Chapter 9: Can You Go Down the Mountain?

Chapter 9: Chapter 9: Can You Go Down the Mountain?

"Forgive me, but I cannot agree to a marriage arrangement with a woman I have never met."

As a transmigrator, how could Chen Sha allow himself to be pressured into such a binding agreement? He turned his serious gaze to Xue Xiuxin of the Queen Mother Sect and said, "I imagine your Junior Sister Wangg wouldn’t want to marry a complete stranger like me, either."

The Dao Yi Sect Elders beside them immediately grew anxious.

One Elder spoke up. "Sect Leader, marriage has always been arranged by one’s elders. Since this was decided for you by the previous Sect Leader, how can you simply refuse?"

Chen Sha frowned. "My father passed away not long ago. Discussing my marriage now is rather inappropriate." He hoped to use this excuse to quickly turn the page on the matter.

However, Xue Xiuxin, seeming to have finally steadied her emotions, replied, "Of course we aren’t asking you and Nephew Wangg Shu to marry immediately. You would at least need to pass the three-year mourning period. By then, you will both be of a suitable age..."

His senior martial sister, Yuu Miaolian, also offered gentle persuasion. "Junior Brother Sect Leader, our marriage alliance with the Queen Mother Sect is an ancient pact. Only through this can we stand together and support one another."

Chen Sha was beginning to realize what was truly going on. This wasn’t just a simple marriage; it was purely a political alliance. The root cause was the death of the world’s number one martial artist, Chen Canxuan.

From now on, the Dao Yi Sect needed mutual support with the Queen Mother Sect. If he married Wangg Shu, a female disciple of the Queen Mother Sect, the two sects would be bound by marriage. Neither would stand by idly if the other fell into peril.

But... how could Chen Sha agree to pawn himself off as a bargaining chip?

Therefore, he frowned and said, "Regardless, I do not agree. Let us drop the subject of this marriage from now on."

"You said it yourself!" Listening from the sidelines, female disciple Zhou Baizhi flushed red with anger.

Originally, she had a highly favorable impression of Chen Sha. On her first day arriving at Dao Yi Mountain, she saw that this young Sect Leader was unparalleled in his handsome looks and possessed an extraordinary bearing. At first, she thought he was merely a pretty face who had received the position due to Chen Canxuan’s favoritism.

To her surprise, she soon witnessed Chen Sha supporting the sky with one hand, displaying the might of a young Grandmaster to crush his senior martial brother Li Jianzhou—a man whose fame among their generation was unmatched.

As someone fully aware of the true purpose of their visit, Zhou Baizhi had grown extremely satisfied with this prospective brother-in-law. She felt that only a man of such peerless beauty and world-conquering Martial Arts was worthy of her senior sister. But she never expected that it would come to this...

Zhou Baizhi fumed, "My senior sister has peerless talent and beauty! She has countless suitors both on and off the mountain. Marrying you would only make her a Sect Leader’s wife. If you want to back out of this engagement, I couldn’t be happier for her!"

The members of the Dao Yi Sect were frantic by now.

Song Yu hastily stepped in to explain, "Our entire sect will absolutely not allow my junior brother to act recklessly on such a vital matter. An eldest brother is like a father; I guarantee your esteemed sect on his behalf that there will absolutely be no backing out of this marriage."

"I am the Sect Leader," Chen Sha stated flatly. "Since when is it your place to make decisions for me?"

Hearing this, Song Yu felt conflicted but ultimately didn’t dare to talk back at this juncture. He could only look toward the Elders.

Everyone understood the importance of an alliance with the Queen Mother Sect. After all, with their master gone, the only person holding down the fort on the mountain was their cynical, worldly-ignorant Martial Uncle Santong. Over time, the Dao Yi Sect’s status in the world would inevitably plummet, never to return to its former glory. Intermarriage with the Queen Mother Sect was an ancient tradition...

At this moment, an old Elder stepped forward. Abandoning the high-sounding rhetoric, he bluntly laid out the pressure facing the Dao Yi Sect.

"To tell you the truth, now that the sect has lost the old Sect Leader’s suppression, and Sword Ship—who formerly acted as the face of our Dao Yi Sect—was expelled from the sect, Santong is cynical and naive to the ways of the world, and you, Sect Leader, are still too young..."

He pleaded earnestly, "Our Dao Yi Sect can only maintain its worldly status by forming a marriage alliance with the Queen Mother Sect. Otherwise, we will lose a great deal."

"That is not a sufficient reason to make me marry a woman I have never met," Chen Sha countered. "If it is merely to preserve our status as the world’s number one Major Sect, just give me time. Why rely on marriage? I myself can become the new pillar of Dao Yi Mountain!"

With the Southern Heavenly Gate, he naturally had the confidence to say so.

Xue Xiuxin remained expressionless. "So, Sect Leader Chen is determined to refuse this marriage?"

Chen Sha nodded. "I apologize for my lack of manners today, but marriage is a major life event. It absolutely cannot be treated as a trifling matter."

"Well said. Marriage cannot be treated lightly." Xue Xiuxin nodded. "It is not impossible for you to break the engagement. However, I must ask Sect Leader Chen to personally visit the Queen Mother Sect and dissolve this contract face-to-face with our Sect Leader. Otherwise, if we simply call it off based on your verbal declarations today, where would the dignity of our two Daoist Sects be?"

"Naturally," Chen Sha agreed.

"Then may I ask what day Sect Leader Chen can set off down the mountain?" Xue Xiuxin asked.

Chen Sha was about to speak, but he suddenly looked at Xue Xiuxin, falling silent.

Xue Xiuxin smiled faintly. "What? Could it be that Sect Leader Chen can’t even make it down the mountain?"

Song Yu, seeming prepared for this, smiled and said, "Elder Xue might not know, but before my master passed away, he set a rule for my junior brother: until the day he becomes the number one martial artist in the world, he is forbidden from going down the mountain.

"This rule is strictly overseen by Martial Uncle Santong. Therefore, he won’t be able to leave the mountain for decades."

Xue Xiuxin gave a light laugh. "I see. Since Sect Leader Chen cannot go down the mountain to dissolve the engagement, what more is there to discuss?"

Watching the two of them echo each other perfectly, Chen Sha thought, "Song Yu, oh Song Yu, you really are..."

Seeing Chen Sha’s wordless silence, Xue Xiuxin knew that Dao Yi Mountain ultimately couldn’t back out of this marriage. With the stubborn and naive Zhou Santong keeping watch, Chen Sha could forget about ever leaving the mountain in his lifetime—unless he could defeat Zhou Santong, whose Martial Arts ranked among the top ten in the world.

"Since Sect Leader Chen cannot leave the mountain to annul the contract," Xue Xiuxin smiled, "I will return to the Queen Mother Sect for now. We can discuss future matters when the time comes."

Chen Sha stood rooted to the spot, his brows furrowed in silence as he watched the pair of Daoist nuns depart.

"Elder Xue, let me see you out." Song Yu immediately followed, escorting the Queen Mother Sect Elder out to the mountain gates alongside his junior sister, Yuu Miaolian.

Before Xue Xiuxin departed, he was still apologizing for Chen Sha’s earlier behavior. "Elder Xue, my junior brother has always had this sort of temperament. He detests being controlled. In truth, he doesn’t even want this position as Sect Leader, let alone a lifelong marriage..."

Xue Xiuxin dismissed it without concern. "Nephew Chen is still young, after all. I can understand."

"I must ask that after you two return, please do not mention today’s events to Junior Sister Wangg," Song Yu said awkwardly.

"I’m going to tell her anyway!" Zhou Baizhi glared, puffing her cheeks indignantly. "Your Sect Leader is so opposed to marrying my senior sister, yet you want to keep her in the dark. That’s completely unfair to her!"

"Bai Zhi!" Xue Xiuxin softly rebuked her apprentice, then turned back with a serious expression. "Rest assured, Nephew Song. Our Queen Mother Sect will definitely stand together and support the Dao Yi Sect."

With that, she told Song Yu not to see them off any further. "We bid you farewell here."

They watched as the two esteemed guests from the Righteous Path Sects left the mountain gates, blending into the mist along the banks of the Canglang River until they faded into the distance.

Second Senior Sister Yuu Miaolian let out a soft, melancholy sigh. This second senior sister of the Dao Yi Sect had an elegant disposition and a voluptuous figure, but the depths of her eyes were filled with worry.

"Although letting Junior Brother Chen succeed the position was Master’s dying wish and we have no choice but to obey, he currently only has Cultivation at the Grandmaster Level. If we don’t form a marriage alliance with the Queen Mother Sect, how can he possibly prop up this massive Daoist Sect all by himself?"

Song Yu sighed. "Although our junior brother was keeping his talents hidden earlier and secretly reached the Grandmaster Level without our knowledge, leading a Major Sect is not as simple as he thinks. He can’t feel the pressure just yet. Give it a few years, and he should understand."

"That’s the only way," Yuu Miaolian said. "Hopefully, in three or four years, he will recognize reality. By then, his mourning period will be over, and it will be the perfect time to arrange the wedding."

"Sigh..."

The two let out long breaths. Glancing once more at the Canglang River at the foot of the mountain, they clasped their hands behind their backs and headed back up.

"Regardless, Junior Brother Sect Leader showed a side of himself today that we had never seen before. If he continues his Cultivation with such resolve, forty years from now, it is not impossible for him to rank among the top ten in the world."