The next day,
The sect leader had summoned them, and all the disciples of the Dayan Sect gathered at the Golden Spirit Peak training grounds. This was conveyed through their disciple jade tokens, and Liu Jiangfusheng naturally received the notification.
He was about to tiptoe out of bed, intending not to wake his wife, who had been exhausted from a late night. However, as he got up, he saw her sleeping peacefully, breathing softly. Her face seemed to be adorned with the blush of a dream-drenched pear blossom, her skin like snow, and her bones like jade, easily captivating the soul.
A warm ray of light reflected through the windowpane, casting a gentle glow beside the bed. Her long, delicate eyelashes appeared golden in the morning light, and her lips were a pale shade, though at certain moments they could be as vibrant and lush as blooming peonies.
He tilted his head, gazing at her intently. Her pupils were deep, swirling vortexes with a spider-web pattern, like bottomless black holes, devoid of emotion. This was a completely different, dark aspect of her, utterly contrary to her public persona.
Bracing himself with one hand, he leaned down…
And lightly kissed her forehead, a mere dragonfly's touch.
Back then, when he woke from nightmares, feeling most unsettled, she had comforted him in this very way.
Even though his unease, fear, and hatred all stemmed from her gift.
Ironic.
Ridiculous.
Yet, he still wanted to embrace her, feeling as if thorny vines were entangling him, tightening their grip. The mingled pain and poison brought both agony and a strange exhilaration.
In an instant, he cleared all emotions from his mind. His gaze shifted, clear and bright like dew-kissed roses on mossy steps catching the early sun. Just as he was about to withdraw, Gu Junshi, beneath him, unexpectedly woke up.
“Husband…”
Her lazy, husky, and gentle voice reached his ears, making his entire body go limp and his blood surge backward. He froze mid-movement.
Bathed in the morning light, his scattered dark hair fell like wisps of clouds, shimmering with golden highlights. The blanket was messily draped over his lower body, revealing his bare, beautiful upper torso.
Gu Junshi stared at him for a few seconds, her eyes completely clearing.
Just as she was about to move, she heard her little husband—oh, he wasn't so little anymore…
Her husband’s breathing was a little uneven and flustered. He suppressed his unsteady tone and told her, “A’yi, the sect leader’s summons just arrived. I need to go to the Golden Peak training grounds to assemble.”
Hearing that the Nine-tailed Fox had called everyone together, Gu Junshi, recalling that the “Newcomer Ranking” competition was imminent, understood that he had an important announcement to make.
“Is that so…”
She suddenly remembered something else and lost her previous focus. She got up, preparing to accompany her husband to the Golden Spirit Peak training grounds to observe.
Although he knew bringing her to the training grounds might not be entirely appropriate, Liu Jiangfusheng still did not refuse her.
—
At a quarter past the hour of Chen, the mountain peak was flat. Banners and flags fluttered in the wind under a vast, clear sky. The brilliant, golden sunlight streamed onto the training grounds, instantly making them gleam like gilded foil.
Within the expansive training grounds, covering a hundred acres, a hundred disciples of the sect already stood in orderly formation. Above them, a platform shaped like a blooming flower had been carved from the mountain's rocky base. Each mountain occupied a quadrant, with the lords of the Five Mountains and their direct disciples standing there. At the very top, on the flag platform, was the position of the Dayan Sect Leader.
Daoist Zhiyang stood at the tip of the curved, raised platform. The height was exhilarating, and even the most intense sun could not dispel the wisps of cold mist and biting wind at the mountain's apex. He impatiently scanned the training grounds below.
His unworthy disciple, Fusheng, had not yet reported. He knew that mortal was a disaster!
Just as he finished his inner grumbling, he spotted his disciple. To his utter astonishment, he had brought that mortal wife along as well!
His small eyes widened, and his teeth ground together with a loud clatter.
This foolish deer, did he even know what kind of occasion this was?!
After landing his sword, Gu Junshi sensed that ever since she and her husband had appeared together, they had been targeted by many gazes – anger, resentment, surprise… in a flash, a spectrum of human emotions converged.
“Fusheng, come up!”
From above, Daoist Zhiyang roared impatiently, the sound like crashing waves, startling everything around them.
Liu Jiangfusheng craned his neck and saw Daoist Zhiyang, his face red and eyes bulging, glaring down at him from several Zhangs above.
He knew the reason and responded with a “Yes.” Then, with one arm around Gu Junshi’s waist, he ascended into the air.
Seeing that he was ignoring his anger and even bringing his mortal wife up to the viewing platform, Daoist Zhiyang gasped again.
He pointed at Liu Jiangfusheng’s nose and berated him, “You, you, who told you to bring her up here?”
Did he know who was standing on the high-altitude viewing platform?
Even the training grounds below were not places a mortal like her could tread. Did he not see that even outer disciples were not allowed to be present at such an occasion?
He was infuriating the old Daoist!
Liu Jiangfusheng shielded Gu Junshi behind him and bowed respectfully to Daoist Zhiyang, calmly stating, “She is my wife. Husband and wife are one. If she should not be here, then neither should I.”
“You—”
“Alright, Master, please calm down. Our junior brother is a person of deep emotions. Now that she’s up here, wouldn’t it be a joke among other mountains if we sent her away?” Chang E quickly stepped forward to mediate.
The other five disciples also knew that if a scene were to unfold on this occasion, it would not look good for them. They crowded forward, persuading Daoist Zhiyang in various ways.
Just then, a purple-red light flashed from the flag platform, and the Sect Leader of the Dayan Sect arrived. His fiery red robes, edged with gold, fluttered in the wind. With a step forward, an aura that commanded the surroundings spread out.
The disciples of the Dayan Sect cupped their hands towards the platform and spoke in unison, their voices loud and clear, “Greetings, Sect Leader!”
Wei Li, unaffected by the wind, scanned the assembly and declared, “The once-in-fifty-years Newcomer Ranking is approaching. The Void Gate, twenty-eight days away, has personally sent their capable disciples with an invitation. This year, our Dayan Sect has four selected individuals. These four, who will compete for the honor of the Dayan Sect, are Jiutun Danya, Wumei Liu Jiangfusheng, Nianhua Fangrui, and Ziying.”
With a wave of his sleeve, four beams of light, each carrying an invitation and name card, were sent out, falling into the hands of the four disciples on the viewing platform, each with their distinct bearing.
Upon receiving the name cards, the four disciples stepped forward, bowed to the Sect Leader above as a sign of respect, and then retreated to their original positions.
The disciples on the training grounds watched with envious and excited gazes, but there were no surprises. The other two mountains, whose disciples were not selected for the “Newcomer Ranking,” offered insincere congratulations with forced smiles.
Among so many people, the Mountain Lord Nianhua was the most pleased, as she had two disciples selected this time, regardless of quality and only considering quantity.
Gu Junshi stood closest to her husband. She glanced at the “Newcomer Ranking” name card in his hand. It wasn’t much different from the layered scrolls in the mortal realm, except when it was opened, the text inside was arranged in mid-air, three-dimensional and clear.
“Want to see?”
Seeing her staring at his name card, likely curious about this cultivation technique she hadn’t seen before, Liu Jiangfusheng’s lips curved slightly, and he handed the name card to her.
Gu Junshi’s attention wasn’t actually on the name card, but since he was offering it with intention, she didn’t refuse his kindness.
Daoist Zhiyang’s peripheral vision caught sight of this, and he was again filled with exasperation.
Show affection, die quickly!
She casually asked, “Can the names on here be erased or replaced?”
Liu Jiangfusheng, a novice cultivator, naturally didn’t know about such things. However, Chang E heard her and leaned in. First, she stared at Gu Junshi eagerly for a few moments, then she replied warmly and cheerfully, “Yes, it can. This is also the insidious part of the Void Gate. As long as someone can defeat the person on the name card and meets the conditions for Newcomer Ranking selection, they can be replaced.”
This sister-in-law is truly a distinguished beauty.
If she didn't know for sure that she was a mortal, she would have thought her sister-in-law was some hidden expert pretending to be a novice.