"It's simple—sign here, and we'll officially be separated." Lan Feng nudged the pouch of three hundred violet crystals closer to her.
"Rejected."
"Perfect, then from today on we won't be marr—wait, what? Rejected?" Lan Feng blinked, stunned. He thought for a moment, then nodded. Fortunately, he had come prepared. From his sleeve he drew a second pouch of crystals.
Together, it made more than six hundred crystals. Even many Core Formation cultivators didn't have that much wealth at hand. His father, as a Celestial Connection expert, was unimaginably rich, but even for him, producing six hundred violet crystals at once was painful.
Still, Lan Feng didn't hesitate. All for survival—he was willing to throw away every last saving he had.
"If this compensation doesn't satisfy you, we can negotiate later—after making it official. Well? What do you say?"
"Rejected." Yue Lian's expression didn't change. She didn't even glance at the divorce papers.
"Why? Is there a reason? I mean, I know I'm devastatingly handsome, and it must be difficult to part with a face like mine, but believe me, I'm serious. Just tell me what you want to separate from me?"
Yue Lian picked up the document only to tear it cleanly in two. "Rejected."
"Ah! My curse, you've fallen hopelessly for my charms, haven't you? Don't worry, I came prepared—look, I even brought a spare contract in case something happened to the first one." He waved his hand and produced another divorce document, placing it neatly before her.
Yue Lian's brows furrowed. She rose and pointed toward the exit. "Get out of my courtyard."
Lan Feng scratched his head, bewildered. It seemed he would get nowhere by insisting. "Alright, alright. Sleep on it, think it over. I'll come back another time."
When he finally left, Yue Lian let out a long, weary sigh.
"Truly irritating…"
Six months ago, she wouldn't have hesitated. But things had changed.
Her lifelong dream had always been cultivation. When her six-star talent was revealed during her evaluation, she had been ecstatic—only to realize she was still a bargaining chip for her clan.
Even before her birth, the Yue clan had already arranged her marriage to the Lan family.
Lan Tianyu hadn't been so bad. They had known each other since childhood and shared a decent friendship, though love was never in the equation. She had once foolishly thought that displaying her talent might release her from such contracts, but to her clan, talent only meant she had become more valuable.
And when she learned that her engagement had shifted from Tianyu to the young master Lan Feng…
The only son of the great elder, a figure revered across Clear River City—yet also a notorious playboy who knew only indulgence and excess.
Yue Lian had been completely against it, even more so on the day of their wedding, when she met him in person. Her first impression was of a spoiled, hopeless child. He embarrassed her before the world, beat Tianyu senseless, and strutted like a king.
She was moved into her new mansion, prepared for the wedding night… yet Lan Feng never came. And now, half a year later, he appeared only to propose divorce.
Strangely enough, Yue Lian had grown comfortable with her current life.
The great elder had visited her often, treating her as his precious daughter-in-law. He spared no expense, providing resources and even personal guidance on her cultivation. When she revealed her talent for alchemy, he immediately arranged for the clan's finest alchemists to teach her.
And though Lan Feng himself never showed up, he always sent YaoYao with letters of apology and small gifts of sincerity.
"…Perhaps he's not as terrible as I thought," she muttered, before shaking her head.
No. This was all for her cultivation. If that scoundrel wanted to throw away his wealth, she would wring him dry until the last crystal was gone.
...
Lan Feng returned to his courtyard, disappointed.
"I'd hoped to settle this quickly. Looks like it's going to be more troublesome than I thought."
After leaving Yue Lian's residence, YaoYao had informed him that the great elder had summoned her. Now, he was truly alone.
It made sense. His father surely had his own thoughts about Lan Tianyu. YaoYao might serve as his maid, but she was also one of the Lan clan's strongest cultivators. Even some elders feared her. As his father's trusted confidant, it was only natural she would be called away.
Tianyu leaned more toward the patriarch's faction, which was anything but good news. Fortunately, clan politics were not yet Lan Feng's problem. His only task was to cultivate as quickly as possible and carve out a place for himself.
He picked up the book containing the Lan clan's inherited cultivation technique.
It described the path through the foundational realms, Body Refinement, Qi Gathering, Core Formation, Martial Soul, and Mortal Connection.
Each chapter was detailed with notes from generations of elders and patriarchs, outlining pitfalls, recommendations, and personal insights.
Moreover, every book was infused with a thread of origin energy corresponding to each stage, allowing disciples to sense the fluctuations of those realms. This also prevented forgery—transcribing the words alone would render them useless without the energy threads that acted as the clan's seal.
"The Lan clan truly treasures its descendants," Lan Feng murmured. Even if those threads were faint, embedding them into countless manuals distributed each year demanded the effort of many elders—especially for the Mortal Connection realm.
He focused on the section about Body Refinement, which was divided into three stages, flesh, bone, and organs.
Each had to be tempered in sequence to forge a body capable of drawing in qi. If some fool tried to skip steps, their body would rupture from within.
Lan Feng took a violet crystal, ready to begin absorbing, when suddenly a bell-like chime rang inside his mind.
[The system has successfully fused with the host.]
[Warning: Magic System has detected an error!]
[Evaluating…]
[World devoid of magic… world devoid of mana…]
[System attempting to separate from host.]
[Separation failed—perfect synchronization detected.]
[System has initiated self-destruction countdown: 1 minute…]