Chapter 379: Chapter 12: Can We Propose Again?
“Well done, you did well!”
Upon hearing that victory was secured on all more than ten battlefields, Zhu Rong was also full of pride and joy, laughing uproariously as he patted Qiu Changtian on the shoulder.
Qiu Changtian silently smiled and casually swallowed an elixir, stabilizing the fracture in his shoulder.
“A father who sees his son’s accomplishments must reward him. What reward do you want, boy? Speak freely,” Zhu Rong asked with a benevolent expression.
“Please grant me and Feng Tong your blessing to marry!” Qiu Changtian immediately seized the opportunity.
Xu Yinglian, standing beside him, had a complex expression and couldn’t help but recall the time her master wanted to arrange a marriage for her. Back then, her senior brother had stubbornly refused, as if he couldn’t care less about her.
Even now, in this illusion domain, her senior brother’s response was far better than it had been back then…
At that thought, a peculiar sorrow spontaneously welled up inside her heart.
“Feng Tong?” Seeing her expression was amiss and seemingly filled with sadness, Zhu Rong asked in a low voice.
“Please make a decision for us,” Xu Yinglian quickly concealed her thoughts and slightly bowed in respect.
Regardless, they still had to get through this illusion domain task.
Zhu Rong fell silent for a moment, apparently misunderstanding something, then suddenly said:
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“Xu Qiu, marriages between the Human Race and Demon Race are indeed rare. And since she’s from the Phoenix Clan, you should also be aware of the immense pressure her clan places on her.”
“If you cannot dispel her worries and give her enough security, even if you use your achievements to force me to grant your marriage, I still won’t agree.”
Qiu Changtian: ???
Seeing his bewildered face, Zhu Rong immediately flew into a rage and slapped his shoulder again:
“What’s with the dilly-dallying? Act like a man! Don’t you know what a woman wants?”
Qiu Changtian, keeping a straight face, swallowed another elixir for his fractured bone, and said:
“Please enlighten me, Your Majesty.”
“Get out!” Zhu Rong said, exasperated.
Qiu Changtian had no choice but to leave the tent with Xu Yinglian, the former remaining silent and the latter not uttering a word.
After a long while, Xu Yinglian took the initiative to speak:
“It was my fault for not controlling my emotions, leading to his misunderstanding.”
“But why did Junior Sister suddenly become emotional?” Qiu Changtian asked kindly.
Xu Yinglian did not answer, only hanging her head low, her expression seeming gloomy.
Qiu Changtian, after all, was quite astute, and after mulling over the recent events, he guessed that his junior sister was upset because of the forced marriage their master had arranged in the past.
This Junior Sister Xu… sigh, so headstrong! Well, as the senior brother, I should be more accommodating.
So, he said in a soft voice:
“If that’s the case, we could simply start over.”
“Start over?” Xu Yinglian was somewhat taken aback.
“Feng Tong,” Qiu Changtian then took her delicate hand and said passionately, “Marry me.”
Xu Yinglian immediately became furiously angry, grabbing her senior brother’s cheek and said fiercely:
“How dare you treat me with such disrespect, Senior Brother?”
“Cough.” Qiu Changtian struggled to break free, thinking that a direct marriage proposal like this was indeed too aggressive and abrupt for the women of this world. He earnestly said, “I was too abrupt, Junior Sister. But what I meant was, if we could start over, I would ask Master to initiate the marriage proposal to the Xu Family of Southern Heaven myself.”
This straightforward confession was so potent that Xu Yinglian’s cheeks flushed instantly. She quickly turned away in a panic, not allowing Qiu Changtian to see the expression on her face, and muttered:
“That wasn’t what I meant.”
“Okay then,” Qiu Changtian said nonchalantly.
“Junior Sister, what are you trying to imply? As your senior brother, could I be unaware?”
“Just keep being stubborn then!”
The two of them then turned to look for the temporary commander in the camp area, who was Zhu Rong’s eighteenth grandson, a member of the Witch Clan with a bulky frame, and an ever-present smile on his face, very different from those witches who seemed to think only with their muscles.
“I heard that the two of you are going to get married?” the other party asked with a cheerful smile, “That’s good news. Nowadays, under Bright Palace, the conflicts among Humans, Demons, and Witches are increasing, and although the king can suppress them with his prestige, it’s not a permanent solution.”
“If everyone could set aside racial prejudices and unite like you two, the king would also have much less to worry about,” he said with a mix of sincerity and flattery. Qiu Changtian didn’t bother with his veiled flattery and simply asked:
“Is there a mission that needs to be completed?”
“There are indeed a few missions left unclaimed. If no one takes them soon, the king will have to assign them by military decree.”
“Let me see them.”
Qiu Changtian took the list, selected a few missions, and asked Xu Yinglian:
“How about it?”
“I have no objections,” Xu Yinglian replied softly.
“Then let’s depart,” Qiu Changtian decided.
As a result, Xu Yinglian became even more gloomy and despondent.
She didn’t understand why she felt this way; she had been resistant to this marriage herself initially, but now the thought of her senior brother’s rejection still unconsciously made her uncomfortable.
Moreover, her senior brother hadn’t realized it yet, and even deliberately asked her “How about I propose once more, would that be okay?” How am I supposed to respond to that as the girl’s family? Do I have no shame left?
No more thinking! The more I think, the angrier I get!
They came to another segment of the river, where no cultivators from the Zhu Rong family were present, only the turbulent and surging river currents.
Qiu Changtian looked towards the river surface, where the waves churned ceaselessly; it was unknown whether enemies from the Gonggong camp were lying in ambush below.
The mission they took this time was to scout the enemy situation here—although the cultivators who had come before them had reported no enemy sightings, command at the front lines was still not entirely reassured, so Xu Qiu and others came here to confirm.
Qiu Changtian released his Divine Sense, scanning the water below.
Hmm, there were no traces of demons detected.
Ordinary cultivators might be deceived, but Qiu Changtian knew that there were many bizarre secret techniques and Divine Skills capable of misleading and obfuscating Divine Sense, so he mentally said:
“Ah Jing, help me scan!”
Kunlun Mirror still didn’t respond, but Xu Yinglian was already struggling with impatience. She simply pinched a Daoist Formula and expelled a thread of fire from her mouth, which shot towards the river with intensity.
Most fire system Daoist magic is characterized by being extremely violent and untamable, scattering quickly upon deployment, burning everything in its path.
However, the “Crimson Feather Nine Phoenix Fire” passed down through the bloodlines of the Phoenix Clan was naturally easy to control, moving as the will dictates, as handy as one’s own limbs.
Xu Yinglian compressed it in her meridians, turning it into a very fine thread of fire that not only made it hard for the enemy to detect and avoid but also increased its power several times over.
If one disregards the evil-vanquishing, curse-dispelling characteristics of Great Bright Fire, Crimson Feather Nine Phoenix Fire was clearly superior in lethality.
The thread of fire penetrated the river, and almost instantly, the entire river seemed to boil, as if in a giant cauldron on the stove.
Even more terrifying was that within the boiling water, countless tumbling bubbles contained the intense heat of “water-fire conflicting energy,” even a touch would rot the flesh and peel the skin of demons!
Sure enough, without much delay, the bodies of members of the Aquatic Clan floated to the surface, looking like they belonged to the shrimp and crab varieties from the Kun Race. They had been hiding in the riverbed’s silt but floated up after being cooked by the high temperatures, their shells completely reddened.
“Hmph!” Xu Yinglian, bristling with murderous intent, glanced sideways at Qiu Changtian, “It’s done, let’s move on to the next mission!”
Her gaze seemed as if it wanted to roast him as well.
Qiu Changtian chuckled awkwardly a few times, thinking to himself that in the future he would need to procure a Magical Treasure that could counter fire system magic.
Otherwise, as Junior Sister Xu’s fire system Daoist magic continued to grow in number and strength, if his identity were ever to be revealed, wouldn’t he be chased to the ends of the earth and burnt to a crisp with all sorts of True Fire?