Eternal Life by Dual Cultivation

Chapter 402 - 238: Late stage Golden Core

The moment Ling Changqing spoke, the surrounding temperature plummeted so sharply that visible frost coated an area for tens of miles around.

The towering trees closest to them, along with passing birds, beasts, and insects, were instantly transformed into ice sculptures.

Utterly oblivious, he simply blinked, looking at the peerless beauty before him with an innocent expression.

’There was nothing wrong with his proposal,’ Ling Changqing thought. ’After all, he was responsible for his own safety, and even more so for the safety of the women of the Changqing Continent’s Ling Family.’

’That was the crucial reason, not because he lusted after the Grand Palace Master’s breathtaking beauty.’

Ling Changqing assured himself that this was the absolute truth, no arguments allowed.

"The rumors all say that you, the Child of Destiny, are an incorrigible lecher. I was skeptical, but I never thought... you wouldn’t even try to hide it!"

Qin Mengxuan said coldly, her elegant brows knitting together.

’She truly hadn’t expected this man’s lecherous audacity to be so outrageous. How dare he speak to her so insolently?’

’With her unparalleled status, if anyone else had dared to show her the slightest disrespect, their fate would be sealed. Complete obliteration of their Divine Soul would be a mercy; a fate worse than death would be the reality.’

"No, you believed them!"

Ling Changqing said frankly, "Otherwise, you wouldn’t have tried to foist so many Female Cultivators on me the moment we met. However, my current identity must be kept secret, so I really can’t accept your kind offer, Palace Master.

So, after much consideration, this is the only suitable solution. If you’re unwilling, I won’t force you. How about you just let me leave?"

"Do you think that’s possible?"

Qin Mengxuan shot him a resentful glare, her slender hand around his arm not loosening in the slightest.

With a flicker of her Divine Thought, all the names on the Jade Scroll vanished, and she imprinted her own in their place.

"There, you can sign it now, can’t you? My dear husband!"

A soft, melodious voice escaped her glistening, enchanting lips. The beautiful woman’s face was flushed with a charming blush, and her lustrous eyes rippled with a captivating light.

’No matter what, she could not give up on the Child of Destiny. For the sake of the Sect’s grand plan, she, the Elder Sect Leader, had to make some sacrifices.’

Qin Mengxuan told herself with absolute certainty that this was for the good of her Sect, and for no other reason.

Ling Changqing nodded and imprinted his own name onto the Jade Scroll with his Divine Thought.

As the imprinting was completed, the surface of the Jade Scroll flashed with a magnificent radiance. In the unseen realm, their threads of fate had quietly intertwined, becoming one and inseparable.

A massive cloud of golden-purple energy descended from above Qin Mengxuan’s head and merged with her, causing her Destiny to increase significantly.

’So this is the great power of the Child of Destiny? It’s incredible!’

Her flawless, beautiful face instantly flushed with a rosy hue, bright and captivating, as indescribably charming as a large, blooming peony.

Only after putting the marriage contract away did she finally let out a true sigh of relief.

’From now on, the Child of Destiny belonged to her, the Grand Palace Master of Lu Hua Palace, as her Dual Cultivation Companion. It was an unchangeable, established fact.’

After a moment’s thought, she took an exquisite bracelet shimmering with a seven-colored light from her fair, slender wrist and placed it on Ling Changqing’s.

"When you encounter a calamity that is difficult to overcome, this treasure will automatically activate to protect you. Just consider it a Token of Love for you, my husband."

Qin Mengxuan smiled brightly. "In exchange, you should give me something as well, my husband, shouldn’t you?"

Ling Changqing mused, "Everything I have on me right now is only suitable for a Golden Core Master. Given your Cultivation Level, I’m afraid you wouldn’t find any of it worthy."

"It doesn’t matter. As long as it’s a personal item you’ve kept with you, my husband, it will be fine."

"Alright then."

Ling Changqing then gave her a pair of Jade Pendants and a Jade Bracelet, all items he had personally worn for several years.

"Alright, so now we..."

Ling Changqing was about to say he needed to return to his family, but he hesitated. ’Parting ways right after signing the marriage contract seemed a bit heartless.’

’No matter what, Qin Mengxuan was his Dao Companion now. He should at least spend a little more time with her.’

"I have a hidden estate in a cave dwelling overseas. It’s where I stay when I occasionally travel. Why don’t you accompany me there for a few days, my husband?"

Qin Mengxuan wrapped her enchanting, slender arms around his neck, her voice charming and her breath as fragrant as orchids.

"Alright, let’s do that!"

Ling Changqing agreed. ’As long as he didn’t have a premature confrontation with the major powers, he would be safe.’

...

「Danyang Valley Marketplace.」

The three Nascent Soul True Monarchs from the Danyang Valley Sect had already arrived, along with several high-ranking Elders from the Tang Family. They jointly ordered the innkeeper to deactivate all the Array Restrictions, trying to force the legendary Child of Destiny to show himself.

As expected, the courtyard was completely empty. Numerous High-Rank Cultivators searched it inside and out multiple times but still came up with nothing.

"...What’s going on? Where did they run off to?" the Sect Leader of Danyang Valley demanded, his expression furious.

"But, Sect Leader, no one saw them leave during that entire time..."

The innkeeper was a Late Stage Golden Core Cultivator, but right now, he was also completely baffled and had no idea what had happened.

"Could someone have gotten to him first?" a high-ranking Tang Family Elder asked with a frown.

"That’s... not entirely impossible!" another Nascent Soul True Monarch mused.

’Given the vastness of the Cultivation Realm, all sorts of unimaginable techniques and methods existed. Heaven only knew if some Great Power had already beaten them to it and abducted the Child of Destiny.’

As they spoke, the auras of even more Nascent Soul True Monarchs appeared one after another, surrounding the area and sealing it off completely.

On the horizon, a multitude of treasures of all shapes and sizes were flying over at high speed: Flying Ships, Tianzhou Skyboats, palaces, Buddhist pagodas, altars, gourds, lotus platforms, and floating islands.