The Master and His Wealthy Fiancée

Chen Dong’s frown deepened. The sect’s offer sounded like protection, but it was tantamount to imprisonment. In the past, even the most brilliant and talented Cyan Emperors had failed to reach the Realm of Severing the Dao to See the Self within a millennium. If Tian Sisi also took a thousand years, that meant he would be stuck in that so-called cultivation ground for a thousand years.

After a moment of thought, Chen Dong asked, ”Are there other options?”

It wasn’t that he was unwilling to enter long-term seclusion for Tian Sisi’s cultivation path—plus, he was confident that someone of her talent wouldn’t need a thousand years to reach that realm. But from the way Yu An had phrased ”the sect’s intention,” it was clear there were other options.

Yu An’s friendly smile vanished. She let out a soft sigh. ”Sigh... Wouldn’t it be nice to stay within the sect? Are you sure you want to hear the other option?”

”There’s no harm in listening.”

”There are two other options. The first is to be exiled back to the Jiuzhou Realm. Likewise, you would be forbidden from returning to the Floating Shadow Realm until Martial Uncle Tian reaches the Realm of Severing the Dao to See the Self. The Demon Race’s influence hasn’t yet penetrated the Jiuzhou Realm, so with your level of power, you’d be completely safe there, and the sect would have nothing to worry about.”

Chen Dong asked again, ”And the other?”

The Spiritual Qi in the Jiuzhou Realm couldn’t compare to that of the Floating Shadow Realm. For a Golden Core cultivator like Chen Dong, it was far better to stay in the Floating Shadow Realm to cultivate more effectively.

Yu An smiled coldly. ”In one month, Master will be taking over as the City Lord of Lexian City ahead of schedule. From that point on, you will have to stay by her side at all times.”

Chen Dong raised an eyebrow. ”Did something happen to Peak Master Fu Xiao?”

Yu An was stunned. ”How did you know?”

”Replacing a Border City Lord is an extremely complicated matter. You have to swap out a huge number of personnel—not just from the City Lord’s Mansion and the City Army, but even the disciples garrisoning the Guardian Array. To move the handover up by an entire year, with only one month of preparation... the only possible reason is that something has happened to Peak Master Fu Xiao, making an early replacement absolutely necessary.”

Yu An sighed once more. ”Sigh... This is information known only to the highest levels of the sect. You mustn’t spread it around!”

Chen Dong’s eyes narrowed. ”I’m not exactly a social butterfly. Who would I tell?”

Yu An nodded. ’That’s true,’ she thought. Besides, Chen Dong was already aware of some of the details.

So she explained, ”Peak Master Fu Xiao... his cultivation has plummeted! He fell from the Late-stage Nascent Soul Realm all the way down to the First-Layer Nascent Soul!”