Chapter 522 – Taking in the Seventh Wife, Dragon Vein Cracking, Flame-Tipped Spear - Part 3

A few days later.

One afternoon, Li Yuan used the excuse of helping his sister-in-law carry groceries to the market and slipped out of the house with Xie Wei.

The moment they were outside, he tugged her hand and led her into a quiet, shadowed alley.

As they hurried in, Xie Wei glanced at him, amused. “Don’t even think about it. I told you before, there’s no going back. You should set your heart on Yu’er and treat her well.”

But Li Yuan suddenly said, “Have you ever wondered...who I really am?”

Her smile vanished in an instant.

Xie Yu might be innocent, but she wasn’t.

From the beginning, she had known that this

Ximeng Gucheng

was merely a mask. Behind it lay something far deeper...and far more dangerous.

To the average person, she, as the former Empress Dowager, had wielded unimaginable power. But even then, she’d always known she was still just a piece on the board.

And this man before her? He was likely the one tipping that board, deciding who lived and died with a flick of his wrist.

She had always made herself ignore it, played along, pretended not to see. But pretending wasn’t the same as not knowing.

Everything she said and did was addressed to Ximen Gucheng, not the terrifying force behind him.

So now, her smile faded, replaced by a calm, unfamiliar coldness.

“Whatever this senior desires...I am willing to do it,” Xie Wei said, “All I ask is that you continue living by Yu’er’s side, as Ximen Gucheng. Children are rare, and the one she carries is yours. And more than that...she truly loves you.”

Xie Wei’s tone had changed. So had her title for him.

Li Yuan gave a wry smile. “Don’t do that. I came to speak plainly with you today because I want you to take on more responsibility, to command greater power. You have the ability, and the organization I’m talking about is currently unused. Putting it in your hands... puts my mind at ease. This isn’t some manipulation; I’m doing this because I trust you as one of my own.”

Xie Wei’s expression softened. “What organization?”

“Come with me. I’ll show you,” Li Yuan said.

Before long, the two of them stood deep within the mountains.

Though snow blanketed the landscape, the place didn’t feel abandoned. Not far off, the main mountain path had already been swept clean. Pilgrims were steadily making their way up the long stone steps.

This was the temple of Yan Yu.

Xie Wei stared at the path ahead.

She knew exactly where it led.

Beyond it was the back mountain, the prison grounds under Yan Yu’s domain. The very place where the real Yan Yu resided.

“You’re with Yan Yu?”

Xie Wei made the connection instantly. But as soon as she said it, she shook her head. She was no commoner. Not easily fooled by legends.

To ordinary folk, Yan Yu was a revered goddess. But to someone like Xie Wei, who’d once ruled the empire, she knew better.

The real Yan Yu’s strength wasn’t so different from the Apparel Atelier in the Jade Capital. In fact, at the beginning, she might’ve been even weaker.

And the man standing beside her, judging by the power he had revealed thus far, was certainly not below Yan Yu in strength.

No. More likely...she served

him.

As expected, Li Yuan said softly, “No.”

Snow drifted silently from the sky.

The two of them walked along the quiet mountain path.

Winding and secluded, the trail grew narrower and more remote with each step.

Xie Wei’s thoughts were racing. Every scrap of knowledge she had about Yan Yu surged to the surface.

One step. Two steps. Three...

Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks.

A name, absurd, impossible, flashed through her mind.

She couldn’t breathe. Her heartbeat seemed to freeze.

Her eyes widened as she turned toward the gray-cloaked martial artist beside her.

Li Yuan smiled. “Figured it out? Honestly, by this point, someone like you was bound to piece it together if you just thought about it.”

Xie Wei said, slowly and clearly, “Back during the battle in the Jade Capital, everyone thought the Lotus Cult won. They fought the Emperor, and in the end, it looked like the Lotus Cult prevailed.But I knew they hadn’t. Their true goal was never achieved, and before long, they collapsed into scattered factions.

“After that, everyone believed the Emperor had used some secret trump card to escape. That he joined forces with the Xie Clan’s armored cavalry, rallied the armies of the realm, recaptured the Jade Capital, and reclaimed his throne. But you and I both know...the Emperor was already dead.

“So neither side truly won. And yet, in the aftermath of that chaos, the one who rose to power was none other than Yan Yu. And by her side, always faintly visible, floated an elusive figure, someone no one could ever get a read on.”

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

She looked straight at the man beside her, her voice calm and precise. “That elusive figure...was named Li Yuan.”

Time seemed to pause.

Li Yuan said, almost fondly, “Sister-in-law, you guessed right.”

“...” Xie Wei was silent. Then she lowered her gaze slightly. “Forgive me, Senior.”

Her heart was a storm of conflicting emotions.

Li Yuan no longer concealed anything. His form began to shift, muscle and bone squirming as he changed.

Xie Wei had seen this transformation before. Many times. It was no stranger to her now.

Only, this time, when the transformation ended, the man before her was no longer the gray robed Ximen Gucheng.

He had become a young man, plain in appearance, but radiating immense presence. His eyes were calm, his aura powerful.

He smiled gently and said, “Sister-in-law, this is the real me.”

“...” Xie Wei didn’t reply. Instead, a flicker of fear passed through her.

She instinctively stepped back, but before she could retreat further, the youth stepped forward and wrapped an arm around her waist, stopping her.

The contact, warm and familiar, washed over her like a tide. Her fear melted away in an instant.

She arched an eyebrow and said teasingly, “So...do you want

me

, or do you just want me to work for you?”

If he were still Ximen Gucheng, she’d never dream of competing with Xie Yu. But if he was someone else...then why should she hold back? After all, this man already belonged to Yan Yu. What difference would one more woman make?

But before Li Yuan could answer, she stepped back again and placed her hands on his chest, gently pushing him away. “Forget it. You’re still Ximen Gucheng. We...”

She didn’t get to finish.

Li Yuan suddenly pulled her into an embrace and brought her to the ground.

Xie Wei responded like a woman possessed, wild, passionate, and unrestrained.

In the snowy wilderness, after a long, fevered entanglement, the two finally stilled.

Xie Wei quietly pulled her pants back on, covering her pale, trembling legs bit by bit.

After their passionate entanglement, Xie Wei found herself reassured.

Even if the man before her was terrifying in power and shrouded in secrets, he was still at his core the same one she knew. That didn't change.

She finished pulling on her clothes, then began tidying her tousled hair. As she smoothed the loose strands, she said softly, “I’ve weathered a lot in this life. All I want now is a sturdy tree to lean on. Looks like...that tree is you. Besides, my body’s already... adjusted to your presence.”

Her voice was calm, resolved. “From now on, I’ll follow you. Whether or not there’s a title attached to it doesn’t matter anymore. But Ximen Gucheng, that name belongs to Yu’er. In that home, we must never...”

Li Yuan nodded without a word, then took her hand and led her deeper into the mountains.

There, Yan Yu was waiting for them.

And perhaps, with Xie Wei now in the picture, this year’s New Year’s feast might have more than just one quiet table.

Yan Yu liked a lively crowd. More people meant more warmth. She would be happy.

As for the question Xie Wei had asked earlier, some questions didn’t need an answer.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

A few days later.

The Ginger Tavern welcomed a new figure to its highest ranks.

She was said to be a judge, one of the mysterious enforcers under Yan Yu’s banner. No one had ever seen her face before. It was said Yan Yu herself had appointed her to oversee the Ginger Tavern and the expansive merchant guild behind it.

Around the same time, the tavern launched a seasonal treat, the white plum pastry. Soft, fragrant, and just sweet enough, it quickly became a favorite. Nearly every guest who passed through the tavern ordered a serving.

No one knew who the new judge really was. But as rumors spread that the White Plum Pastry had been handcrafted by her, the judge gained a new name among the patrons—

Lady White Plum.

Of course, others might have remained in the dark, but Xie Wei didn’t hide the truth from her little sister.

When she finally confessed, Xie Yu's jaw practically dropped.

“Huh? Sister...

you’re

Lady White Plum? You-you...” She simply couldn’t wrap her head around it.

But then Xie Wei leaned in and whispered a few words in her ear.

Suddenly, Xie Yu’s eyes widened in realization.

It turned out, Xie Wei had told her the truth; she was now

Li Yuan’s

woman.

Immediately, though, a confused look crossed Xie Yu’s face. “Wait...Li Yuan? Wasn’t he some weaponsmith from over 30 years ago? How did he suddenly become...my brother-in-law?!”

Xie Wei let out a helpless sigh. So she carefully, patiently explained some of the truths, the kind of

secrets

that weren’t secrets at all, at least not among the higher ranks.

Xie Yu listened in a daze, her mind spinning, utterly shocked by the scale of what she was hearing.

When the whole story was finally laid out, she practically leapt to her feet. “Wait, so that means, you and Yan Yu are basically...basically—”

“Mhmm,” Xie Wei said lightly. “In terms of order, I suppose I should call her Big Sister.”

Xie Yu sat stunned for a long moment before she finally gave her sister a playful shove and said, “Sister, you’re amazing! How did you end up with

that

kind of man and not even breathe a word? Do you think he really likes you?”

Xie Wei smiled. “What do I have that’s even worth using someone for?”

Xie Yu blinked, then asked, “So, does this mean you’re moving out?”

Xie Wei chuckled. “Not just yet. Someone still has to look after you, doesn’t she?”

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Li Yuan was far from home in a remote wilderness, alone in the wind and snow.

Xie Wei’s rise to power gave him a distinct sense that his base in the south was truly beginning to flourish, quietly but unmistakably on the rise.

But just now, fresh news had reached him, passed discreetly through Ying Zhuoyao.

The six kingdoms had reached a shocking, unprecedented consensus. They were initiating the full-scale Grand Unity of Yin and Yang. Why? Because they needed it, needed more meat fields, needed stronger cultivation resources, needed power.

Whether to resist the Ice Folk or to fend off each other, strength was all that mattered.

Everyone knew the Grand Union of Yin and Yang came with catastrophic consequences. The kind that could doom entire regions.

But if they were destined to lose anyway, then why not drag the world down with them?

And so, the Six Kings began rolling it out, quietly, quickly, and decisively.

The most chilling part? Almost the moment this thought took root, disciples of the Lotus Cult began appearing by their sides, ready to teach them exactly how to carry it out.

Using a foreign ghost item on a ghost was one of the most efficient ways to trigger fusion. But it was also one of the deadliest.

The problem was that it required time, too much time. The moment an undying husk used a ghost item, death came swiftly. Most couldn’t even hold out long enough for the item to finish activating.

This meant that manually promoting ghost fusion had long been considered utterly unworkable.

But this time...something was different.

A set of new, dark, twisted skills of unknown origin had emerged.

And with them came a terrifying momentum behind the Grand Union of Yin and Yang.

Li Yuan stood in silence, eyes fixed coldly on the horizon. Around him, sound began to vanish. Light, too. His domain was compressing. He summoned the ancestral seal seeds from within, letting their power churn and spiral, forming new boundaries.

At his fingertip, the withered flame emerged.

It circled and spun, wrapping itself into the collapsing domain.

Then, suddenly, it flared.

A blinding red streak shot through the vortex of collapsing and spinning power in his palm.

All his tireless practice, all the failed attempts, and this time, almost by accident, he’d succeeded.

The red streak in his hand didn’t form a blade.

Instead, it surged forward with wild intensity, stabbing and lashing out. Then, in his grasp, it stretched long and sharp, transforming into a searing line of flame.

At the tip, a flame flared, pointed like a spearhead.

It looked just like a flame-tipped spear.

Li Yuan glanced at his internal state.

Sure enough, a new entry had appeared in his skill list.

Unnamed Ultimate Skill - Rank 3 (1/1)

He thought for a moment, considered his form and the weapon’s shape, and murmured, “Let’s keep it simple... I’ll just call it the Flame-Tipped Spear.”

Moments later, he turned and headed home.

But as soon as he arrived at the old residence, the little crow came swooping down, whispering urgently into his ear:

“Papa, something’s wrong. Mama says the Dragon Vein’s gate in the ancient ghost street is trembling, like something’s trying to break through.”

Li Yuan’s pupils shrank. He turned sharply toward the house, where smoke from lunch was rising from the kitchen.

“Yu’er!” he shouted. “I just thought of a brilliant new blade skill. You all go ahead and eat, I need to go practice it right away!”

Without another word, he spun on his heel and rushed out into the snow.