Seeing the amused expression on Sea Witch's face, Hu Liena was momentarily stunned.
Her sadness dissipated significantly.
She couldn't help but glance at Gu Yue'na.
The little silver-haired girl in front of her was already babbling.
Her age had to be at least two years old.
Yet, the time she had been apart from Ye Tian wasn't even two months.
This child clearly wasn't Ye Tian's.
Realizing this, Hu Liena completely stopped crying.
She lay on Ye Tian's chest, staring at him resentfully:
"You're terrible! Always tricking me! I'm going to tell Teacher!"
Hearing this, Ye Tian was speechless.
It seemed that after getting married, Hu Liena's love-struck nature had become even more pronounced.
Such an obvious situation, yet she actually got sad over it for a while.
He patted Hu Liena's head and explained:
"Gu Yue'na isn't human. I was merely entrusted to adopt her."
Hearing this, Hu Liena's heart finally cleared up.
Her gaze towards Gu Yue'na also softened.
She walked up to the little girl, leaned in, and playfully teased her with a smile:
"I have to say, she's truly an adorable little girl."
"Hmph! Adorable? Nana, can't you see that you've already been deceived by Ye Tian!"
At that moment—
A squad of golden-armored knights approached with the clanking of metal.
Leading them was a red-haired young man, holding a silver spear, his aura overwhelming.
Hearing the voice, Ye Tian looked up.
He saw that the red-haired young man at the front was Yan, the same man he had encountered at the gates of Spirit City a month ago.
Right now, Yan was glaring at him with an extremely hostile expression.
A sneer surfaced on his face as he pointed the silver spear at Ye Tian:
"I never expected that you would be Ye Tian!"
Ye Tian smiled gently and slightly bowed:
"I didn't expect to run into Captain Yan here in the Pope's Palace."
He was well aware that Yan, as part of Spirit Hall's Golden Generation, had always harbored feelings for Hu Liena.
But Hu Liena was already his wife.
No matter what, the past was in the past.
From now on, Yan had to give up all such thoughts.
As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Tian wrapped an arm around Hu Liena's soft waist.
Displaying a loving demeanor, he reached out to pinch Hu Liena's chubby cheeks and said:
"You didn't even tell me we had company."
Ye Tian's action left Hu Liena momentarily stunned.
Was he asserting his dominance?
In front of outsiders, Ye Tian had never shown public affection with her before.
A barely noticeable smile surfaced at the corner of Hu Liena's lips.
She had originally been worried that Yan might cause trouble for Ye Tian.
But now, it seemed that this trouble wasn't entirely a bad thing.
At the very least, it proved that in Ye Tian's heart, she held great importance.
Watching Ye Tian being so intimate with Hu Liena, Yan was furious.
He had known Hu Liena since childhood.
Ye Tian and Hu Liena had been together for barely half a year!
Yan refused to believe that within such a short time, they had genuinely fallen in love and gotten married.
There had to be some underhanded trickery involved—some deceit Ye Tian had used to fool Hu Liena!
Such despicable methods were absolutely unacceptable to Yan.
Even if he had to risk punishment from the Pope, he would teach Ye Tian a lesson today and make Hu Liena realize that Ye Tian was nothing more than a weak and ordinary man!
He was utterly unworthy of the noble Holy Maiden of Spiritdian!
Of course, deep down, Yan also knew that he himself was unworthy of Hu Liena.
That was why he had always harbored feelings for her in secret, never daring to confess.
Yan believed that if even he wasn't good enough for Hu Liena—
Then Ye Tian was even less qualified!
At this moment—
Soul rings appeared one after another around Yan.
His dark eyes locked onto Ye Tian:
"Ye Tian, at the city gates, I once respected you as a man of justice."
"But now…"
Yan glanced at Gu Yue'na in Sea Witch's arms:
"To think you dared to hide from the Holy Maiden that you have a mistress outside!"
"If I don't teach you a lesson today, I'll write my name backwards from now on!"
Yan's furious words quickly drew a crowd.
"Isn't that Captain Yan of the Pope's Palace Knights?"
"Who made him so angry?"
"Hah, who else? That handsome young man over there."
"I heard he's Holy Maiden Hu Liena's husband."
"Hiss! Holy Maiden Hu Liena is married?!"
"Hah, you're only finding out now?"
The speaker glanced at the eavesdropping crowd arrogantly and continued:
"I knew about it half a month ago at the Holy Maiden' coronation ceremony!"
"And I also know that the Holy Maiden' husband… isn't even a soul master!"
"…What?"
Hearing this, the crowd gasped in disbelief.
They looked at Ye Tian with pity.
"What a shame. Captain Yan is already at the Spirit Saint level. Even without using his soul rings, the Holy Maiden' husband won't be able to hold his ground."
"But still, to be Yan's love rival—at least that young man can die without regrets."
As the crowd sighed in sympathy, an elderly voice rang out from within the audience.
"Interesting!"
At the sound of this old voice, the entire crowd instantly fell silent.
Everyone immediately stepped aside and bowed respectfully:
"Greetings to Elder Golden Crocodile, Elder QianJun."
A hearty chuckle came from the elderly voice:
"Haha, no need for formalities. We two old men are just here to watch the fight like everyone else."
In the distance—
Hu Liena saw Yan pointing his sharp silver spear at Ye Tian.
The powerful aura of a Spirit Saint burst forth from his body.
Her heart clenched.
She knew that Yan wasn't joking.
He truly intended to challenge Ye Tian to a duel.
Thinking of this—
Hu Liena firmly stepped in front of Ye Tian, her eyes blazing with anger as she glared at Yan:
"Yan, do you even realize what you're doing?! This is in-fighting!"
"Put your spear away now, and I'll pretend this never happened. I won't tell Teacher either!"
Yan looked at Hu Liena in confusion, his heart filling with bitterness.
The woman he loved—
Was now defending another man!
And she even invoked their teacher, Bibi Dong, to threaten him!
But Yan did not lower his spear even an inch.
He looked at Hu Liena with deep emotion and pleaded:
"Nana, does all the time we spent growing up together mean less than this Ye Tian?"
"He's not even a soul master! What is he worth?!"
"Am I not better than him?"
Yan simply couldn't understand what was so great about Ye Tian—
That Hu Liena would stand before him to protect him!
"Enough!"
Hu Liena's voice turned cold as she waved her hand.
Just now, she had still spoken to Yan with patience.
She had been giving him some dignity.
Yet, Yan had ignored it.
There was no need for her to back down anymore.
She had never liked Yan.
Everything had always been his one-sided wishful thinking.
"Ye Tian is my husband. I am his wife. Our marriage was personally approved by Teacher."
"Yan, are you going to disobey Teacher's command?"
As fellow disciples, Hu Liena didn't want to escalate things too much.
However—
At this moment, Yan wasn't listening at all.
He glared at Ye Tian over Hu Liena's shoulder:
"If you're a real man, fight me one-on-one!"
"Don't make me look down on you!"
As soon as he said this, the knights behind him erupted in a chant:
"Duel! Duel! Duel!"
The voices grew louder and louder.
"A man's duel should be settled in a man's way!"
The knights provoked Ye Tian.
Hu Liena turned back with concern:
"Ye Tian, don't listen to them! Every field has its experts. Yan is a Rank 70 Soul Saint—you can't defeat him!"
"Nana, this is a matter between men. Stay out of it!"
Yan spoke coldly, his gaze locking onto Ye Tian:
"If you win, I promise I will never interfere in your relationship with Nana again.
"But if I win, you must divorce her!"
"Do you dare to accept the challenge? Give me a straight answer—don't keep our Lord Yan waiting!"
The knights sneered.
Hearing their words, the distant onlookers began murmuring among themselves.
"He's done for. Ye Tian has only been Lady Saint's husband for a short while."
"Looks like today will be their last day together."
"For Ye Tian, this might not be a bad thing."
"He should know his place! How could a nobody like him be worthy of our noble Holy Maiden of Spirit Hall?"
"Exactly! He must have tricked her with sweet words—nothing more!"
"Such love will never last."
"Lord Yan and Lady Holy Maiden are the true match!"
Even the ordinary spectators weren't the only ones talking.
Golden Crocodile Douluo spoke with interest:
"Qianjun, who do you think will win?"
Qianjun Douluo stroked his chin and chuckled:
"I've heard from the Grand Worship that Ye Tian's intelligence is unmatched. Having him in the Pope's Hall is like gaining a Rank 98 Super Douluo.
"But in terms of cultivation, I still favor that boy Yan.
"After all, Yan is a genius whom Bibi Dong invested greatly in training."
"And Ye Tian? He's just an ordinary man. The gap between them is as vast as heaven and earth."
Hearing Qianjun Douluo's words, Golden Crocodile Douluo narrowed his eyes and smiled.
"I, however, believe that Nana's husband will surprise us."
Listening to the crowd's discussion, the Sea Witch chuckled and sent a mental message to Ye Tian:
"Looks like no one believes in you."
"Need me to help in secret?"
Ye Tian, who had been quietly listening to Yan's taunts, waved his hand dismissively.
"No need."
A fair fight? He indeed couldn't defeat a Rank 70 Spirit Saint.
Especially one from the Spirit Hall's Golden Generation.
But if it wasn't a fair fight...
He had plenty of tricks up his sleeve.
Besides, Yan only mentioned a duel—he didn't say anything about not using 'certain methods.'
Noticing Yan's provocative expression, Ye Tian smirked.
Even a Spirit Saint... in his hands, would fall with just one needle!
Silently summoning his Taiyi Divine Needle, Ye Tian stepped past Hu Liena, standing at the same level as her.
Seeing Ye Tian step forward, Hu Liena's heart grew restless.
If Ye Tian accepted this challenge out of pride...
That would be disastrous.
He was clever, yes, but pure combat strength couldn't be compensated for with intelligence alone.
"D-Don't..."
Hu Liena's heart pounded as she tried to stop him.
But Ye Tian gently pressed a finger to her lips.
"Don't worry, my love."
Then, he leaned in and kissed Hu Liena's soft, delicate cheek.
The crowd erupted.
"He's throwing in some PDA while at it! Ruthless!"
"In a way, Ye Tian has already won!"
"Why must we suffer this double heartbreak?!"
Especially the maids from Spirit Hall.
They screamed excitedly.
"Ahh, so sweet! Ye Tian is so cool!"
"Why didn't he kiss me instead?!"
One girl even shouted from the crowd:
"Go, Brother Ye Tian!"
"Damn it! Damn it! If I don't beat you to a pulp later, I'm not Yan!"
At this moment, the angriest person present was undoubtedly Yan.
The woman he had long adored—his goddess—was just kissed by another man!
How dare Ye Tian defile his goddess?!
Today, he would give Ye Tian a lesson he would never forget!
He would prove that mere sweet words could never make someone worthy of Hu Liena!
"This Yan must be furious."
Xiao Bai, who had been observing, quietly whispered to the Sea Witch, covering her mouth as she giggled.
Then, she sneakily glanced at Ye Tian with admiration.
"So this is what love tastes like..."
"Furious? More like ready to kill him if not for all the people around."
"Xiao Bai, keep an eye on things. Make sure Ye Tian doesn't get hurt, even a little."
As she spoke, the Sea Witch playfully rubbed Gu Yuena's head and grinned.
"Little Nana, is your daddy amazing?"
"Hungry..."
Gu Yuena turned her big eyes toward the Sea Witch's chest, reaching out with her tiny hands as if trying to push away the thin fabric in her way.
Seeing this, the Sea Witch hurriedly stopped her, exhaling in relief.
That was close—almost a social disaster.
This little girl was quite the troublemaker.
She gently pinched Gu Yuena's nose and chuckled.
"If your daddy wins, I'll take you to eat something tasty. How about that?"
Hearing the word 'eat,' Gu Yuena's eyes sparkled.
She seemed to understand and nodded eagerly.
"Okay!"
Not far away.
Hu Liena, who had just been kissed by Ye Tian, blushed as she lightly punched his chest.
"Ye Tian, you're so bad."
"Are we fighting or not?!"
Yan, who had just been force-fed dog food, was fuming. His aura surged once again.
The silver spear in his hand swept behind him as he roared:
"Ye Tian, if you don't dare fight me, get out of Spirit City!"
Hearing this, Ye Tian laughed coldly and gazed down at Yan.
"Fight? Why wouldn't I?"
He took a step forward.
"Since you've been provoking me time and time again, how could I..."
"Not accept the challenge?!"
(End of chapter)