Chapter 8: Engagement?!

Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Engagement?!

The strongest man in the world, Chen Canxuan, was ultimately buried in the yellow earth, reduced to nothing more than a small dirt mound.

In this post-Immortal Martial Era, it mattered little if one’s Power was unparalleled, if they suppressed the world, making all tremble in fear at their wrath. It mattered little if they ruled over vast empires or possessed beauty that could topple nations. In the end, everyone would return to a handful of dust.

Chen Sha gazed at his old father’s graveyard. In his mind, he looked toward the Southern Heavenly Gate and wondered, "Is there a path to eternal immortality behind the Southern Heavenly Gate?"

There probably was. After all, he hadn’t even made it past the first Earth God Temple behind the gate yet. He hadn’t even cleared the first Chapter of the Hong Qigong arc from the Legend of the Condor Heroes.

In just half a month, continuously entering the dream to fight thousands of battles with Hong Qigong had allowed him to break through from a peak First-class Expert to the Grandmaster Level, comprehending the True Qi of a Grandmaster. It was hard to imagine what level of Cultivation he would reach if he cleared all the subsections within Hong Qigong’s overarching Chapter.

This was evident from the first subsection, "Forest Martial Arts Transmission." This was merely a "scene" featuring Hong Qigong, a Five Extremes Grandmaster.

According to the prompt from the Southern Heavenly Gate, the next scene was "The Three Extremes Reunite on Peach Blossom Island." This was likely the part of the story where Hong Qigong and Ouyang Feng gathered on Peach Blossom Island to propose marriage on behalf of their respective disciples. Further on, there would definitely be the Hua Mountain Sword Discussion involving the East Evil, West Poison, Southern Emperor, North Beggar, and Central Divine Ability. Or perhaps, it would be the second Hua Mountain Sword Discussion.

All in all, although this was Hong Qigong’s trial, this North Beggar’s life spanned across the stories of both the Legend of the Condor Heroes and the Divine Eagle.

Chen Sha pondered, "It’s just unclear to me. Hong Qigong was clearly a character from a martial arts novel I read on Earth in my previous life. How did he become a so-called ’Late-stage Nine Tribulations Ascender’ behind the Southern Heavenly Gate in this life?"

He couldn’t understand it. If it was just a coincidence of having the same name, the forest martial arts transmission and the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms proved otherwise. This was definitely the Hong Qigong from his memory.

"What exactly are the Nine Tribulations mentioned by the Southern Heavenly Gate?" Chen Sha wondered. "If the world has Nine Tribulations, does that prove it previously went through Eight Tribulations? What eras were those previous Eight Tribulations?"

He massaged his temples. It was too baffling. This seemed to involve fundamental mysteries of the world, something beyond his current capacity to figure out. For now, it was better to honestly focus on improving his Martial Arts.

After his father was buried, Zhou Santong had to return to oversee a specific location on Dao Yi Mountain. A terrifying figure was imprisoned there, someone Chen Canxuan had captured and brought back to Dao Yi Mountain over a decade ago. Now that Chen Canxuan had passed away, only Zhou Santong had the strength to keep watch over that place.

"Junior Martial Uncle, who exactly is the person locked up there?" Chen Sha couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.

The ordinary disciples on Dao Yi Mountain were completely unaware of this prisoner. Only the six of them—the Second Generation True Inheritors—and a few Elders knew about it. And even they only knew that someone was locked up. They knew absolutely nothing about the details or specifics.

Zhou Santong rubbed his beard and laughed loudly. "He’s nothing impressive. You’re the Sect Leader now, so you can come to the back mountain whenever you want. Not only will you find out what he’s called, but you can also see him with your own eyes."

Clapping his hands together, he added, "This old fogey is quite fun. How about I take you to see him right now?"

"Right now?" Chen Sha was just about to agree when a voice came from behind the graveyard.

"Sect Leader, the Elders, Senior Martial Uncles, and Senior Sisters have something to discuss with you. They requested that you go to the Sect Leader’s Hall."

Chen Sha turned his head. "What is it?"

His father had already been buried, and the trouble with the fifth disciple, Li Jianzhou, had been dealt with that very same day. What else could there be?

"I... I don’t know. The Elders only said to tell you to hurry over," the Little Daoist replied from behind.

"Alright, I’ll head over immediately." Chen Sha nodded at the Little Daoist, then turned back to Zhou Santong. "Junior Martial Uncle, it seems there won’t be an opportunity today. I’ll make a special trip to the back mountain to see you another day."

"Go on, go on. Now that you’re the Sect Leader, you should be busy. That’s exactly why when your dad asked if I wanted to be the Sect Leader back then, I refused a hundred times over..." Zhou Santong said, whistling as he strolled away alone with his hands clasped behind his back.

Hearing this, Chen Sha realized that his father had actually asked his junior martial uncle if he wanted the position while he was still alive. But then again, if his junior martial uncle had become the Sect Leader, Li Jianzhou wouldn’t have dared to act out, even if given a hundred times the courage.

Chen Sha walked across the White Jade Plaza where Li Jianzhou had severed his own arms. As soon as he stepped into the hall, he saw that in addition to the Elders and his senior martial siblings of Dao Yi Mountain, the female master and disciple from the Queen Mother Sect were also present.

They were Xue Xiuxin and Zhou Baizhi.

Chen Sha immediately asked, "Elders, Senior Brothers, does the important matter you sought me out for have something to do with our two guests from the Queen Mother Sect?"

As soon as he asked, he noticed that the Elders and his Senior Brothers were all looking at him with beaming smiles. Then came the soft cough of a beautiful woman.

It was the voluptuous beauty from the Queen Mother Sect. Looking at Chen Sha with a smile, she said, "Indeed. This matter concerns both the Queen Mother Sect and you, Sect Leader Chen. My little disciple and I were originally supposed to take our leave yesterday. The only reason we stayed for an extra day was because of this very matter."

"What matter?" Chen Sha asked curiously.

Xue Xiuxin smiled. "The marriage alliance that your late Sect Leader Chen established with our Sect Leader a few years ago..."

Saying this, she looked at Chen Sha.

"Marriage alliance?" Chen Sha furrowed his brows. "What marriage alliance? With whom?"

An ominous feeling had already crept into his mind.

His Eldest Senior Brother, Song Yu, quietly reminded him from the side, "Junior Brother Sect Leader, you’ve forgotten. Our Dao Yi Sect and the Queen Mother Sect have always been as close as siblings, and we’ve had a tradition of marriage alliances for a very long time. You should have been mentally prepared for this."

A tradition of marriage alliances. He should have been mentally prepared? It was actually aimed at him!

Chen Sha raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying that my father arranged a marriage for me with the Queen Mother Sect a few years ago? How is it that I know absolutely nothing about this?"

He truly had no recollection of it whatsoever. Even when he racked his brains and searched through his predecessor’s memories, he couldn’t recall his father ever mentioning such a thing.

Song Yu replied, "Truthfully, we didn’t hear Master mention it while he was alive either. However, Elder Xue has brought the marriage contract that the old Sect Leader signed at the Queen Mother Sect, and it is indeed authentic."

Chen Sha looked at the marriage contract handed over by Song Yu. After verifying it a few times, he confirmed that it was indeed his father’s handwriting. He was utterly speechless.

It was bad enough that his father passed the Sect Leader position to him, forcing Li Jianzhou to turn against him in a fratricidal dispute, but to think he had also secretly arranged a marriage contract for him so early on. This old man was truly something else. Even in death, he still wanted to orchestrate his life down to the last detail.

From the side, Xue Xiuxin smiled. "Sect Leader Chen, the person you are betrothed to is the most outstanding female disciple of our Queen Mother Sect’s current generation, Wangg Shu. This martial niece of mine, she..."

Before she could finish, however, Chen Sha interrupted her.

"Hold on." Holding the marriage contract in his hand, Chen Sha met Xue Xiuxin’s gaze and said earnestly, "I think we should call this marriage off."

Xue Xiuxin’s eyes widened slightly, her full bosom heaving as she struggled to believe Chen Sha’s words. "Sect Leader Chen, you..."

She was so shocked and angry that she couldn’t even finish her sentence.

The female disciple accompanying Xue Xiuxin widened her beautiful eyes. With her mouth agape, she cried out, "You... you actually want to back out of the marriage!"