“You…”
Ye Jinyun’s face flushed red. He had never encountered such a blunt and rude proposal of marriage, and for a moment he actually did not know how to refute it. His pair of peach blossom eyes opened round, like a silly orange cat, revealing a dazed, foolish air.
Shen Guhan sneered, his phoenix eyes half-lidded as he scrutinized Ye Jinyun’s shame and anger carefully, as if he had long anticipated Ye Jinyun’s refusal.
Ye Jinyun only felt that he had been seen through in an instant by Shen Guhan. This matter was clearly Shen Guhan deliberately humiliating him. How could…
How could there be men and men?
Not to mention a cauldron, who in the World of Longevity did not know what a cauldron was for, it was nothing more than a female cultivator used by powerful cultivators to take yin and supplement yang, with an extremely low status.
Ever since his spirit root was completely ruined, anyone could bully him, as if they wanted to push him into the bottom of the valley and never let him get back up.
He was male. If he became someone else’s cauldron, not only would he have no way out again, but the entire Ye family would also be despised by everyone. The person in front of him had murderous intentions.
“Are you together with the Li family?” Thinking of how he had gone to visit the Li family today but had been beaten out by the Li family servants, Li Er’s aggressive pressure, and that marriage contract that existed in name only, Ye Jinyun suddenly understood.
“The engagement I will cancel. The Li family’s Miss Li and I are now as different as clouds and mud. If she wants to reject it, she can come and take it. There is no need to humiliate me like this.”
Ye Jinyun straightened up, his gaze meeting Shen Guhan’s directly, carrying the unwillingness to lose and the youthful innocence of a young man.
Shen Guhan’s eyes narrowed slightly, the upward curve at the corner of his mouth never fading. He felt that he was liking the young man in front of him more and more.
“Young Master, you have misunderstood. This one is our benefactor. He just saved you and me from Li Er. He is not a member of the Li family.”
Uncle Chen came in carrying medicine, and when he saw his young master baring his teeth at the benefactor as if ready to fight, he hurriedly put down the medicine in his hand and stepped forward to stop him.
“Uncle Chen, you, you do not know…” Ye Jinyun looked at the elderly Uncle Chen, and suddenly did not know how he should speak those harsh words. After stammering for a long while, his voice lost all strength.
“It is fine.” Shen Guhan picked up the medicine on the table again and held it to Ye Jinyun’s lips. “Let this matter drop.”
Ye Jinyun pushed away Shen Guhan’s hand and glared at him. “I do not need your fake kindness.”
Uncle Chen also did not know how, after he had stepped away for a moment, his young master had become so hostile toward the benefactor. The young master’s spirit root had been ruined.
And Shen Guhan, even if he was not a Nascent Soul cultivator, was still an extremely powerful cultivator. It was possible that Shen Guhan had a way to save the young master, and he had wanted to curry favor with Shen Guhan.
But the young master was in such a state, making it impossible for him to do anything but feel extremely troubled. If only, if only the master were still here, how good that would be, alas…
“Benefactor, it is already late. This old man has already arranged a guest room for you. Why not go rest first?”
Seeing that he could not stop the young master for the moment, Uncle Chen could only ask Shen Guhan to leave first, so as to avoid bringing trouble.
Ye Jinyun wanted to say something, but saw Shen Guhan with his back to the candlelight, a large patch of shadow falling across the side of his face. The corner of his mouth curved slightly. “What do you need? A spirit root?”
Ye Jinyun’s breathing caught. His black-and-white eyes stared at the man who had made him furious just a second ago. Could it be that this person in front of him could help him reshape his spirit root?
Compared with Ye Jinyun’s disbelief, Uncle Chen, who had always been loyal, had already taken two trembling steps forward by then. His eyes were wet as he looked up at Shen Guhan, who at this moment seemed like a god, and asked softly, “Does the benefactor have a way?”
Reshaping a spirit root was not impossible, but it was not something easy either. It required ten-thousand-year flying sand grass to repair it.
But how could ten-thousand-year flying sand grass be so easy to obtain? Flying-sand grass was the most common thing in the World of Longevity, with a large patch growing right in front of the Ye family’s gate.
Yet what was strange was that once flying-sand grass grew for one year, it would definitely wither, and no matter what method was used, it would not work.
Ten thousand years ago, Hongyun, the world’s foremost master of alchemy, Honored Hongyun, a powerhouse at the Soul Leaving stage and one of the most prominent figures of the age, had spent nearly a hundred years and still failed to grow a single stalk of flying-sand grass beyond one year. If not for historical records, everyone would have thought ten-thousand-year flying sand grass was fake.
Shen Guhan looked at the dazed Ye Jinyun and said slowly, “Yes.”
As Shen Guhan’s voice fell, Ye Jinyun’s pupils instantly widened. This was undoubtedly hope for him. Just as he was about to feel joy, a bucket of cold water poured over his head again.
“But I have one request.” Shen Guhan said indifferently.
“As long as it can save my young master, let alone one request, even ten or a hundred, this old man is willing.”
Uncle Chen was so excited he could hardly contain himself, almost ready to hand over his old life to Shen Guhan.
And Ye Jinyun on the side instantly went cold. He raised his eyes and studied the man in front of him, whose bearing was extraordinary. The clothes on his body glimmered faintly in the shadows, the silk thread embroidered along the sleeves very similar to the cloud-silkworm thread he had seen in his father’s hands when he was young, and the quality was even superior. Ordinary magical artifacts only needed one such thread added to them to be raised another level and become spirit artifacts, and his father’s life-bound sword was a spirit artifact. His father was a Nascent Soul cultivator, already an extremely powerful expert, yet even his life-bound sword was still not as good as one of the clothes on this person. This showed that this person’s status or cultivation was unfathomable. Thinking of how he had just demanded that Ye Jinyun become his cauldron, not to mention that he was now a cripple and the Ye family had declined, even if it were the Ye family at its peak back then, he was still the former number one genius of Cangliu County.
If the person in front of him insisted, he was afraid he would not even be able to preserve himself. At worst, at worst, they would die together. Ye Jinyun’s lowered gaze suddenly lifted, his eyes blazing as he stared at Shen Guhan.
“Go to Sword Sect.” Shen Guhan paused. “The requirement is that you obtain first place in the Sword Sect trial.”
“Trial?” Ye Jinyun murmured. For a moment he also could not tell whether Shen Guhan was fooling him. Earlier he had even said he wanted him…
“You are telling the truth?”
“Of course.”
“Then what did you mean by those nonsense words to me just now? Besides, ten-thousand-year flying sand grass exists only in legend. How am I supposed to tell whether what you said is true or false?” Ye Jinyun stared at Shen Guhan’s side profile, not daring to let his guard down.
“Just now I only thought you were interesting, I was merely teasing you.” Shen Guhan smiled lightly, as if the person who had just teased Ye Jinyun was not him at all, speaking with ease and composure. “As for whether ten-thousand-year flying sand grass is real, do you not know that Honored Hongyun has already agreed to use the ten-thousand-year flying sand grass he cultivated as the prize for the Sword Sect trial, and the only one who can obtain this prize is the first place in the Sword Sect trial.”
Uncle Chen did not understand the riddle between the two of them, and was anxious to ask whether the method was true or false, so he spoke up, “Benefactor, forgive this old man’s foolishness, wasn’t it said that Honored Hongyun failed? How could there still be one?”
Shen Guhan glanced at Uncle Chen, only feeling that he was stupid.
Ye Jinyun, however, understood at once. The reason it had been concealed and not spoken of before was because ten-thousand-year flying sand grass could not only reshape a spirit root, it could also transform one into a heavenly spirit root. Even if Honored Hongyun was considered a prominent figure in the World of Longevity, there was no guarantee that some people would not be envious. Saying only that it had failed to grow would avoid many troubles.
But why was it being brought out now as the object of a trial?
“You are?” Ye Jinyun looked up at Shen Guhan. Someone who could casually mention such news and not care about ten-thousand-year flying sand grass at all was definitely no simple figure, and someone who knew of this matter was bound to have a close relationship with Honored Hongyun.
“Sword Sect Shen Guhan.” Shen Guhan said casually. His identity in Sword Sect was also an identity he had created when he was bored. He carefully studied Ye Jinyun’s eyebrows and eyes. He had finally encountered prey that interested him, and he did not want his Demon Lord identity to scare him, otherwise it would be too dull.
But even as his disguise, it was not something ordinary people could compare to.
For a moment, Ye Jinyun and Uncle Chen were both speechless.
If Ye Jinyun was the top genius of Cangliu County, then Shen Guhan was the top genius of the World of Longevity. His reputation had spread throughout the entire World of Longevity. He had formed his core at sixteen, reached Nascent Soul at eighteen, and was now not yet twenty. His cultivation was already unfathomable, pressing close to that of the Demon Lord from back then.
And Cangliu County was only one of Hengzhou’s thirty-six counties. The World of Longevity had a total of nine provinces. Ye Jinyun lowered his head, seeing the world of difference between himself and him.
“But what does this have to do with me?” Ye Jinyun clenched the bedsheet tightly in his hand. Though unwilling to admit it, he still had to say, “I am merely a cripple. Sword Sect is a major sect of the present age, and its selection of disciples is strict. Let alone the Sword Sect trial, I can hardly even step into Sword Sect.”
“This is Sword Sect’s sword token. Hold it and you can directly participate in Sword Sect’s trial.” Shen Guhan looked at the disappointed Ye Jinyun and only felt bored. He conjured a sword the size of a palm in his hand, threw it toward Ye Jinyun, and it vanished without a trace.
“Demon Lord, why did you not say your true identity and directly tie Ye Jinyun back to be your cauldron? Are you really Sword Sect’s Shen Guhan?”
As soon as he left male lead Ye Jinyun, System 01 could not help but ask. Although it had not done any danmei tasks, it had seen enough of the world to know pig runs even if it had never eaten pork. It had thought it would be able to witness the good show of a tragic male-male romance.
Shen Guhan stopped walking. With a sweep of his left hand, a black shadow on the left fell down, and a young woman in a purple gauze dress rolled out from the side.
The young woman was only fifteen or sixteen, but she had phoenix eyes and a delicate nose, a complete beauty in the making. When she grew up, she would surely be stunningly beautiful.
“It is you.” Shen Guhan said.
“Brother, please spare Brother Ye.” The young woman did not care that she had fallen to the ground herself. Instead, she knelt in front of Shen Guhan and pleaded.
When Shen Guhan arrived, she had sensed it, but she did not dare appear in front of him.
Yet she was worried about Ye brother’s safety, so she hid nearby using a concealment technique. She had not expected that she would still be discovered by Shen Guhan.
Thinking of Shen Guhan’s unpredictable temper, the girl’s body kept trembling, extremely frightened.
“Are you ordering me?” Shen Guhan’s voice seemed to lose all feeling once it was no longer facing Ye Jinyun, cold to the bone. “Get lost.”
System 01 scanned around and found that this young woman was the female second lead of this world, the male lead’s childhood neighbor sister, and also one of the harem, Shen Yiling. Brother, sister, the same man, a grand annual drama instantly appeared in its mind.
Shen Yiling tightened up and shrank twice, still wanting to say something, but then she saw Shen Guhan’s face, cold enough to drip water. Seeming to think of something, her face turned pale, and she hurriedly fled out.
Shen Guhan looked with disgust at the place where Shen Yiling had just been standing, then asked with the corner of his mouth hooked, “What were you asking me just now?”
System 01 immediately shivered in fear, as if it had been targeted by something, and stammered, “N-nothing, nothing.”
Shen Guhan sneered, his gaze turning toward Ye Jinyun’s room. Ye Jinyun, climb higher, do not disappoint me!
Author’s words:
I finally managed to transfer teams successfully, and I’m starting regular updates. Thank you to the little angels who voted for me with monthly tickets or fed me nutrient solution during the period from 2020-10-25 35:40:10 to 2020-11-02 35:45:01.
Thank you very much for everyone’s support. I will keep working hard!