by Catofdreams
"Such a young lass, yet already suffering…", the woman extended her hand towards the scared Lei Wu, who looked at the powerful woman before her. The woman had a gentle look on her face, which made Lei Wu immediately feel relieved, but she couldn't bear to hurt another person anymore.
"B-big sister… thank you for helping me, but you have to stay away from me. People around me end up dying. I don't want you to end up the same, big sister…", Lei Wu told the woman in front of her as tears fell down her cheeks.
The woman gave her a gentle smile and wiped the tears off her face.
"Don't worry. This big sister is quite powerful. Come with me and I'll help you find a solution to your problem.", the woman gently said as her hand remained extended.
Lei Wu hesitated for a bit, but the woman in front of her felt extremely reliable, which made her accept her offer. She took the woman's hand and followed her.
The woman taught Lei Wu different methods of cultivation, as well as different arts she could use to defend herself. Lei Wu trained under her for more than five years.
Lei Wu's progress was extremely fast since the Fairy Demon's Avatar was a big help to her cultivation. Normal cultivators would take almost ten years before reaching the Bone Refining Realm, yet she did it in two years. She even ended up surpassing the next few realms within the five years she trained, and when the woman had finished training her, she was already at the Earth Shattering Realm, which normally took decades for a cultivator to achieve.
The moment Lei Wu broke through to the Earth Shattering Realm, her master suddenly disappeared. She desperately tried searching for her, but all she could find was a note that her master left.
"You are now powerful enough to stop the Fairy Demon's Avatar from seeking havoc. Your master still has to continue on her journey, so continue to train hard and perhaps we may meet again."
It was at that moment that Lei Wu decided that she would become powerful just like her master. She continued to train for centuries. While she was training, she took in orphans she found and taught them the different arts that she accumulated throughout the years, but most of them were only compatible with women, so she built an orphanage for those that could not follow the path of cultivation.
As the number of people that she trained started growing in number, the Sleeping Fairy Sect was born.
Lei Wu also found out the name of the master that trained her when she was invited to meet with different sects, and the name of her master was Xue Yan. She tried to find ways to meet Xue Yan, but none of them worked. All she knew was that Xue Yan was now the most powerful cultivator alive.
"Forgive me, Brother Cheng… I couldn't help but be excited after hearing the news of my master having a husband.", Lei Wu sighed as she silently cursed herself for being too careless with her power.
"It's fine, Sister Wu. And yes, she is indeed married. I think they got married around six years ago, or so I heard.", Wen Cheng answered her question.
The masters around the room already knew about this piece of information, but Lei Wu had no idea about it. She was extremely busy with her cultivation during the past few decades since she was trying to break through to the Divine Realm which meant that she had no idea about any of the happenings in the outside world.
Although everyone else did know about her being married, none of them knew who she was married to.
"Wen Cheng. If I may ask… who did Xue Yan marry?", Chen Yuan asked the question that everyone in the room wanted to ask.
"Do you all know the name of the group that the Heavenly Duan Sect joined?", Wen Cheng asked everyone. Some of them shook their heads, while some of them nodded. Chen Yuan also seemed to know the name, but he couldn't believe that the arrogant and prideful Hao Liuxian would agree to join a group with a name like theirs.
"I believe it is called the Lang Jie Fanclub.", Chen Yuan responded.
Wen Cheng nodded.
"Lang Jie is the name of Xue Yan's husband.", Wen Cheng answered his earlier question.
Everyone in the room looked at each other, trying to figure out if anyone knew who this 'Lang Jie' was, but no one seemed to have heard of his name before.
"What sect does he belong to? Or perhaps, did he train by himself in seclusion? How come I have never heard of this man before?", Chen Yuan once again pelted Wen Cheng with more questions in order to satisfy his curiosity.
Wen Cheng let out a sigh as he knew he was about to deliver a huge shock to everyone in the room.
"He does not belong to any sect, nor did he train by himself."
Wen Cheng's response only brought more suspense as the mystery surrounding the great cultivator's husband continued to grow.
The room was now filled with noise as everyone started talking about Lang Jie. They all exchanged their opinions. Some thought that he was raised by Xue Yan herself, or that Lang Jie was someone conjured by Xue Yan. No one even came close to getting the right answer since none of them could imagine the great cultivator being married to someone that is weaker than her. They all know that Xue Yan was always hungry for more power back when she was still training, so it was hard to imagine her with a husband by her side.
Wen Cheng shook his head as he listened to the speculations that everyone in the room had.
"Lang Jie is not a cultivator, a scholar, or a conjured lie…", Wen Cheng raised his voice and gathered the attention of everyone, who immediately fell silent as they all wanted to hear the truth.
"Lang Jie is… a mortal."
Everyone in the room gasped in surprise. Some even fell off their chair as soon as they heard Wen Cheng's words.
Chen Yuan was the one that was most surprised. Just the thought of the most powerful cultivator marrying a mere mortal was so ridiculous that it seemed like a joke, but as he looked at Wen Cheng's face, Chen Yuan knew that Wen Cheng wasn't lying.
"Does he hold a lot of power in the mortal world? Perhaps he is a tycoon that has a lot of influence all over the world?", another master asked Wen Cheng. Everyone also thought that maybe there was a good reason that Xue Yan married a mortal, but they could only depend on Wen Cheng to satisfy their curiosity.
Wen Cheng only shook his head in response.
"The man is a normal office worker. He used to work in a company that was under the Heavenly Duan Sect, but I took that company off them in order to try and please Xue Yan.", Wen Cheng replied to the master's question.
Everyone thought that the shock they felt earlier was already the most surprise they'd feel for the rest of the day, but as soon as they heard Wen Cheng's response, the level of the shock they all received reached a new peak.
"There must be a reason for her to marry a mortal like him… Like his looks? Or perhaps he used some kind of spell?", Chen Yuan's curiosity was still far from satiated.
Wen Cheng thought about it, but as he imagined Lang Jie's face in his mind, he could only rate it as average. But he did indeed know the real reason. The stories that Lang Jie told him was enough for him to deduce the reason why Xue Yan acted the way she did.
"He did indeed use a spell to capture the great cultivator's heart…", Wen Cheng told them, increasing the suspense that everyone felt.
At that moment, everyone thought of the same thing:
'What kind of powerful spell could capture a cultivator at the Immortal Emperor Realm?'
If they could find out what spell it was, perhaps they could use it for their own gain. After all, if it was something that could control an extremely powerful cultivator, it would be considered as a godly art, especially since it could control the most powerful cultivator around.
Everyone was on the edge of their seats as they all felt eager to hear Wen Cheng's answer.
Wen Cheng slowly opened his mouth, raising the tension in the atmosphere. All of the other masters were ready to give the order to dispatch their entire sect in order to obtain the spell, but the words that came out of Wen Cheng's mouth made them all feel stupid.
"Lang Jie used the power of love."<
br />
As soon as Wen Cheng said that, everyone in the room groaned and rubbed the temples of their heads as they felt that they lost a few of their brain cells throughout the entire discussion.
CHAPTER 27 – “THE HOUSEWIFE’S HUSBAND CAN SHOW HIS ASSERTIVENESS AT TIMES”
"There's no way that Xue Yan fell in love with a mortal!"
"What kind of sick joke is this, Wen Cheng?!"
The masters around the room angrily shouted at Wen Cheng. They all took him seriously, yet he dared to say something completely unbelievable. The only one who stayed silent was Lei Wu, as she knew that Xue Yan always had a reason for why she does things. Also, if she really was being coerced, that would mean that her husband was way more powerful than her since there is no way that a technique that could bind the first-ever recorded Immortal Emperor Realm cultivator existed.
"You can all choose to believe me or not. I'm just saying what I've speculated throughout the small time frame that I've spent with the married couple.", Wen Cheng stood his ground and bravely faced the other masters. His determination seemed to have gone through to the other masters, which made his words a bit more credible, but its absurdity was still too much for them to believe it.
"Then, we should go and see what kind of man this Lang Jie is! If we can see the situation ourselves, we should be able to tell what's going on.", Chen Yuan suggested.
The other masters seemed to nod their heads in agreement except for Wen Cheng, who shook his head as he heard the suggestion.
"I suggest you don't do that… unless you wish for your sect to be obliterated and forced to join the Lang Jie Fanclub…", Wen Cheng told them.
At that moment, everybody remembered what happened to the Heavenly Duan Sect when they made a move on Xue Yan's husband. All of them immediately changed their stance.
"We should just leave the married couple alone."
"Yes, let's not disturb them."
"Since the Heavenly Duan Sect's dissolution was their own fault, let's just let this matter go."
These words were being thrown around in the room. All of the masters, even Chen Yuan, felt afraid of going against Xue Yan, even if they were to do it indirectly. None of them could risk the life of their precious sects just to find out about the Immortal Emperor Realm cultivator's husband since they were getting nothing good from it.
The people around the table felt that they were utterly powerless against Xue Yan, so they decided to leave the matter regarding the Heavenly Duan Sect be. Although they really wanted to know the truth, they knew that it would come with a heavy sacrifice, which none of them were ready to make, except for one…
"If none of you are willing to do it, let me do it then."
Lei Wu bravely volunteered to do what everyone was too scared to. Although she was also afraid of her master's wrath, she wanted to find out about what kind of man her master married, but that is just part of the reason why she decided to do it. She also wanted to meet her master and thank her for the things she did in the past and hoped that they could become acquaintances.
The masters around Lei Wu looked at her with a look of gratefulness mixed with a little bit of sorrow. Although they were glad that someone volunteered to uncover the truth, they knew that this might be the last time they'll meet Lei Wu. Her sect was not as big as the Heavenly Duan Sect, so if the same tragedy would befall upon the Sleeping Fairy Sect, they might not be able to recover.
Wen Cheng looked at Lei Wu's determined face and saw that she really wanted to do it. Out of all the sect masters in the alliance, only him, Hao Liuxian, and Chen Yuan knew about her past relationship with Xue Yan, so he knew that she had another motive in visiting Xue Yan. Plus, since Xue Yan did teach her before, Wen Cheng hoped that Xue Yan might show some leniency if she does anything wrong.
"Do as you will. Just be careful not to offend Xue Yan.", Chen Yuan told Lei Wu. He had the same opinion as Wen Cheng.
"I won't. I just wish to find out about my master's husband.", Lei Wu responded.
As her words reached the other masters' ears, they were surprised to hear that Lei Wu's master was Xue Yan. They then realized why Lei Wu had enough courage to face Xue Yan. All of them had their own masters, some of which have already passed on to the next life. They all longed to see their masters since they were like a parent to them, so they all fully understood Lei Wu's feelings.
"We all hope for your safe return, Sister Wu. And, if possible… do not do anything that could disrupt the peaceful balance that the martial world is at now.", Wen Cheng told Lei Wu, who immediately understood what he meant. If her sect would join the Lang Jie Fanclub, the martial world would have two big factions. Even if they could coexist in peace, the two factions would act cautiously, in fear of offending the other, which ends up building tension that could possibly lead to war.
"I will. Thank you, Brother Cheng.", Lei Wu responded with a bow.
The room fell silent for a while. The masters looked at each other, waiting to see if there were still other matters to discuss, but none of them seemed to have anything to raise.
"Since there are no other matters to discuss, let us adjourn this meeting.", Chen Yuan announced. Everybody else was happy to oblige and showed their respects to the other sect masters. Moments after, the room was now empty as everyone had to tend to their own sects.
Lei Wu rushed back towards her sect with a smile on her face as the excitement she felt couldn't be contained.
"Master… I can finally meet you once again…"
*ACHOO*
"Honey? Is the air conditioning too cold?", Lang Jie asked Xue Yan, who suddenly sneezed out of nowhere. The two of them were cuddling under a blanket on the couch in their basement while watching a movie together.
"It's nothing, darling… someone must be talking about me.", Xue Yan continued basking in the warmth of her husband as she watched the movie playing on the television screen.
Since her husband loved movies and they now had a movie room, Xue Yan decided that she should use those to her advantage. While she waited for her husband to return home, she sought advice from her most trusted ally.
"Hey Chiri, find me a good romance movie."
Xue Yan commanded her ally, who was quick to respond with a cheerful tune. Xue Yan looked at her phone, which now displayed the list containing the information that her faithful ally worked hard to collect.
As she scrolled through the list while checking the ratings and reading the synopses, as well as reading the reviews left by the people who watched it, she finally found one that matched what she wanted.
"Very good Chiri… you have yet to disappoint me.", Xue Yan praised her skillful comrade as she patted the top of her phone. In the past, she tried watching a few romance movies with her husband, but she would always fall asleep midway since they were all too boring. This time, she thoroughly read through everything in order to find something that would entertain her while she could cuddle with her husband.
And now, as we go back to the present, we come back to see the great Xue Yan's eyes slowly starting to close due to drowsiness.
Lang Jie was completely immersed in the movie. As long as it had a story and good acting, Lang Jie's eyes would be glued to the screen until the end of the movie.
Midway through the movie, Xue Yan knew that this was a battle that she had once again lost. She closed her eyes and resigned to her fate. Lang Jie, however, didn't notice since he was enjoying the movie.
"How is Noah not good enough for Allie?!"
"Fin! No! You were such a good friend! "
"No… even if you weren't her true love, running away a few days before your wedding is too cruel… poor Lon…"
"Oh. My. God. The story written in the notebook was their story?!"
Lang Jie couldn't help but gasp and let his thoughts leak through his mouth as the movie took different twists and turns.
Even though Lang Jie made a lot of noise, Xue Yan peacefully slept through the whole movie as she rested her head on her husba
nd's lap. Lang Jie also had no idea that his wife had already fallen asleep due to the heartaches he felt throughout the movie.
As the movie played its ending scene, Lang Jie wiped off the tears in his eyes. The last punch that the movie gave him hurt his heart too much and brought him to tears.
Lang Jie started sniffling as the credits started to roll, which immediately caused Xue Yan's eyes to open and anger to start welling up inside her.
"Who is it?! Who dares to make this Venerable One's beloved cry?!", Xue Yan got up and looked around the room, looking for whatever caused her husband's sorrow. She tightly hugged her husband and rubbed his back.
