Zu An walked out of the study room gloomily, feeling an unprecedented feeling of loneliness.

Chu Zhongtian and Qin Wanru had pulled Chu Chuyan aside to ask her for more details. Chu Huanzhao had spoken up on his behalf earlier, but she was still angry at him for forgetting her present. Even Snow wasn’t around anymore for him to bicker with.

As for Cheng Shouping, he was definitely out of question. Anything he told that man would become known to the world the following day.

Looking at the bright moon in the sky, Zu An suddenly felt deeply wistful. 

He recalled a poem that went ‘Raising my head to gaze at the clear moon, only to lower it out of nostalgia for my home’. He couldn’t understand this feeling in his previous world, since he could always reach home with a simple call, and even if he was at the opposite side of the world, it would only take a day’s journey to travel home. 

In the modernized world, with its myriad of convenient transportation technology, it was hard for him to understand the feeling of missing one’s home. It was only when he came to this foreign land and had been picked on by Qin Wanru over and over again that he finally understood it. The Chu clan wasn’t his home after all.

He suddenly found himself missing his home, and it made him sigh deeply.

It looks like I should really think about the matter of leaving.

This question had come up before. Back then, however, he had just transmigrated over, with no knowledge of this new world and no money in his pockets. Leaving abruptly clearly wasn’t a wise decision.

However, things were different now. He had hundreds of thousands of taels on him, and he had officially become a cultivator too. Granted, his cultivation wasn’t too high, but he still shouldn’t have too much difficulty protecting himself. More importantly, he even held an official position as a teacher in Brightmoon Academy. He definitely had the ability to strike out on his own.

Just as Zu An’s thoughts were drifting far away, a pleasant voice suddenly sounded by his ear. “What are you thinking of?”

Zu An turned around, and saw Chu Chuyan standing behind him. Her smooth black hair reached all the way to her waist, contrasting beautifully with her pale skin. Under the gentle moonlight, it looked like she was cloaked in a layer of divine light, making her seem like a fairy who had descended from heaven.

She was staring at him with glistening eyes that seemed to contain a world of stars.

Zu An found himself awed once again. The number one beauty of Brightmoon City indeed. Even the smallest gaze from her could easily drive countless men into a frenzy.

“Nothing much,” replied Zu An.

Despite being awed by her appearance, he wasn’t in his usual mood to tease her.

Chu Chuyan noticed the complicated emotions on his face, which prompted her to observe him even more closely. It didn’t take her long to sense the gloomy vibe around him, which astonished her.

All along, Zu An had always seemed to be a happy-go-lucky person who acted and spoke as he pleased. It was hard for her to imagine what was going through his mind to cause his face to show such complex emotions.

“I’m really sorry about what happened earlier. My mother bears no ill-will; it’s just that she’s too worried about me. She has always been blunt with her words, so don’t take what she said to heart,” explained Chu Chuyan.

Zu An was a little surprised to hear Chu Chuyan speaking on behalf of her mother. He had known her to be quite a cold and lofty individual. She would rarely take the initiative to speak to him, let alone bother to explain such matters.

He finally smiled and said, “I’m living my life out with you, not her. There’s no way I would pay her words too much heed.”

Chu Chuyan’s face reddened. It seems I’m worried about him for nothing. He’s still as thick-skinned as ever… 

For some reason, she had a feeling that Zu An was making fun of her mother, but the notion seemed far too ridiculous, and she tossed it to the back of her mind.

“That’s good. You must be exhausted after everything we’ve been through. You should have a good rest,” said Chu Chuyan before turning to take her leave.

A moment later, she suddenly halted and turned around to look at the man behind her in bewilderment. “Why are you following me?” she asked.

Zu An shrugged in response. “Didn’t you tell me to have a good rest?”

Chu Chuyan frowned. “Why are you following me, then? Your room is over there.”

Zu An put on an expression of shock. “Honey, you can’t possibly have forgotten what you promised me in the dungeon, right? You said that you would live together with me! Well, my room seems too small for the two of us, so it would be better for me to move to your residence instead…”

As Zu An started prattling on about how the room ought to be renovated, Chu Chuyan suddenly felt a headache settling in. “When did I promise you that we would live together?”

Zu An stared at her intently. “Are you feigning ignorance? I know that cultivation prodigies like you have perfect memories. Is this an attempt to renege on your promise?”

“I…” Chu Chuyan finally realized that she had indeed said something along these lines, and her face immediately reddened. “That won’t do. I only said those words because of the special circumstances we were in. Furthermore… I didn’t fully agree to such a thing either.”

“That’s too much!” Zu An retorted, rather displeased. “How could the first miss of the Chu clan renege on her promise? Fine, I’ll get everyone to adjudicate this matter on my behalf and determine who’s right!”

He immediately stomped off after saying those words.

“W-wait a moment!” Chu Chuyan quickly tried to stop him. She had always been a shy person, and she wouldn’t dare to show herself in public anymore if others were to learn of this matter.

However, Zu An continued walking away without paying her any heed.

This made her incredibly anxious, and all of a sudden, a chilling sensation gushed up her throat, and she spat out a mouthful of blood.

Horrified by the sudden change in her condition, Zu An immediately turned around and supported her. “What’s wrong? I was just joking with you. Surely you don’t have to get so anxious as to start spurting blood, right?”

It was then that he noticed several shards of ice in the blood she had spurted out earlier, leaving him rather stunned.

He was just about to ask her about it when her body suddenly went limp and collapsed sideways. He quickly rushed forward to hold her, and it was only then that he noticed that her lips had gone completely pale, and there was a chilling frost enveloping her body.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” asked Zu An anxiously.

“I… I’m fine. It’s just an old problem…” said Chu Chuyan, her voice weak. She wanted to explain that this was an affliction she had been suffering from over the years, which had worsened after the Clans Tournament, but she ended up fainting before she could finish.

“Honey, don’t worry. I’ll bring the physician over to treat you!” exclaimed Zu An as he carried her up.

“Don’t bother wasting your effort. An ordinary physician wouldn’t be able to treat her.”

A melodious voice that sounded both lofty yet seductive interrupted him unexpectedly. It was from Mi Li.

“Big sis empress! You’re awake?” Zu An was overjoyed.

Mi Li snorted coldly  in response. “I woke up a long time ago. I need to check your surroundings to see if there were any potential threats around you, lest I get done in by your foolishness.”

“So, did you find anything?” asked Zu An curiously.

“I haven’t found anything at the moment, but…” Mi Li suddenly changed her tone and remarked sharply, “I saw how that woman named Qin Wanru humiliated you earlier. I thought that you were a rather formidable figure. Who could have known that you’re actually treated with such scorn within this manor?”

Zu An was frustrated about it too. “What can I do about it? She’s the matriarch of the Chu clan after all. Not to mention, she’s Chuyan’s and Huanzhao’s mother.”

“That won’t do. The more I think about it, the angrier I become. I felt almost as if she was scolding me.” Mi Li’s tone suddenly grew frighteningly sharp. “A mere wife of a duke dares to act so arrogantly. In the past, even princes and their consorts dared not breathe loudly in my presence. Hmph! Shall I secretly lure her somewhere else and get rid of her? Having someone like her around will only bring great trouble in the future.”

Zu An’s safety was tied to her own. In her view, all threats should be nipped in the bud. In comparison, Qin Wanru’s life or death meant nothing to her at all. She was the type of person who would rather massacre thousands than let a person who posed a threat to her run free.

“That won’t do!” exclaimed Zu An in horror.

He wasn’t fond of Qin Wanru either, but killing her over this was going far too overboard.

“Ah, I understand it now.” Mi Li nodded in realization. “That Qin Wanru does have a fine face and a nice figure. I never thought that you would be into older women. Fine, I’ll do you a favor and capture her so that you can do whatever you want to her. We can always get rid of her after you’ve had your fun with her.”

Zu An felt his mouth fall open.

What in the world do you understand?

Why is your default solution to all problems to kill off the person?” Zu An was exasperated. “She’s the mother of my wife…”

Before he could finish, Mi Li cut him off with a cold snort. “You only think that way because your lowly birth doesn’t allow you to see how vile humans can be. Over the course of history, how many people have betrayed their families? If we just look at the imperial family, it’s common for brothers to kill one another and claim their wives… What I’m doing is already nothing much!”

Zu An had no idea how to respond to that.

He was quiet for a long while before replying in a serious tone, “The circle of nobility sure is complicated.”

“Sour grapes. You’re just saying so because you’re still too weak to even get into the upper echelons of society,” sneered Mi Li.

“Let’s talk about that next time. What’s with my wife’s current condition? Why did you say that an ordinary physician wouldn’t be able to treat her?” asked Zu An hurriedly. He noticed that his wife’s body was getting colder and colder.

“There’s a problem in the cultivation technique she practices. Or perhaps I should say that this is a common problem that all ice elemental cultivators suffer from. Anyone who practices ice element cultivation techniques has to absorb frost into their body, and over time, it’ll lead to an accumulation of frost in their ki meridians, body, and internal organs.

“While there are known ways to alleviate the negative effects arising from the accumulation of frost, it’s impossible to get rid of it. After all, cultivation is a battle against heaven. It’s only natural to suffer some retribution.”

Zu An was confused. “If there’s such a huge risk to ice element cultivation techniques, why would anyone even learn them?”

“Despite the downsides of ice element cultivation techniques, they’re incredibly powerful, possessing many advantages that other elements cannot compete with,” explained Mi Li. “It’s only natural to make some sacrifices to attain greater power.”

“That being said, while most ice elemental cultivators tend to have shorter lifespans and suffer from low fertility, this buildup usually doesn’t pose a direct threat to their life. Your wife’s condition seems to stem from her hasty growth. On top of that, she has found a different angle to ice elemental cultivation, which greatly enhanced the might of her attacks and the rate of her growth. At the same time, though, it has amplified the negative effects.

“On top of that, you fed her the Evanescent Lotus, which forcefully raised her cultivation by a whole rank. That shook her foundation, further magnifying the problems she was already suffering from. The strike from that old man from the Shi clan was the last straw, finally causing all these issues that she’s accumulated thus far to flare up. Right now, the frost has already permeated all of her vital organs. Even a god would find it hard to save her.”