Chapter 744

I love her.

Apart from Wa Zhao, Xi Yao, and others, the Canghai Daoist crafted a soaring ice peak that pierced the clouds; atop it he erected a profound‑ice throne a hundred zhang high, on which Wu Tie sat high, looking down from on high upon Qian Xiong.

The whole world transformed from the Canghai Divine Pearl had its primordial power gather on the throne where Wu Tie sat; a terrifying heavenly‑earthly majesty coalesced around him, making him seem like a deity seated on a divine throne, looking down upon the myriad ants below.

Out of nowhere, an overwhelming, irresistible pressure slammed onto Qian Xiong, making him, who already had no will to resist, tremble ever more, his mental defenses collapsing completely.

A mighty one whose strength had reached the peak of the Divine Realm saw his state of mind collapse just like that.

Kneeling upright before the throne, Qian Xiong sincerely told Wu Tie: "I love her."

Wu Tie looked at Qian Xiong, somewhat bewildered.

Countless chaotic thoughts flashed through his mind, comparing Qian Xiong as he examined himself.

'Love'?

Wu Tie felt a little naive and dazed; he had simply never experienced that sort of talented‑scholar‑and‑beauty, heart‑wrenching love.

He and Peng Feng were more about mutually supporting each other amid blood‑soaked storms, struggling together to survive; the bond that kept them alive. Anyway, between him and Peng Feng, missing either would feel as if a part of himself were missing.

This feeling is perhaps firmer and more reliable than 'love'.

But this feeling, compared to 'love', truly lacks a bit of meaning.

Even Wu Tie and Bai He…… could that be a kindred‑spirit resonance?

Well, love is just too complicated.

Old Tie could hardly teach Wu Tie about this; Old Tie's true form is just a lump of metal—do you expect a lump of metal to understand what 'love' is?

As for Wu Zhan and Wa Mu…… heh, forget it; these two, as parents, have serious character flaws—you can't expect them to set a good example for Wu Tie, that's impossible.

So Wu Tie cannot truly grasp what 'love' is.

Wu Tie deeply understands responsibility, burden, a man's duty, and so on.

He is like a mighty beast; when foreign invaders encroach on his territory and harm the people he cherishes, he flies into a rage, roars, sacrifices everything, and uses every means to slaughter the enemies and preserve his people.

This is the instinct of a male creature!

This is also the most primal instinct of human beings and all wise races—the male among them.

But 'love', being overly delicate and emotional, frankly, Wu Tie merely…… because of Qian Xiong before him, he is initially probing this profound and unfathomable field, a domain even harder to deal with than the former Martial God Emperor Wu Ba.

"You love her, so you… draw your blade and cut yourself?"

In Old Tie's vast inherited database, there is truly a lot of miscellaneous data; because of these keywords, Wu Tie's mind inexplicably conjured up strange terms like the 'Sunflower Manual' and 'East Is Invincible'.

Wu Tie felt a chill run down his spine, and every hair on his body stood on end.

After a dry cough, Wu Tie directly questioned Qian Xiong: "Hey, is your brain not messed up? You… uh, cough, cough, you toward Wa Zhao… to this extent?"

Qian Xiong lifted his head, gave Wu Tie an unusually contemptuous glance, and lightly shook his head: "So, you kids just don't understand. As for Zhao Mei… even if that bastard's lewd power makes her treat me so coldly, so indifferently, seeming unapproachable… I gladly accept it."

Closing his eyes, a happy smile playing across his face, Qian Xiong whispered: "Under her coldness and indifference, I know she actually loves me… I am her first love, she loves me."

Wu Tie silently cursed a very vulgar phrase.

The Yin‑Yang Daoist and the Canghai Daoist also silently cursed a phrase even more vulgar and several times more obscene than Wu Tie's.

The three of them simultaneously shivered, instinctively rubbing their arms.

Their arms were covered in gooseflesh, each hair standing up like steel needles.

Qian Xiong fell into some inextricable strange state; he closed his eyes, his face flushed as if smeared with blood, wearing an intoxicated expression as he recounted his story with her.

That was something from ten thousand years ago.

Back then, Qian Xiong was the young lord of Chiyang Shen Shan, proud and carefree as a youth, spending his days walking dogs and handling hawks, wandering the mountains and fields in wanton mischief.

Chiyang Shen Shan has a special inheritance; as its young lord, Qian Xiong, even at a tender age, had already attained half‑step into the Divine Realm, the very picture of spring‑time success. He was strong, noble, raised in luxury from childhood, surrounded by countless lovely maidens, yet for some reason he developed the odd habit of looking down on ordinary women.

He considered himself unmatched by any woman in the Wujin Manghuang.

So, it's unknown which Elder of Chiyang Shen Shan, out traveling, happened to mention the Wa Clan's trial grounds.

The Wa Clan's ancestral trial grounds held no allure for Qian Xiong. Yet the legendary Wa Valley's peerless clan maidens were full of seductive allure. Qian Xiong thus, heels clicking, brought a large retinue of guards and marched mightily to a great Wa tribe in the southern wilds, taking part in their ancestral rites.

In that tribe, Qian Xiong saw the tribe's ninth clan maiden—Wa Zhao.

This must be a karmic fate, right? Anyway, Qian Xiong thus fell, his heart simply taken by Wa Zhao out of nowhere. Her every glance and smile, her every word and deed, could drive Qian Xiong mad, prompting him to do countless things that outsiders would see as utterly absurd.

Thus, with Qian Xiong's help, he did not hesitate to draw upon some secret foundations of Chiyang Shen Shan to aid Wa Zhao; consequently, Wa Zhao, starting as that generation's ninth clan maiden, stepped on her sisters' shoulders and rose all the way to become the first clan maiden.

"I'm truly foolish, yes, I'm truly foolish……"

Qian Xiong murmured: "I never imagined that the Wa Tribe's first clan maiden has always been destined to marry the Crown Prince of the Fuxi Divine Kingdom. Had I known, I should have let her… let her remain as the second or third clan maiden, not bother with that nonsense of becoming the first clan maiden."

After painstakingly helping his beloved rise to high position, he then… watched his beloved, whom he longed for day and night, be escorted away by a massive army, marrying in pomp and circumstance into the Fuxi Divine Kingdom.

"Wait, is Wa Zhao's tribe, like your Chiyang Shen Shan, on the ground?" Wu Tie interrupted Qian Xiong's words.

"What nonsense… My Chiyang Shen Shan is protected by the Primordial Golden Crow Essence, so even evil gods dare not approach closely. Zhao Mei's tribe also has its own inherited legacy—a Primordial Heaven‑Mending Divine Stone that suppresses them, leaving evil gods unable to intrude even a hair's breadth into their territory."

Qian Xiong sneered: "Our territories are, of course, all on the ground… you're clueless… truly clueless."

Wu Tie remained silent; the Canghai Daoist beside him, eager and enthusiastic, said: "Come on, keep going, tell your story."

Qian Xiong let out a faint sigh, and two lines of clear tears streamed down from his eyes.

Such a red‑cheeked man, such a mighty Divine Realm expert, shedding tears like a lovelorn youth—Wu Tie, the Yin‑Yang Daoist, and the Canghai Daoist again shuddered involuntarily.

Wa Zhao has married; how could Qian Xiong, who calls himself her old lover, bear to let her go?

He raged, desperately raged, hysterical raging… He even secretly mobilized the armies of dozens of tributary tribes of Chiyang Shen Shan, which surged mightily to the borderlands of the Fuxi Divine Kingdom, invaded underground, and launched a full‑scale assault on the Fuxi Divine Kingdom.

That battle was fought with considerable cruelty; the Fuxi Divine Kingdom and Wa Zhao's mother clan joined forces to suppress it, in one sweep wiping out the large force Qian Xiong had brought—aside from Qian Xiong and a few close guards, the rest were utterly annihilated.

Qian Xiong's father flew into a rage, personally wielding the clan‑sealing divine artifact, he gave Qian Xiong a sound thrashing that left him bedridden for over two years to recover. His father then personally brought a heavy gift and went to Wa Zhao's mother clan and the Fuxi Divine Kingdom to offer apologies.

Because of the protection of the Primordial Golden Crow Essence, Chiyang Shen Shan is indeed a thorn‑in‑the‑side power that ordinary people can hardly deal with.

Thus, the Wa Zhao's mother clan and the Fuxi Divine Kingdom weighed the pros and cons; having originally prepared to join forces to attack Chiyang Shen Shan, they instead accepted the compensation and grudgingly shook hands with Qian Xiong's father, making peace.

After lying wounded for over two years and finally recovering, Qian Xiong still felt unwilling and resentful.

He several times sneaked into the Fuxi Divine Kingdom to furtively glimpse Wa Zhao, who was still the Crown Prince's consort.

The Xi tribe's bloodline is incredibly formidable; each time Qian Xiao just entered the border of the Fuxi Divine State, an Xi tribe elder would always sense his arrival, as if guarding against thieves, dispatching large forces to surround and intercept him.

Each time Qian Xiao wanted to see Wa Zhao even once, it was extremely difficult.

It seemed like seven or eight times, Qian Xiao was always personally captured by the Xi tribe elders, then all the way kicked and beaten back to Chiyang Shen Shan.

The worthless young lord of Chiyang Shen Shan had become a big joke back then. In the end, things had developed to the point that, every few years, if Qian Xiao didn't go to the Fuxi Divine State to stir up trouble, many Xi tribe elders would get an itch for action, feeling unaccustomed to inactivity.

"Wait, I think you guys haven't figured something out…… If you just want to see Wa Zhao, there should be another way." The Yin-Yang Daoist suddenly spoke: "For example, your Chiyang Shen Shan lies in the southern wilderness…… you…… could trade a piece of land with the Fuxi Divine State?"

Qian Xiao gave the Yin-Yang Daoist a sideways glance: "My father would personally beat me to death, then mobilize countless tribes to crush that piece of land…… How could one allow others to snore beside one's bed? Don't you understand this principle?"

Shaking his head, Qian Xiao said coldly: "Moreover, the Xi tribe of the Fuxi Divine State, in the subterranean world, lacks no resources…… except stellar essence."

Snorting, Qian Xiao looked at the Yin-Yang Daoist as if looking at a fool: "But in the eyes of those evil gods, Chiyang Shen Shan is heresy, demonic; you think those who control heaven, earth, and the universe would let even a shred of starlight fall on Chiyang Shen Shan?"

"The Xi tribe doesn't value Chiyang Shen Shan's territory…… so, Wa Zhao and I back then…… really suffered."

Qian Xiao closed his eyes and let out a deep, affectionate sigh.

"In the end, I simply couldn't hold back my longing for Wa Zhao…… I must find a way to stay by her side…… even if it's just seeing her once in a while?"

"So……" Wu Tie, the Yin-Yang Daoist, and the Canghai Daoist spoke at the same time.

"So, I accepted the trial to become lord of Chiyang Shen Shan…… I accepted the test of the Taigu Golden Crow Essence, I smoothly passed the examinations of my ancestors, inherited the ancestral divine power, defeated my father before all the elders, and became the youngest and strongest lord in the history of the Chiyang Shen Shan lineage."

Qian Xiao raised his head proudly: "My father was also called a rare genius in his later years, but after inheriting the ancestral power he only had the strength of the eighth heaven of the Divine Manifestation Realm, whereas I, the tenth heaven!"

"Then?" Wu Tie, the Yin-Yang Daoist, and the Canghai Daoist asked in unison.

"Then……" Qian Xiao lifted his head, moved to tears as he murmured: "I have done something in this world that no other despicable man could…… just as you see, I can finally stay by Wa Zhao's side…… even her husband has no excuse to drive me away……"

He let out a light sigh: "Even her husband, the former crown prince and now the Fuxi Divine Emperor, ought to thank me…… if not for me, hehe, he would have struggled to inherit the Divine Emperor's throne back then."

Wu Tie murmured: "You subjected yourself to the palace punishment just to stay by Wa Zhao's side…… for this you even helped her husband vie for the throne…… you really are…… enough……"

Wu Tie wanted to say something from the heart, uttering a profanity.

The Yin-Yang Daoist and the Canghai Daoist simultaneously interrupted Wu Tie's words, both exclaiming: "Indeed, deeply devoted, enough so…… damn, it's really moving."

Qian Xiao wore a drunken smile, laughing until his spirit wandered, laughing until he lost his soul.

Wu Tie's face twitched; he glanced at the Yin-Yang Daoist, then at the Canghai Daoist, and gave a heavy cough: "Well, now she's in my hands."

Qian Xiao stared blankly, then said: "Who? Ah, Wa Zhao……"

Qian Xiao awakened from his intoxicated state, he knelt squarely on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly to Wu Tie: "Martial King, any offense is my fault; I only beg you, I only beg you…… do not harm Wa Zhao, everything can be negotiated, everything can be negotiated……"

Wu Tie's face twitched.

He felt like a great villain, having kidnapped the beloved of some infatuated man and then forced him to do bad things.

Hmm, such deeds are truly too wicked.

But looking at Qian Xiao's tear-streaked face, Wu Tie thought, forget it, I'll just keep being a villain.

"Unite all that can be united, strike the enemy." Wu Tie murmured: "I'm doing this too, for the people of Wuguo……"

After pondering for a while, Wu Tie murmured: "You, in such an embarrassing identity, lurk by Wa Zhao's side…… what about Chiyang Shen Shan over there?"

Qian Xiao laughed as he looked at Wu Tie: "I passed the trial, defeated my father, I am the lord of Chiyang Shen Shan; the Taigu Golden Crow Essence obeys only me…… so, although all the elders, including my father, shout to depose and kill me, over these years Chiyang Shen Shan remains my Chiyang Shen Shan."

Wu Tie was speechless, giving Qian Xiao a thumbs-up.

"That's great…… well, if you can mobilize Chiyang Shen Shan's military to help me resist the enemy…… and incidentally, I'm very interested in whatever treasures you Chiyang Shen Shan have as clan guardians…… if……"

Wu Tie himself blushed a little, unable to go on.

Qian Xiao, with a frank and calm demeanor, nodded firmly: "No problem, as long as you don't harm Wa Zhao, I'll agree to any terms…… it's just some dead objects and a few unrelated hands, right? What's that compared to Wa Zhao?"

"I agree, any terms, I agree!"

Wu Tie, the Yin-Yang Daoist, and the Canghai Daoist once again fell silent.

Really, they didn't know what to say either. Qian Xiao was too cooperative, making them feel a bit embarrassed.