Volume 8, Chapter 494 – One Wife, One Concubine—I’ll Take Them Both

In the eyes of the crowd, the gems on the Immortal Selection Token lit up one by one. Four… five… six…

Lü Yi also urged his horse forward to take a closer look. If this woman’s talent could reach nine points, he would have essentially stumbled upon a massive windfall.

For an ordinary person, watching the gems light up one after another would surely bring secret delight. But Cheng Hongling was the opposite. Because her father was watching, she would rather remain ordinary.

Her prayers seemed to have worked, the gems on the Immortal Selection Token stopped at the eighth one, meaning her bloodline score was eight.

At this sight, Cheng Hongling finally let out a long sigh of relief. Only with a lower bloodline score could she, like Qi Huang, have the chance to prove her father’s beliefs.

Qi Huang felt a faint flicker of disappointment, but then she quickly caught herself. Hadn’t she always opposed the bloodline theory? Why should she be disappointed? She should be happy! As long as she mastered the “Doppelgänger Technique,” her main body, bolstered by her own support, would surely surpass those so-called prodigies in cultivation speed.

Cheng Yuan, on the other hand, was genuinely disappointed. Compared to his ideals, his daughter’s future was clearly more important to him, no matter her bloodline.

“Only eight points after all. How naïve of me. How could a backwater like the Western Radiance Dynasty, which has never produced an immortal, have a cultivator with a bloodline score above nine?”

Lü Yi shook his head in disappointment.

“Young Master, what do we do now?”

Old Ma, who had just finished bandaging his wounds, limped over and asked.

Qi Huang seized the opportunity to interject, “What else can you do? Call off the engagement! Go back and erase our names from the Immortal Stele. Heaven forbid we lowly-blooded folk taint the Lü family’s exalted lineage.”

Lü Yi frowned, pondered for a moment, and then said, “Don’t be hasty. Let me consult the elders first.”

With that, he rode his horse to a secluded spot and used the Thousand-Mile Communication Tube to contact his grandfather.

“It seems miracles still don’t happen easily,” Lü Dao sighed.

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“Indeed. We all know that if her bloodline had truly been above nine, she would have been born at least in the Unity Realm, if not the Incarnation Realm. She wouldn’t have needed to gather spiritual energy at all.”

Lü Yi realized belatedly.

“So, what’s your decision now? Will you marry her or not?” Lü Dao probed.

A conflicted expression flashed across Lü Yi’s face. He glanced back at Cheng Hongling and Qi Huang, his sharp gaze gradually overtaken by greed. In the end, lust clouded his judgment:

“I’ll marry her. Even if her bloodline is only eight, she has a doppelgänger with a Divine Sense at the mid-stage of the Divine Realm. That’s barely worthy of me.”

“Think carefully. Once you marry this Cheng Hongling, pursuing those three girls with immortal bloodlines will become exponentially harder. They’ve made it clear they’ll only marry men without wives or concubines,” Lü Dao reminded his grandson.

“Hmph. A real man makes women accommodate him, only weaklings bend to women’s whims. I’m confident that as long as I’m outstanding enough, they’ll throw themselves at me.”

Lü Yi spoke with unshakable arrogance.

“Good! That’s my grandson! Marry her if you wish. The original plan remains unchanged. Even if her bloodline is only eight, she knows secret techniques to enhance Divine Sense. That’s compensation enough for our Lü family.”

Lü Dao praised.

“But what about Second Grandfather’s faction? With Cheng Hongling’s bloodline at eight, they’ll surely use this against us.”

Lü Yi hesitated.

“Don’t worry. I’ve said it before, the sixth day of the sixth month next year will be your wedding day. No one can change that.”

Lü Dao declared imperiously.

“Thank you, Grandfather!”

Lü Yi bowed respectfully before riding back.

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“The wedding date stands. Prepare your dowry. On the sixth day of the sixth month next year, you will marry into the Lü family. Otherwise, face the consequences.”

He announced his decision.

“Still refusing to give up?”

Qi Huang shook her head helplessly. “Fine. You may leave now.”

“What? We’ve traveled thousands of miles to the Honghua Sect, and you won’t even offer us tea? Is this how you treat guests?”

Old Ma, having forgotten his injuries the moment they healed, started blustering again.

“You are not guests of the Honghua Sect.”

Cheng Hongling replied coldly.

“Forget it. Since we’re not welcome, we’ll leave. A year from now, I’ll make her serve me tea willingly.”

Lü Yi didn’t press further, signaling his entourage to depart.

“We’re just letting them go like this?”

“Valley Master, they slaughtered so many of our Shuiyu Valley’s sisters and kin! Are we not avenging this great enmity?”

“If we watch them walk away, how will we face the wronged dead in the afterlife? How can we hold our heads high in the cultivation world from now on?”

Some female disciples of Shuiyu Valley refused to let the matter rest and surrounded them again.

Qi Huang and Cheng Hongling exchanged glances. Neither had expected these disciples to be so ignorant of the principle “As long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to burn”. They were hell-bent on courting death.

“Hmph. The only reason I’ve tolerated your insolence is out of respect for my fiancée. But if you insist on testing my patience, I won’t mind wiping out Shuiyu Valley’s legacy entirely.”

Lü Yi reined in his horse, his face twisting into a snarl.

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“All of you, back here now!”

Wen Yunmei immediately scolded the disciples. After the earlier lesson, she had no face left to trouble the Honghua Sect further.

The female disciples froze under her reprimand. Though resentment burned in their hearts, they could only retreat step by step, glancing back repeatedly.

“However, while I’ll spare your lives, punishment is unavoidable. Before the sixth day of the sixth month next year, I expect all of you to be expelled from the Honghua Sect. I won’t have the Central Continent’s cultivators gossiping that my fiancée is still entangled with her ex.”

Lü Yi commanded.

“And if we insist on sheltering them?”

Qi Huang narrowed her beautiful eyes in challenge.

“Insist on sheltering them?”

Lü Yi’s expression darkened further. His eyes darted around before suddenly brightening with an idea.

“Well, if you really want to shelter them… that might not be impossible.”

He then turned to Mu Ruoyi.

“What’s your name?”

“……”

Mu Ruoyi turned her face away in disgust.

“No need to answer. With such beauty and the Valley Master calling you ‘daughter’, you must be Mu Ruoyi, the Holy Maiden of Shuiyu Valley, my fiancée’s ex-husband. Or should I say ex-wife? Doesn’t matter.”

Lü Yi mused aloud.

“What do you want?”

Mu Ruoyi bit her pearly teeth.

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“A brilliant idea just struck me, one that would cleanse the stain of marrying a twice-wed woman while letting you stay in the Honghua Sect peacefully. I’ll take you as my concubine!”

Lü Yi dropped his bombshell with a smirk.

“What?!”

Everyone was stunned. No one had expected Lü Yi to be so insatiable, wanting not just his fiancée but also her “ex”. He was taking everything.

“In your dreams! I’d rather die than submit!”

Mu Ruoyi screamed hysterically.

“Unwilling? Doesn’t matter. I’ll have your name carved on the Immortal Stele when I return. On the sixth day of the sixth month next year, you’ll enter the Lü family alongside Cheng Hongling and Qi Huang. They as wives, you as a concubine. I’ll have you all! And then your Shuiyu Valley disciples can stay in the Honghua Sect as long as you like!”

Lü Yi rode off, reveling in his own fantasy.

“Young Master, you damn—”

“Hm?”

“—genius! Now who would dare mock you for marrying a twice-wed woman? They’ll only admire your prowess!”

Old Ma showered him with flattery.

Meanwhile, the members of the Honghua Sect and Shuiyu Valley could only watch helplessly as the Lü family entourage departed. This was the fate of the weak, to be trampled underfoot.

Mu Ruoyi sobbed uncontrollably. Lü Yi’s actions were nothing short of a monumental humiliation, yet she saw no hope of vengeance, only boundless despair.

“Sister Ruoyi, don’t worry. Let him write what he wants. When the time comes, I’ll not only erase our names from that stele, I’ll uproot the Lü family’s Immortal Stele entirely and make them pay in blood.”

Qi Huang stepped forward to comfort her.

A glimmer of hope finally surfaced in Mu Ruoyi’s tear-filled eyes. She knew that if anyone in this world could stand against an immortal-blooded clan, it would be Qi Huang.