You must know that the only reason Gu Xinyue was willing to become Chen An's concubine was to get medical treatment for her gravely ill father.
Now that her father had passed away, Chen An worried she might regret it and back out.
Yet, as things stood, that worry was clearly a bit unnecessary.
Gu Xinyue had even more principles than he imagined, and was able to carry out the promise of "keeping one's word" all the way to the end.
Over the next few days.
Chen An reduced his alchemy time and frequently made time to visit Gu Xinyue, hoping to foster deeper affection between them.
As his wife, Song Huaying would occasionally tag along to get a head start on interacting with her new sister-in-law.
In the blink of an eye, nearly half a month had passed since the day Gu Xinyue's father died.
Today.
Chen An woke up early, preparing to bring a homemade breakfast to Gu Xinyue, who lived right across the hall.
"Creak—"
He pushed open the courtyard gate and walked slowly toward Gu Xinyue's home.
But just as his front foot crossed the threshold, his back foot suddenly stopped, his gaze falling upon the courtyard wall next to the door.
There, he saw Gu Xinyue squatting on the ground with her back against the wall, motionless, with several bulging bundles placed beside her.
"Fellow Daoist Gu, why are you out here?"
"Alchemist Chen, I'm here to marry you."
"..."
Following this brief exchange, the air grew somewhat quiet.
This new concubine of his seemed to have a rather straightforward personality.
Thinking this, Chen An stepped forward, picked up the bundles beside Gu Xinyue, and said with a smile:
"Fellow Daoist Gu, it's hot outside, come inside and sit down."
"Mhm."
Gu Xinyue uttered a single syllable in response, quietly getting up and following Chen An into the house.
...
PS: Bowls out, begging for monthly votes and recommendation tickets!
14. Wedding Night
Chen An led Gu Xinyue into his home.
Seeing this, Song Huaying inside the house immediately and sensibly stepped forward to help take the bundles.
Soon, the three of them entered the only bedroom in the house.
The room was not big, but the bed was huge.
This was a large bed Chen An had specifically gone to the market to buy a few days ago—so big that five adults could lie on it together and roll around freely without restraint.
Seeing this large bed, Gu Xinyue couldn't help feeling a bit nervous inside.
Having lived for twenty years, apart from her recently deceased father, she had never shared a roof with another man.
And tonight, she—a lifelong single until now—was going to share a bed and pillow with a man.
It was hard not to make her feel nervous.
"Yue'er, this will be our room from now on. You can use everything inside however you like, there's no need to stand on ceremony."
After putting down Gu Xinyue's bundles, Chen An smiled and said to her.
Song Huaying chimed in as well, familiarly linking arms with her and giving a sweet smile: "That's right, Sister Gu, from now on the three of us are a family."
Unconsciously, both husband and wife had changed how they addressed Gu Xinyue, becoming much more intimate than before.
Gu Xinyue felt a bit at a loss in the face of this, and in the end could only reply with a rather bland "Mhm."
Seeing that his soon-to-be concubine had such a chilly and aloof temperament, Chen An couldn't help feeling somewhat expectant for their bridal night tonight.
He wanted to see what kind of reaction such a cold beauty would actually have when they joined in marital embrace.
In the time that followed.
Chen An had Gu Xinyue walk around the house to familiarize herself with the surroundings.
Meanwhile, he and Song Huaying busied themselves with decorating the bridal chamber.
It took about an hour or so.
The bridal chamber was ready.
Looking at the festive bridal chamber, Song Huaying couldn't help feeling a slight ache in her heart.
When she first married into the family, there wasn't even a red bridal veil; she had just gone through the symbolic procedure before her husband carried her to the bed and took her body.
Comparing the two now, she couldn't help feeling a bit unbalanced inside.
Chen An keenly perceived this, and immediately picked up the red bridal veil from the side, gently draping it over Song Huaying's head. His eyes filled with gentleness as he said:
"Ying'er, let's get married again. What happened before doesn't count."
"Husband..."
Tears welled up in Song Huaying's eyes.
An incense stick's time later.
[You gently and carefully engaged in deep communication with your wife Song Huaying, making efforts to spread branches and leave descendants, alchemy experience +2, affection +1 +3 +1 +4 +5 +2 +0...]
"Husband, let's get married again."
Just as Chen An was about to get up, he was pulled back by Song Huaying's outstretched hand.
Feeling somewhat helpless about this, he could only obey respectfully.
Another incense stick's time later.
[You gently and carefully engaged in deep communication with your wife Song Huaying, making efforts to spread branches and leave descendants, alchemy experience +2, affection +1 +3 +1 +4 +5 +2 +0...]
After lingering together twice in a row, the two of them left the bridal chamber feeling fully satisfied.
Chen An went off to cook lunch.
Song Huaying went off to chat with Gu Xinyue.
...
On a round wooden bench in the backyard.
Song Huaying and Gu Xinyue sat together.
Gu Xinyue rarely spoke on her own initiative, basically letting Song Huaying lead the conversation, and her nature seemed somewhat reclusive.
Fortunately, Song Huaying didn't mind, nor did she think the other party was looking down on her as a mortal.
She shared pretty much everything with Gu Xinyue.
Among them, she spoke most of all about Chen An's heroic feats in his daily life.
Hearing this made Gu Xinyue blush from her cheeks all the way to the tips of her ears, while simultaneously feeling both shocked and terrified, hardly daring to imagine how she would be treated tonight.
Alchemist Chen... no, her husband—was so energetic every day, just how had mortal sister Ying'er managed to cope with it all?
Noticing the anxiety on Gu Xinyue's face, Song Huaying repeatedly comforted her, saying that her husband was very gentle and that she didn't need to worry.
In the blink of an eye.
The sky gradually began to grow dim.
"Husband, I'm going to the bridal chamber now to do Sister Gu's hair and makeup, so you can have a bride as beautiful as a fairy tonight."
"Thank you for your hard work, Ying'er."
"It's not hard work, as long as Husband hasn't forgotten Ying'er's goodness."
With that, Song Huaying stood slightly on tiptoe, planting a dragonfly-like kiss on Chen An's cheek before heading toward the bridal chamber with a sweet smile.
Watching his little wife's virtuous figure gradually recede, Chen An felt his fondness for her grow ever deeper.
Such a good little wife—he couldn't let her age away like this and turn into a pile of yellow dust a hundred years from now.
He had to make her live forever, existing as long as the heaven and earth.
Well, let's start with a small goal: get a Youth-Preserving Pill for his little wife within ten years.
Chen An thought silently to himself.
...
Half an hour later.
Song Huaying came out of the bridal chamber, walking over to Chen An with a protruding belly and a full smile as she teased:
"Bridegroom, the bride is already waiting in the bridal chamber for your favor. Why aren't you hurrying in to find her?"
"Ying'er, you'll have to make do in the woodshed tonight. Husband will definitely make it up to you later."
"Why would that be hard? That woodshed has been tidied up so cleanly, and even has top-grade bedding laid out—it's hardly any worse than the bridal chamber."
"Ying'er, you're truly wonderful."
"Alright, alright, hurry on in, don't keep the bride waiting anxiously."
Song Huaying urged him with a playful huff.
Chen An gently cupped her small face, lowered his head to kiss her lovingly, and then changed into a bridegroom's robe before walking toward the bridal chamber.
"Creak—"
The door to the bridal chamber was pushed open gently, and a figure with the air of an immortal immortal slowly stepped inside.
Hearing the sound, Gu Xinyue—sitting on the bed—shivered slightly, her hands immediately gripping her hem tightly, her palms sweating slightly from nervousness.
"Yue'er, your husband has arrived."
"Mhm..."
Gu Xinyue was so nervous her voice was trembling slightly.
Sitting on pins and needles.
"Yue'er, let's go through the wedding ceremony together."
"Mhm..."
"Save the 'mhm' for later, you have to call me husband now."
"Hu... Husband~"
Her voice grew increasingly shaky.
Chen An smiled, leading her simply through the wedding process.
A moment later, after finishing the nuptial wine cup exchange, Chen An looked at Gu Xinyue's blushing, ripe face, unable to resist reaching out to stroke it as he said in a gentle voice: "Yue'er, you are so beautiful."
Gu Xinyue turned her pretty face slightly away, biting her thin lips in silence.
Chen An massaged her snow-white hair, gazing into her crimson pupils, and finally could no longer resist lowering his head to kiss her.
Two incense sticks' time later.
[You and your wife Gu Xinyue engaged in deep communication, making efforts to spread branches and leave descendants, divine sense strength +1.]
Huh?
Not alchemy experience?
Chen An froze.
Before he could even react, the spiritual power within his body suddenly surged forth like an erupting volcano, rushing from the soles of his feet up to his heart, heading straight for his crown chakra.
The next second, his personal attribute panel popped right out.
[Name: Chen An]
[Cultivation: Qi Condensation 4th Layer]
[Alchemy: Rank 1 Intermediate (396/500)]
[Divine Sense: Rank 1 Basic (1/100)]
[Golden Finger: Novice (77/100)]
[Spouses: Song Huaying, Gu Xinyue]
[Offspring: Gestating]
Chen An quickly scanned the panel and was pleasantly surprised to find that his cultivation had actually broken through.
He had broken through from the Qi Condensation 3rd Layer to the Qi Condensation 4th Layer.
He had become a mid-stage Qi Condensation cultivator!
"That's right, I was already at the Great Circle of the Qi Condensation 3rd Layer before; it was just that my divine sense strength kept lagging behind, which made it hard to break through my realm."
"But now, I can increase my divine sense simply by engaging in marital embrace with my concubine. Breaking through realms in the future will practically be twice the result with half the effort!"
Thinking of this, Chen An could no longer suppress his excitement. He immediately had Gu Xinyue—who was lying on her side with her back to him—turn around, facing him closely so he could share his joy with her.
[You and your wife Gu Xinyue engaged in deep communication, making efforts to spread branches and leave descendants, divine sense strength +1.]
[Wife: Gu Xinyue]
[Attributes: Pure and immaculate, steadfast and loyal]
[Affection: 1 Star]
[Divine sense strength provided: 2]
[Note: The higher the spouse affection level, the greater the returns you can obtain from them.]
...
PS: Bowls out, begging for monthly votes and recommendation tickets!
15. Unsettled Days
After browsing his panel and reading the prompt information regarding Gu Xinyue,
Chen An sat on the edge of the bed with a mix of joy and concern on his face.
His joy was that the divine sense attribute was notoriously difficult to improve, and the process of raising it was usually painful, yet he could increase his simply by delightfully engaging in marital embrace with Gu Xinyue.
His concern was that he couldn't gain alchemy experience from Gu Xinyue. That being the case, it might be a bit difficult for him to break through to a Rank 1 Advanced Alchemist before the child was born.
"Sigh, life is always hard to have it all."
Chen An sighed inwardly.
Then, putting those thoughts aside, he cast his gaze once more upon the charming concubine beside him.
At this moment, Gu Xinyue had her back to him, covering herself with the quilt out of shyness. Her petite body beneath the covers was burning hot, shuddering slightly whenever she was accidentally touched, and she still seemed very nervous.
No matter what you do, you're always a bit nervous at first; after doing it a few more times, you get used to it.
Judging by a cultivator's physical constitution, even doing it a few more times right now shouldn't pose any problems.
With this thought, Chen An once again had Gu Xinyue turn her body around so they could have a long, all-night chat.
[Divine sense strength +1]
[Divine sense strength +1]
[Divine sense strength +1]
[...]
It wasn't until the middle of the night that Chen An finally stopped training his divine sense strength, lying sideways to pull Gu Xinyue into his arms, stroking her smooth white hair while murmuring the sweet words he used to tell Song Huaying.
However, the effect didn't seem very good; no prompt about affection +1 appeared.
Chen An figured either Gu Xinyue's personality was genuinely cold, or she still harbored resentment because he hadn't cherished her enough just now.
...
Time flew by.
As soon as he opened and closed his eyes, the sound of roosters crowing echoed in his ears.
Waking up, Chen An glanced out the window; the sky was still somewhat dim, with the sun just rising over the mountains.
"Ying'er really was wronged last night, I need to go check on her."
After tucking the thin blanket a bit more securely over Gu Xinyue, Chen An quickly dressed, got out of bed, and pushed the door open to head to the woodshed and see how his little wife had slept.
The moment he left, Gu Xinyue—who had been sleeping soundly on the bed—opened her eyes, touching her body that had been tenderly loved the night before, a complex mix of emotions welling up in her heart.
After the tumultuous passion of the previous night, she hadn't slept a wink the whole night.
It wasn't that she didn't want to sleep, but rather that she couldn't.
She had slept alone her whole life; suddenly having someone else by her pillow made it hard to adapt for a moment.
"Will I... have to give birth to a child for my husband in the future?"
The moment she thought of Song Huaying's protruding belly, Gu Xinyue couldn't help feeling a trace of fear in her heart.
Yet at the same time, she felt a trace of yearning.
A longing to have a family once more, to have family members whom she loved and who loved her in return.
...
Elsewhere, in the backyard.
Chen An gently pushed open the door to the woodshed, only to find that Song Huaying wasn't inside.
Feeling somewhat puzzled, he clumsily activated his divine sense to perceive his surroundings, wandering around the house for a moment before spotting Song Huaying's petite figure in the kitchen.
At this moment, Song Huaying was humming a tune while stirring a pot of porridge with her protruding belly, looking thoroughly virtuous.
"Ying'er, how did you sleep last night?"
Chen An stepped forward to embrace Song Huaying from behind, his hands gently stroking her protruding lower abdomen as he pressed affectionately against her cheek and asked.
Stirring the thin porridge in the pot, Song Huaying smiled sweetly and said:
"I slept quite well actually, it's just that I felt a bit lonely. Husband had better make it up to me properly later."
"No need to wait for later, Husband is going to make it up to you properly right now."
"Wait, wait—not here... to the woodshed~"
An incense stick's time later.
[Alchemy experience +2]
Seeing the alchemy experience +2 in the prompt, Chen An suddenly thought of something.
Gu Xinyue's strong suit was divine sense, and engaging in marital embrace with her increased divine sense strength.
Meanwhile, engaging in marital embrace with Song Huaying increased alchemy experience. Did this mean she possessed a certain talent for alchemy?
Chen An felt this was entirely possible, but unfortunately it was almost impossible to verify.
Since Song Huaying was not a cultivator, she couldn't circulate spiritual power within her body and thus couldn't practice alchemy.
Still, having her assist him with alchemy in the future—that felt like something he could do.
Well, it might just require further improving her physical strength first.
Otherwise, the alchemy room would be too stuffy, and her soft and delicate little frame wouldn't be able to stand it.
When the child was born, he could let her take up martial arts, using the path of blood and Qi to strengthen her body while incidentally extending her life.
"Husband, I'm going to make some side dishes to go with the porridge. You go wake Sister Gu up."
Lowering her head to tidy up her slightly disheveled clothes, Song Huaying spoke in a soft, sweet voice.
Chen An nodded and said, "Alright, thank you for your hard work, Ying'er."
With that, he first carried the pot of cooked porridge over to the main hall before heading off to wake Gu Xinyue.
Half an incense stick's time later.
The three of them sat together in the main hall eating breakfast.
Gu Xinyue was very quiet, keeping her head down and eating her porridge in silence throughout the entire meal, with no intention of making conversation.
By contrast, the old married couple beside her kept chatting about this and that.
Chatting about everything from south to north, east to west.
Watching them, Gu Xinyue felt somewhat envious, several times wanting to chime in and join their flow, but in the end she lost to her own reserve.
Before long, all three of them were full.
Since Chen An's cultivation was higher, he mostly just kept his wives company and didn't eat much himself.
After casually drinking a bowl of thin porridge and feeling satisfied, he stood up and left to practice alchemy in the alchemy room.
After he walked away, Song Huaying immediately moved her chair to sit beside Gu Xinyue and asked with a curious look:
"Sister Gu, how did it feel last night?"
"It was fine."
"..."
Song Huaying fell silent.
Ah right, the other party was a cultivator; could her body possibly be as fragile as her own, a mere mortal?
Sigh, now that there was an immortal maiden accompanying him by his side, she wondered if her husband would still be infatuated with her in the future.
Song Huaying began to feel anxious.
...
Time passed quickly, slipping away until afternoon before they knew it.
Chen An holed up in the alchemy room practicing alchemy for half a day, then went to set up a stall in the market for another half day, ultimately clearing a net profit of a quarter of a low-grade spirit stone.
Translated to a monthly scale, that meant earning just over 7 low-grade spirit stones a month.
Yet a month ago, when his business was good, he could earn a full 7 low-grade spirit stones in a single day.
There was no comparison without contrast.
Still, there was nothing to be done about it. Ever since the blood demon turmoil was pacified, the prices of items like pills, talismans, and weapons had all dropped back to normal levels, losing that exorbitant profitability of the past.
To be honest, Chen An actually somewhat missed those days when he could pack money in snake-skin bags.
Even though things were chaotic back then, it really made money.
Putting those thoughts aside.
Chen An quickly packed up his stall, but instead of rushing home, he headed straight toward the market.
He wanted to buy a gift for each of his two wives at home.
Heading to that familiar stall lane dedicated to selling ornaments.
Chen An took a stroll around and finally handpicked two hairpins carved with jade lotus patterns.
They weren't expensive—he could buy them with ordinary silver—but the craftsmanship was exquisite and very much to women's liking.
Taking advantage of the fact that it wasn't dark yet, Chen An hurried home.
Just a few days ago, the late-stage Qi Condensation deacon in charge of keeping order in the cheap district had been withdrawn, along with more than half of the mid-stage Qi Condensation cultivators in the patrol squad.
Gradually, security in the cheap district was going downhill again.
Although there weren't many cases of murder and robbery, petty theft and sneakiness had increased quite a bit.
At this rate, murder and robbery would happen sooner or later as well.
The root cause was that the Bamboo Leaf Gang, which managed the Bamboo Leaf Forest, had a worsening relationship with their rival faction, the Black Iron Manor. The two sides could break out in war at any moment to seize mineral vein resources.
Consequently, many members of the Bamboo Leaf Gang had now been summoned and deployed to the front lines to prepare for war, leaving them with zero spare time to look after the security of the cheap district.