The bustling streets were alive with people coming and going, a constant stream of traffic as far as the eye could see. The ground, paved with blue tiles, gleamed with a warm luster.
Lining both sides were common shops, along with multi-storied buildings selling pills and magical artifacts.
Both in Xuan City and across the entire Nine Provinces, cultivators only made up a small fraction of the population; ordinary people constituted the vast majority.
Amidst this crowd, a woman with a curvaceous and graceful figure, but a plain face, was strolling idly alongside a young man.
“Candied hawthorn on a stick! Delicious candied hawthorn! No charge if it’s not sweet!”
“Sesame cakes! Freshly baked sesame cakes! We’ve got sesame and we’ve got cake!”
The cries of street vendors filled their ears. Qu Qirong’s beautiful eyes lit up, and she stopped by a stall, asking for two skewers.
As a candied hawthorn entered her mouth, the sweetness and chill blossomed on her taste buds.
“It’s been so long since I last had candied hawthorn; the flavor is still so sweet and rich!”
Savoring the strange yet familiar taste, Qu Qirong sighed with a hint of wistfulness.
“Given your status, Madam, having a stick of candied hawthorn should be quite simple,” Deng Tianyu remarked with surprise from the side, also eating a hawthorn skewer.
No matter what you said, Qu Qirong was the Sect Master’s Wife of the Spirit Treasure Sect.
If she wanted to eat something or have something, she merely needed to instruct a subordinate.
As if knowing his thoughts, Qu Qirong shook her head. “I could order someone to buy it, but that would lack the immersive experience of being here.”
Deng Tianyu was taken aback. From her words, he felt as if she was like a golden canary kept in a cage. She yearned for the outside world, hoping to break free one day and live freely.
“Does Mr. Deng know why, among all the outstanding women of the Tongbao Merchant Guild, they chose me to marry into the Mysterious Spirit Sect’s faction?”
Arriving at a bridgebank, Qu Qirong gazed at the ripples stirred by the wind on the lake’s surface and spoke quietly.
Deng Tianyu also stopped and asked, “Why?”
“Though my cultivation talent is poor, I possess a rare physique. From the moment I was born, this physique contained an extremely dense Primal Yin Spirit Nimbus. Because this Primal Yin Spirit Nimbus is innate, as long as Yin and Yang are harmonized, it can grant immense benefits to the one who absorbs it in their cultivation journey.”
A gentle breeze blew through Qu Qirong’s hair, making her appear somewhat more distant and indistinct.
“And what happens after the Primal Yin Spirit Nimbus is absorbed?” Deng Tianyu frowned, thinking that this kind of physique sounded exactly like a Cauldron Physique—a vessel for someone else’s benefit.
“After it’s absorbed, the body’s vitality will drain away at an accelerated rate. Correspondingly, my appearance will rapidly age, not stopping until I become nothing more than a pile of dust and bones!”
Qu Qirong spoke as if narrating a matter completely unrelated to her, her tone calm, without the slightest ripple of emotion.
Yet, Deng Tianyu could still sense an indescribable desolation within it.
“Boom… Crackle…”
Just then, clusters of brilliant fireworks blossomed across the void. Although stunningly beautiful, they were fleeting.
Quietly watching the beautiful display in the sky, a flash of loneliness passed through Qu Qirong’s eyes. It was as if she pitied the fireworks for their transient nature, their beauty gone in an instant.
Deng Tianyu did not speak. At a moment like this, what was needed most was for him to be a listener and a companion.
Although he was not from a clan, he understood well that within any family, everything revolved around benefits and interests.
Just like Qu Qirong—as long as profit could be gained, sending her off like a piece of cargo was nothing out of the ordinary.
What Deng Tianyu hadn’t expected, however, was that the Tongbao Merchant Guild faction would be so cold and heartless. Knowing Qu Qirong’s special physique, they still allowed her to marry into the Mysterious Spirit Sect.
Had the sect leader not died unexpectedly, Qu Qirong would likely have long since become a cultivation furnace, fading away completely.
“I sometimes truly envy Sect Leader Ning. Although the Purple Cloud Sect isn’t strong, its environment is nowhere near as complicated. And she also has a prodigious disciple like Mr. Deng.”
Walking along the riverbank, Qu Qirong’s slender hand reached up to tuck her slightly disheveled hair behind her crystal-clear, jade-like ear.
As her lotus steps shifted gently, the hem of her ink-black dress fluttered, and the faint, mature fragrance of a woman drifted through the breeze.
“Madam shouldn’t sell herself short. If you wished, even the most outstanding disciple could be found by you,” Deng Tianyu replied with a smile, walking shoulder-to-shoulder but maintaining a polite distance.
This was the truth. With Qu Qirong’s status, plus the power of the Spirit Treasure Sect, what kind of exceptional disciple couldn’t she find?
“Could I find a disciple like Mr. Deng, for example?” Qu Qirong suddenly halted, looking at him with keen interest.
“Madam jests,” Deng Tianyu said, not taking it seriously.
“If I were to promise that as long as Mr. Deng becomes my man, you would receive the full support and cultivation resources of the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, without any worries on your path of cultivation. Would Mr. Deng be willing?”
Qu Qirong didn’t seem to be joking. Her gaze was earnest as she looked at him.
“Become Madam’s man?”
Deng Tianyu’s expression turned odd. The phrase sounded ambiguous, like a wealthy woman throwing a pile of money at a pretty boy, saying she wanted to keep him.
Being able to live off one’s looks wasn’t necessarily shameful, but Deng Tianyu simply didn’t like that sort of thing.
“Madam should know, I already have a Shizun and a sect. If I were to switch allegiance to the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, wouldn’t that make me a traitor?”
“I’m not asking you to leave the Purple Cloud Sect or Sect Leader Ning. I’m merely saying I would arrange another identity for you. That way, you could remain Sect Master Ning’s disciple and also be my man,” Qu Qirong elaborated.
“Sorry.” Deng Tianyu still refused.
As Qu Qirong said, becoming her trusted subordinate might bring countless cultivation resources.
But if a conflict ever arose between her and his Shizun Ning Wan, causing a rift between the two sides, whose side should he choose then?
Without question, no matter the angle, Deng Tianyu would refuse.
“I was right in my judgment; Mr. Deng is indeed an excellent disciple. What I said just now was only a test on behalf of Sect Leader Ning. I hope Mr. Deng won’t take it to heart.”
Having been rejected, Qu Qirong didn’t seem embarrassed, simply saying this with a warm smile.
Her tone was so light and casual that the entire matter seemed brushed aside in an instant.
Deng Tianyu only gave her a deep look and said nothing more.
“Mr. Deng, would you accompany me to set off some lanterns?”
Suddenly, Qu Qirong’s gaze fell to the small river.
Unnoticed, the sky had gradually darkened. The river was already filled with lanterns of all kinds, drifting downstream from the source with the current.
Under the glow of the lanterns, the entire riverbank was brilliantly lit, the water’s surface sparkling and shimmering. It was as picturesque as a poem or painting.
“Madam, what color of flower lantern would you like?”
“Hmm… Ink-black.”
Deng Tianyu nodded, went to the vendor selling lanterns, chose an ink-black one and a light purple one, then quickly returned to the riverbank.
“I’ve heard that if you make a wish to a flower lantern, and it can float from the source all the way to the river’s mouth without going out, the wish will come true!”
Taking the ink-black lantern, Qu Qirong bent her graceful waist and gently set it adrift into the river’s flow.
