Volume 1, Chapter 247 – Forming the Pact

Although the Earth Fiend Realm did not count for much in the current Xianwu City, in the old Chengtian Domain it would have been enough to qualify one as a regional powerhouse, capable of supporting an entire martial clan.

For such cultivation to appear in a young woman barely past twenty was, in the eyes of the Lu family, completely beyond reason. Even the century-rare Lu Yueqing, who had been carefully nurtured since childhood, had only just barely touched the threshold of the Earth Fiend Realm.

A trace of disbelief flashed through Lu Yueqing’s eyes. The scene of their first meeting in Tenglong City was still vivid in her mind. At the time, Shi Lan had absolutely no aura of a martial artist, nor could her blood and qi be called strong. To describe her as harmless would not have been wrong.

It was hard for her to connect the woman now standing before the seat of honor, radiating a frightening pressure, with the person who had once spoken to her with a certain amount of hesitation.

Intimidated by the cultivation Shi Lan had revealed, the two middle-aged men of the Lu family fell silent and turned their eyes toward Lu Changfeng.

Upon hearing that Shi Tianlu was in seclusion, Lu Changfeng pondered for a moment. As if he had thought of something, a faint trace of delight appeared in his eyes.

“The marriage contract between Miss Lu and myself is my Shi family’s fault. Whatever compensation you ask for, so long as it is within my power and does not violate Heaven’s conscience, human ethics, or common morality, I will do my utmost to fulfill it.”

Shi Lan drew back the fluctuations of her aura and gave her promise with utmost seriousness. In this world, reputation mattered more than life itself to some people. Compensation was only proper.

Once she opened her mouth and made that promise, Shi Lan had already prepared herself for the Lu family to make outrageous demands.

“I want the Shi family’s eldest son dead.”

Lu Changfeng slowly sat back down. The moment those words fell, the atmosphere in the hall instantly turned taut.

“Lu Changfeng, do not go too far.”

Reаⅾ οn КatReаdіnɡСafe

Su Lanyue rose to her feet, brows tightly drawn. Her hands slowly clenched. During the days and nights when she had been separated from Shi Lan, she had come to understand with absolute clarity that Shi Lan was her life. She would never allow anyone to harm Shi Lan before her eyes, even if her own strength was far inferior to Lu Changfeng’s.

“What do you mean?”

Shi Lan stepped forward and shielded Su Lanyue behind her, somewhat puzzled. There was no killing intent on Lu Changfeng at all, so there was clearly more meaning behind his words.

“I want the Shi family’s eldest son to die. The marriage contract will be void. Yueqing and the Shi family’s eldest daughter, Shi Lan, will form a Gold-Orchid Pact.”

Lu Changfeng lifted the teacup and took a sip before continuing,

“With the demon calamity raging as it is, the death of one or two people is nothing strange. Yueqing’s reputation cannot be harmed, and the marriage contract cannot be broken. This method gives the best of both worlds.”

Because Shi Tianlu had always kept a low profile, the Shi family had only a modest reputation within a few hundred li of Tenglong City. And with Shi Tianlu deliberately keeping things quiet, Shi Lan herself had only a bit of “fame” within Tenglong City. Even Lu Changfeng, who had once been regarded as Shi Lan’s future father-in-law, knew very little about her.

Under such circumstances, changing Shi Lan’s public identity was not especially difficult.

Su Lanyue understood and looked toward Shi Lan, her expression somewhat hesitant.

“Very well. I agree. Aside from this, what other conditions do you have?”

Shi Lan nodded and agreed at once.

Rеaⅾ оn ΚatReaⅾiոgCαfе

“Apart from this, my Lu family asks for nothing more.”

A smile appeared at the corner of Lu Changfeng’s mouth. He looked rather pleased.

Su Lanyue hesitated, half-raising a hand as if she wanted to stop them, but in the end she lowered it again. What the Lu family wanted was not truly excessive.

“In that case, Sister-in-law, I must trouble you to have a Dao altar erected and offerings prepared for High Heaven.”

Lu Changfeng cupped his hands in salute, rose to his feet, bowed to Su Lanyue, and walked outside.

Hearing Lu Changfeng’s words, Shi Lan frowned slightly. She had originally thought the Gold-Orchid Pact he proposed was something like sworn siblinghood, but now it seemed it was anything but simple.

Lu Yueqing remained silent throughout, feeling a sense of helplessness. What she had seen and heard over the past two years had broadened her horizons, but it had also worn away much of her former sharpness. This world was far broader than she had once imagined, and Shi Lan’s transformation in particular had left her utterly at a loss.

Lu Yueqing could also more or less guess the purpose behind Lu Changfeng’s proposal of the Gold-Orchid Pact. It was nothing more than seeking a powerful future support, perhaps even a shield, for her.

A Gold-Orchid Pact was no ordinary thing. One erected a Dao altar reaching to the heavens and invoked High Heaven as witness, becoming friends bound in life and death, sharing hardship and danger together, sharing honor and disgrace alike, closer even than blood-linked siblings.

There were not few martial artists in the Shi Residence. Su Lanyue soon arranged for a simple Dao altar nearly three zhang tall to be built, and had the offerings for High Heaven prepared.

On the Dao altar, Shi Lan and Lu Yueqing stood side by side. Before them a wooden table had already been set in place, with two thin kneeling mats laid before it.

Rеаⅾ on ΚatReαdinɡСаfе

On the table were a cinnabar jade brush, purple talisman paper, two jade bowls filled with wine, and an incense burner in which three red incense sticks were burning.

By now, Shi Lan already knew the weight of a Gold-Orchid Pact. But words once spoken were like water once spilled. There was no taking them back, especially since this matter did not violate the principles she had laid out before.

Shi Lan and Lu Yueqing stepped forward together, picked up the jade brushes, dipped them in cinnabar, and each wrote her date and hour of birth on a purple talisman. Then they folded the talismans and lit them from the red incense.

The talismans burned without the slightest flame, dissolving into wisps of violet smoke that rose together with the green smoke from the incense, curling upward as though reaching all the way to the nine heavens.

Shi Lan and Lu Yueqing then took two more steps forward and picked up the jade bowls. Each squeezed out a drop of blood into her bowl, then exchanged bowls and drained them in one swallow. After that, they knelt simultaneously upon the thin mats and pointed toward the heavens as they swore:

“Let High Heaven bear witness. Today the two of us seal this covenant in blood and form a Gold-Orchid Pact. From this moment onward, our fates are joined as one. We shall share fortune and misfortune alike, entrust life and death to one another, rescue one another in good and ill, depend on one another through blessing and disaster, and support one another through hardship…”

“Whoever insults her honor, I shall kill!”

“Whoever stains her name and chastity, I shall kill!”

“Whoever bullies her when she is weak, I shall surely kill!”

“Let Heaven and Earth bear witness. If this pact is broken, body and soul shall both perish!”

The moment the oath was spoken, Shi Lan sensed a subtle connection forming between herself and Lu Yueqing. Through that connection, she could sense Lu Yueqing’s current condition, and Lu Yueqing presumably could do the same.

Rеаԁ оn KаtRеαԁіոɡСafе

Before Shi Lan could recover, a surge of true qi suddenly rose at her side. Turning her head, she saw Lu Yueqing already sitting cross-legged, the aura about her rapidly swelling.

Shi Lan’s Innate spiritual blood already contained powerful energy, and her blood and qi were enough to rival even those of a Heavenly Astral Realm martial artist. For an Innate Realm martial artist, it was no different from a supreme tonic.

Lu Yueqing had already been at the brink of breakthrough. After swallowing that drop of Shi Lan’s blood, she happened to take the final step and break through the barrier between the Innate Realm and the Earth Fiend Realm.

Standing below the Dao altar, Lu Changfeng leapt up and landed at Lu Yueqing’s side, his eyes full of joy. The other members of the Lu family who had come with him also looked deeply excited.

An Earth Fiend Realm cultivator not yet twenty years old was something Chengtian Domain rarely saw even once in a hundred years. So long as Lu Yueqing grew safely and did not die young, the rise of the Lu family was practically just around the corner.

Thinking of this, the members of the Lu family could not help turning their eyes toward Shi Lan.

A woman of twenty who had already reached the great perfection of the Earth Fiend Realm had probably not appeared in Chengtian Domain for thousands of years. Shi Lan’s future achievements were simply impossible to measure.

Once this demon calamity was settled, Shi Lan would surely shine brilliantly across Chengtian Domain, and perhaps across the entire Vast Land of Shenzhou.

Looking at the tall woman in her splendid dress standing atop the Dao altar, an idea rose in the hearts of the Lu family members, one so incredible that even they themselves found it hard to believe.

Could it be… that the Shi family was about to produce a Human Emperor?