“Mm, but it’s still too early to go the other four continents. The disparity of power is too great.”


  Yu Ruyan naturally knew about the conditions required to go into the four continents. Even though she could be considered young, she wouldn’t expect herself to become a Martial Emperor one day.

  One of the items in the sachet that Qing Shui gave to her last time contained a Five Elements Fruit that matched her constitution - fulfilling one of the conditions required to break through to Martial Emperor. Moreover, she was one of the women in the Portraits of Beauty, so she didn’t have to build up her constitution for the sake of breaking through to Martial Emperor. As long as her power was able to reach a certain level, she will become one eventually.

  Before they knew it, it was already late. The copulation session lasted for about four hours. Even though Yu Ruyan has a strong cultivation base, she was still rendered weak without an ounce of energy left in her body. She was in heavens multiple times, and it felt like a boat crashing through the waves. At that moment, she felt like she had lost her mind - she was in ultimate ecstasy.

  In the end, she couldn’t endure Qing Shui’s thrust and called out for forgiveness. It was when she called him ‘husband’ that he finally stopped. She was covered in sweat, but felt extremely satisfied. However, as soon as she realized her feelings, she questioned herself on whether she had fallen so deep into his grasp.

  Qing Shui looked at the deep flush in her face. He had always taken notice of her expression whenever he was with her. He saw a mix of emotions on her face, and he could tell that she has a lot of burdens held within her heart.

  “Life’s too short, Ruyan. You still can’t let him go?” asked Qing Shui softly when he saw the pain and a sense of loss in her expression.

  Yu Ruyan turned towards him and looked him in the eyes, she then said: “If I couldn’t let him go, then you wouldn’t be able to find me now, would you?”


  Her voice sounded a bit sad. Qing Shui embraced her tightly and said: “Don’t think too much. It hurts me to see you like this. You have been marked deeply into my heart, and I’m sure it’s the same for you too. Don’t even think of running from me for the rest of your life. I will be sure to meet you earlier in the next life.”


  “You always know what to say to charm me!” said Yu Ruyan as she left a pinch mark on Qing Shui’s body. However, she felt better after hearing those words coming out from his mouth.

  Qing Shui continued to embrace her without moving away his hands, which he had been placing on her bulbous hips all this time.

  “Ruyan, let me perform acupuncture on you. If I can unleash the potential within you, then you will be able to break through to Martial Emperor immediately.” Qing Shui knew that now was the perfect time to do so. If she could break through to Martial Emperor, then their relationship wouldn’t be as awkward as before.

  If he couldn’t do it, then he wouldn’t know when he would be able to make her understand everything they had with each other. Being caught by Duanmu Lingshuang this time was a good push forward towards their relationship.

  The course of acupuncture took another two hours to finish!

  Qing Shui was quite proficient in unleashing the potential of others with the use of acupuncture, which was more or less like the exploitation into the depths of one’s brain. The more one used the brain, the more intelligent one would be. Thus, such was the effect of the acupuncture towards those who wished to unleash their full potential to reach a breakthrough of their cultivation base.

  Yu Ruyan’s battle techniques could increase her power by three times. It was only when her powers had surged that her battle techniques were able to boost her strength to such effect. And because of that, Qing Shui wanted her to step towards the world of the Martial Emperor as soon as possible.

  The acupuncture was a success. Yu Ruyan was naturally talented, so she was able to increase her overall power towards the amount of 27 stars with the assistance of acupuncture and medicinal pills.

  The 20 stars from before was granted by the duo cultivation she had performed with Qing Shui.

  With that, Yu Ruyan had reached a breakthrough to Martial Emperor. At this moment, she couldn’t control her aura completely, which was expected for those who just became a Martial Emperor. If Qing Shui didn’t manage to hold her aura as he stood beside her, the whole room would definitely explode. He packed up his acupuncture needles while he allowed her to get used to her power by cultivating her skills for a while.

  Qing Shui looked at the sky and realized it was time for his morning training. He went outside and proceeded towards the backyard because he didn’t want to disturb Yu Ruyan while she cultivated her skills by herself.

  The whole courtyard was part of Yu Ruyan’s private quarters, so no one would be able to enter freely without permission. When he arrived at the backyard, Hu Yanlin was already there for his morning practice. He was practicing the Tiger Form and Back Connecting Fist - techniques that Qing Shui had taught him last time before he left the Duanmu City.

  Hu Yanlin was now a highly skilled Grade Four Martial Saint. Two years of improvement was a powerful feat for a man like him. With the Thunder God Qing Shui had bestowed to him, he could defeat a number of cultivators who were on the same level as him with no difficulty.

  He wasn’t an extremely clever man, but he was very diligent in his training and cultivation. He didn’t possess an extraordinary talent either. Most importantly, he was considered extremely lucky after he had mistakenly consumed a unique fruit of Heaven and Earth. Because of that, Qing Shui considered his luck to be that of a miracle.

  Qing Shui didn’t disturb him as Hu Yanlin continued to train on his own. Instead, he went to a secluded area and began his own morning training by himself.

  ………


  During breakfast, Duanmu Lingshuang would glance at Yu Ruyan once in a while, noticing a great difference in her mother just after one night. Her aura was different, as if she had become a woman of endless vigor. Yu Ruyan had become prettier too. However, Duanmu Lingshuang had no idea that her mother had actually become a Martial Emperor after one night of not seeing her.

  “Mother, you look so pretty today!” Duanmu Lingshuang said beamingly.

  Yu Ruyan let out two timid coughs and said: “What are you saying, you silly girl. People will laugh if they hear you say that out of nowhere.”


  Qing Shui grinned as he glanced at Yu Ruyan, but was given a hostile stare from her instead. Duanmu Lingshuang could naturally tell had happened between them, given that she was already a mother and had been through the same thing before, because Yu Ruyan’s face was flushed red, and it was quite obviously on her cheeks.

  Yu Ruyan was quite embarrassed of herself, because her daughter and Hu Yanlin were present in the room. All of the sudden, she realized that Qing Shui was the easiest to turn to - a sign of a woman who had accepted a man into her heart.

  During the afternoon, Duanmu Lingshuang and Hu Yanlin left the Duanmu Clan and went back home, leaving the marvelous courtyard in solitude once again. Yu Ruyan would usually stay at one of the courtyards all by herself when no one came to visit.

  Qing Shui browsed the scenery around the courtyard before turning to Yu Ruyan beside him and said: “Ruyan, so you’ve decided to leave the Duanmu Residence.”


  “No one would provoke Duanmu Clan here. Duanmu Zhen is quite talented, and he is at least more suitable to be the head clan than I am. I will leave Duanmu Clan, and I don’t have to worry about Lingshuang and Yanlin anymore. So now I feel very light, free of burden.”


  Qing Shui held her hand, feeling tremendously reassured by her words. Yu Ruyan gave up her role as the head clan for Duanmu Clan because she wanted to follow Qing Shui and face him properly without causing a scandal amongst the members of the Duanmu Clan. In any case, the Duanmu Clan was more than capable of supporting themselves because they have a new head clan to lead and shoulder responsibility for them.

  Qing Shui already knew that her decision was made mainly because of him, so he embraced her and said: “I will not force you to do things you aren’t willing to do. I’m not a petty man, but I admit I’m an overbearing man. However, I will not cause trouble for no reason, and I hope that your life will be filled with happiness and joy.”


  “I know that. I just felt like traveling to the outside world. Staying here all by myself is quite lonely, to be honest.” Yu Ruyan touched Qing Shui’s face, as she replied him with a smile.

  ……


  Qing Shui left Duanmu City two days later. Lady Duanmu’s power surged once more after consuming another Hallow Pellet, so he gave her a weapon, which promptly boosted her powers by three fold.

  Qing Shui had also left her with a formation, which he had allowed her to bestow it to the Duanmu Clan as a parting gift. The moment Yu Ruyan had become a Martial Emperor, she was already on a different level from the members of the Duanmu Clan.

  She had never thought that she would be the head clan for Duanmu Clan for eternity, which was why she had been waiting for someone more capable to take over her role. Now that she was free at last, and her powers had surged way beyond her expectation, she was able to see the light of boundless possibility to her life. She could go to the other four continents, where martial cultivators all over the world had been aiming to go. If she managed to go with Qing Shui to the four continents, perhaps she could become happy at last.

  As for her daughter, she could always come back for a few days whenever she missed her. Based on the qualifications of her daughter and Hu Yanlin, the chances of them actually going to the other four continents were basically zero to none.

  The Duanmu Clan would forget about her eventually. After all, she was an outsider, which was the same for her daughter as well. However, she would still try her best to help them in any way she could.

  She was there watching when Qing Shui left. He was also watching her until her silhouette vanished in the distant. He was particularly worried about her, as Yu Ruyan’s attainment in the Nine Palace Steps was quite strong. Additionally, due to her current power, no one would be able to hassle her around. The Demon Gate and Buddha Sect were also able to assist him should anything happen to her.

  ……


  Yu Ruyan’s cultivation was faster than he had expected. He couldn’t possibly go to the other four continents all by himself, because if he could, he would be alone. Yu Ruyan was already preparing herself so that she would be capable of going with Qing Shui together.

  After he had left Duanmu City, he didn’t stop by the Fair Wind City, but went to the Cloud Adventurer Guild instead. During his last journey, he skipped the chance to meet her, and that was three years ago. He felt extremely guilty for letting her down since both of them were already married. They had a banquet and everything on the day of their marriage.

  The Cloud Adventurer Guild had been renovated once after a fight broke out and subsequently wrecked the structure of the building. There were still people going to the guild taking missions and receiving rewards. Martial cultivators preferred to use this method due to this area being a platform to exchange money and items with one another. Martial cultivators could also come here to treat their injuries or sickness after venturing towards their adventure. Qing Shui was more or less unrecognizable amongst the crowd as he stood nearby. It had been a few years after all.

  Qing Shui could use his spiritual sense to seek people in the prospering city. As long as he was familiar with that person, he could use his aura to pinpoint their location. Of course, there would be a limit to his range of detection, but it would be normally within the area of 100 li.

  Inside his spiritual sense, he could see a sea of tiny dots around his surrounding. These dots were also known as the Flame of Life as they were also flickering in varieties of brightness. The sizes of these dots were vastly different as well, and these sizes were a measure of their life force. The stronger the life force, the brighter the Flame of Life would be.

  Qing Shui smiled, because he was able to pinpoint Yun Duan’s location. She wasn’t in the nearby area, however, but somewhere near the border of the city, which was nearly 100 li away from him.

  His silhouette flashed and vanished from his original spot before he used the Nine Palace Steps to jump towards her location. 100 li was essentially quite near for Qing Shui, and he would only require a few moments to reach the end of the line. When he flashed through his destination, he was already at the edge of the Tiger Gorge Mountain. This place was a danger zone where martial cultivators would come to find treasures, but this was also a place where corpses were buried, especially those of the dead martial cultivators.

  The surroundings were filled with smaller mountains that were covered in dense green grass. The trees and greenery were flourishing as well.

  However, Qing Shui was now a bit suspicious, because his spiritual sense was telling him that there were two speckles of light within the 100 li range. The brighter one must be Yun Duan, but the other one seemed normal. The speckles of light back in the city were all closely-knitted together.

  He skimmed through the area with caution.

  As he got closer to the source of the lights, he froze. The familiar figure of the woman was still as wonderful as he remembered. She was sitting on the grassy terrain playing with a little girl of about two weeks old. The laughter of the woman and the girl was clear and distinct, creating an atmosphere of harmony and bliss…


  Qing Shui was dumbfounded. He calculated the time he had spent with the woman, and it finally dawned on him - this little girl was definitely his child. He could feel it in his veins, and from the way Yun Duan and the little girl interacted, he suddenly recalled the conversation they had together before he left.

  “You are a lucky guy. All the nice ladies seem to like you very much,” Yun Duan said with a smile.

  “You are a nice lady too!” Qing Shui rubbed his nose and let out a snicker.

  “If you come back next time, bring your children along. I want to see them. They must be beautiful,” Yun Duan giggled.

  “Our child will be beautiful too!” Qing Shui chuckled.

  Yun Duan blushed instantly after hearing those words.

  “Do you think one is enough or should we have two?” Qing Shui asked gently.

  “Two. Wait, I didn’t say I would make a child with you, dummy!” Yun Duan slipped up for a moment. Her face was flushed in red as she dodged Qing Shui’s gaze.

  “If Duan’er says she wants two children, then I will make sure to make that happen. We will have to work hard from now on. There’s not much time left,” Qing Shui laughed teasingly.

  ……


  When Qing Shui saw the harmonious interaction between a mother and child, tears were already rolling down his cheeks. He thought about Qing Yu, Qing Yan, and Qing Long, who had their father’s presence during their growth. But when he thought about his memories with Yun Duan, he couldn’t help but felt an ache in his heart…