Chapter 230: I Don’t Want to Marry You
Ji You was much slower than Yan Shuyi. Upon returning to his courtyard, he heard the continuous sound of music from the easternmost part of the East Courtyard.
It was a private banquet.
The Gathering of Immortals at Xianxian Garden was, for many Cultivation Worldly Families, merely a public gathering for introductions or networking. However, very few people actually ate at the Juxian Banquet.
According to Gongshu Chou, who was a green youth fifteen years ago, the true places for drinking and merrymaking were the private banquets hosted by the various Worldly Families.
He Lingxiu and the others must have gone to attend the private banquet, as there wasn't a single light in the house, making it as quiet as if no one lived there.
Ji You returned to his house, opened the window, and looked outside.
Tonight's moonlight was exceptionally bright, illuminating the courtyard.
He stood by the window, gazing at the small building opposite. Before long, he saw a woman in a large red nightgown flash by, and then the Young Master Jian appeared at the second-floor window.
Her long hair was still damp, and her exquisite Face was as fresh and tender as a lotus emerging from water. She gave Ji You a look full of Killing Intent,
which made the bamboo facing her rustle loudly. Then she turned and went inside, picking up a small porcelain basin and hiding it in a corner.
This girl was fine when she went back. How did he upset her again?
Ji You stood by the window, pondering for a long time, remembering that it shouldn't be these few days. So, he turned into the room, puzzled, and lit the oil lamp with a flick of his finger.
As the candle flame flickered and ignited, half of the night's darkness near the desk was dispelled. It was only by the dim yellow light that Ji You noticed a folded document on his table.
He paused slightly, then walked to the desk, reached out, and picked up the document. Upon unfolding it, he found it was the list of participants for the Tong Xuan Realm duels at this Heavenly Dao Conference.
Wen Siyuan was specifically responsible for Ji You's duels, so this document must have been sent by him.
Only those who were destitute would not have the habit of locking their doors when they left. Moreover, in the Face of the powerful strength of Cultivators, locking the door held little significance. Wen Siyuan must have seen that he wasn't there, so he left the document on the table.
Ji You carefully examined the document by the lamplight, his eyes constantly scanning the unfolded paper. Before long, he had read through the entire contents of the document.
Actually, the content of this list wasn't extensive; it was mainly the names that were dazzling to the eyes. In summary, there were probably only two main points.
Firstly, the Heavenly Dao Conference's competition format adopted a six-into-one system.
There were many Cultivators participating in the Tong Xuan Realm duels, totaling three hundred and sixty from Immortal Sects and Worldly Families combined. They were divided into sixty groups, with six people per group.
Within each group, a two-into-one system was adopted, with opponents decided by drawing lots. The three winners would enter the second round within the group, continuing the two-into-one format. Some would receive a bye and would participate in a substitute duel at the end.
The final winner among these ten people would then engage in a two-into-one winner's duel with the other fifty-nine people in the conference.
The second key point concerned Ji You's own duel. His first match was scheduled for the day after tomorrow, and his opponent was named Tang Jingming, a Cultivator from a Central Province Worldly Family, who had no particular reputation.
He also specifically looked at the others in his group, finding that none were particularly outstanding, nor had any been specifically introduced by Ding Yao.
As for Yan Hao, his main target for coaxing to sleep, he was placed in another group of ten.
Because his group was ranked higher, Yan Hao had a duel scheduled for tomorrow morning.
The competition format for the Rongdao Realm was roughly similar to that of the Tong Xuan Realm, generally following this procedure.
Ji You finished reading the document in his hand, then folded it and placed it on the desk, deciding to begin his Cultivation.
But it wasn't to deal with opponents; it was mainly so he could marry whoever he wanted, without fear of anyone knowing.
However, just as he had arranged his meditation cushion and was about to enter meditative introspection, a series of footsteps suddenly echoed in the Tianshu Academy courtyard.
Ji You opened his eyes slightly and heard the footsteps slowly approaching.
Before long, a series of "thump-thump-thump" knocking sounds rang out. Ji You got up from the bed, then opened the door from inside the room, and looked up,
He saw He Lingxiu standing outside his door.
"Senior Sister He, it's so late. Is something the matter?"
"A few private friends, along with other Senior Brothers and Junior Sisters, and I are holding a small banquet at the water pavilion in the garden. I saw that Junior Brother returned early, so I specifically came to ask if you'd like to join us for a drink."
As He Lingxiu spoke, she pointed to the Listening Fragrance Water Pavilion to the east of the East Courtyard, which was the place Ji You had seen when he first entered the courtyard.
Ji You looked at He Lingxiu at this moment and couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth.
He Lingxiu also couldn't help but look at him with a half-smile: "What are you laughing at, Junior Brother?"
"Young Miss Qiu Family is also there, right? I'm laughing at Senior Sister's true determination."
"Junior Brother is truly clever. All right, then I won't hide it from you. Young Miss Qiu Family is indeed a guest inside the water pavilion."
Actually, He Lingxiu had originally intended for Ji You and Young Miss Qiu Family, Qiu Hanyue, to meet at the Gathering of Immortals. With many people around, they wouldn't feel too awkward. However, after she found Qiu Hanyue, she couldn't find Ji You when she went back to look for him.
She even asked Shi Junhao and Xiao Hanyan to specifically keep an eye out for Ji You for her, unaware that Ji You was at that time dining in the inner courtyard, which was restricted to core Disciples.
So He Lingxiu decided to have the two meet at the private banquet, which is why she came under the cover of night.
Earlier, when they were sitting in the courtyard, Yu Shiliu had audaciously speculated about the relationship between Ji You and the Lingjian Mountain Young Master Jian. He Lingxiu felt there was some truth to what she said, but she didn't believe it.
It was simply too outrageous for two people of such vastly different statuses to be linked in that way.
But Gongshu Chou's boasting about Ji You further strengthened He Lingxiu's desire to win Ji You over.
Qiu Hanyue was quite beautiful, delicate, and charming. He Lingxiu felt that with Ji You's reputation of having many fiancées on the mountain, it couldn't be baseless. She thought he was just tight-lipped, but once he met someone, he would accept them.
Ji You leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, looking at He Lingxiu: "Senior Sister He's persistent recommendation means that Young Miss Qiu must be a very good woman, but Junior Brother truly doesn't have that intention."
"Junior Brother is truly stubborn."
"I know Senior Sister means well. If you need my help with anything in the future, I will certainly not refuse."
Indeed, for men in the Qingyun World, the position of legal wife must be carefully considered, as it concerns the future of the Family and the continuation of the main lineage's bloodline.
However, many people never have qualms about taking concubines, as it is merely a matter of mutual need.
Just like her father, he had eight concubines, but only two or three actually lived in his courtyard and spent time with him day and night.
He Lingxiu truly couldn't understand why Ji You was so unyielding, especially when Yuan Caiwei was so well-behaved.
As she pondered, she suddenly heard the sound of water being splashed from the opposite courtyard, so she casually looked back. When she looked back again, Ji You was already standing very upright.
He Lingxiu didn't pay much attention, sighing, "Junior Brother is truly stubborn. To be so cautious about merely taking a concubine, I really haven't seen much of it."
"This is a matter of life and death for me."
"?"
Ji You slightly raised his eyes and saw a graceful figure flash past with light steps.
He Lingxiu actually had a temper too. Having been refused so many times, she felt she was losing Face, so she turned and left without saying anything more.
Under the cover of night, she returned to the Listening Fragrance Water Pavilion. As soon as she sat down, she noticed someone missing from the table. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was Qiu Hanyue who had left.
Her brow furrowed slightly, and she finally picked up her wine cup and drank it all.
Just then, she suddenly frowned and looked into the distance. Shi Junhao, Xiao Hanyan, Chai Ze, and the remaining Tong Xuan Realm cultivators also simultaneously sensed the anomaly and looked in all directions.
Also looking up at this moment was Ji You, standing in front of his house.
At that time, his eyes glowed with a rich golden light, constantly looking into the distance under the night, capturing the flow of Spiritual Qi.
Someone was attempting to break through their Realm, and not just one person.
After Tianshu Academy competed for the Heavenly Dao Conference spots, Qin Zhangshi of the Master's Courtyard specifically gathered them to explain some crucial matters, and also mentioned another issue that made everyone frown.
He said that after the list was finalized, even if someone broke through their Realm during the entire competition, the duels would continue according to the existing list.
Therefore, many people, in order to increase their chances of winning, would suppress their Realm when they should have broken through, and instead desperately suppress it before the competition,
And then rapidly break through after the list was finalized.
Although it seems like only one step, breaking through the Tong Xuan Realm leads to the Integration Dao Realm, which are two completely different Realms. The difference in strength can be said to be vast.
And tonight, many people have already begun to impatiently break through in secret.
Due to the Dao they Cultivate, the inherited cultivation methods, and their inherent Aptitude, the combat power of Cultivators at the same Realm already varies. Now, if some people successfully break through, it will bring even more unpredictable variables to the Heavenly Dao Conference duels.
Ji You retracted his gaze, and the golden light in his eyes also began to recede. He then returned to his house, closed the doors and windows, and began Body Refining.
The next morning, there was no rising red sun or scattered morning light. Instead, strong winds continuously assailed, making the windows rattle.
Ji You opened his eyes from the bed at this moment, surrounded by a pile of mosquito corpses.
These mosquitoes must have been attracted by his body heat and then trapped by the aura around him. They couldn't bite in, couldn't escape, and were suffocated to death.
He got up from the bed and heard a commotion, so he looked outside and saw that He Lingxiu, Xiao Hanyan, and others had also gotten up and gone out, walking towards the outside of Rusheng Garden.
Some of them were participating in today's duels, while others had people they were interested in participating, so they were all rushing to the arena.
Ji You closed the window, then took a bath, tidied his hair, and after breakfast, pushed the door open and went out.
Ji You didn't have a duel today, but his specially focused, coaxed-to-sleep targets did.
Ding Yao and Zhuo Wanqiu both advised him to be cautious, and Ji You didn't want to be too overconfident, so he still needed to watch, at least to have a clear idea.
Ji Hanfei thought of Yan Shuyi at this moment and couldn't help but glance at the opposite side.
He had slept for about two hours after Body Refining last night and had a slight dream, which was a solo performance by Yan Shuyi, a bit tragic.
He actually had decent control over lust, but it was probably too intense in the bamboo forest, which led to the dream.
But it doesn't matter, no one knows anyway.
Ji You stepped out, and as soon as he entered the courtyard, he immediately felt a cool breeze on his Face.
Opportunities to feel coolness in summer are rare, which means it should rain today.
Ji You looked up and could already see dark clouds gathering in the sky.
Cao Instructor and the others should be here today, right?
He felt bad about the money, and it was understandable that he didn't come the past two days, but the Heavenly Dao Conference was about to start, so it shouldn't be delayed any further.
Also, Rulong Immortal Emperor, his Family's participating Disciples had already arrived. He had seen a few at the Juxian Banquet yesterday, but he and the Bai Family Head hadn't come, he wondered what had delayed them.
Ji You slightly pulled his clothes tighter and stepped into the courtyard.
At this time, two young women were sitting in the courtyard, right in front of the stone table where they usually drank tea and chatted. One was wearing a water-blue wide-sleeved Fairy dress, and the other was wearing a floral-patterned smoke-gauze dress. Both were seventeen or eighteen years old and looked a bit naive.
Seeing these two, Ji You felt a bit puzzled.
Because those living in Rusheng Garden were either Tianshu Academy Disciples or Lingjian Mountain Disciples, and he had never seen these two women. Moreover, with today's competition starting, no one should be visiting anymore.
As Ji You entered the courtyard, the two young women couldn't help but stand up. After a moment of hesitation, they walked towards him.
Seeing this, Ji You finally understood that these two were looking for him.
But Ji You didn't recognize them, feeling very unfamiliar with their appearance, and was certain they were strangers he had never met.
Because of the precedents of Fang Ruoming and Fang Ruoyao, Ji You also searched his mind for people he knew, but found no familiar features.
At this moment, the two women stopped in front of him, and then the woman in the water-blue wide-sleeved Fairy dress spoke.
“Are you Ji You?”
“Yes, may I ask who Young Miss is?”
“I am Qiu Hanyue.”
Upon hearing this name, Ji You instantly understood that this was the Young Miss of the Qiu Family whom He Lingxiu had always wanted to introduce to him.
He hadn't intended to meet this Young Miss Qiu at the Juxian Banquet or the Rusheng Garden private banquet. Last night, he had also spoken firmly with He Lingxiu, believing there would be no further interaction, yet after all the twists and turns, they still met.
Ji You came to his senses: “May I ask why Young Miss Qiu is looking for me?”
“Ji You, I don't want to marry you.”
Qiu Hanyue looked at him and spoke with a slightly cold voice: “I don't want to marry into Feng Province, and I don't want everyone to say I married a rural private Cultivator. Can you let me go?”
This Young Miss Qiu was a proper Fairy Sect Young Miss. Although the Qiu Family was not powerful, she had grown up in luxury, and those who grew up with her were also descendants of prestigious Fairy Sect families.
So, in her world, she always believed that she would eventually marry someone from a similar Fairy Sect background.
He didn't have to be a peerless genius with great Luck, or a prominent figure who stirred up storms, but as long as he had a decent appearance and an equivalent Family background, that would be good enough for her.
But what she didn't expect was that a while ago, a Fairy from the He Family came to their house to arrange a marriage for her.
The Qiu Family was originally dependent on the He Family and the Zuoqiu Family, so her father readily agreed.
She was old enough, and just at the age of budding romance, with a faint sense of anticipation in her heart.
However, what she didn't expect was that the Fairy He wanted her to marry was actually a rural private Cultivator from Feng Province, with no prior Worldly Family background,
a descendant of a fallen landlord Family in the mortal world.
She didn't want to marry into the impoverished Feng Province, and even less did she want to be gossiped about behind her back later.
Do you know? Young Miss Qiu married into Feng Province.
Young Miss Qiu's husband is a rural private Cultivator from Feng Province.
It is already unsettling for a woman to marry far away, let alone to marry into such circumstances.
If she were to hear her childhood playmates discussing her like that in the future, Qiu Hanyue felt she definitely couldn't bear it.
So last night, when she received the invitation from Fairy He and came to the banquet, and learned midway that she was going to fetch Ji You, she ran away without a word.
However, after returning, she learned that her father was furious, punished her by making her kneel for half the night, and told her to go apologize to Fairy He.
Her heart was in a mess. She came to Rusheng Garden early today, and just happened to encounter Fairy He, who was going to participate in the competition today, but found that the other party didn't even look at her, and floated away with a sullen Face.
Actually, part of Fairy He's anger was because Ji You didn't give her Face, not entirely because she left without permission.
In He Lingxiu's view, meeting him didn't mean marrying him immediately, yet Ji You didn't even agree to this request, which really didn't give her Face.
This was actually a very normal thought; anyone else would think the same, and would feel that Ji You was a bit too unfeeling.
But how could she know that there was a jealous person living in the building opposite, and someone whom no one could defeat?
But for Qiu Hanyue, she didn't know the intricacies of this. What she thought was that He Lingxiu had invited Ji You over last night, and then found that she had run away without a word, which was why she was so furious.
She knew the Qiu Family's situation, and she knew that the He Family, as a powerful Worldly Family, absolutely could not be offended.
But she just looked down on Feng Province, just didn't want to marry into that supposedly hated and detestable impoverished Feng Province, and even less did she want to lose Face when returning home to meet friends in the future.
So Qiu Hanyue came up with a plan, deciding to bypass He Lingxiu and directly find Ji You, persuading him to let her go.
Because she didn't know what kind of person Ji You was, or his temperament, she also called her close friend Huang Rou, who was also a Young Miss from a Worldly Family,
to give her courage.
After all, in this Qingyun World, it was not uncommon for someone to have the intention of forming a marriage alliance, only to be rejected by the other party.
At this moment, Qiu Hanyue looked at Ji You, hoping to use the most resolute attitude and the most unpleasant tone to make him give up his interest in her.
And Ji You only now realized that He Lingxiu was not just forcing him, but also playing both sides, even more skillfully than he, the Hanfei.
“Young Miss Qiu's thoughts, I can understand.”
“No, you don't understand.”
Qiu Hanyue looked at him: “Your background is different from ours. You are not part of the Worldly Family network, so you have no idea how difficult this is for me to accept.”
Ji You heard her and said: “This matter will certainly not happen, because I already explicitly refused Senior Sister He last night, and made it clear. Young Miss Qiu, please rest assured, I will absolutely not marry you.”
“?”
Qiu Hanyue was slightly stunned upon hearing this, feeling somewhat caught off guard.
She and Ji You had never met, so naturally, she didn't know what he was thinking in his heart.
But since she knew the other party wanted to marry her, her first thought was that the other party was interested in her, which was not strange.
Young Miss Qiu was beautiful and very confident in herself, so she had never expected Ji You to have such an attitude.
Women are always like this; even if it's a man they don't know, hearing him say “I will absolutely not marry you” will cause a slight displeasure in their hearts.
Because in Young Miss Qiu's eyes, it should be her looking down on the other party's Family background, not the other party looking down on her.
But even with the displeasure, this result aligned with Young Miss Qiu's long-held wish, so her heart settled slightly, and that hint of aversion was easily overshadowed by joy.
“So we're agreed then?”
“Agreed. Young Miss Qiu, please rest assured. If there's nothing else, let's end our conversation here.”
“Okay…”
Watching Ji You walk away, Young Miss Qiu immediately revealed a smile: “That's great, Rou'er, I don't have to marry a rural private Cultivator.”
Huang Rou nodded: “I didn't expect him to be quite easy to talk to.”
“It's probably because my words about ‘rural private Cultivator’ really hurt him. This is what I thought about saying before I came; it's his most embarrassing point.”
“Since it's over, don't think about it anymore. Shall we go?”
“Mm.”
Young Miss Qiu got her wish and left Rusheng Garden with her friend.