Chapter 1305 - 933: Rejection

"The Gong Family actually threw in with the royal clan?" Zhang Chen’s pupils shrank at the words; he had never imagined it would end like this.

The Gong Family siding with the royal clan would trigger ripples far too great; it meant that what had once been an ironclad unity among the Eight Great Clans had now been torn open by a crack.

Since the Gong Family could pledge themselves to the royal clan, what about the others?

Since the royal clan could accept the Gong Family, then they might well accept the other families too!

"I truly hadn’t expected the Human King to have such daring, ruining one of my moves. But the Gong Family has forged a Sea of Blood feud with the other seven clans. With the Great Victory Human King taking the Gong Family in, the other seven are bound to refuse to let this go. That in itself is my opportunity!" A shard of terrifying light flashed in Zhang Chen’s eyes.

Once he had pacified the last two bottlenecks of the world barrier, then if the Great Victory Human King truly erased his crimes, so be it. But if the king harbored other schemes, Zhang Chen would make it clear that he was not someone to be pushed around.

If not for his scruples about the cause and effect between Heaven and Earth, Zhang Chen could have dropped a single bolt of Colorless Divine Thunder, and whether it was the royal clan or the Chai Family, the whole of Kyoto would be reduced to ash in the lightning. But when he recalled how, back in the Ancient Era, the Heavenly Dao had actually manifested in person, Zhang Chen could not help feeling a chill. He did not wish to stand out too much and end up caught in the Heavenly Dao’s gaze.

After all, even great deities like the Queen Mother of the West and her peers had been screwed to death by the Heavenly Dao—what was he in comparison?

To him, the best path was to quietly accumulate points, then make one push straight into the realm of Heavenly Creation Daluo, directly shattering the world barrier and entering Chaos, rather than jumping around everywhere and drawing the Heavenly Dao’s attention.

"I don’t even know what state the Heavenly Dao is in now. The Six Paths of Reincarnation have been dismantled, the cycle of Heaven and Earth’s operation broken—who knows what the Heavenly Dao has become? But even if only the faintest sliver of it remains, that’s still not something I can resist." Zhang Chen had personally witnessed the battle between the Heavenly Dao and the Queen Mother of the West, and naturally understood how terrifyingly powerful the Heavenly Dao was. Such an existence could crush him to death with a single thought.

"I must bring the Zhang Family under my control before I repair that world barrier Feng Shui Grand Array. Only then will I have enough time to handle whatever crisis may come next. If the Great Victory Dynasty truly behaves and pardons me, then we can let it go. But if the Great Victory Dynasty’s royal clan goes back on its word, I’ll let them understand that this world need not bear the surname Chai—a Zhang can sit on that seat as well." Zhang Chen thought to himself in secret.

"What do you plan to do next?" Across from him, Xie Lingyun’s question pulled Zhang Chen back from his thoughts. "Whatever you decide, I’ll support you with everything I have."

Zhang Chen smiled at that, lifted his bowl of sheep offal soup, and clinked it against Xie Lingyun’s. "Then I’ll be counting on you."

After their bowls met, Zhang Chen said with a grin, "Everything that comes next is already in my hands. If I run into a problem I can’t untangle, I’ll naturally ask you to make a move."

"There’s no need for formality between us." Xie Lingyun’s eyes flickered with a hint of hesitation before she finally spoke: "I heard you’re getting engaged?"

Zhang Chen lowered his head and looked at the bowl in his hands. "Yeah."

"Isn’t that a bit early? You’re only fifteen this year." Xie Lingyun said.

"Marriage isn’t about age, it’s about whether the match is right. When you meet someone suitable, you should seize the time to get married. If you miss that chance, who knows when you’ll meet someone suitable again? If three to five, seven to eight years go by without meeting the right person, wouldn’t that be a waste?" Zhang Chen said, then teased Xie Lingyun:

"I’m not like you. You devote yourself to the Great Dao and don’t bother with love and romance, so naturally you don’t need to think about marriage. I cultivate the Immortal Dao; I have to pass down my bloodline to complete the cause and effect tied to this mortal body."

Xie Lingyun glanced at Zhang Chen, then silently lowered her head and took a shallow sip of sheep offal soup. "You’re too good with words. No matter how you say it, it sounds reasonable."

"I’m off, heading back. When I get married, you’d better come to my wedding." Zhang Chen set down his empty bowl, called out to Xie Lingyun, then turned and took his leave.

Watching Zhang Chen’s figure recede into the distance, Xie Lingyun’s fists clenched tight inside her sleeves. A thousand words surged in her heart, yet she did not know how to speak them. In the end she relaxed her tightly gripped hands, slowly rose, and vanished into the sea of people, leaving only a soft sigh that spread through the crowd:

"The road of life is long, the years stretch on for ten thousand ages. Being a Dao companion who can walk alongside him all the way is good enough."

After separating from Xie Lingyun, Zhang Chen strolled leisurely back into the Academy, where he saw Jiang Nan standing dazed in front of the door to his house, staring intently at the mural on the wall.

"What brings you here?" Zhang Chen asked, surprised, as he looked at Jiang Nan.

"I heard you’re getting married—taking the eldest young lady of the Zhong Family as your wife?" Jiang Nan fixed her gaze on him.

"You don’t care for me, and I’ve already reached the age where I should start a family and career. I can’t stay single forever, can I?" Zhang Chen joked with Jiang Nan.

At his words, Jiang Nan’s eyes instantly reddened. She turned her head away to gaze silently at the distant scenery. Seeing this, Zhang Chen said nothing more. He was about to get married—what was the point of entangling himself with Jiang Nan now?

What he needed to do was sever all those rotten love affairs.

He had given Jiang Nan a chance, but she had looked down on him. Life is like a game of chess—once the stone falls, there is no regret. Zhang Chen naturally did not regret his choice, because Zhong Xiang truly was a good match. Whether in looks, family background, cultivation, or talent, she was worthy of him.

In terms of looks, Zhong Xiang was a top-tier beauty, no worse than Xie Lingyun. In terms of talent, she was even more famous in Kyoto, a celebrated gifted woman chased after by countless people. As for family background, Zhang Chen actually didn’t care much about lineage, and the Zhong Family wasn’t bad at all, in no way inferior to the Xie Family or the Jiang Family where Jiang Nan came from. What was there for Zhang Chen to be dissatisfied with?

He and Zhong Xiang could be said to share mutual affection and agreement.

Zhang Chen opened his door. Jiang Nan was about to follow him in, but Zhang Chen shifted his body to block her way.

Jiang Nan’s brows knit together, eyes bloodshot as she stared at him. "What are you doing?"

"I’m already about to get married. The two of us, a man and a woman alone in one room—that’s not appropriate. In the future, if there’s no need, you don’t have to come looking for me anymore. No, even if you feel there’s a need in the future, you still shouldn’t come looking for me. Let’s end all the grudges and entanglements between us here. Zhong Xiang is a very good person, I don’t want to be fooling around and break her heart." Zhang Chen said to Jiang Nan.

Jiang Nan froze at his words, her eyes staring blankly at him, as if she couldn’t believe her ears. After a long while she finally said, "Are you serious?"

"Of course." Zhang Chen nodded.

Jiang Nan locked her eyes on Zhang Chen. "You really are heartless. As soon as you have a new love, you immediately throw away the old one."

"Stop right there! You hardly count as an old love." Zhang Chen hurriedly cut off Jiang Nan’s words.

"You really won’t let me in?" Jiang Nan stared at Zhang Chen and asked again.

Zhang Chen nodded.

Jiang Nan was speechless now, her eyes fixed on him. "You won’t let me in ever again?"

"Right." Zhang Chen said.

"Everyone says a wife isn’t as good as a concubine, a concubine isn’t as good as an affair, and an affair isn’t as good as the affair you can’t have. You really expect me to believe you won’t sneak around outside?" Jiang Nan snorted at Zhang Chen. "A grown man, which one doesn’t have three wives and four concubines? Which one doesn’t visit brothels? What are you pretending to be so upright for?"

Zhang Chen chuckled at that. "Heh, I’m not pretending to be upright. Other men are other men. In this life, I, Zhang Chen, will only marry Zhong Xiang. As long as Zhong Xiang doesn’t betray me, I absolutely won’t be messing around outside. Miss Jiang, you should go back."

Hearing Zhang Chen speak, Jiang Nan was stunned, her eyes fixed on him as if she couldn’t believe her ears. "What did you just say? You said you won’t take extra wives and concubines? You’re serious?"

"Of course." Zhang Chen nodded firmly.

Jiang Nan could see that there wasn’t a shred of hypocrisy or pretense in Zhang Chen’s words; everything came straight from his heart. She truly couldn’t believe that there was actually such a man in this world—plainly capable of having dozens of wives, yet choosing to stay loyal to just one person.

For nobles, isn’t having three wives and four concubines perfectly normal? Why was the man in front of her such an oddity?

Among the nobles of this world, where do you find anyone who doesn’t keep three wives and four concubines?

The reason she came looking for Zhang Chen today was simply because she’d heard the news that he was already engaged, and she couldn’t help feeling a bit jealous, a bit unwilling, her possessiveness flaring up. But now, looking at Zhang Chen, who was so devoted in matters of the heart, regret surged through her like a tide, wave after wave.

The man she would marry in the future would definitely be one of the powerful elite. Three wives and four concubines were unavoidable, and he would also visit brothels and keep mistresses outside. She was a woman too—how could she not hope her husband would be faithful?

"Please leave." Zhang Chen issued a dismissal order to Jiang Nan. "From now on, let’s act like we don’t know each other. Back then you saved my life on the boat, and I’ve already repaid that favor long ago."

At his words, Jiang Nan was unwilling to accept it and tried to push forward, wanting to squeeze into the room. But she saw Zhang Chen’s hands and feet move swiftly; Jiang Nan only felt her body stiffen as she was pushed out, and then Zhang Chen simply shut the door, cutting her off from his world.

Jiang Nan stared at the closed door, standing dumbly in front of it without a word. After a long time, she took a breath and walked away like a lost soul, a single thought rising in her heart: "Was I really wrong?"

She felt as if she really had missed out on someone very, very good.

Thinking back now, Zhang Chen wasn’t bad at all. In terms of cultivation and in terms of gambling methods, he was already among the top of the younger generation. Aside from lacking in family background, he had no glaring shortcomings.

But if she wanted revenge, she had to have a powerful force backing her. With no strong power behind Zhang Chen, how could he avenge her?

"I just wanted to marry a bit better, to marry a man of my dreams. While I’m still young, I want to sell myself for a better price—is that really wrong? What woman doesn’t hope to marry a good man?" Jiang Nan slowly raised her lowered head, a hint of stubbornness appearing in her eyes:

"I’m not wrong! I just want to take advantage of the time while I’m still worth something and sell myself for a good price, that’s all! Zhang Chen may be a good person, but what good is being a good person? He’s not worth much! What I want is a price!!! What I want is revenge!!! The hundreds of pairs of eyes from the Jiang Family’s restless dead are still fixed on me!"