Chapter 18: A Matrilocal Son-in-Law?

Leng Xuewei’s cyan dress fluttered in the breeze, giving her a delicate and graceful appearance. However, anyone who mistook her for a fragile, ordinary woman would be sorely mistaken. She was an extraordinary woman who had swept through the entire mountain, single-handedly defeating all the demonic beasts within.

"Let’s go," she said.

"Alright!" Qin Ming responded readily.

They stepped into the mountain. The ground was littered with shattered rocks and remnants of broken formations, with severed limbs scattered everywhere. Qin Ming, showing no disdain, began to pick through the debris. He managed to recover quite a few intact storage bags, which he tossed into his Nine Dragon Heaven-Burial Cauldron with satisfaction. Although he was a Daoist of Qing Province, he was well aware that in the face of the Three Thousand Great Provinces, Qing Province was merely a tiny speck—let alone compared to the Immortal Realms or the grand Immortal Mansions.

After circling the mountain, they found that all the demonic beasts had been slain. To their surprise, however, the "old creature" was nowhere to be found; otherwise, they would have butchered it as well.

"The treasury is in that direction," Qin Ming said, pointing.

"How do you know?"

"Intuition."

"Can intuition really be that accurate?"

"Naturally. It’s like being single for forty years—wouldn't you know exactly where every widow is within a ten-mile radius?"

Such a vulgar explanation made Leng Xuewei’s pretty face turn stern; she nearly slapped Qin Ming away.

A while later, the two arrived at a cave. Leng Xuewei’s cheeks were flushed, whether from the intensity of the earlier battle or some other reason, it was hard to tell. After Qin Ming shattered the protective array of the treasury, he pushed open the stone door. He was instantly stunned by the treasures within.

The room was filled with brilliant light. There were two hundred thousand catties of Immortal Source alone. Beyond that, there were countless spirit stones and spirit jade. Pills were stored shelf after shelf, while spirit herbs were piled in bundles, looking much like the fodder a mortal might pack to feed cattle.

"It’s all mine!"

Qin Ming’s face beamed with delight. He busied himself, darting back and forth, stuffing everything he could carry into his storage bags. He didn’t refine these resources immediately but tucked them away. It had to be said, looting the base of a behemoth of the Hundred-Broken Mountains was incredibly satisfying. Centuries of accumulation had been wiped out in an instant. If that old snake knew, it would likely vomit blood in rage.

"You seem a bit greedy. An excessive attachment to external objects will affect your Dao heart," Leng Xuewei remarked. The bit of favor she had just begun to feel toward him lessened. In the end, he was still small-minded.

"What do you call greed? I call it altruism. I just want to provide a warm home for all the treasures in the world. Is that a crime?" Qin Ming retorted. "Besides, what is a 'Dao heart'? I don’t even have one, so how could it be affected?"

After working for a while, he finally emptied the old snake’s treasury. He even dug three feet into the ground to retrieve the high-quality paving bricks. These bricks were crafted from special spirit stones and shouldn't be wasted; they could be tossed into the Nine Dragon Heaven-Burial Cauldron for refinement all the same.

After digging three feet down, Qin Ming looked at the chaotic mess and felt something was wrong. He had been too conservative. Only three feet? He immediately channeled his cultivation energy and dug down more than ten yards. Sure enough, beneath those depths, he found more spirit stones and jade—the old snake’s secret stash. Finally, after checking left and right to ensure nothing remained, he left, fully satisfied.

This place was undoubtedly the deepest part of the Hundred-Broken Mountains, a forbidden zone for many cultivators in Qing Province. Yet today, Qin Ming had "pierced through" this forbidden zone—not just figuratively, but physically, by digging ten yards into the bedrock of its treasury.

"Many thanks, Miss Leng!" Qin Ming cupped his hands. "The old creature isn't here; it must have gone to refine the Heaven-Tribulation Root. That is a precious item, rare even in the Immortal Mansions."

Leng Xuewei did not know that the Heaven-Tribulation Root was already in Qin Ming's possession. Qin Ming’s eyes flickered. If a noblewoman from an Immortal Mansion called it a good thing, then it certainly was. However, he didn't take it out; it would be too difficult to explain. How could he say he had clashed with the old snake and walked away with the root? Explaining his strength would be far too complicated.

"May I ask where you are heading, Miss Leng? I could escort you," Qin Ming offered.

Leng Xuewei didn't say much. Her cyan dress fluttered, her aura overflowing with an ethereal, immortal quality. She left the mountain, and Qin Ming followed. Once they were out of the Hundred-Broken Mountains, she stopped.

"Very well, there is no need to escort me further."

"It’s fine, let me see you a bit further. I’m mostly worried about running into that old snake again," Qin Ming said with an awkward smile. He had emptied the creature's nest, which was a blood feud—the kind that would never end until one of them died. And as of now, he didn't have the strength to stand up to it.

Leng Xuewei’s smooth forehead creased with frustration. This guy truly pushed his talent for calculation to the extreme.

They stood side by side; Qin Ming was a head taller than Leng Xuewei. Both were outstanding in appearance, looking like a pair of celestial beings. In the silence, Qin Ming felt a flicker before his eyes, like a gentle breeze passing by.

The next second, a middle-aged woman appeared out of nowhere. She wore her hair in a serpent-coil bun, held in place by a sheep-fat white jade hairpin. A few loose strands fell against her fair neck, looking both lively and gentle. She wore a moon-white robe that perfectly accentuated her slender waist, exuding a soft, elegant beauty.

"Sister Zhou Lin." Leng Xuewei walked to the woman’s side and whispered a few words in her ear.

The woman called Sister Zhou Lin looked at Qin Ming, scanning him up and down. Qin Ming felt as if his entire being had been laid bare. He quickly channeled his Undying Dao Birth Physique to suppress his terrifying aura, focusing his defenses particularly around the area where the Nine Dragon Heaven-Burial Cauldron lay dormant. His physique could conceal most of his power. Under its mask, he appeared to others as nothing more than a slightly better-than-average cultivator.

"Ordinary physique, ordinary talent. Not a true genius," Zhou Lin remarked, shaking her head. "Xuewei, it’s not that I refuse to invite this person to the Spirit Void Immortal Mansion, but he simply doesn't qualify. If it were that 'Great Demon God of the Heavenly Road' you mentioned, that would be different. Unfortunately, this person cannot compare to him."

"Do you fancy this boy? If you truly like him, it wouldn't be impossible for him to become your live-in husband," she teased.

Hearing this, Leng Xuewei let out a soft, embarrassed sound. "Sister Zhou Lin..." She sighed. She realized she couldn't bring Qin Ming to the Spirit Void Immortal Mansion after all. He wasn't the Great Demon God of the Heavenly Road. The inheritance of the Heavenly Road had chosen to seal itself away for the sake of that Great Demon God; this was well known even within the Spirit Void Immortal Mansion. The Heavenly Road inheritance had guarded the lower realms for tens of thousands of years, following a person of great destiny in every generation. This confirmed that the Great Demon God was indeed that person of great destiny. That was why she had deigned to descend to the lower realms to recruit him.

Leng Xuewei handed Qin Ming a token. He didn't refuse and accepted it. The token was carved from fragrant sandalwood, its scent filling the air.

"This is a token of the Spirit Void Immortal Mansion. If one day you have the opportunity to ascend, you may come to the Leng family and find me. It will fulfill one request for you," she said. "Consider it repayment for saving my life."