Chapter 1 Two consecutive saves
The red candles flickered, and a maid set out the wine cups for the wedding ceremony. She glanced up at the bride with a hint of pity in her eyes.
The maid next to her nudged her with her arm, and the group quickly packed their things and left.
"That's a female cultivator from the Purple Sun Immortal Abode. How pitiful."
"I heard she had someone she liked, and they were even talking about marriage, but then..."
"Having married into Thousand Realms Peak, who knows how long I'll live?"
The maids sighed deeply, their words filled with sympathy for the bride's plight.
The moonlight was like water, its gentle glow spreading in layers. Outside the bridal chamber, a tall, slender figure swept past the doors and windows. With a creak, the door opened, and a pair of black boots stepped across the threshold.
As the footsteps drew closer, Jiang Zhishui clasped her hands together, her fingers trembling slightly.
A hand with distinct knuckles reached out and gently lifted her red veil.
Jiang Zhishui looked at the man in front of her and knew that she had no way out.
The curtains fell, one person pinned the other down, and low growls, tinged with struggle, and chaotic arguments rolled into the depths of the bed. Then, there was no more talk, only a frantic entanglement.
The next day, Jiang Zhishui had scrambled across most of the bed; the person had disappeared early in the morning. She woke up, sat on the bed, and was completely dumbfounded, her expression blank. She was only wearing a thin shirt, the mottled marks of which were clearly visible.
What happened? What...what did she do last night?!
Several stimulating scenes flashed through Jiang Zhishui's mind. She let out an "Ah!" and buried her face in the quilt, feeling extremely ashamed.
The maids entered just then, and with the curtains drawn, they heard the bride sobbing softly. They looked at each other, none daring to step forward to help her with her makeup, and could only stand quietly to the side and wait.
Listening to the bride's occasional whispers, they all frowned, puzzled.
"How am I going to face people? How am I going to face people after this...?"
"How could this be...?"
"I might as well die, die now!"
Upon hearing the words of suicide, several maids rushed forward and called out, "Madam, it's time to get up and wash."
Jiang Zhishui was pulled up by them. When the maid saw the red marks on her body, she was also startled and blushed, not daring to look.
The maids felt great sympathy for her plight, but there was nothing they could do.
It was just that she was incredibly unlucky. Out of so many disciples from the immortal sects, she was the one who drew the destiny lot and became the Daoist partner of the Azure Jade Emperor.
A bloodthirsty demonic dragon reigns supreme over the three realms, and no one dares to challenge it. In order to survive, the various sects of the immortal world can only grovel and do everything in their power to curry favor.
The Jade Emperor was extremely mysterious, and no one knew where he came from. He suddenly appeared, killed the Demon Lord, and destroyed the three major sects. Then he suddenly stopped killing and made only one request.
He wants a Daoist partner. Whoever draws the destiny lot will be taken away and brought back to Thousand Realms Peak.
No one has ever seen the true face of the Jade Emperor. He is eccentric and unpredictable, and there are many rumors about him in the Three Realms.
The most widely circulated story is that he was originally an unknown nobody who cultivated an extremely evil technique, transforming into a dragon and becoming a god. However, this technique had a flaw: it required a special furnace to suppress the uncontrolled spiritual power within his body. The Fate Sign was the method he used to select a special furnace tool.
Some people say that the profound energy cultivation method of Ziyang Immortal Mansion may be exactly what Qingyu Emperor requires for cultivation. If this female cultivator can win the Emperor's heart and have Qingyu Emperor as her backer, Ziyang Immortal Mansion can then do whatever it wants in the cultivation world.
Since marrying into the family, Jiang Zhishui has stayed at Qianjing Peak and has never gone out. She has heard some of the rumors circulating in the martial arts world.
Since she was already there, she decided to make the best of it and didn't think about the future. She just lived one day at a time, sometimes swinging on the swings with the maids, and occasionally being mischievous, jumping into the pond and disturbing the goldfish.
After their wedding night, the Jade Emperor loathed her to the extreme. He avoided seeing her, and even if they accidentally bumped into each other, he would speak coldly, exchange only a few words, and then impatiently walk away.
The maids privately felt indignant on her behalf, but Jiang Zhishui would only smile sheepishly, keeping watch alone in her empty room without a word of complaint.
But who would dare to have any complaints against the Jade Emperor?
Days passed, and one day Jiang Zhishui received a letter. She rushed to the agreed location in the letter, but mistakenly entered the Thunder Array and was struck by lightning, shattering her to pieces.
No one is unlucky just once. As for Jiang Zhishui, she has been so unlucky that she can't help but laugh.
Her only good fortune was that she was reborn.
Going back ten years, before the appearance of the Jade Emperor, everything was at a peaceful and tranquil beginning.
Jiang Zhishui was blindfolded and tightly hugged someone. The fragrance that wafted towards her was somewhat familiar, but before she could remember who it was, the person pushed her away violently.
"How dare you be so disrespectful to His Highness!"
Jiang Zhishui collapsed to the ground with a thud, reaching out to tear off the blindfold. Through her blindfolded vision, a figure gradually came into focus.
The young man, dressed in expensive gold and lavish clothes, looked at Jiang Zhishui with disdain. He only glanced at her once before turning his face away, as if looking at her any longer would taint his eyes.
This was the year that Jing Qianheng, the seventh prince of Jin, first entered the Ziyang Immortal Mansion. Jiang Zhishui was playing with others and accidentally hugged him while playing a blindfolded tag game. At that time, she was punished by the sect leader and had to keep wielding her sword for a whole day and night.
In his previous life, Jing Qianheng and Jiang Zhishui were at odds. Ever since she offended him, he had never been kind to her. Jiang Zhishui didn't want to annoy him, so she tried to avoid him whenever he was around.
In the ten years that followed, so much happened that Jiang Zhishui eventually heard news of him through a series of coincidences. A rebellion broke out in the Jin Kingdom, and the entire royal family was massacred. He was left with broken legs and wandered among the common people. It was said that he was bought by a perverted nobleman who deliberately humiliated and tortured him in front of his subjects, and he lived a very miserable life.
Jiang Zhishui was originally going to Taihua Gate to meet her senior brother Lin Ye, but upon hearing the news of Jing Qianheng, she changed her mind and went to Jin State. However, when she arrived, it was too late. Jing Qianheng, unable to bear the humiliation, committed suicide.
When Jiang Zhishui saw Jing Qianheng again, she was filled with mixed feelings. She felt sorry for him, but also for herself.
Although they had little interaction in their previous lives, they both fared poorly after parting ways. One was sent to the jaws of death, and the other suffered the destruction of his country and family. Both met tragic ends.
If given a second chance, Jiang Zhishui would never want to repeat the same mistakes.
She had no clue who the Azure Jade Emperor was, nor did she understand the principles behind the selection of her by the divination slip. Would leaving the Purple Sun Immortal Abode even be of any use?
Jiang Zhishui lived too carefree a life in her previous life, rarely using her brain, which led her to live in a daze until she was unwittingly put on the chopping block, and in the end, she was at the mercy of others, unable to control her own life and death.
This time, she focused on thinking about how to reverse the outcome and avoid risks, but after several days of seclusion, she was so tired and sleepy that she couldn't come up with a solution.
When she couldn't figure things out, she would go to Jing Qianheng to ease the tension.
The two had a bad relationship in their past life. Jiang Zhishui wanted to change her fate, but felt that she couldn't rely on herself alone. Even if she could find out who the Azure Jade Emperor was, she wouldn't be able to do anything to him. She needed to find a few more helpers to plan carefully together.
Jing Qianheng came to the Ziyang Immortal Abode for further study only to recuperate. In a few years, he will leave and return to the Jin Kingdom to inherit the great cause.
But he cannot return to the State of Jin; if he does, he will surely die.
Jiang Zhishui felt guilty for not being able to help him in time in her previous life. This time, she didn't want to watch him walk into a dead end again.
So the first step is to get along well with him and become friends.
"Jiang Zhishui, are you ever going to stop?"
Jing Qianheng was tricked out by Jiang Zhishui for the fifth time. The mountains and fields were remote and they walked for a long time without seeing the end. He shook off Jiang Zhishui's hand and turned to go back.
"Qianheng, it's just ahead." Jiang Zhishui turned back to catch up with him, speaking gently, "I didn't lie to you this time, just a few more steps and we'll be there. Senior Sister Liu, she..."
She was chasing after him so fast that she lost her footing and was about to fall down the hillside. Jing Qianheng was grabbed by her sleeve and instinctively turned around to pull her back, but instead, she pulled him down with her.
This place is very remote, but there is a mountain spring that has miraculous healing effects. Recently, I heard that Jing Qianheng's injuries have flared up and he has been depressed. Jiang Zhishui made up a lie, saying that Liu Chuxi invited him to practice swordsmanship, and that's how she tricked him into coming out.
At Ziyang Immortal Abode, Jing Qianheng only cared about one person.
That was Senior Sister Liu Chuxi, who was single-mindedly cultivating the Path of Ruthlessness.
Don't say that Jing Qianheng likes Liu Chuxi. No one in this world would dislike Senior Sister Liu. She is beautiful, kind-hearted, gentle, and proficient in both magic and swordsmanship. She is the sect leader's most valued disciple.
But she had no interest in love, and was focused on cultivating the Tao, specifically the ruthless path that allowed her to be free from any romantic entanglements.
Jiang Zhishui didn't want to use Liu Chuxi as an excuse, but after deceiving Jing Qianheng several times, she was already running out of tricks. If she didn't bring up Senior Sister Liu, he wouldn't even open the door.
In the dim cave, Jiang Zhishui sat on the left and Jing Qianheng sat on the right, the two of them quite far apart.
The area was completely enclosed, except for a small opening at the top where they had crashed down.
After falling, Jing Qianheng lashed out at Jiang Zhishui. His tone was fierce, and the atmosphere became somewhat awkward. After sitting quietly for a moment, Jing Qianheng stood up first and said, "Jiang Zhishui, it's time to go."
Jiang Zhishui didn't respond. Jing Qianheng thought she was angry and hesitated before asking, "What's wrong?"
"N-nothing." Hearing Jing Qianheng's approaching footsteps, Jiang Zhishui said with difficulty, "I'm sorry, you go first, I...I...uh."
Jiang Zhishui sat cross-legged, desperately suppressing the surging heat within her body.
In her previous life, she had practiced the forbidden technique of the Purple Sun Immortal Mansion—the Mysterious Concealment Technique. Once mastered, this technique could allow one to break through realms at lightning speed in a short period of time, and one's cultivation level would achieve a tremendous leap in an instant.
However, this technique will place a huge energy burden on the body to a certain extent. If it is not released in time, the body will not be able to bear such a rapid increase in spiritual power, which will cause the meridians to reverse and eventually lead to an extremely painful death.
This skill was secretly taught to her by an elder of the Ziyang Immortal Mansion before she got married in her previous life.
The elder said that once she mastered the technique, she could seize the opportunity to kill Emperor Qingyu and rid the cultivation world of a great scourge.
Jiang Zhishui immediately asked, "What will happen if I fail to master it?"
The elder stroked his white beard, remained silent for a moment, and then said rather irresponsibly, "It shouldn't be anything serious."
Since she was going to die whether she trained or not, Jiang Zhishui in her previous life chose to train, gambling on her chances of survival.
In this life, Jiang Zhishui still remembers the Profound Concealment Technique. In her previous life, before she died, she realized the flaws in the technique. With just a slight correction to the mental cultivation method, she could succeed in practicing it again.
Despite her thoughts, Jiang Zhishui still dared not try it easily.
Until the last time she went out on a mission with her senior brother Lin Ye, they encountered danger and got separated. They were surrounded by demons, and in desperation, she had no choice but to think of practicing the Xuan Yin Technique again.
She escaped alive that time, which even Lin Ye found unbelievable. Fortunately, nothing bad happened to her.
At first, Jiang Zhishui didn't feel any discomfort in her body. She cultivated step by step every day without daring to slack off.
But at this moment, Jiang Zhishui suddenly felt the same torment and pain she had experienced in her previous life.
Jing Qianheng noticed something was off about her voice, so he tiptoed closer and asked, "Why should I go first?"
Jiang Zhishui's forehead was covered in cold sweat as she gritted her teeth and endured the pain. "I...I'm tired. I want to rest before I go."
Jing Qianheng saw her hiding in the shadows and whispered, "How am I supposed to leave? I can't fly up."
Forgot that he had internal injuries and couldn't use his spiritual power.
When Jing Qianheng suddenly appeared in front of her, Jiang Zhishui panicked for a moment. The aura she had been suppressing dissipated, and an unusual heat suddenly rose within her body.
Jing Qianheng noticed her face was flushed and her breathing was rapid. He knelt down and asked anxiously, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Jiang Zhishui gripped Jing Qianheng's sleeve tightly, lowering her head to endure. When Jing Qianheng reached out and lifted her chin to see what was wrong with her, a red light flashed in Jiang Zhishui's eyes. The next moment, she pounced on him.
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