When Lu Yang learned who Li Haoran's betrothed was, countless myths and legends sprang unbidden into his mind:
The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, the Third Holy Mother and Liu Yanchang, The Fairy Couple...
As numerous historical examples of older women chasing younger men proved, marrying a fairy was the fastest shortcut to ascending to the heavens in a single bound, with an exceptionally high success rate.
Liu Yanchang was an exception, but that was because of the Third Holy Mother's brother, Yang Jian, or perhaps because of the rules of the Heavenly Court. Su Yiren, on the other hand, did not look like someone with a brother in the Tribulation Transcendence stage, nor had there been any Heavenly Court or celestial laws in ancient times.
So the conclusion was crystal clear.
"Junior Brother Li is going to enjoy a life of blessing from now on. Think of how many years of detours this will save him—it's enough to make anyone green with envy." Lu Yang clicked his tongue in wonder. Both he and Meng Jingzhou felt that this trip had been well worth the effort.
Totally worth it.
"Right, why did Junior Brother Li ask us to come along in the first place?" Lu Yang had forgotten their original purpose for coming here.
Meng Jingzhou cracked a handful of melon seed kernels, tossed them all into his mouth, and savored the flavor. After thinking about it, he said, "I think he said he was afraid he'd be too nervous when meeting his fiancée, so he wanted us to come back him up."
"Oh. Junior Brother Li doesn't look very nervous, so he probably doesn't need our help." Lu Yang looked at Li Haoran's look of wanting to weep but having no tears, deciding it had nothing to do with nervousness.
"Got any more melon seeds? I'm all out." Lu Yang's palms were covered in empty shells.
Meng Jingzhou pulled out a pouch of seeds. "I do, but they're raw."
"No problem, I've got fire. Let me roast them. What flavor do you want?"
"A bit salty."
"Easy enough."
Lu Yang spat out a puff of Three-Flavor True Fire, controlling the temperature to roast the melon seeds.
At that moment, Li Haoran was still unaware that his two reliable senior brothers had completely abandoned him. He had no time to worry about that anyway.
Li Haoran was currently listening to his mother explain how she had given him away.
"Back then, didn't your father and I get saved by Yiren? At the time, Yiren noticed I was pregnant, so she asked if she could arrange a betrothal between you and her."
"I thought to myself, she's such a pretty girl and her cultivation is so high, so arranging a betrothal with her is marrying far above our station. Since Yiren was willing, the two of us were naturally more than happy to agree."
"Wait, Mom, did you never consider the age gap?" Li Haoran listened, dumbfounded. In all his years, he had never heard of anyone arranging a marriage like this.
Mother Li gave him a look that said he was truly ungrateful. "What did I teach you growing up? Don't be bound by mundane worldly concepts! For immortal cultivators, is age ever an issue? Of course not!"
"Look at the spouses of today's Body Integration grandmasters. Is an age gap of a few hundred or a few thousand years even worth mentioning?"
Mother Li counted on her fingers for Li Haoran, listing this person and that person who were in the same situation, how enormous their age gaps were, and how harmoniously the couples lived together.
"And in the Tribulation Transcendence stage, the age gaps are even larger."
Li Haoran massaged his brow in agony. So this was why she had preached all those theories to him when he was a child!
Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou nodded continuously as they listened. Mother Li actually made some sense. In the cultivation world, as long as there was love, age difference really wasn't an issue.
Besides, there was no such thing as the younger party waiting for the older one to die of old age to inherit an estate—no one could say for sure who would outlive whom.
Lu Yang had heard of a renowned figure at the Body Integration stage whose lifespan was nearing its end and who wished for an autumn romance. Many women married him with impure motives, only for several wives to die of old age while the old master remained hale and hearty.
Taking a step back, was there truly an age gap of three thousand years between Su Yiren and Li Haoran? Not necessarily. Perhaps Su Yiren was remarkably talented and had reached the Body Integration stage at an early age.
Lu Yang had a ready example right before him: the Immortal Fairy had become an immortal at just sixteen years old. In contrast, Lu Yang was still in the Foundation Establishment stage at sixteen, which was utterly humiliating.
Thus, as long as one party shaved a bit off their age, the gap between the man and woman wouldn't be all that large.
Mother Li continued, "Back then, the two of us didn't know how high Yiren's cultivation was. We figured she was either at the Golden Core stage or the Nascent Soul stage. Regardless of which, she was definitely above us."
"Later, when we tested your spiritual roots, we found out you had an extremely rare Fire Spiritual Root with boundless prospects for the future, guaranteed to surpass the Nascent Soul stage. If you two married, Yiren wouldn't be on the losing end either."
Neither Father Li nor Mother Li had ever considered backing out of the marriage because of Li Haoran's talent. Someone had saved their lives and arranged the betrothal so early; how could they break their word?
"Originally, we two even wanted to remind you to give Yiren a helping hand once your cultivation reached greater heights."
"It wasn't until a few days ago, when Yiren came over with her daughter, that we learned she was at the Body Integration stage. It far exceeded our expectations. You have to step up your cultivation so you don't fall short of Yiren."
"It's just that Yanyan reacted rather intensely. She objected to this marriage and repeatedly demanded to tear up the betrothal contract. You know everything that happened after that."
Li Haoran was speechless.
No wonder Qin Yanyan had reacted so violently. You live for over a decade, and suddenly your mother tells you she's getting married and you're getting a new father out of nowhere. Who could take that?
Putting himself in her shoes, Li Haoran figured he would have reacted the same way.
Li Haoran turned to Qin Yanyan and said earnestly, "I think what you said makes sense. Free love is encouraged nowadays. A marriage that goes against one's own will should be dissolved."
Su Yiren silently produced an image-recording orb, which played the bold, heroic declaration Li Haoran had shouted during his fight with Qin Yanyan.
"Let me tell you, I will never call off this betrothal in my entire life!"
"Let me tell you, I will never call off this betrothal in my entire life!"
"Let me tell you, I will never call off this betrothal in my entire life!"
Su Yiren said nothing, but the gesture spoke louder than a thousand words.
"Stop, stop, stop, turn it off!" Li Haoran pleaded, wanting nothing more than to find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.
*Why couldn't I have learned Senior Brother Lu's Shrinking the Earth?*
*If I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have come home! Wouldn't it have been better to stay obediently at the Dao Seeking Sect to cultivate and refine weapons?*
*Relying on a wealthy woman at such a young age—how will my peers look at me!*
Li Haoran looked over at Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, only to see the two of them cracking melon seeds, showing no intention of helping whatsoever.
Li Haoran stared silently at them. Under his relentless gaze, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou felt thoroughly uncomfortable and had no choice but to step forward to mediate and uphold justice.
"The biggest issue here lies with Senior Su. Senior Su, why exactly did you arrange a betrothal with Junior Brother Li in the first place?"
Everyone's eyes converged on Su Yiren, making her cheeks flush crimson. Su Yiren was someone who embarrassed easily. The more people there were, the less she wanted to speak. But things had reached a point where an explanation was unavoidable. She could only speak up, using as few words as possible to explain how this situation had come to be:
"Actually... Li Haoran is the reincarnation of my husband."
"Yanyan, Li Haoran is truly your father's reincarnation."
Lu Yang was stunned.
Meng Jingzhou was stunned.
It was over. How did this mess keep getting more and more complicated? Was it too late to slip away now?
Inside the spiritual space, the Immortal Fairy perked up. Following Lu Yang really did guarantee running into all sorts of fun things.
Chapter 216