In the dream realm.
"Senior Brother, was the meal I prepared yesterday to your liking?" After Green Ant Scholar's lecture ended, Tai Qin hurried to catch up with Fang Yuan ahead of her, asking shyly.
Fang Yuan smiled. "It was truly wonderful. I didn't expect Junior Sister to be so clever and deft with her hands. You'll surely make a wonderful and virtuous wife someday. I wonder who will be lucky enough to marry you."
"Senior Brother, you're teasing me again." Two red clouds immediately bloomed on Tai Qin's cheeks. Then, in a tiny voice, she added, "If Senior Brother likes it, I can cook for you again."
"Sure, then this Senior Brother will be in for a treat." Fang Yuan laughed heartily.
At that moment, a dragon-man Gu Immortal approached from the opposite direction. "My son."
"Father, what brings you here?" Fang Yuan was somewhat surprised.
"Oh, greetings, Uncle Wu." Tai Qin hurriedly bowed in greeting.
The dragon-man Gu Immortal nodded at the girl and smiled. "You must be Tai Qin. My son mentions you frequently in his letters. Here, this is a small meeting gift from your uncle — please accept it."
"Oh, I couldn't possibly..." Tai Qin tried to refuse, but Fang Yuan took it on her behalf and pressed it into her hands.
"Just accept it. My father must have important business, so the sparring session after today's lesson will have to be cancelled." Fang Yuan apologized.
"Oh, it's no trouble at all, no trouble." Tai Qin quickly waved her hands, thanked him politely, and took her leave.
"What a pure and innocent girl. Has my son's heart been stirred?" Watching Tai Qin's figure disappear around the corner, the dragon-man Gu Immortal teased.
Fang Yuan smiled, thinking to himself: the dream realm has indeed changed again. Cautiously, he replied, "How could Father not know his own son?"
"Hahaha." The dragon-man Gu Immortal laughed loudly and patted Fang Yuan on the shoulder. "The reason I've come to find you is indeed for an important matter. Shu Jiuling, the daughter of the Shu Dao Pavilion Master, has just turned sixteen and is holding an open marriage contest. Any young prodigy may participate. Your father wants you to go."
"Oh?" Fang Yuan was mildly surprised.
He actually did know about Shu Jiuling.
In the previous dream scene, Tai Qin had mentioned this matter in casual conversation.
Shu Jiuling herself had fallen in love with the Gu Immortal Fan Ji and even conceived his child, yet Fan Ji refused to marry her, making excuse after excuse.
When Shu Jiuling saw through Fan Ji's true colors, she was heartbroken. In the end, she was confined under house arrest by her mother, the Shu Dao Pavilion Master.
The Shu Dao Pavilion Master's cultivation had reached the Eighth Transformation, and she possessed the Immortal Gu House Shu Dao Pavilion, making her the foremost among Central Continent's independent cultivators. As a mother seeing her daughter treated so miserably, she was naturally enraged and wanted to settle accounts with the heartless Fan Ji.
But Fan Ji happened to be the personal disciple of Black Heaven Temple's Supreme Elder, Kong Yihen. Kong Yihen was likewise an Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal with no children of his own. He had many disciples, but the one he doted on the most was his youngest personal disciple, Fan Ji, whom he cherished like his own son.
The Shu Dao Pavilion Master couldn't act against him freely, so she sought out Kong Yihen and demanded an explanation.
Kong Yihen then brought his beloved disciple Fan Ji to the Shu Dao Pavilion to negotiate.
No one knew exactly how the discussions went, but the two sides not only failed to reach an agreement — they ended up fighting. Kong Yihen and the Shu Dao Pavilion Master exchanged a few probing moves before both withdrew. Fan Ji and Shu Jiuling broke up completely. In a fit of rage, Shu Jiuling threatened Fan Ji: "Don't regret this. If you don't want me, there are others in this world who will."
Fan Ji merely sneered. "I came here today to negotiate peacefully with you, yet you keep pushing your luck. I'd like to see who has the nerve to wade into these troubled waters. And I'd like to see who has the magnanimity to not even care about the child in your belly."
Shu Jiuling fainted on the spot from sheer fury.
As a mother, the Shu Dao Pavilion Master naturally had to stand behind her daughter.
After Shu Jiuling regained consciousness, she insisted on holding an open marriage contest. The Shu Dao Pavilion Master couldn't dissuade her daughter and also felt that perhaps a different man could bring her happiness. Even if her daughter didn't take a fancy to anyone, the marriage contest would at least divert her attention, keeping her from wallowing in depression and thinking about ending her life.
When Tai Qin had recounted the story, she wore an expression of eager amusement, animated and lively, treating it as a good joke.
Fang Yuan had laughed at the time, but now he found he couldn't laugh at all.
He thought: "The dragon-man race is bent on independence and rise to power — their ambitions are vast. This is indeed a rare opportunity. First, the Shu Dao Pavilion Master is an Eighth Transformation independent immortal, and she is currently in opposition to Black Heaven Temple. If I could become her son-in-law, I could use that connection to bring her onto the dragon-man race's chariot."
As for what Shu Jiuling looked like, what her temperament was, or the child in her belly — none of that was a problem.
Fang Yuan couldn't care less.
Compared to the grand ambitions in his heart, what did this small sacrifice matter?
Only by enduring what others cannot endure can one achieve what ordinary people could never accomplish!
"Though I must admit, Junior Sister Tai Qin's feelings for me are growing deeper. If I do this, it would be rather unfair to her. The little girl will surely be very heartbroken." A trace of guilt welled up in Fang Yuan's heart.
But in the very next moment, a jolt of alarm shot through him, and he snapped awake: "Wait — something's wrong. What's happening to me? This is clearly the dream realm. I am Fang Yuan, not Wu Shuai. Why would I feel guilt?"
"What a formidable dream realm — it actually stirred emotions within my heart!"
"The recent dream scenes have seemed like smooth, uneventful transitions, but they were subtly pulling at me all along. My emotions were actually being manipulated without my knowledge."
"That was close!"
If he could sweat, Fang Yuan's forehead would have been drenched in cold beads.
Unfortunately, this was the dream realm.
Under normal circumstances, when Fang Yuan explored dream realms, his physical body remained outside while only his soul ventured deep. He would emerge frequently, keeping a clear distinction between reality and the dream.
But now, both the body and soul of this dragon-man clone had been fully immersed in the dream realm, exploring it day and night, sinking ever deeper into it. Although Fang Yuan could still distinguish dream from reality, his emotions had been imperceptibly stirred.
This was an extremely dangerous sign.
The greatest peril of exploring dream realms was becoming so immersed that one could no longer pull free. Emotions were the worst catalyst — once entangled in feelings and fixated on various sentimental attachments, Fang Yuan would sink into the quicksand, pulled deeper and deeper, until he was ultimately devoured by the dream.
The dragon-man Gu Immortal studied Fang Yuan's expression carefully. After a long moment, he nodded with satisfaction. "My son has indeed not been ensnared by petty romantic attachments. Your father will go meet with Green Ant Scholar now to explain the matter and request an extended leave of absence on your behalf."
"I shall遵by Father's arrangements in all matters." Fang Yuan quickly replied.
River of Time.
Boom! Boom! Boom!