The moon had barely begun to rise above the rooftops of the Xiao Clan when I slipped out of Yun Che's room, a ghost retreating with the tide of the night. There was no rush, no need for stealth now. The work was done. On my left arm, beneath the sleeve of my robe, a faint tattoo of green vines glowed with an almost imperceptible light before fading into my skin. The pain of the forced fusion had been sharp, an icy fire coursing through my veins, but the power I now felt was an intoxicating confirmation of my success. The Celestial Poison Pearl was no longer an object I carried; it was a part of me.
Now, mingling among the growing crowd of clan members and servants in the main courtyard, illuminated by the glow of lanterns, I was just another child, a face in the sea. My breathing, governed by the rhythm of the Immutable Mountain, was calm. My heart, however, beat with the pulse of a conqueror. The first step had not been a mere triumph; it had been the acquisition of fundamental capital.
Inside the groom's room, the silence was that of a tomb. One soul had departed, and another, far more formidable, was about to claim its place on a stage I had prepared myself.
Yun Che: POV
Darkness tore apart with a pain I recognized: the pain of poison. But this was different. Weaker, cruder than the one that forced me to jump from the Cliff of the End of Clouds. Consciousness returned like a tsunami, dragging memories of a life of glory and betrayal and crashing them against the fragile shore of a new, pathetic existence. Yun Che. That was the name of this body. A cripple of the Xiao Clan in Floating Cloud City.
I am alive. The thought was thunder in the stillness of my mind.
I opened my eyes. The room was simple, dimly lit by an oil lamp. The air was tainted with the smell of herbs and… yes, Heart-Corrosion Mortal Powder.
My hand flew to my arm, an instinctive reaction spanning two lives. And it found only skin and bone. The Celestial Poison Pearl was gone. A freezing void opened in my soul, a panic deeper than the fear of death.
But then, the logic of the Holy Physician took hold. I died. My body in the Azure Cloud Continent was destroyed. The Pearl, fused with me, must have been annihilated in the process. This new body never had it. It was an irreparable loss, but logical. A phantom limb of the soul.
Even so… the sense of violation was unbearable. It didn't feel like a loss; it felt like theft. As if, in the suspended moment between my death and rebirth, a thief had slipped not into my room, but into my very spirit, ripping out my heart. I discarded the thought. Useless paranoia. Without the Pearl, my path would be infinitely harder, but not impossible. My true treasures were my knowledge and experience.
With a clarity that contrasted with the weakness of my body, I analyzed my situation. Congenitally damaged Deep Veins. Useless for cultivation. The poison, administered in tonight's meal. The timing was perfect: killing me before the wedding with the Xiao Clan, freeing the beautiful Xia Qingyue from her unfortunate marriage. The culprit? I didn't need to look far. My cousin, Xiao Yulong, who had always despised me and coveted Qingyue. How predictable. How stupid.
A cold smile formed on my face. Trash? Crippled? Perhaps this body was. But the soul inhabiting it had once been at the top of the world. Rebuilding these Deep Veins wasn't a dream, it was a simple matter of medical procedure. I would show them what a true Holy Physician could do.
I stood, each movement an effort, and moved toward the window. The light of the red lanterns bathed the Xiao Clan courtyard, painting the outside world in a festive color that mocked the betrayal I had just suffered. A clan that saw me as a stain on their honor. A clan that had tried to kill me on my wedding day.
The night sky, dotted with stars, promised not a new beginning, but the start of a long and bloody revenge.
The door opened, and the pawn—my pawn—took the stage.
From my position in the crowd, I noticed the change immediately. He didn't walk; he strutted. Desperation had been replaced by arrogance sharp as steel. His eyes didn't look at the ground but swept over the crowd with an air of superiority, like an emperor inspecting his subjects.
The soul from the Azure Cloud Continent had taken control, I thought, feeling the Pearl's vibration in my arm. Good. An arrogant protagonist is far more entertaining and predictable.
When a servant offered him the wedding carriage, Yun Che dismissed it with a gesture of disdain. "A horse," he ordered, his voice resonating with an authority that left everyone perplexed.
The murmurs turned into a silent commotion. What right did this trash have to act with such pride? His cousin, Xiao Yulong, watched from a distance with a mix of confusion and fury. The poison should have killed him. Yun Che mounted the horse with a skill no one expected. He straightened his back and, without a single glance back, rode toward the wedding.
I followed, a wolf disguised as a sheep in the flock. Every confident step Yun Che took, every look of astonishment he provoked, was a victory for me. I was drawing all attention.
The ceremony at the Xiao Clan was exquisite drama under the light of hundreds of lanterns. Forced smiles, veiled insults, Yun Che's unshakable calm. He was a consummate actor. The wedding proceeded without interruption, the final rites were performed, and, in the eyes of the world, the cripple of the Xiao Clan had married Floating Cloud City's jewel. Guests began to disperse, whispering quietly about the groom's strange composure and the bride's tragic fate.
For me, the spectacle was almost disappointing in its normalcy. There was no celestial drama, no last-minute interventions. But what I could not see—the true turning point of the night—occurred behind closed doors.
In the bridal chamber, Xia Qingyue stood, dressed in her red wedding robe, a silent and elegant figure. The room was calm until a chilling presence manifested in the air. A woman dressed in white appeared by the window, as if she had emerged from the very light of the moon. It was Chu Yueli, her Asgard master from Frozen Cloud.
"Qingyue," said Chu Yueli, her voice calm but edged with steel. "Are you sure about this? You know what it means for your cultivation future. This marriage is a deadly anchor."
Xia Qingyue did not turn. Her gaze remained fixed on her reflection in a bronze mirror. "I am sure, Master."
"Why?" inquired Chu Yueli. "You have no real obligation to him."
"It is a promise made by our parents, a pact binding the previous generation. Breaking it would dishonor their memory," Xia Qingyue replied, her voice firm and clear. She paused and then added, with an almost imperceptible softness: "And he… despite his condition, is now my husband. By completing this ceremony, I grant him the honor due to him. No one can say that the Xiao Clan broke its word or that his wife abandoned him before being his. Now… I may leave."
Chu Yueli watched in silence for a moment, then nodded. "Your heart is resolute. Good. We shall depart now, before dawn."
As I moved away from the Xiao Clan complex, I saw a white and a red shadow rise silently from the backyard and disappear into the night sky. So the bride had gone.
A smile curved on my lips. The stage was subtler than I had anticipated, but the result was even better. Yun Che had obtained the title of "husband," but had lost his wife the same night. His victory was hollow, his humiliation imminent and lasting. He would not be the protagonist of an epic drama but the laughingstock of a silent farce.
Perfect. Let the world focus on his little tragedy. Let them wonder, whisper, and forget. In the shadows of his misfortune, I, the true player, the capitalist who had secured the main asset, would begin my true ascent. Without witnesses, without fanfare, without limits.