Xue Han stepped closer, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Yu Yuanchen. He gazed out at the night sky, his tone casual as if making small talk, yet his words carried a pointed meaning: "Young Friend Yuanchen is a man of great talent, possessing strength that surpasses his peers; your future is limitless. With you in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, it will surely reach even greater heights. The Heaven Dou Empire has always enjoyed friendly relations with your esteemed clan. It is the wish of His Majesty and this king that this friendship continues for generations to come, growing ever more solid."
Yu Yuanchen's heart stirred; he knew the real topic had arrived. Remaining composed, he replied indifferently: "Your Highness the Prince speaks too highly. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and the Heaven Dou Empire are neighbors; looking out for one another is only right and proper. My grandfather and father have often taught me that one should always be kind to one's neighbors."
Xue Han turned his head, his gaze burning as he looked at Yu Yuanchen, his smile deepening slightly: "What you say is true, young friend. However, there is no bond in this world more solid than that of blood. I will be blunt: His Majesty has a daughter, titled 'Mingzhu', who has just turned sixteen. Her talent and beauty are both of the highest order, and her temperament is gentle; she is deeply cherished by His Majesty. It is the wish of His Majesty and this king to bring our families closer through marriage. If you do not object, we wish to betroth Mingzhu to you. From then on, the Heaven Dou Royal Family and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan would be one family, working together to build a prosperous era. As for Miss Ye..."
He paused, his tone remaining gentle yet carrying an air of condescending arrangement: "Miss Ye is virtuous and kind, with exceptional medical skills; she is also a suitable match. When the time comes, let Mingzhu hold the position of primary wife, and Miss Ye can serve as a secondary wife to assist you together—would that not be wonderful? Of course, if you feel you must consider the feelings of the Ye family, we could temporarily designate them as equal wives, with no distinction between senior or junior. The Royal Family would have no objections and would certainly treat the Ye family with great generosity."
This speech appeared to offer great respect and choice, but the core remained unchanged—they intended to force a royal princess upon Yu Yuanchen and implied that Ye Zhilan could be relegated to a lesser status.
Upon hearing this, the polite, faint smile on Yu Yuanchen's face vanished instantly. His eyes remained calm and waveless, but a flicker of coldness passed through their depths. He did not hesitate, speaking directly in a tone that was gentle yet carried an unquestionable firmness:
"I am deeply grateful for the kindness of Your Highness and His Majesty. However, marriage is a major life event, not child's play; it must follow the commands of parents and the words of matchmakers. Although I am the Young Master of the sect, this matter still requires the consent of my grandfather and father, as well as the deliberation of the sect elders. It is certainly not something I can decide alone. Furthermore..."
His tone shifted slightly, his gaze meeting Xue Han's directly. Though still courteous, a sense of distance and sharpness emerged beneath that politeness: "Zhilan and I are in love and have long since pledged our lives to one another. To me, she is not only my future dao companion but also an indispensable confidante on the path of cultivation. For her to be forced to live beneath another—this is absolutely impossible. Though I am untalented, I know how to write the words 'never betray'. I ask that Your Highness and His Majesty please do not mention this matter again."
His refusal was crisp and clean, without the slightest hesitation, and he placed Ye Zhilan's status at the highest level, leaving no room for negotiation.
The smile on Xue Han's face froze instantly. He had never expected Yu Yuanchen to refuse so thoroughly, leaving not even a sliver of room for pretense! In his view, it was perfectly normal for a man to have multiple wives and concubines, especially for a peerless genius of Yu Yuanchen's status; it was almost inevitable that he would have a harem in the future. Few, if any, past Sect Masters of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had only one wife. Even Yu Yuanchen's father, Yu Mingfeng, had taken a new wife years after his first passed away. Why was it impossible for Yu Yuanchen?
He could not help but narrow his eyes slightly. The smile remained on his face, but his tone now carried a hint of probing and an imperceptible coldness: "Oh? Young Friend Yuanchen is so devoted to Miss Ye? That is indeed rare. However... you are young and vigorous; perhaps you do not realize that in this world, especially within clans and noble houses, matters of love must often give way to the greater interests of the big picture. Moreover, dragon nature is inherently... heh, as a possessor of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul, can you truly be content with only one woman?"
His words carried a hint of mockery and skepticism, implying that Yu Yuanchen was merely putting on an act.
Upon hearing this, Yu Yuanchen did not get angry; instead, the corner of his mouth curled into a faint, mocking arc. He naturally understood the subtext of Xue Han's words.
"Your Highness is joking," Yu Yuanchen said, his tone remaining steady, yet his words were as sharp as a blade. "In my actions, I only seek to have a clear conscience. My father took a new wife only after my mother had passed away for many years, and my stepmother is kind and has treated me as her own; I respect her. That is a family matter and cannot be mentioned in the same breath as today's proposal."
Yu Yuanchen paused, then continued: "As for the nature of dragons... I believe that a martial soul is a source of power, not a shackle to bind one's heart. If one cannot even follow one's own heart and blindly submits to so-called 'common sense' or 'interests', then even with the greatest power, how is one different from a puppet?"
He paused again, his gaze becoming deep and calm once more, but his firmness grew clearer: "Furthermore, the royal princess is a golden branch and jade leaf. I am but a martial cultivator, lazy by nature and disliking constraints; I fear I am a poor match, and I have no desire to be drawn into unnecessary turmoil. This is truly not a suitable match. I hope Your Highness will understand."
This final sentence pointed out another major reason for his refusal—he did not want to be too deeply entangled with the Royal Family, especially not in the complex struggles that likely existed within it.
He had seen that "Princess Mingzhu" a few times at the banquet. She appeared obedient, but the arrogance and calculation hidden deep in her eyes had not escaped his spiritual perception, which far exceeded that of ordinary people. He had no interest in such duplicitous, spoiled royal noblewomen.
To put it plainly, the most important reason was simply—he did not like her.
Xue Han stared at Yu Yuanchen for a long time. The smile on his face finally faded completely, replaced by a deep, scrutinizing look. He realized that the young man before him was far more difficult and opinionated than he had imagined. Ordinary temptations of interest or the pressure of power were completely ineffective against him. He possessed principles and bottom lines that could not be shaken.
"Heh, since you have made up your mind, young friend, then this king will not force the issue." Xue Han finally let out a dry laugh, his tone returning to calm, though the warmth had clearly cooled significantly. "It is merely a pity for His Majesty's good intentions. Very well, let this matter be dropped; consider it as if I never mentioned it. The banquet is not yet over; you should return with me."
"After you, Your Highness." Yu Yuanchen turned slightly, making a gesture of invitation. His etiquette was perfect, but the previous sense of closeness was gone.
This political marriage, intended to be so obvious, had withered before it even began.
Returning to the banquet hall, the atmosphere seemed unchanged, but Yu Yuanchen could feel that the gazes directed at him by Prince Xue Han and Emperor Xue Yu on the high seat held less warmth and more deep, calculated scrutiny.
Yu Yuanchen did not care. He continued to respond with ease, eating and drinking as usual. When he spoke in low tones with Ye Zhilan, his expression was natural and gentle, as if that unpleasant interlude had never occurred.
Although Ye Zhilan did not know exactly what had happened, she keenly sensed that Yu Yuanchen's aura was colder upon his return, and she noticed the subtle changes in the attitudes of the royal family members. She asked nothing, simply squeezing his hand gently and offering a look of concern. Yu Yuanchen returned her smile, signaling that all was well.
The banquet finally ended in an atmosphere that appeared harmonious but was, in reality, filled with hidden agendas.
As night fell, the separate courtyard arranged by the Heaven Dou Royal Academy for Yu Yuanchen and Ye Zhilan was brightly lit. Heavy maps and ancient books piled up on the desk, the scent of paper and ink mixing with the fragrance of the plants in the courtyard, settling into an atmosphere of quiet focus.
For three consecutive days, Yu Yuanchen and Ye Zhilan barely stepped outside, immersing themselves entirely in the sea of information constructed from ancient scrolls.
The exploration records of the Sunset Forest held by the Heaven Dou Royal Academy over the past few hundred years were as vast as the ocean. Most were precise but superficial topographical surveys, product statistics, and labels for the "simulated training grounds" that had only emerged in the last century to serve academy students.
While these materials were detailed and could be considered a treasure trove for ordinary soul masters, they were like scratching an itch through a boot for Yu Yuanchen's goal.
Yu Yuanchen's spiritual power was highly concentrated, his gaze like lightning as he scanned the yellowed maps and dense annotations. He was not searching aimlessly but consciously filtering for fragments recording "anomalies," "dangerous places," "ancient legends," and descriptions involving earth vein energy. Ye Zhilan assisted from the side; she was meticulous and better at discovering details that might have been overlooked in the corners of seemingly absurd strange tales and herbal atlases.
The process was slow and tedious. It was not until the afternoon of the third day that Ye Zhilan made the first discovery in a fragile, unique manuscript fragment titled Northern Travels Record. The author of this travelogue claimed to be a Soul Douluo who loved exploring strange places; the writing was unrestrained, and most of the records were like myths. However, one page mentioned a "Place of Profound Yin" deep in the far north of the Sunset Forest.
"Brother Yuanchen, look here," Ye Zhilan said, her fingertip lightly touching the nearly blurred handwriting, her voice carrying a hint of imperceptible excitement. "The book says: '...Traveling north, entering a secluded valley, the cold air pierced the bones, and soul power stagnated. In the valley, there was a pool, the water ink-black; touching it caused freezing, suspected to lead to the Nine Netherworlds. The surrounding plants were all stained with frost...' Does this description not sound exactly like the manifestation of an earth vein convergence with a yin cold attribute?"
Yu Yuanchen took the fragment and read it carefully. The "cold air piercing the bones and soul power stagnating" mentioned in the text, along with the unique ecological environment described, could not be explained by ordinary low temperatures. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes: "A Place of Profound Yin... only by gathering yin attribute energy could such a phenomenon form. This clue is valuable."
Almost at the same time, Yu Yuanchen also found a record in the Mountain River Earth Qi Overview, a more ancient and rigorous text left by the royal Mining Survey Department, which had been glossed over in just a few words. When discussing the geology of the mid-eastern part of the Sunset Forest, the book mentioned: "...There are hot springs surging, mist steaming, the scent of sulfur permeating, the surrounding soil is crimson, plants struggle to grow, and rocks are scorched; this is caused by the earth fire remnant vein being close to the surface..."
"Earth fire remnant vein... scorching yang..." Yu Yuanchen mused, "This is clearly the characteristic manifestation of a yang attribute earth vein."
Placing the two books side-by-side on the desk, Yu Yuanchen's gaze swept back and forth between the "Northern Secluded Valley Place of Profound Yin" and the "Mid-East Earth Fire Remnant Vein." These two locations, one north and one east, one yin and one yang, one cold and one hot, were far apart in the vast Sunset Forest and had been viewed as independent, extreme dangerous places in all previous records.
No one had ever connected these two places, and no one dared to imagine that these two diametrically opposed, mutually exclusive powers of heaven and earth could possibly converge and fuse.
But Yu Yuanchen was different. He possessed memories from his past life and knew from the knowledge inherited from the Thunder God that some of the most incredible places of creation in the world were born precisely from this extreme opposition and unity. The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was exactly such an existence!
"Yin vein and yang vein... they seem worlds apart, unrelated." Yu Yuanchen's finger traced the map unconsciously, connecting the two vague areas. "But how can the wonders of heaven and earth be measured by common sense? Since they can separately nurture such extreme yin and yang earth veins, then somewhere in this forest, in the deeper flow of the earth veins, there is a possibility of convergence. It is just that where they converge, the energy must be violent and chaotic, forming a natural barrier that ordinary people cannot perceive, let alone approach."
His train of thought became increasingly clear. Ordinary soul masters and even geographers, limited by their cognition, stopped at recording the characteristics once they found an extreme environment. Who would be crazy enough to assume that ice and fire could coexist in one hole?
But what he was looking for was precisely this "impossibility." The existing data was like scattered puzzle pieces that no one could see in their entirety, but he held the key outline of the final pattern.
"What we need to find may not be a location directly labeled 'ice and fire source'," Yu Yuanchen analyzed for Ye Zhilan, his tone firm. "Instead, we must infer their underground veins based on the locations of these two known yin and yang earth veins and the terrain flow of the areas they pass through, and then deduce their most likely convergence area. That area might appear unremarkable on the surface, perhaps even appearing peaceful due to energy containment, or... it might be obscured by a more powerful force field."
Ye Zhilan suddenly realized, her beautiful eyes shining with brilliance: "Brother Yuanchen means that the clues we have are enough to point the way? The subsequent search will rely on the perception of earth veins and the judgment of terrain?"
"Correct." Yu Yuanchen nodded. "Although the academy's collection is rich, the records regarding such mysteries of the core of heaven and earth are ultimately limited. It is already a stroke of luck to have accidentally obtained these two key clues. The remaining path must be verified by us personally in the forest."
Since the clues were clear, there was no point in remaining in Heaven Dou City. Yu Yuanchen politely declined Prince Xue Han's invitation to another banquet, stating directly that the time for training had arrived and he needed to enter the Sunset Forest as soon as possible.
Seeing that Yu Yuanchen was determined to leave and held a firm attitude, Prince Xue Han knew that such a genius had his own methods and that forcing him to stay would be useless, so he did not insist. He gifted Yu Yuanchen a token representing the friendship of the Royal Family and provided two well-trained Horned Scale Horses for transport to show his goodwill.
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Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: GodKun-Chan