Chapter 350: Draw Cards

The presiding judge paused to consider, then granted Hai Ye's request for a temporary recess.

Both sides rose and left the courtroom; the Master Miao Yin Recluse's party hurried out, whispering urgently with Zhongtian Zhongtian Beiji and others as they strategized.

Li Cheng's move to prevent dual charges from being tried together was a direct strike at the root— for Master Miao Yin Recluse, even if Xiao Shui was sentenced to three to ten years in prison, she would gain nothing if she couldn't seize the assets. She must find another way.

"Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting!"

In the defendant's waiting room, Xiao Shui Star Lord paced back and forth, his voice thick with rage, teeth grinding audibly.

Judging from his conduct in court, he likely didn't wear nearly so many green hats—or any at all—but his "chance encounter" with Master Miao Yin was almost certainly staged.

The thought that even the last remaining pleasant memory of her was fabricated, that he'd shared a bed for years with an old woman who lied about her age, and that she had meticulously plotted to frame him—

made Xiao Shui feel physically ill, desperate to draw his sword and slash at something.

"If you're in pain, you can cry."

Li Cheng comforted him: "Or sit on the floor of a single bathroom, scrubbing your body violently with a showerhead and towel while tears stream down."

"? What's this, some classic scene from old Chinese TV dramas where the female lead gets swindled out of her money and virtue?"

Zhang Wei's eyebrow twitched. He rubbed his palms and said to Xiao Shui Star Lord: "So far, our advantage in asset division is substantial. Pi Fu has confirmed Master Miao Yin falsified her age, rendering the marriage invalid."

According to the Immortal Court Civil Code, a spouse in a cohabitation relationship has no automatic inheritance rights, no legal obligations, and restricted claims.

This means the other party cannot use marital misconduct—such as domestic violence or infidelity—to claim divorce damages. Nor can they falsely claim illness to demand medical expenses from the other."

In the real world, Zhang Wei had once been a third-rate lawyer at a law firm (he still is, just doesn't show up often), and had seen countless bizarre divorce cases.

There were couples who faked a divorce to bypass housing purchase restrictions, only for one party to refuse to remarry, leaving both financially and emotionally ruined;

there were those who forged court documents to convince their spouse they were already divorced, then swiftly transferred assets during the deception;

there were those who, after cheating, feared their spouse would refuse divorce, so they poisoned them daily with rat poison for years—yet never managed to kill them;

and there were those who, after being scammed out of all family wealth by an online lover, fearing blame from their spouse, pushed them down a staircase ahead of time.

Having seen so many cases of married couples turning into bitter enemies, Zhang Wei had lost faith in love. Despite being a high-quality single man with assets exceeding ten million (in-game currency over a thousand equaled ten million in real value), he still hadn't found a partner.

The girls at the bars of Lujie, though dazzlingly beautiful—some seductive, some sweet and pure, some gentle and caring—still didn't satisfy Zhang Wei's longing for heart-to-heart, soul-to-soul connection.

"The only three concerns now are: first, whether the other side will use some tactic to forcibly reinstate the marriage."

Yuan Yuan Zhixia said: "The Immortal Court Civil Code was amended to no longer recognize de facto marriages after February 1, 3194. But if a marriage registration is later completed, the marriage's validity can be retroactively applied to the time both parties met the substantive requirements for marriage."

"You're certain you never completed the marriage registration, right?"

Xiao Shui Star Lord stopped pacing. His eyes shimmered with starlight as he recalled every moment of his past hundred years, then nodded firmly: "I'm certain I never completed marriage registration with that bitch. My cultivator ID has always been on my person—she never had a chance to steal it."

"Good."

Yuan Yuan Zhixia nodded. "Second: you have no children together, right? Illegitimate children born during cohabitation have the same legal rights as legitimate children and can claim child support."

"No."

This time Xiao Shui Star Lord answered faster, perhaps fearing the "mortals" might lack deep knowledge of the cultivation world, he elaborated: "For cultivators, male or female, the higher their realm, the harder it is to conceive. From the embryonic stage, parents must expend their own cultivation to nourish the child's soul and body. Thus, even a Great Ascension cultivator aged 190 or 200 might have only one or two offspring in their entire life."

Li Cheng raised an eyebrow. Fair enough—higher-level lifeforms in nature always face greater difficulty reproducing.

Reasons include complex physiological structures, energy and resource constraints, environmental adaptation, and survival strategies.

Like the Eldar in the Warhammer 40k universe, whose genetic evolution is so advanced that each exchange of genetic material requires months and must be drawn from multiple individuals—scenes utterly unsuitable for children.

Hmm, come to think of it, people like Musk or the founder of some domestic game company, who father many children with different non-marital partners, are using a lottery strategy—the more children they have, the higher the chance of spawning an SSR genius to inherit and expand the family empire.

Yuan Yuan Zhixia pressed: "Could she have secretly become pregnant and plan to shock everyone?"

Yuan Yuan Zhixia pressed: "Could she have secretly become pregnant and then shock everyone?"

Xiao Shui Star Lord shook his head decisively. "We agreed early on—no children before 160. We've been counting the years carefully."

"Even if, hypothetically, she stole my essence while I slept, the entire gestation process would take three to four years—she couldn't hide it from me."

Even if, hypothetically, she stole my essence while I slept, the entire gestation process would take three to four years—I wouldn't miss it.

Yuan Yuan Zhixia nodded. "Final concern: does she possess any evidence of your criminal acts?"

No single crime, no single act, no single detail, no single content—none!

"What?!" Xiao Shui Star Lord's face paled; he accidentally crushed a corner of the wooden table.

"In just over a hundred years, you and Master Miao Yin raised Xiao Shui Sect from a decaying sect to the third-highest power in the mortal realm. Did you use any illegal methods along the way?"

Yuan Yuan Zhixia said calmly: "For example, discovering a spirit stone vein only to find villagers living above it—did you engineer landslides to wipe them out? Or kill to seize treasures, exterminate entire families?"

"Also, according to the records, Xiao Shui Sect owns dozens of trading firms dealing in banks, shops, inns, pawnshops, auction houses, brothels, and airship fleets."

"Have any of these businesses engaged in illegal operations, insider trading, or financial crimes?"

In the real world, aside from newer internet companies, it's nearly impossible for any established business model to grow clean and powerful from nothing without touching some gray area.

Some level of legal edge-walking is inevitable.

Yuan Yuan Zhixia said: "With dual charges not tried together, if Master Miao Yin realizes she can't seize most assets through the divorce case, she may shift tactics—abandon the divorce case entirely and threaten to expose your financial crimes instead, using the second case to force you to concede in the divorce."

"She's insane? Xiao Shui Sect was built by both of us. Every business operation—legal or illegal—was handled jointly. If you expose me, you go to prison too!"

"A solo win is better than mutual loss, which is better than a solo loss. Even if she threatens you with self-destruction, you have few good countermeasures—you can't actually let her rot in prison for life."

Yuan Yuan Zhixia pulled out paper and pen, speaking calmly: "We recommend you recall every possible financial crime you've committed. We lawyers will find ways to patch the loopholes."

Yuan Yuan Zhixia took out paper and pen and said calmly: "We recommend you carefully recall all possible financial crimes; our lawyers will find ways to plug the loopholes."

After a long silence, Xiao Shui Star Lord slowly nodded. Verbal recounting was too cumbersome—he simply used his Sleeve-Contained Universe technique to summon paper and ink, then precisely guided the ink to splash across the scroll, instantly filling it with dense script.

My god, you've got a whole encyclopedia of crimes here—did you graduate from the Qitanqiao Prison Law School?

Zhang Wei was stunned as page after page kept filling up, the writing continuing for a full half-minute without end.

Zhang Wei was stunned, watching page after page fill up, the writing continuing for a full half-minute without end.

(End of chapter)