Xiao Fan vaguely opened his eyes, and the scene before him immediately startled him.
He found himself standing beneath a sea of stars, surrounded by countless stars floating in the sky.
"Where is this?" Xiao Fan looked around, seeing nothing but stars, stretching endlessly in all directions.
He couldn't understand how he had arrived in such a place.
And where exactly this was.
Was he even alive?
At that moment, Xiao Fan's chest suddenly jolted. His heart pounded violently, and a surge of immense will appeared in his mind.
The ground trembled, and the stars surrounding Xiao Fan in the sky emitted lights of various colors, creating a majestic scene.
Zhou Tian Star Chart.
A supreme treasure from the ancient era, sealing three thousand six hundred stars within, containing countless cultivation methods, magical artifacts, resources...
After a moment, Xiao Fan slowly opened his eyes, his heart filled with excitement. The will had informed him of the Zhou Tian Star Chart and how to activate it.
"When one's strength reaches a certain stage, one can shatter a star with their own power, thereby obtaining the various cultivation methods, secret treasures, and resources sealed within..."
"The first time one acknowledges the Star Chart with their bloodline, they can directly obtain the treasure within the first star..."
"Furthermore, after acknowledging the Zhou Tian Star Chart, one will be bathed in the power of the stars, improving their innate talent."
Xiao Fan used his right fingernail to draw a bloody line on his left palm, and drops of blood flowed out, dripping onto the ground...
"Boom!"
With a loud crash, a star in the sky shattered, and the various treasures sealed within appeared before Xiao Fan.
At the moment the treasures within the star appeared, Xiao Fan felt like he was dreaming, his eyes gleaming with excitement. He strode forward, eager to examine the treasures he had obtained.
Spirit stones were piled into a small mountain as tall as a person, with dozens of spiritual herbs and a cultivation manual placed beside them.
"There must be at least several thousand spirit stones, and they are all of the highest quality. And so many precious spiritual herbs... This cultivation manual..." When Xiao Fan picked up the manual, he gasped.
"It's actually a Xuan-grade high-level cultivation method, the Dragon Elephant Overlord Body Technique."
Cultivation methods are graded into four levels: Heaven, Earth, Xuan, and Yellow. Yellow-grade low-level techniques are relatively common, while Yellow-grade mid-level techniques can be obtained at a certain price.
As for Yellow-grade high-level techniques, they are generally held by large families and are inaccessible to ordinary people.
Xuan-grade techniques are even rarer. Although the Xiao family was considered a large family in Jingchuan City, the highest-grade cultivation method within the family was only Yellow-grade high-level.
Even the Long family, the premier family in Jingchuan City, possessed only a single Xuan-grade low-level technique, which they regarded as a family heirloom, only to be practiced by the direct descendants of the Long family.
This time, Xiao Fan's father, through marriage, intended to have Xiao Fan marry into the Long family, with the intention of exchanging for this Xuan-grade cultivation method.
Looking at the cultivation method in his hand, Xiao Fan suppressed the excitement in his heart and muttered to himself.
"My cultivation talent and aptitude have already been improved by the Zhou Tian Star Chart. From now on, I am no longer the 'waste' in your eyes."
...
Xiao Fan withdrew his consciousness from the Star Chart and vaguely opened his eyes, feeling a sharp pain in his chest. He quickly clutched his chest.
"Why are my clothes like this?"
Xiao Fan's original clothes were gone, replaced by a bright red wedding attire. He was lying in an unfamiliar room.
"You're awake?"
A woman's voice came from his side, pleasant to the ear. Xiao Fan looked up and saw a woman sitting beside him.
The woman wore a veil that covered the lower half of her face, but a red birthmark was visible on her left cheek.
At that moment, without needing to ask, Xiao Fan guessed the woman's identity: the Long family's Third Miss, Long Miaoyin.
"How did I get here? How long have I been unconscious?" Xiao Fan struggled to sit up and asked.
He didn't remember anything after being knocked unconscious by Xiao Tian.
"You were sent here by the Xiao family. You've been unconscious for three days," Long Miaoyin said, her voice very pleasant.
If not for the birthmark on her face, Xiao Fan believed that Long Miaoyin would be a stunning beauty.
Seeing that Xiao Fan was still somewhat puzzled, Long Miaoyin continued: "The Xiao family sent you over in the dead of night while you were on the verge of death, demanding that the Long family fulfill their original promise. The Long family was naturally unwilling, but Xiao Tian... threatened them with his identity as a disciple of the Misty Immortal Palace, and the Long family could only compromise in the end."
Listening to Long Miaoyin's account, Xiao Fan finally understood what had happened after he fell unconscious.
Xiao Tian was afraid that he would die in the Xiao family, which would prevent him from completing the previous transaction with the Long family, obtaining a thousand spirit stones and the Long family's ancestral cultivation method.
So, he directly had someone change his clothes into wedding attire and sent him to the Long family overnight, arranging for him to marry Long Miaoyin.
Although Long Miaoyin's status in the Long family was very low, they were not fools. They originally wanted to form a marital alliance with the Xiao family, but what use would they have for someone who was about to die?
However, under Xiao Tian's coercion, the Long family could only compromise.
The Long family was unwilling to publicize this matter and did not dare to make a big deal out of it. Only the Long family's internal members and a few outsiders knew about the wedding. Xiao Fan was not even allowed to show his face on the wedding day.
Hearing all of this, Xiao Fan felt bitterness in his heart and could only shake his head, his gaze falling on Long Miaoyin.
"Have you been taking care of me all this time?"
Long Miaoyin nodded, a hint of shyness like a young girl, lowering her head and not speaking.
Xiao Fan felt a warmth in his heart and softly said, "Thank you."
"Are you hungry? I'll go to the kitchen to get you some porridge to drink," Long Miaoyin said softly.
Xiao Fan nodded. He had been unconscious for so many days and was indeed very hungry.
After Long Miaoyin left, Xiao Fan felt the sharp pain in his chest, and his eyes became even colder.
"Xiao Tian, you didn't even think about the fact that I was your brother when you attacked me. If I hadn't been lucky, I might have already died," Xiao Fan muttered to himself darkly.
If he hadn't had the opportunity to activate the Zhou Tian Star Chart, even if he could have survived, he would have lived the rest of his life as a cripple.
Thinking of this, he felt gratitude towards Long Miaoyin, who had been taking care of him while he was unconscious.
Taking off his wedding attire, Xiao Fan looked at his chest. A piece of torn cloth was wrapped around his chest.
This cloth had been with Xiao Fan since he was a child, and he didn't know where it came from. He had always worn it around his chest.
He never imagined that it was actually the supreme treasure, the Zhou Tian Star Chart!