Besides
This woman, who had relinquished her status as princess of the Eastern Kingdom, had spent two to three months in seclusion. Through countless hardships, she had finally refined the Five Dragons Open Heaven Pill, shattered the shackles of the True Qi Realm in a single breakthrough, and successfully stepped into the Spirit Realm—a genuine Spirit Realm martial artist!
After her breakthrough, Gouyu's entire bearing had completely changed.
The woman who once wore her fierce ambition on her face now, at twenty-two or twenty-three, with her beautiful features, had gained an added layer of calm composure.
"Gouyu greets Young Master." Her voice rang out, clear as jade.
"Haha, congratulations! Gouyu, you've finally broken through to the Spirit Realm. You're a new legend for the Eastern clan!"
Breaking through to the Spirit Realm at twenty-two—this was something that had probably never happened in the entire history of the Eastern clan.
As for that Eastern ancestor whom Jiang Chen had never actually met, he had no idea how many levels deep into the Spirit Realm the old man was.
But Jiang Chen had no interest in the matter. Ultimately, he had absolutely no favorable impression of the men of the Eastern clan.
The Eastern ancestor—supposedly in seclusion, yet never so much as made an appearance when his own family was in dire straits.
So Jiang Chen had not a shred of goodwill toward the men of the Eastern clan.
The women, however, were an entirely different matter.
Gouyu, fierce and loyal.
Now that Gouyu had broken through to the Spirit Realm, Jiang Chen was genuinely happy for her from the bottom of his heart.
When Gouyu heard Jiang Chen's praise, she felt a quiet swell of joy. She had worked so hard, willing to cast aside the splendor of her princess status to follow Jiang Chen. Part of it was her pursuit of the supreme martial dao, but another part was her desire to prove herself before Jiang Chen and earn his recognition.
Although she already knew that Jiang Chen was destined never to have any worldly romantic bond with her, the man she had chosen in her heart was one she would follow without regret. Even if all she ever received was a single word of recognition, a single word of praise from Jiang Chen, it would make all her efforts in this lifetime worthwhile.
"Young Master, what Eastern clan legend? Gouyu couldn't care less about that. I am simply Young Master's follower now. The worldly ties of the past are nothing but drifting clouds to me."
Gouyu's tone was earnest. After her breakthrough to the Spirit Realm, her state of mind had elevated considerably.
She had come to realize that the supreme martial dao was the true pursuit of her heart. She had given twenty years of her life to the Eastern clan, and in the end, what had remained?
Even the Eastern clan's ancestor hadn't shown himself when the family was in crisis.
She was merely a woman—why should she have fought herself to the bone for the so-called interests of royalty, for the so-called glory of the clan?
Everything she could have done, everything she couldn't—she had already done it all.
Now it was time to bid farewell to those mundane entanglements.
If there was anyone in the mortal world she still cared about, it was only Eastern Zhiruo, the little niece she had doted on since childhood.
Jiang Chen understood Gouyu's feelings on the matter.
He looked around and saw that
He was about to speak when a servant came to report that Qi Baishi had arrived for a visit.
Seeing the dejected look on Qi Baishi's face, Jiang Chen knew at once that the man hadn't managed to win over his future mother-in-law.
"Baishi, judging by your expression, it seems you haven't won over your future mother-in-law yet?"
Qi Baishi gave a bitter smile. "That old woman is impenetrable. She's dead set on marrying her daughter off to some genius from Qianlan Northern Palace, going on about so-called compatibility of social standing!"
Jiang Chen blinked. "Compatibility of social standing? What does that mean?"
"Sigh, the old woman looks down on me for coming from some backwater place in the Eastern Kingdom. She thinks I'm not good enough for Qingyan."
Qingyan was Ning's given name.
"So you didn't tell her about the relationship between you and me?"
"I told Qingyan that you and I are friends. But 'friends'—the old lady doesn't seem to think much of that." Qi Baishi was still very cautious. Without Jiang Chen's explicit nod, he wouldn't dare reveal the master-disciple relationship between them.
Even though Jiang Chen had told him last time to go ahead and cause a scene, to act however he pleased.
He had done exactly that, but without Jiang Chen personally backing him up, everything he did still couldn't sway the Palace Master of Qianlan Southern Palace.
"So it's not just the old woman opposing you—you've got a rival in love too?" Jiang Chen chuckled.
Qi Baishi puffed out his chest. "A rival in love? That doesn't scare me. Qingyan has absolutely no interest in some so-called genius from Qianlan Northern Palace. The one she likes is me."
Jiang Chen didn't doubt that for a moment. Qi Baishi was clever enough, with a silver tongue to match. Winning over a woman like Elder Ning, who had a weakness for flattery, would be no problem at all.