“Father, you didn’t mishear.”
Shui Bing’er met her father’s shocked gaze and nodded.
“I said, I agree to this marriage.”
As soon as those words came out, the Shui Clan Head completely lost his composure.
He rushed back to the stone bed in two or three steps, anxiously slapping his thighs repeatedly.
“How can you agree to this?!”
“Bing’er, tell your father the truth. Did you resort to this desperate measure because you encountered backlash while trying to Cultivate and simply couldn’t endure it anymore, all for those three top-tier Spirit Bones?”
The more the Shui Clan Head spoke, the more agitated he became, his eye sockets turning red.
“Father knows you’ve been miserably tormented by the cold Qi in your Meridians these past few days, and I know you need a Spirit Bone to break the deadlock.”
“But… but that’s your whole life!”
He reached out, pointing towards the direction of the secret room’s door, his voice trembling.
“No matter what anyone says, that Ning Tian is just a waste Spirit, unable to ever become a Spirit Master in his lifetime!”
“You are our Shui Family’s once-in-a-millennium top-grade Ice Phoenix! A Prodigy destined to spread your wings and soar high in the future!”
“If you’re doing this for that Spirit Bone… At worst, Father will sell all the bottom-of-the-box old items in the Family treasury!”
“Even if it’s not enough, Father will stake his coffin savings, personally go to the northern ice field to hunt a Spirit Beast for you, and no matter what, I’ll find an ice-attribute Spirit Bone back for you!”
The Shui Clan Head’s chest heaved violently, his face full of heartache and resoluteness.
“Anyway, although our Shui Family can’t compare to that Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, there’s absolutely no need for us to suffer such a huge grievance and have you stake the rest of your life!”
Watching her father’s posture of risking his old life, a warm current flowed through Shui Bing’er’s heart.
But her expression still didn’t have much fluctuation.
She gently tidied her slightly wrinkled skirt hem, raised her hand, and tucked her scattered ice-blue long hair behind her head.
The movement was very slow, yet it exuded a calmness and composure vastly disproportionate to her age.
That head of ice-blue long hair, matched with jade-white skin, under the slightly dim micro-light of the secret room, exuded a breathtakingly cold and detached beauty.
“Father.”
Shui Bing’er finally spoke.
“You’re thinking about this matter too simply.”
She walked over to the stone table on the side, poured two cups of water, and pushed one of them in front of the Shui Clan Head.
“I’ve thought it through very clearly, and it’s not purely for those Spirit Bones.”
The Shui Clan Head blankly picked up the water cup, his face full of astonishment.
“Not just for the Spirit Bones? Then what else could it be for?”
Shui Bing’er didn’t rush to answer, but instead asked a question in return.
“Just now you said that Huo Wu of the Huo Family went to the main hall, pointed at Ning Tian’s nose to curse him as a waste, and fiercely rejected this marriage?”
“That’s right.”
The Shui Clan Head nodded.
“Old Huo is protective of his own, and that girl is also very fierce, cutting off all words on the spot, and even got slapped by an Outer Sect Elder of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.”
“Foolish.”
Shui Bing’er unceremoniously gave a two-word evaluation.
“Relying on having a mutated Fire Shadow Spirit, she really thinks she’s invincible under heaven.”
“Little does she know that in this world, relying solely on hot-blooded passion and Genius won’t get one far.”
She picked up the water cup and took a sip, her gaze extremely clear.
“Father, you think I’m blindly turning to any doctor in a panic, but actually, I am assessing the current situation.”
“What kind of situation our Shui Family is in right now, as the Clan Chief, you should know better than me.” Visit g.com for the full chapter.
The Shui Clan Head opened his mouth, but couldn’t say a word.
Shui Bing’er continued to analyze further.
“First, Cultivate resources.”
“These past few years, the revenues from the mineral veins and industries under the names of our four major Elemental families have been worsening year by year.”
“For the Shui Family, it is even more so. The Family’s usual expenses are already huge, not to mention going to purchase those rare high-tier resources.”
“And as for business acumen, our Elemental Valley combined doesn’t even equal a tenth of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.”
“Second, a generational gap in talent.”
“Look at the younger generation now. Besides me, can the Shui Family find a second up-and-coming star who can truly shoulder heavy responsibilities?”
“If this awkward transition period continues for another decade, when the Elders grow old, what will the Shui Family use to establish a foothold?”
Hearing these words, the Shui Clan Head’s hand holding the water cup began to tremble slightly.
What his daughter said was like a knife, precisely stabbing at the Family’s most fatal weakness.
This wasn’t all yet.
Shui Bing’er put down the water cup, making a soft clink.
“The third point, and also the most fatal one: external pressure.”
“You just mentioned that Yu Luomian of the Lei Family also went to the main hall today, and even acted as a peacemaker on the side?”
“Correct.”
Shui Bing’er sneered.
“As the Second Elder of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, what is he doing soaking in the Elemental Valley year-round? Does he really take us for allies?”
“Among the Upper Three Sects, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan has the worst overall foundation.”
“These past few years, anyone with discerning eyes can see what kind of scheme they are playing.”
“They have constantly been trying to completely assimilate the Feng Family and Huo Family, and the next step is to annex all the families.”
“Don’t forget, some minor Sects and small families of the elemental type have already been completely annexed by the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan!”
Shui Bing’er’s words were clear in logic and pearls of wisdom in every word, directly laying out the life-and-death crisis facing the Family on the table.
“If that day truly comes and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan opens its bloody maw, what will our Shui Family use to block it?”
Shui Bing’er looked straight into her father’s eyes.
“However, if at this critical juncture we become in-laws with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, everything will be different.”
“With the financial support of the number one support Sect under heaven, the Shui Family’s resource dilemma will be readily solved.”
“More importantly, with Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo—these two Titled Douluo—acting as our backing, no matter how bold the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan is, would they still dare to harbor crooked thoughts toward the Shui Family?”
The Shui Clan Head was completely shocked.
He had always thought his daughter was a martial arts maniac who only knew how to enter secluded Cultivate and ignored worldly affairs.
Yet he never expected that she would see the external situation and the Family’s plight so thoroughly!
“But… Bing’er…”
Old tears streamed down the Shui Clan Head’s face, and even his voice became hoarse.
“Father understands everything you said.”
“But… but this is too cruel to you!”
“For the Family, to let you marry a Mortal who cannot Cultivate. How will the outside world look at you? How will those Genius peers of yours mock you?”
“Father is a useless waste, unable to protect the Family, and still has to rely on sacrificing his daughter’s reputation to exchange for protection!”
Looking at her father’s annoyed and self-blaming appearance, Shui Bing’er gently sighed.
She stepped forward, extended her white palm, and wiped away the tears at the corners of her father’s eyes.
“Since I agreed, naturally I feel that this is not only a good thing for the Family, but even more so, a tremendous good thing for my own growth.”
“Reputation? Grievance?”
Shui Bing’er’s tone revealed a nearly cold rationality.
“What I, Shui Bing’er, Cultivate is the Ice Phoenix, and what I want to reach the summit of is the Spirit Master’s world, not Cultivate other people’s mouths.”
“Those people outside can say whatever they like. Whether they mock me or say I’ve willingly fallen into degradation, it doesn’t matter.”
Shui Bing’er put her hands behind her back, her posture as straight as a sharp ice sword.
“As for Ning Tian.”
“So what if he is a Mortal?”
“Although I swore publicly that I will never fall in love until reaching Titled Douluo.”
“But Ning Tian is different; he cannot Cultivate.”
“You and I are both Spirit Masters; we know that for the sake of Cultivate, a Spirit Master’s heart can become dark and all kinds of things can be calculated.”
“Compared to Spirit Masters, ordinary people’s thoughts and pursuits are even purer.”
“This also means that our relationship can completely be an unpretentious and plain affection.”
“According to this analysis, from Ning Tian’s perspective, marrying a woman with outstanding natural endowment and a graceful figure is the best choice.”
“And from the perspective of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, even if their Young Lord has a waste Spirit, he is still the Young Lord.”
“When the Young Lord of such a great Sect gets married, naturally he needs a wife who is a top-tier Prodigy to serve as a facade.”
“And if viewed from my own perspective, I need the top-tier resources of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School to pave the road leading me to Titled Douluo.”
“As for having children…”
When Shui Bing’er reached this point, her face flushed slightly red.
However, she ultimately bit her red lips and continued to speak.
“Anyway, having children won’t drag down a Spirit Master’s Cultivate.”
“If he wants eight or ten, I’ll just let him have them!”
Shui Bing’er paused here, and then spoke again.
“Looking at it this way, this is each taking what they need, without owing each other.”
“Why should I refuse?”
The Shui Clan Head’s mouth was open, his brain buzzing.
He found himself completely unable to refute his daughter’s logic.
“Good… good child.”
The Shui Clan Head wiped away his tears, the grief and indignation in his eyes receding, replaced by deep shock and emotion.
With this Heart-Nature of his daughter, even without the Shui Family, she would definitely be able to carve out a reputation in this Douluo Continent in the future.
“Since you’ve thought it through so thoroughly, then Father… will naturally listen to you!”
The Shui Clan Head gritted his teeth and nodded heavily.
Seeing this, Shui Bing’er smiled slightly.
This smile was like a snow lotus blooming for the first time, extremely stunning.
“Since the people of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School have invited us, let’s not dawdle in the secret room.”
Shui Bing’er actively turned around and pressed the mechanism on the stone door.
Accompanied by a burst of muffled rumbling, the heavy stone door slowly opened.
“Making the future father-in-law and husband wait anxiously is not the hospitality of a daughter-in-law like me.”
Shui Bing’er smoothed out the last trace of wrinkles on her cuffs and strode outward.
“Father, let’s go. Let’s go meet this legendary Young Master Ning.”