Heavenly Demon Sect.
"Holy Maiden! Holy Maiden!"
"Reporting to the Holy Maiden—Qin Luo, the one you ordered us to watch, seems to have been judged by Tai Xu Holy Land!"
"Oh?"
The cultivating woman slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze was like a pair of twinkling stars—at times bright as day, at times as deep and dark as a black hole, as if it could pierce through all the world's secrets.
The disciple under her stare immediately lowered her head.
The Holy Maiden rose to her feet. Her legs were long to the point of exaggeration, her figure voluptuous, her black hair cascading loosely down her back and stirring in the wind as if it carried its own enchantment. Her delicate, seductive face could topple cities.
"Tai Xu Holy Land, huh? Courting death."
"Pass the order down: I want Qin Luo alive."
"He saved my life. I save his. One life for another—that's enough."
"Yes, Holy Maiden!"
Only Qin Luo himself knew that Tai Xu Holy Land hadn't actually wronged him when they accused him of "colluding with the Heavenly Demon Sect's Holy Maiden."
In that secret realm, Qin Luo had indeed saved Ye Lingxuan, the Heavenly Demon Sect's Holy Maiden, who had been gravely injured.
The original Qin Luo had always judged people by their looks. In his eyes, beauty was justice. What did it matter if she was a Demon Sect Holy Maiden? With a face like that, how could she possibly be evil?
…
The capital of Great Qin was the largest city in the dynasty, with a population exceeding ten million.
At this moment, in a luxurious mansion, a fair-skinned man held an alluring woman in his arms. As he listened to a subordinate's report, he sneered, "Tsk, tsk. So the stray that got left outside is coming back?"
"Isn't it better to be free and happy outside? Why come into this pit of dragons and tigers?"
"This is a place that eats people alive, isn't it?" he asked as he lifted the woman's chin.
The woman smiled sweetly. "Your Highness is absolutely right."
This man was Qin Feng, the Eighth Prince of Great Qin.
"Your Highness, just give the word and I'll make all the arrangements," the subordinate said.
Qin Feng tapped his fingers pensively on the table.
After a while, his eyes brightened. He glanced at the woman in his arms. "I think we should give you to my good little brother."
The woman's smile turned even more bewitching. "Everything will follow Your Highness's wishes."
Qin Feng patted her cheek indulgently. "My little brother is a prince. How about you become his concubine?"
…
In another grand residence within the capital, a woman glared at her father in anger. "I'm not marrying him!"
"The Qin Emperor has already given the decree. How can you defy it?"
"Do you want the entire Gu family executed?"
Gu Qingxue, a famed beauty of the capital, was his daughter. Her father, Gu Yanting, was one of the deputy deans of the Great Qin Academy.
The Great Qin Academy was the cradle of talent for the dynasty. Nearly half of the marquises in Great Qin had studied there.
As a vice dean, Gu Yanting himself had Saint cultivation, and many of his disciples had become marquises, giving him considerable status.
Within the capital, Gu Qingxue was the goddess countless young nobles vied to worship.
Her cultivation had already reached the Ninth Layer of the Sea Opening Realm, only a step away from the Divine Power Realm—a genuine prodigy.
Now the Qin Emperor had ordered her to marry the Ninth Prince, Qin Luo, and she found it utterly ridiculous.
"I don't know where he came from, I don't know what he looks like, and I know even less about his character."
"Just because he's a prince of Great Qin, I have to marry him?" Gu Qingxue said angrily.
Gu Yanting nodded. "Yes. That identity alone is enough."
"But I just don't want to marry him."
Gu Yanting sighed. "Unless he himself is willing to dissolve the engagement, otherwise…"
Gu Qingxue's eyes lit up. Right—her Gu family might not dare defy the Emperor's order, but what if Qin Luo canceled the engagement himself?
Now that she had a solution, the question was how to carry it out. So she immediately summoned her friends.
As a famous beauty, she naturally had no shortage of admirers in the capital.
And of course, there was also Lin Xuan, her so-called childhood sweetheart.
Once a poor nobody, through his own efforts he had become a student of the Great Qin Academy and successfully joined the dynasty's Demon Suppression Division. His future was bright.
Gu Qingxue only needed to mention that she was being forced to marry the suddenly-returned Ninth Prince for her circle of sycophants to erupt in fury.
With tears in her eyes, she sobbed, "I don't dare disobey His Majesty's decree, unless…"
"Unless what?" the grandson of Marquis Yingwu pressed anxiously.
"Unless the Ninth Prince himself is willing to annul the engagement."
Her words immediately hooked everyone's attention.
"This Ninth Prince who popped up out of nowhere is not worthy of Qingxue. We should make him back off!"
"Leave it to me. I'll find out when the Ninth Prince arrives and greet him at the city gate myself," declared Marquis Yingwu's only grandson, eager to go.
As the sole grandson of Marquis Yingwu, Chen Mo was infamous for his arrogance and domineering attitude in the capital.
He had long since decided that Gu Qingxue was his woman. For some nobody Ninth Prince to dare steal her away? That was something he, Chen Mo, would never allow.
Seeing Gu Qingxue's tear-streaked face, Chen Mo's protective urge swelled. "Even if that Ninth Prince refuses, I'll ask my grandfather to go kneel before His Majesty for you. Don't worry, Qingxue!"
In that moment, he was the very picture of a devoted simp—utterly blind to the subtle, affectionate glances Gu Qingxue was exchanging with Lin Xuan beside him.
"Thank you, Brother Chen Mo," Gu Qingxue said sweetly.
That one "Brother Chen Mo" made his bones go soft. In his mind, the scene was already playing out: he flattened Qin Luo in public, then held Gu Qingxue in his arms for the rest of his life, carefree and content.
After their visitors finally left, Gu Qingxue threw herself into Lin Xuan's arms.
"Brother Lin Xuan, Qingxue missed you so much."
Lin Xuan gently stroked her hair, giving her a sense of absolute safety.
"Don't worry, Qingxue. I won't let anyone marry you away."
"If that Ninth Prince doesn't know what's good for him, I'll teach him a lesson he'll never forget."
"No…" Gu Qingxue hurriedly stopped him. "Brother Lin Xuan, don't be impulsive. He's the Ninth Prince of Great Qin."
Lin Xuan sneered. "He's just the Ninth Prince of Great Qin. Even if I kill him, no one will ever find out."
The reason he'd been able to rise from nothing was a legacy—one left behind by a Great Emperor.
"Hopefully he understands the situation on his own," Lin Xuan said softly. "My woman—Lin Xuan's woman—is not someone just anyone can covet."