Chapter 45: with translation of chapter title

"Hold on!!" The Princess was lost in thought for a moment; her mind was filled with the image of Su Chen attending to Liu Liyan with meticulous care. When she came to, she saw Su Chen holding Liu Liyan's hand as they boarded the carriage.

Liu Liyan

Then her face alternated between green and white as she asked: "What do you mean by what you just said! Do you no longer need this palace to speak well of you in front of Brother Ye Xuan? Don't you want to clear Su Zongzhu's name?"

Qing'er

Su Chen's steps paused, the corner of his mouth curling with a hint of derision, he gave a cold laugh and said to the Princess: "When did I ever say I needed the Princess to speak well of me in front of Ye Xuan? Don't bother, Princess, I don't need it!"

"Aren't you afraid the Heavenly Profound Dao Sect will be exterminated?" The Princess's expression stiffened, revealing a rare look of astonishment.

Su Chen almost couldn't hold back his laughter: "Things may not go as the Princess wishes; whether we can turn the tide is not for the Princess to decide. Princess, I advise you to put away those petty thoughts, for they are useless to me."

"I, Su Chen, will marry no one but Liu Liyan in this life, and I cannot bear to see her unhappy due to jealousy over romantic rivals."

"As for other women, even if you are merely the Princess, or even if the Empress of the Great Zhou Dynasty herself appeared, I wouldn't give them a second glance! Go back where you came from."

Warrior Master

His final words, like a stone dropped into a calm lake, sent ripples layer upon layer that entwined in the Princess's heart, leaving her mind and spirit greatly shaken for a moment.

Madam Su

Old Master Cheng

Relying on her own background, cultivation talent, and stunning beauty, it would be as easy as flipping her hand to break off Su Chen and Liu Liyan's engagement.

She had always believed that Su Chen's feelings for Liu Liyan were purely utilitarian, or rather, for her Bodhi Sacred Body, with not a shred of genuine emotion.

Cheng Family

They considered Su Chen merely a native of the Eastern Wasteland, a good-for-nothing who thinks only with his lower half, incapable of withstanding any major storms, lacking any responsibility.

Great Zhou Dynasty

Heavenly Mystery Dao Sect

Cold Moon Sect

Eastern Wasteland

The Princess remained silent, tightly pressing her lips, she glanced in the direction where Su Chen had disappeared; her mind was filled with his attentive demeanor toward Liu Liyan, this scene etched in her memory, impossible to dispel for a long time.

Gathering Spirit Array

Bodhi Sacred Body

The eldest grandson is already fourteen, unfortunately his cultivation talent is mediocre; he spends his days indulging in pleasures, unable to uphold such a large family.

Though only eight years old, his little granddaughter had shown extraordinary cultivation talent from a young age; at such a tender age she already possessed the cultivation of a Martial Master.

Unfortunately, … because great hopes were placed on her, her round‑the‑clock cultivation, pursued too hastily, damaged her meridians.

"Old Cheng, even a fourth‑grade pill master can do nothing—what should we do?"

"My granddaughter is only eight! She's still so young, and her cultivation talent exceeds others; she will surely lead our family to glory when she grows up—why did her meridians have to be damaged?"

"Wuu… Heaven, won't you open your eyes? Could it be that you see my granddaughter's monstrous talent and thus envy the gifted?" Lady Cheng gazed at her pale‑faced, purple‑lipped little granddaughter and wept bitterly.

Old Master Cheng sat with a grim face on the master's chair.

He pursed his dry, cracked lips, furrowed his brows, and his face was full of worry.

The pill master said her meridians had shown signs of damage last month, but she had been cultivating under their supervision since childhood—there was no reason for her meridians to go wrong, yet they hadn't noticed.

Who would have thought that the little granddaughter, believing she had hit a bottleneck, sped up her cultivation, fearing her heavenly pride would be taken away—little did she know that for already damaged meridians, this was adding insult to injury.

After three straight days of cultivation, her meridians were directly shattered.

Moreover, the external spiritual qi was already violent, now directly causing her meridians to become blocked.

With spiritual qi unable to enter or exit and unable to be refined, the only fate awaiting her was to explode and die.

It had been nearly half a month; whether apothecary or pill master, all were helpless, even suggesting that Old Master Cheng give up the child…

"I heard some wandering cultivators say that the young master of the Cold Moon Sect also seems to have damaged meridians."

Old Master Cheng rubbed his temples, his side‑hair white: "Even the top pill master of the Eastern Wasteland is powerless; I fear our granddaughter's fate is to suffer this calamity."

"Recently the heavenly and earthly spiritual qi has become violent; we need to set up a Spirit‑Gathering Array to prevent any more children in the clan from meeting disaster."

"My poor Qing'er, originally her talent was destined to dominate the Eastern Wasteland—Heaven, why are you so cruel?"

Having said that,

In Old Master Cheng's murky eyes tears flickered; he painfully and helplessly self‑mocked: "Heaven wants to exterminate my Cheng clan—after great difficulty we produced a heavenly pride daughter, I thought it was the chance for our clan's rise, but I never expected it to be cut short so quickly; I, the old man, am unwilling…"

"Heaven, have pity—Heaven, please open your eyes and save my grandson!"

Suddenly.

The door was pushed open; the guard approached respectfully and reported: "Sir, Su, Young Master Su seeks an audience at the side gate."

Su Chen?

What wind blew him here?

Old Master Cheng widened his eyes, showed surprise, then fell into thought; after a moment he said: "Did he say what business he has?"

"No, he only said he wishes to see you."

This…

Old Master Cheng jumped up from the master's chair with a swish and began pacing back and forth.

Given the current situation, his personal visit surely concerns the Sect Leader Su…

Back then, the Heavenly Mystery Dao Sect had also looked after the Cheng family, and moreover the Cheng family is the natal family of Lady Su— their relationship is anything but ordinary.

By reason and emotion, he should not refuse Su Chen at the door at this time.

But if he lets him in, it would concretize the charge of colluding with extradimensional demons, and then he would face the denunciation of cultivators from the Northern Ice Continent.

Compared to Old Master Cheng's inner turmoil, Old Lady Cheng's eyes were full of unwelcome.

Upon learning that Sect Leader Su was a descendant of heavenly demons, she even severed the mother‑daughter bond with her own daughter, namely Su Chen's mother.

Formerly, Lady Su was her pride and glory; now, however, her face is full of disgust.

「Lao Cheng, what are you still hesitating about? Just let him go and it's over…… really unlucky……」

「Cough—cough——」

Old Lady Cheng's words were not finished yet.

Miss Cheng then woke up in a daze; because his meridians were ruptured, spiritual qi leaked from his body, his cultivation regressed day by day, and his physique grew increasingly weak.

「Grandma. 」 Miss Cheng, though young, was more precocious and could see farther than Grandma.

In her dazed state she faintly heard the guards and the old master talking, and she roughly guessed that Grandfather and Grandmother would choose to stay out of trouble: 「Grandfather…… cannot……」

「Qing'er, you're awake? Great! I almost scared Grandma to death! 」

「Just now, what was my Qing'er saying that he couldn't? 」

Miss Cheng, because her meridians were damaged, spiritual qi leaked, her cultivation regressed, her face turned ashen, she was drenched in cold sweat, weak as she was, she gazed at Old Master Cheng in the distance and said word by word: 「Grandfather, let Su Gege in, don't drive him away. 」

Upon hearing these words, even Old Master Cheng and Old Lady Cheng were stunned.

Their granddaughter, besides having extraordinary cultivation talent, was also precocious and gifted; although she was young, every major decision of the Cheng family in the past had gone through her, and without doubt they were all correct.

But……

This time is different from before!

The Heavenly Profound Dao Sect faces imminent catastrophe; now, whoever goes, there is only one outcome—death!