“Shocking Good News: A Beautiful CEO’s Fairy-Tale Romance with a Prestigious Scion!”
“Jiang Ruyu, President of East Sea’s Lingxiao Group, and Xu Mingsheng, President of Changsheng Group Corporation, Will Soon Hold a Grand Wedding!”
On the front page of the newspaper, a man and a woman were intimately embracing.
The woman had delicate features and wore a pure white wedding dress that outlined her fiery, alluring figure.
Her beautiful eyes gazed affectionately at the man holding her.
A single picture was enough to stir a man’s boundless lust.
Jiang Ning looked at the newspaper in his hand and let out a cold, disdainful sneer.
The woman in the picture had been his wife five years ago.
But their union hadn’t received the same kind of sensational, widespread publicity as the one in the papers.
In fact, few people in all of East Sea even knew about it.
Five years ago, right after graduating from university, Jiang Ning had started working at the Lingxiao Group.
During a routine physical for new employees, he was found to have a rare RH-negative blood type, colloquially known as “panda blood.” It was the even rarer Rh-null negative type, with fewer than fifty cases worldwide.
After the physical, Jiang Ruyu, who was then the company’s vice president, began to actively pursue him.
She not only personally promoted him but also took care of him in every aspect at the company, often asking him out to talk or have dinner, and even brazenly getting drunk to seduce him.
The naive Jiang Ning thought he had met his true love, so when Jiang Ruyu proposed, he joyfully accepted.
Jiang Ruyu claimed she was worried about office gossip and didn’t want anyone to know.
After they secretly registered their marriage, she convinced Jiang Ning to quit his job.
Then, she claimed to be unwell and refused to consummate the marriage with him for years.
Feeling sorry for his wife, Jiang Ning never suspected a thing, obeying her every whim like a dog.
But all nightmares must end.
One day, Jiang Ruyu came home and happily announced she was taking him to a luxurious clubhouse on the outskirts of the city for a banquet.
A delighted Jiang Ning had just stepped through the clubhouse doors when he was seized by several large men and dragged into a private operating room.
It was then that the venomous woman told him the truth: she had only been good to him to keep him as a “blood slave.” Her goal was to curry favor with a powerful figure, using Jiang Ning’s blood to help this person survive a difficult surgery.
And now, it was time for Jiang Ning to pay his price.
With that, the viper Jiang Ruyu had her men use a machine to drain all the blood from his body.
Then, like a piece of trash, he was thrown out the back door of the clubhouse, off a cliff into the raging river below to destroy the evidence.
Jiang Ning thought he was dead for sure, but fate had other plans.
In his hazy state, he fell into the grotto of an Immortal Venerable.
This Immortal Venerable had walked the mortal realm for thousands of years, establishing countless great powers.
He was a peerless genius in both medicine and martial arts.
In the end, he achieved enlightenment at the bottom of the river and ascended, leaving his grotto and legacy behind for a fated successor.
Jiang Ning, having fallen to the riverbed, happened to be a person who possessed a Spirit Vein.
He thus received the inheritance and cultivated arduously in the grotto for five hundred years.
Only after emerging did he discover that the flow of time within the barrier was different from the outside world.
Five hundred years in the river’s heart was but five years in the mortal world.
“Master, your disciple has completed his training and now takes his leave.”
Jiang Ning left the grotto, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed heavily three times.
Then, a stone niche rose before him.
On it sat three items: a small, blood-red sword that pulsed continuously, a simple and unadorned dragon-shaped ring, and a thick stack of red marriage certificates.
A phantom figure slowly rose—it was his Master, post-ascension.
“Listen, disciple of the Celestial Sect.
These three Spiritual Objects before you are the final treasures your master has left for you.”
“The Red Blood Sword is the symbol of the Celestial Sect’s Sect Leader.
It can kill invisibly from a thousand miles away and also serve as a protective Spiritual Treasure.”
“The Ancient Dragon Thumb Ring is the symbol for the Eighteen Halls of the Yellow Springs, an organization founded by a few servants I took in while roaming the mortal realm.
Wear this ring, and you will be the Palace Master of the Yellow Springs.”
“As for these ninety-nine marriage certificates, these are what I, your master, have specially prepared for you.”
“Ah, ninety-nine of them…?”
Jiang Ning was stunned for a moment.
‘Is Master treating me like breeding stock?!’
“I, your master, walked the mortal realm for thousands of years, completely absorbed in cultivation.
As a result, in my later years, I couldn’t find even a single disciple with a Spirit Vein.”
“Therefore, I specifically sought out ninety-nine individuals destined for great wealth and fortune, helped them through their hardships, and arranged these marriage contracts for their future generations.
The goal is for you to spread your branches and leaves, produce many offspring, and strengthen our Celestial Sect.”
“From my perspective, finding a suitable disciple is simply too difficult.
You’re better off taking matters into your own hands and providing for yourself.
I will be waiting for you in the Upper Realm.”
With that, the phantom figure dissipated.
Jiang Ning stared at the thick stack of marriage certificates, somewhat dazed.
‘Don’t let the good stuff fall into others’ hands, I guess!’
…
“Grandpa, hurry up!
We’re almost at the summit.”
Just then, a laugh like a songbird’s pulled Jiang Ning back to reality.
Turning around, he saw a girl in a white tracksuit climbing to the summit with a cheerful smile.
The girl was tall and slender with fair skin.
Her pure and stunningly beautiful smile was nearly on par with Jiang Ruyu’s.
“Jiaojiao, be careful!
Wait for me!”
Behind her, an old man in a white martial arts uniform walked up with a smile.
Behind them both, several bodyguards in black suits scanned the surroundings vigilantly.
The old man glanced around and only saw Jiang Ning sitting cross-legged under a tree on the summit.
“Hey, this area has been cordoned off.
Leave immediately.”
One of the bodyguards stepped forward to drive Jiang Ning away.
“Stop!”
Before Jiang Ning could say anything, the old man behind him quickly stopped them.
“What are you doing?
He was here first.
This isn’t our property, don’t just drive people away for no reason.”
With that, the old man walked up to Jiang Ning and said softly, “Pardon me, little brother.
Please don’t take offense.
This old man is Long Changsheng, and this is my granddaughter, Long Jiaojiao.”
“Climbing to the summit so early…
can your body handle it, little brother?
I see you didn’t bring anything with you.
Would you like some water?”
As he spoke, the old man offered him a bottle of water.
“Hmph!”
Jiang Ning sized him up with a glance, then turned his head away without a word.
“Hey!
Have you no manners?”
Long Jiaojiao shouted in displeasure, “My grandpa is just showing concern for you!
Who are you putting on that sour face for?”
“Forget it, forget it!”
Long Changsheng shook his head with a smile.
Seeing that Jiang Ning had no time for them, he said no more.
He pulled his granddaughter aside to sit on a rock, watching the sun rise in the distance.
Just then, a bodyguard stepped forward and said respectfully, “Master Long, I just found out.
Master Zhang of Cyan Cloud Temple left yesterday to travel the world.
We’re too late.”
The old man sighed.
“Alas, Zhang Tiezui said that if I greeted the sun on Cangyan Mountain on the third day of the month, I might meet an Immortal.
It seems I’m not so fortunate.”
“COUGH!
COUGH!
COUGH!”
After saying this, the old man suddenly began to cough violently.
“Grandpa, what’s wrong?
Quick, drink some water.”
Seeing this, Long Jiaojiao quickly grabbed a cup and poured out some warm water that had a faint herbal scent.
From under the tree, Jiang Ning suddenly spoke up.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t give him that water to drink.
Drinking it will only worsen his condition!”
Long Jiaojiao said huffily, “Who do you think you are?
I’m giving my grandpa water to drink.
What business is it of yours?
Mind your own business, you loudmouth.”
“Hmph.
Suit yourself.”
Jiang Ning shook his head indifferently and said no more.
Just after Long Jiaojiao had her grandfather drink two cups of the warm water, Elder Long’s face suddenly turned from red to white, and then he violently spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Grandpa, what’s wrong?
Grandpa, don’t scare me!
What’s happening?”
“Move!”
Jiang Ning suddenly made his move.
No one present saw how he appeared in front of the old man.
They only saw him form a needle with his fingers and rapidly strike several major acupoints on Long Changsheng’s chest.
Then, he followed up with a hard punch to his abdomen.
“Break!”
PUH!
Struck by the punch, Elder Long spat out a mouthful of corrupted blood.
The clots carried a faint, choking, foul stench.