"The leader of the Qianyou Sect graces my humble home. The Zhao Clan is truly honored!" "Haha, think nothing of it. Elder Zhao Xin, you flatter me. On this joyous wedding day, I present a thousand-year-old purple soul flower as a token of my Qianyou Sect's goodwill." The Zhao Clan's mansion was vast, its courtyards laid out with an elegant design of pavilions and towers. The wedding banquet was already underway, with over a hundred guests in attendance. Though not a massive crowd, each person present was a renowned cultivator from the Riyan Dynasty. They were representatives of their own powerful factions, any one of which was no weaker than the Zhao Clan itself. The Zhao Clan ancestor sat at the head of the banquet hall. Seeing his home once again crowded with such esteemed guests, his spirits soared. Once upon a time, this was the everyday glory of the Zhao Clan's forebears! It was a pity his descendants had been so unworthy. Not only had they squandered the family's assets, but they had been reduced to being the dominant power in Blackwater City alone. In the past, these very factions who came to celebrate today would have had to rely on the Zhao Clan's favor just to survive! Now, at last, his Zhao family could hold its head high again! Even if, he admitted to himself, they were borrowing the Chen family’s prestige to do it. The Zhao Clan ancestor suppressed his private elation, his face a mask of kindness and warmth. "Everyone," he said, his voice carrying across the hall, "allow me to offer the first toast." He finished speaking and raised his wine cup. "Today is the wedding day of my Zhao Clan's young master, Zhao Cheng. I toast you all!" As his voice fell, he drained the cup in one go. The surrounding guests raised their own glasses in response, drinking deeply. A wave of praise and compliments followed, and the Zhao Clan ancestor beamed, soaking in the flattering words he loved so much. Only… the thought of the nine-life demon cat still sent a pang of bitterness through him. Why did she have to escape? The ancestor's eyes flickered with a dark light. After sitting down, he glanced at a nearby table where Zhao Cheng was laughing and joking with his usual band of dissolute friends. A frown creased the old man’s brow. The boy was truly useless as mud on a wall, but he was his descendant nonetheless. And though the Chen family was marrying off a supposed waste, the Zhao Clan ancestor had seen Chen Yuexi. Her beauty and bearing were exquisite, so it wasn't an entirely unfair match for Zhao Cheng. All that was left was for the Chen family elder to lead Chen Yuexi out, and the wedding could proceed. On the other side of the Manor, Li Fan walked toward the entrance of the Zhao Clan mansion, Xiao Xi peering quietly from the crook of his arm. A crowd of mortals had gathered to watch the spectacle. Most simply hoped to bask in the cultivators' good fortune, maybe get a decent meal out of it. They cared little for the actual marriage. Li Fan presented his invitation, and the Zhao Clan guards at the gate waved him through. Just as he stepped inside, however, he heard a disdainful voice from behind. "Hmph. A bunch of freeloaders, all here to stuff their faces. Have they no shame?" Li Fan’s stride faltered for only a moment, but he didn't turn around. He simply continued walking. Su Jinxi, however, looked up at him in surprise. For a hidden master of the medical arts to be so insulted by someone barely better than a mortal, yet remain so calm… It seemed this Establishment of indifference was something few powerful cultivators could ever hope to achieve. She, Su Jinxi, certainly couldn't. The venue was large, with the mortals seated at the less prominent tables along the edge. "Oh, Doctor Li is here too!" "What a surprise! Doctor Li, find a seat, please! The food is excellent!" As Li Fan walked over, many people greeted him. Few in attendance hadn't visited his clinic for treatment at some point; they were all familiar faces. He responded to each of them with a nod and a smile, choosing an empty seat at random. A dazzling array of dishes was already laid out before him. Xiao Xi leaped from his arms and landed silently on the table. At that moment, the Zhao Clan ancestor stood at the highest point of the banquet, basking in the attention of the crowd, looking particularly proud. "See that? That's the ancestor of the Zhao Clan." The middle-aged stonemason beside him clapped Li Fan on the shoulder and pointed toward the high platform, his face full of envy. The stonemason, Lu Mu, knew a thing or two. He had been a cultivator in his youth, though he’d never even reached the foundation-building stage. A conflict with another had left him severely injured, his spiritual Foundation shattered, but he had still seen something of the world. As he spoke, Li Fan followed his gesture. "Ah… so it is." In truth, Li Fan had never seen a cultivator of such high standing, but he genuinely didn't care. He had let that life go. If one couldn't be a cultivator, wasn't it freeing to be a mortal? "Ai! Doctor Li, you don't understand! The Zhao Clan ancestor reached the Soul Division Stage a hundred years ago. There are barely a dozen Spirit-Severing cultivators in the entire Riyan Dynasty. We're lucky to see one in our lifetime!" The stonemason shook his head, muttering what a pity it was. Li Fan wasn't interested, but he was happy to humor the man. This senior certainly has patience, Su Jinxi thought, wagging her tail. What a joke. She was a being of a thousand years; she'd seen it all. The medicine cabinet in Li Fan’s clinic was filled with rare herbs, some of which even she had never encountered. The stonemason's words were, of course, ridiculous. Even she couldn't see through the cultivation of the man before her, so this mortal certainly couldn't. He truly thought Li Fan was just a commoner who had never seen the world. This was a medical saint of the Celestial Sovereign Period! A man who could refine medicine without a furnace or true qi! She wanted to say it aloud, but she held her tongue. She wouldn't risk frightening these mortals, disturbing Li Fan's quiet life among them, and earning his anger. Besides, she was here for revenge today. The Zhao Clan ancestor dared to hold a wedding? Ha! She, Su Jinxi, the great elder of the Nine-Life Demon Cat clan, would never tolerate the humiliation of being captured while she was weak. Just wait. The Zhao family's celebration was about to be ruined. The atmosphere in the banquet hall was boisterous, with guests from every faction toasting one another. Finally, the Zhao Clan ancestor coughed twice. The sound cut through the noise, and all eyes turned toward the high platform. Suddenly, a strain of music began to play. The chattering hall fell silent, because the bride, at that moment, had appeared. Li Fan looked over with the rest. Dressed in a red skirt and veiled by a heavy red scarf, the woman's figure was graceful. She glided from the side, each step as elegant as a blooming lotus, stirring something deep in the soul of every man present. A low murmur of admiration rippled through the crowd. Beside her walked an elder in green robes, his expression strangely grim and worried. But the mortals who had come for a free meal paid that no mind. "She's as beautiful as a fairy!" "Tsk, I don't know how the Zhao Clan managed to get such a jewel from the Chen family." "Not necessarily. I heard the Chen family proposed the marriage. There's a story there. The woman they married off is supposed to be a waste…" Gossip flew. With her true face still hidden, everyone stared, trying to imagine the beauty beneath the veil. Li Fan narrowed his eyes, a thoughtful look crossing his face. Who was she? He couldn't shake the feeling that this woman was somehow familiar. At the high table, the Zhao Clan ancestor spoke again, his voice booming like a bell. "Everyone, today is a great day for our Zhao Clan. Chen Yuexi, daughter of the Chen family head, is to be wed to the eldest young master of our Zhao Clan, Zhao Cheng. I ask you all to be our witnesses!" For a moment, the atmosphere was pushed to a fever pitch. The guests roared their approval, and Zhao Cheng stood, walking to his ancestor's side. As for Chen Yuexi, no one could see the expression she wore beneath her red scarf. Only the Zhao Clan ancestor seemed to sense that something was wrong… She glided forward, but as she did, a sharp flash of sword light erupted from her sleeve! With a single, fluid motion, she sliced through her veil. In that instant, the power of the seventh Establishment of the Nascent Divinity stage erupted from her, whipping the spiritual energy within ten paces into a violent vortex that stunned everyone into silence. The force of it shot straight toward Zhao Cheng. He recoiled in shock, but thankfully the ancestor was beside him and blocked the assault with a wave of his sleeve. "Marry you?" "I, Chen Yuexi, was a genius once, and I am a genius now!" "I will never marry a useless waste like you!" Chen Yuexi leveled her sword at Zhao Cheng, her long hair flying and her red skirt blazing like a fire. The sudden turn of events left everyone speechless. Su Jinxi, watching from her seat on the table, laughed inwardly. It seemed she wasn't the only one who wanted the Zhao Clan's wedding to end in humiliation. Li Fan was just as stunned, because the woman in the red dress, now bristling with defiant energy, was Chen Yuexi—the patient who had come to his clinic just this morning.

Chapter 5: A Feast of Ambition