Liu Taixuan and his disciple, Shen He, stared speechlessly at the couple hugging and exchanging gentle words.
Old Liu frowned at the bastard hugging his granddaughter, but this was not the moment to deal with him.
His gaze focused on the empty space beside the two.
"Are you two going to keep hiding, or will I have to drag you out by force?" he suddenly asked, drawing everyone's attention in the room.
Rihai looked confused at that wild grandfather who had appeared out of nowhere and was now glaring at nothing beside them with noticeable aggression.
But her confusion vanished as two figures abruptly appeared beside them, stopping calmly and placing themselves protectively around the couple.
Arriving were a kindly-looking old man, scholarly, calm, and confident, and a beautiful young woman with black hair and a scar across her face, giving her a heroic and fierce appearance.
They were, respectively, Zhao Wenming of the Heritage Pavilion and Lei Xinyi of the Body Refinement Pavilion.
Rihai blinked, confused and startled—after all, she had never seen these people before. However, upon noticing the symbols of the two sect pavilions embroidered on their clothing, her heart eased considerably, and she glanced at Aotian, who remained unmoved.
'Those are Aotian's guardians?' she thought, curious but not surprised.
In any great power, it was normal to place someone in the shadows to guard a young master or young miss. So in her view, having hidden guardians was completely natural.
The idea that they might be there to watch and restrain her, as her grandfather suspected, never even occurred to her.
On the contrary, seeing that there were two—one man and one woman—she even thought that perhaps one was there to protect her from the shadows because of her relationship with Aotian, while the other protected her husband; after all, he always said the sect elders would die to protect her, making it clear that she, as his wife, held extreme importance.
As soon as the two ancestors appeared, Lei Xinyi crossed her arms, observing the old man with cold apathy.
"You've got quite the arrogant tone for a little ghost," she scoffed lightly, uninterested.
Her tone and disdain were highly offensive, making old Liu glare coldly at her.
But a mediator stepped in.
"Senior Sister Lei, there is no need to cause trouble for the young miss's great-grandfather. Although he has been rather rude to us, patience is a virtue to be cultivated with as much importance as combat power." Zhao Wenming shook his head with a gentle smile, easing a bit of the hostility, apparently unconcerned with the old man's earlier rudeness.
"Tch…" Lei Xinyi clicked her tongue, seemingly unwilling but deciding not to pay further attention to the old man's previous words.
Liu Taixuan narrowed his eyes at the two.
"Young miss? Why are you calling my great-granddaughter young miss?" he demanded firmly. "And what are two Void Refiners doing in such a small continent, guarding my great-granddaughter?"
Zhao Wenming smiled upon hearing the questions.
"Well… your great-granddaughter is married to our young master, so naturally she is the young miss, and it is normal for us to guard the two of them. As for the reason we are in this continent, I'm afraid I cannot inform you," he replied calmly and diplomatically.
Rihai blinked, a little embarrassed at being called that.
She had once been the young miss of the Liu family, yet she rarely saw anyone beyond her father and a few servants. Thus, being addressed that way was far less common for her than it would be in other families or sects—and it had been a very long time since anyone had called her that.
Now, however, it wasn't by birth that they referred to her that way, but because of her husband, which made her a little shy, especially in front of family members.
But old Liu was not satisfied with the answer.
"Humph! Acting all mysterious… do you think I can't see?! The power you belong to discovered my granddaughter's Divine Physique and rushed to this desert to hide her. Either to raise her as a powerhouse or to extract the Dao rhyme from her roots using a Silent Cadaver Orchid. Either way, now that this old man is here, don't even think about it!" the old man growled, his hair standing on end and his already intense red eyes burning even hotter.
Old Liu's disciple, Shen He, who stood beside him, grew tense, ready for the imminent battle.
But while one side of the room overflowed with tension, the other seemed completely casual.
Rihai placed a hand on her forehead, looking at her grandfather, speechless.
The two ancestors ignored old Liu and examined her with mild surprise.
"Oh? Divine Physique? That's not a bad talent—worthy of our young master." Lei Xinyi nodded, a heroic smile tugging the corner of her lips.
"Indeed, although love is important and talent can be remedied, a daughter of the world as the young master's wife is practically a heaven-granted encounter. But such a talent is not exactly surprising, considering the speed of the young miss's recent progress. Otherwise, she should be advancing a bit slower if her roots were inferior."
"According to the story she told earlier, during her arrival on the Xixu continent, her roots were severely damaged. They must have been repaired only recently, which is why she had only revealed her talent in the past few months," Zhao Wenming said, stroking his beard thoughtfully, finding the reasoning entirely plausible.
Rihai looked at him impressed, for he had hit the mark. Aotian quietly enjoyed the surprised and admiring look she gave the ancestor's analysis—which, of course, was only natural since he was merely an avatar and already knew everything.
The pretend surprise of the two ancestors occurred because when she told her story earlier, she had indeed omitted some things, such as the fact that she possessed a divine physique. This was a secret her father had made her swear never to reveal, and the only person she ever told was Aotian.
Liu Taixuan sensed something was wrong when he saw their reactions and swallowed dryly, suspecting he might have made a mistake.
"You… why are you acting as if you're pretending not to know about my great-granddaughter's physique?! And you, girl, why are you holding your forehead and looking at this old man like that?!" he asked fiercely, though the imaginary bead of sweat on his ghostly head was almost visible.
The two ancestors looked at the imposing old man with amused expressions—who now seemed a little panicked.
"Great-grandfather…" Rihai was forced to intervene and had to speak the harsh truth. "As the bearer of a divine physique, my roots are protected and concealed by the will of the heavens. Although this concealment can be penetrated by powerful cultivators, regardless of level or technique, I can feel it whenever someone probes me… and well, in my life, I have never received any warning, aside from the times my father examined me."
"I only revealed my physique to one single person besides my father, and that was to my husband, after our marriage."
She explained helplessly, but looked at her great-grandfather with doubt.
"By the way, how did you find out? I never felt any probing."
Hearing that, the great-grandfather's imposing and distant stance suddenly shattered, and if he could sweat coldly, he would be drenched.
"That is… err… well… unexpected. Ahem!" He stumbled over his words and coughed into his fist, embarrassed under his great-granddaughter's helpless stare. "Well, I did not probe your roots… I only touched the protection and withdrew. But I knew that protection very well, because I examined your father's roots countless times to guide him. Based on that familiarity, I judged that they were divine roots—even though I could not be one hundred percent sure, I was not far from it."
He explained, but this time without attempting to suggest that the Infinite Dao Sect could have done the same—because such a thing was impossible. The last divine root besides his grandson's had appeared millions of years ago, so how would they have any familiarity with it?
But then his eyes lit up with another possibility.
"Alright, maybe the old man made a mistake and revealed something he shouldn't have. But I still think that sect's intentions are impure. After all, what would a power like that be doing in a place even dogs don't want to step foot in? At the very least, you should know my granddaughter's face, and intended to use her as a stepping stone to forge an alliance with the Liu family!"
The stubborn old man snorted proudly, as if he had uncovered the great mystery, and prepared to take the girl away. No matter what, he did not trust these people, and he would not leave his great-granddaughter there—whether she wanted it or not.
But a vein began to throb on Aotian's forehead upon hearing those false accusations—accusing his love for his wife of being based on ulterior motives.
Unable to contain himself, he angrily pointed a finger at the old man and roared:
"Listen here, you damned dying old geezer. Can you stop talking about things you know nothing about or inventing ridiculous theories?! I love Rihai, and I never had ulterior motives with her, unless wanting her to be the mother of my children counts as ulterior motives… so be honest, or I swear I'll beat you up, whether you're my great-grandfather or not!"
He nearly growled, furious, scolding him in a way that left everyone in the room stunned—except for the two ancestors, who smiled discreetly, hiding the anger in their eyes.
Rihai snapped out of her shock and, helpless, tugged on Aotian's sleeve.
"Tian'er… that, you can't talk to my great-grandfather like that, he's only worried about me. Besides, he doesn't know the sect, so he doesn't understand."
"In his view, a sect with Void Refiners in a continent that only allows Golden Core cultivators to be born is the same as seeing a school of fish walking out of the ocean to live on land, where they cannot breathe."
Under Rihai's gentle, pleading voice—also shy because her husband had spoken about wanting her to be a mother in front of others—Aotian slowly calmed his anger. He scratched his head and sighed, still somewhat irritated, but decided to be lenient with the old man, who was now family.
Meanwhile, old Liu widened his eyes, for no one had ever spoken to him that way. Only he spoke like that to others. And besides being insulted, his great-granddaughter was being gentle with the boy, instead of defending him aggressively.
Liu Taixuan almost had his soul dissipate from rage.
"Y-Y-You! You brat! Who said I want to be your grandfather?! Who said I agreed to this marriage?! I do NOT agree!" the old man roared, wondering whether he should burn his own soul now just to give the boy a beating first.
Aotian, who had just been pacified by his wife, felt his temper flare up again instantly.
"Bah! Old man, I'm your great-grandson whether you like it or not! If you're dissatisfied, go back to your grave and I promise I'll burn incense to pacify your soul! We'll be a good pair of great-grandfather and great-grandson, separated only by the distance of the underworld."
As if someone had ignited a fuse, the roars of the two began echoing in that small room without pause, under the helpless gazes of everyone present.
"You irritating brat! You'll only get my blessing over my dead body!"
"Senile old idiot, you don't even have a body! You're just a dying spirit who came to haunt my beautiful marriage!"
"Stinky brat, you really have no respect for your elders! Your lack of manners is proof of your ulterior motives!"
"Stinky old man, the only ulterior motive I have here is to buy you a coffin and bury you while pretending respect, just to get rid of you!"
"Boy, this old man is running out of patience. Go back to drinking milk and grow up before you try talking to me or deceiving my great-granddaughter!"
"I haven't gotten your granddaughter pregnant yet to drink her milk, you'll have to wait, you foolish old man!"
"YOU DAMNED BRAT, I'LL KILL YOU NOW!!"
"AOTIAAAAN!! GREAT-GRANDFATHER, DON'T KILL HIM TOO FAST, I'LL HELP!!"
"N-No, Rihai! I-I was wrong, I only said that out of anger to provoke him and I didn't notice what I was saying!!"
""APOLOGIZE IN HELL!"" x2