spread far and wide. During this wedding, that man surnamed Lin would likely take a few jabs at him and say some unpleasant things.

“I see. In that case, I should go visit her.”

“That is fine. Besides, now that you have reached Foundation Establishment, you should stop by the ancestral hall to offer some incense to the ancestors.”

Thus, Xia Ying stayed at the City Lord’s Mansion for the night and headed to the Xia Family’s main residence early the next morning.

“Second Young Lady, what brings you back?” The butler immediately jogged out to greet her.

Xia Ying looked at the ancestral residence, which had been renovated inside and out, and could barely recognize it. “I heard my cousin is unwell, so I came to visit.”

“Xia Ying, what are you doing here?” The speaker was her eldest cousin, Xia Wei. He was reasonably handsome, but his temperament was far too arrogant, giving him a fierce and hostile look. “Oh, Foundation Establishment? No wonder you’re back. What, did you come to show off to Xia Rui? She’s sick to the bone, yet you…”

“Is it my fault that she’s sick? Xia Wei, I am no longer the little girl you could bully at will.”

Xia Wei was only at the late stage of Foundation Establishment. If it really came to a fight, Xia Ying was not afraid. At worst, she could just send a signal flare to call for help. “You’d better think carefully. I have more than just the City Lord backing me.”

What was the Xia Family compared to the massive Yonglu Mountain? No matter how arrogant Xia Wei was, he did not dare to attack a disciple of Yonglu Mountain for no reason within Langyuan City.

“You… have guts!”

“Of course. Now, aren’t you going to move out of the way?”

Xia Ying entered the old residence and soon saw Xia Rui. To her surprise, there was someone else in Xia Rui’s courtyard, a face she had never seen before. Perhaps because she was used to seeing her Little Grand-Uncle Master, Xia Ying did not find the man before her particularly handsome.

Well, since he was here, this man was likely Lin Zhishan of Xishan City.

“Sister Xia Ying, I didn’t expect you to find the time to visit me. Yet I… cough, cough, cough… look like this, it is really a bit…” Xia Rui was delicately beautiful, like a hibiscus swaying gracefully in the wind. Even though she was pale and bloodless, she remained lovely.

“Rui’er, don’t speak anymore.”

Xia Ying: …What is with this cloying, sticky atmosphere?!

Feeling deeply uncomfortable, Xia Ying did not stay long before leaving. However, before she left, she felt that the Seventeenth Young Master gave her a rather strange look. It made her skin crawl. After offering incense to the ancestors, she quickly returned to Yonglu Mountain.

*

Time flew by, and the first day of the third month soon arrived. Early in the morning, the registration queue at the foot of Yonglu Mountain stretched far into the distance. For some reason, there was an unusually large number of applicants this year.

If Bian Chunzhou were here, he would have definitely gone down the mountain to watch the excitement. Unfortunately, he was still in the Back Mountain Secret Realm and had not yet emerged. As for Wen Xu and Chen Zui, one was of too high a status to appear, while the other had absolutely no interest, so they naturally did not join in the fun.

However, during the registration period, a minor rumor began to circulate.

To put it one way, Yonglu Mountain had recruited five inner sect disciples in the previous selection, which was easy enough to find out with a bit of inquiry. But with Lin Cong also emerging from seclusion after successfully reaching Foundation Establishment, the rumors became… somewhat shocking.

Six years ago, Yonglu Mountain recruited five inner disciples, and all of them achieved Foundation Establishment within six years. This made the threshold sound impossibly high. The cultivators who dared to sign up at Yonglu Mountain all had some skill, but expecting them to reach Foundation Establishment in six years? That was simply asking too much.

Because of this, some people immediately backed out, forcing the senior brothers from Kaiyuan Peak who were handling registrations to constantly dispel the rumors. They kept explaining that Yonglu Mountain would never force anyone to achieve Foundation Establishment, and that the Little Grand-Uncle Master and Junior Brother Chen were just exceptions. They begged people not to make up strange rumors and rules for Yonglu Mountain.

However, rumors always travel faster than the truth. Some even began to wonder: since Yonglu Mountain possessed such deep heritage, why did it rank last among the Five Great Sects? When Gu Wufang found out, he was terrified. He immediately rounded up the three newly minted Foundation Establishment disciples he could get his hands on and sent them to maintain order at the registration site. These three were, of course, Xia Ying, Chen Zui, and Lin Congcong.

As for Wen Xu, Gu Wufang would have to dare to go up Guochun Peak to grab him. The Little Martial Uncle had been extremely diligent lately and did not come down the mountain at all.

Chen Zui was highly reluctant. He stood to the side like a silent guardian, cradling his saber. Left with no other choice, Xia Ying could only chat with Lin Congcong. Naturally, this also gave her the perfect opportunity to pass along Junior Brother Bian’s words to the party involved, a certain Lin.

The party involved, Lin: “…Hmph!” Just you wait, Bian. So what if his Foundation Establishment was slightly delayed? he definitely wouldn’t fall behind when it came to Golden Core.

“You two really do have a great relationship.”

“Like hell it is!” Lin Congcong felt incredibly stifled. He had originally thought he would at least be the third, but he never expected that when he emerged after his Foundation Establishment, he would be the last one. It was a good thing he succeeded; if he had failed, it probably would have left a lasting mental block. “Senior Sister Xia, will you be attending tomorrow’s wedding feast?”

“A wedding feast? What… Wait, your surname is also Lin. Don’t tell me you’re also a Young City Lord of Xishan City?” Only now did Xia Ying realize that Lin Congcong was also surnamed Lin.

Lin Congcong shook his head. “Of course not. I’m just a member of a branch family of the Lin Family. Senior Sister Xia, please don’t think so highly of me.” He simply had decent talent; before coming to Yonglu Mountain, his spiritual roots had already been tested, and City Lord Lin had once summoned him and given him quite a few cultivation resources. In all fairness, he ought to go and congratulate the Seventeenth Young Master on his wedding.

But going alone would be rather lonely, so he wanted to ask if Senior Sister Xia could go with him.

“Well, we really should go. But if both of us go to offer our congratulations, leaving Senior Brother Chen all by himself, do you think that’s appropriate?”

Lin Congcong glanced at Senior Brother Chen Zui and wondered why that guy Bian wasn’t around. He was never there when he should be, yet he was always overly eager where he shouldn’t be. He really was annoying.