Now, everything is settled.

Even though Zhou Rongsheng was unwilling, he could only get up and say goodbye to the two masters.

If An Zhengzheng were just an ordinary disciple, it would be fine. If he really wanted to read the scriptures, he wouldn't have needed to make a scene in front of these true masters.

It would be much simpler to let the disciples in charge of Siyue Sect handle it and follow the normal procedures.

But An Zhengzheng entered the inner sect, recognized two masters, and thus bore the karmic consequences of the Heavenly Dao.

“You are too clever, girl. A woman who is too clever will not go far.”

Before leaving, Zhou Rongsheng said something quite meaningful.

An Zhengzheng said frankly, "Uncle Zhou, you don't need to worry about Zhengzheng's path."

Zhou Rongsheng snorted coldly and left with his family.

The disciples from the Siyue Sect who were in charge of receiving them led them out.

The An family had no reason to stay any longer. Old Madam An was angry, but she dared not lose her composure in front of the real people.

After bidding farewell to Master Qingxu and Master Suotang, she gave An Zhengzheng a cold glare before being helped out.

“Go see your father off,” Master Qingxu said to An Zhengzheng.

This is to get An Zhengzheng away.

An Zhengzheng thanked the two masters and then quickly followed them out.

"I was relieved to come here knowing that Master Wushang never sees anyone or shows his face. I thought things would be much easier." An Mao was still talking to Old Madam An.

"...Who would have thought that Zhengzheng would have two masters?"

"Why did it have to be a girl..."

“Father,” An Zhengzheng called out to him.

Anmao turned around, but he was no longer the loving man he once was.

He frowned and said, "You've disappointed me greatly."

An Zhengzheng said, "Father has also disappointed me."

An Mao was speechless.

"So, what were the conditions they offered to my father?"

It made her father abandon the promise he had made to her without hesitation.

As if remembering something, Old Madam An asked him, "Mao-ge'er, are you really...?"

An Mao was somewhat embarrassed, but seeing the nervous look on Old Madam An's face, he knew that he couldn't hide it any longer.

"yes."

"when?"

After anxiously pressing for answers, Old Madam An cried for a long time before remembering what An Zhengzheng had just said.

Clinging to her last glimmer of hope, she asked An Mao, "Can the Zhou family cure it?"

“Yes, that prescription could cure it completely,” An Mao reassured Madam An. “It’s just missing one ingredient, the Demon-Shedding Lotus.”

An Zhengzheng had seen the Demon-Shedding Lotus in a book. It was said to be a lotus that blooms near the Demon Palace and can cleanse the damage caused by demons in the world.

That's truly an amazing thing.

But it's rare; who among ordinary people can get close to the Demon Palace!

"The Zhou family has it, and they've included it in the betrothal gifts for Zhengzheng's marriage..."

Upon hearing her son's words, Old Madam An's eyes widened, and she turned to look at An Zhengzheng.

An Zhengzheng was also surprised.

No wonder, no wonder her father wanted to marry her off so soon.

Once cured, you can have many sons...

The Zhou family is truly ruthless; they completely manipulate people from a human perspective.

No wonder he can be the head of the four major families.

"You, go back immediately and tell them you agree." Old Madam An's tone left no room for argument.

"I don't."

"What? That's your father! He raised you all these years, and all he ever wanted was a son. How can you be so selfish?"

Madam An was furious.

How could Anjia have produced such a selfish and rebellious daughter!

At this moment, An Zhengzheng brought with her the honor of being the top scholar, and the family benefits brought about by the Hundred Women's Pavilion she advocated for...

Old Madam An had completely forgotten about them.

An Zhengzheng asked An Mao, "Father, do you think I'm selfish?"

An Mao remained silent.

An Zhengzheng laughed and said, "Father, you still don't see me as an independent person."

She became a tool, an appendage, just like other female cultivators in the cultivation world who stopped cultivating early to support their younger brothers.

Her father traded her marriage and her entire life for the existence of her future brother.

If Zhou Xu had proposed to An Yirou, she would have been powerless to resist at this moment.

But it was An Zhengzheng.

An Zhengzheng took out a box from her treasure bag; it was the one An Mao had given her before.

Inside were all the things prepared for her "future younger brother," which An Zhengzheng had been keeping for An Yirou.

She never intended to use it on herself from the beginning.

“Father, since the contract is null and void, I will return these things to you.”

Along with the Xuan Tian Han Shi sword in her hand.

That was a gift from her husband, earned through her own abilities, but it ultimately ended up belonging to her clan.

An Mao was suddenly startled.

An Zhengzheng's eyes were filled with desolation, and her tone was calm and composed when she spoke.

She said, "The An family raised me for fourteen years. The 90,000 high-grade spirit stones they gave my father were equivalent to the family's earnings from five years of business... more than dozens of times more than what they spent raising me."

These words became increasingly alarming.

An Mao seemed to realize something and quickly stopped An Zhengzheng.

He said, trembling, "Zhengzheng, stop talking, stop going on. Think of your mother, and Yirou..."

At that moment, he had only one thought in his mind.

He's going to lose his daughter An Zhengzheng because of that "son" who hasn't even appeared yet!

An Mao felt a strange sense of unease.

"You...you can't break it. Father's sperm and mother's blood, how can you break it..."

He just wanted a son.

He loves his daughter very much, and he has tried to accept Zhengzheng as the heir to the family business.

He even noticed that Yi Rou was diligently learning business from him, and he saw the efforts of the two sisters.

He really just wanted a son.

That's why when the Zhou family made that condition, he...

Why can't Zhengzheng understand him?

Seeing An Mao's pained expression, An Zhengzheng lowered her eyes slightly.

She asked, "If my daughter marries into the Zhou family and exchanges this Demon-Transforming Lotus for my father, and I sever all ties with the An family from then on, is that acceptable?"

"You...you're willing?" Hope suddenly ignited in An Mao's eyes.

Would you marry me?

An Zhengzheng burst into laughter, almost laughing until tears streamed down her face.

At that moment, An Mao knew that he had truly lost his daughter.

...

Inside the cave of Master Qingxu.

Although the two immortals were physically in the cave, their consciousness had already followed An Zhengzheng.

Master Suotang watched with great interest and praised him repeatedly: "My disciple is quite good. Some kinship ties must be severed decisively."

That's why they prefer children from the human world; they don't have An Zhengzheng's grudges and entanglements, and they don't have to be distracted.

"It's only been a thousand years, and look what this cultivation world has become..."

The Qingxu Master, who had been calm and composed when outsiders were present, transformed into a lively little old man.

He tossed his whisk onto the stone table and grumbled, "After the Ten Thousand Beasts Pavilion was destroyed, the entire cultivation world has fallen to the level of the mortal world."

Long, long ago, everyone in the cultivation world was single-mindedly pursuing the Dao and had the world in their hearts.

Whether you are male or female, high or low, we are all fellow practitioners, dedicated to saving all living beings.

Even if they don't achieve enlightenment in the end, they will have no regrets and pass away peacefully. If they have a Daoist partner, the two will support each other and cultivate together.

Until one day, someone had an evil thought.

First, a male cultivator took advantage of a female cultivator's affections, tricking her into refining pills and talismans to aid his own cultivation.

Then, a female cultivator actually gave birth to a child...

After nearly a thousand years of practice, the entire cultivation world became more secular.

These old fogies watched helplessly as the cultivation world changed, seeing the once spirited female cultivators grow ever more adventurous, their paths narrowing with each generation.

With too many distracting thoughts and no way out in the cultivation world, fewer and fewer people are cultivating to achieve immortality, especially female cultivators, who are almost nonexistent.

Master Qingxu sighed, "When exactly will Jianlin return?"