Regarding the marriage contract, Yu Cheng had already prepared for it. He briskly pulled a neatly written scroll from his chest—it was the marriage contract.
Upon seeing the marriage contract, Uncle Jiang was equally magnanimous. With a wave of his hand, he produced three chests from his storage pouch. The chests featured golden edges and gleamed with a golden luster, exuding an air of lavishness. It was obvious they contained treasures. When the chests were opened, the dazzling array of precious items left the elders present dumbfounded.
"Gathering Qi Pills! And they're medium-grade! An entire box full—there must be at least five hundred of them! The Liu Family is certainly being generous."
"There are Spirit Artifacts as well, and gold!"
Upon seeing this abundance of "sincerity," the elders had long since cast any thoughts of humiliation or loss of face to the nine heavens.
So many treasures, when distributed among them individually, would amount to a significant share. It would be enough to make the Yu Family's strength advance by leaps and bounds, perhaps even rivaling the Liu Family and stepping beyond Qingshan City.
*(They're nothing more than absolute trash. These idiots actually treat them like treasures—sigh, what an embarrassment to the Yu Family. At least my old man has the right values; seeing so many so-called treasures, he doesn't even bat an eye.)*
"Family Head Yu, this is the Liu Family's sincerity. Hand over the marriage contract, if you please." Uncle Jiang swept his palm outward, and the marriage contract in Yu Cheng's hand was drawn right toward him.
"Young Mistress, here is the marriage contract." Uncle Jiang handed the marriage contract to Liu Shuying, leaving the final decision to her.
*(Just a puny Early Foundation Establishment cultivator, yet you dare act so wild in my Yu Family. If I weren't putting up an act as a good-for-nothing, you wouldn't even be fit to carry my shoes. Whatever, I'll just make sure it's done cleanly afterward—this fellow can't be allowed to live after showing such disrespect to my father. And as for this stinky wench, acting all high and mighty... sooner or later, I'll make you kneel before your master and beg for mercy.)*
Liu Shuying: "???" *I'm a stinky wench? What smells? And kneel?!* Upon hearing such vulgar language from Yu Fan, Liu Shuying was on the verge of rising up to annihilate him directly. Gifted with exceptional talent since childhood, she had always been met with glowing praise from everyone. For this man to hurl such insults at her in his mind was simply beyond reason. After a moment of thought, however, she didn't dare act rashly. This was the Yu Family, after all; a powerful dragon does not crush a snake in its local domain.
Although the elders and the Family Head of the Yu Family appeared utterly unremarkable on the surface, who could guarantee there weren't some hidden methods tucked away among them?
Liu Shuying fixed her gaze on Yu Fan, her mind already racing with countless thoughts.
*Playing... a good-for-nothing?*
*Could everything be an act? But why would he put on an act? Am I just hearing things?*
Seeing Yu Fan today had suddenly filled Liu Shuying with a sense of curiosity toward this mysterious man. In the vast sea of humanity across the Cangling Continent, with its hundreds of millions of lives, she could somehow hear only Yu Fan's inner voice.
This seemed like a predestined bond.
Looking at the red marriage contract before her, Liu Shuying fell into deep thought: should this marriage be annulled or not?
Originally, she believed that being weighed down by such a good-for-nothing was ruining her bright future, so she had looked down upon him from the bottom of her heart. In the Cangling Continent, strength is revered—a notion somewhat similar to the money-obsessed values of Earth.
With strength, you can do whatever you want. Once you grow powerful enough that no one can keep you in check, there is nothing in this world you cannot stop, even if it means storming a Sacred Land to forcibly snatch away a Saintess. As long as you can defeat the old monsters of the Sacred Land, it is entirely feasible.
"Young Mistress?" Seeing that Liu Shuying remained motionless for a long time, Uncle Jiang could not help but urge her.
He seemed to sense hesitation in Liu Shuying. Facing such a good-for-nothing and such an insignificant Yu Family, he couldn't understand what she was hesitating about. She and Yu Fan had never met before; to speak of any lingering affection for this fiancé was utterly out of the question.
"Uncle Jiang, return the marriage contract to Uncle Yu."
Liu Shuying's words caused both the Yu Family and Uncle Jiang to stare at her in astonishment.
*(What is this stinky wench playing at? Could it be that she saw my handsome face and decided she doesn't want to call it off after all? Women, figures never change.)*
Liu Shuying: "..."
"Young Mistress, the Family Head instructed..."
"I'll explain things to my father."
As she spoke, Liu Shuying cast her gaze toward Yu Fan. Examining him closely now, he truly did seem rather dashing—with sword-like eyebrows and starlike eyes, his harmless expression was enough to lower anyone's guard. If Liu Shuying couldn't hear Yu Fan's inner voice, she genuinely would have taken him for an innocent and harmless sweetheart.
After a careful inspection, Liu Shuying couldn't bring herself to detest Yu Fan's appearance; it was merely his identity as a good-for-nothing that genuinely troubled her.
Filled with incomprehension and reluctance, Uncle Jiang nonetheless handed the marriage contract back into Yu Cheng's hands.
He glanced at the three chests on the ground: "Young Mistress, what about these treasures?"
"Leave them. Let's go."
"Shuying, let me see you out!" Yu Cheng hurriedly offered.
"No need, Uncle Yu. I'm afraid I'll be visiting again in a few days." Liu Shuying looked back with a smile, her stunning features carrying a hint of newfound respect toward Yu Cheng.
"What is going on here? This script isn't right! Didn't they come to call off the wedding? Why aren't they doing it anymore?" Yu Fan was left somewhat baffled by himself.
"Sigh, what on earth is this Liu Family girl scheming?"
"I can't figure it out at all. That Liu Family girl is too deep."
"You guys suppose the Liu Family girl fell in love at first sight with our Young Patriarch?"
"It's possible! I noticed that Liu Family girl kept staring at Yu Fan just now. Although our Yu Fan's talent is trash, his looks are exceptional—at least top-tier within the clan."
Yu Cheng looked at the three chests on the ground and finally stored them away into his storage pouch. His gaze then shifted back to Yu Fan: "Fan'er, do you know why Shuying decided not to call off the marriage?"
"I have no idea."
Who knew what tricks that woman was playing inside her head?
Still, with the marriage contract now in hand, didn't that mean, in a roundabout way, the Yu Family could propose marriage at any time?
The marriage agreement made by both families back then had stated very clearly that the two could marry once they reached the age of eighteen.
"Alright, esteemed elders, if there is nothing else, we shall disperse." Summoning all the elders in the first place had merely been to welcome Liu Shuying and to prevent the Liu Family from pulling any reckless stunts. Now that the Liu Family people had all left, there naturally was nothing more to attend to.
"Family Head, how should we handle the treasures from the Liu Family?" Great Elder Yu Yuan suddenly asked.
Yu Fan looked at Yu Yuan and felt an extraordinary wave of speechlessness. Over the eighteen years he had grown up in the Yu Family, there had been a total of seven elders—each harboring their own hidden agendas and scheming constantly.
Yu Yuan was already seventy-five years old this year. For someone in the Qi Condensation Realm, the maximum lifespan was roughly a hundred years; the Great Elder could be said to have one foot in the grave.
As a contemporary of the previous Family Head—Yu Fan's grandfather—he could be considered a veteran figure among the current crop of elders.
According to him, if the Yu Family had reached its current state, at least half the credit belonged to him.
In Yu Fan's eyes, however, this was a classic freeloader riding on everyone else's coattails, an old man abusing his seniority.
He relied on the resources allocated by the clan for his cultivation every single day, yet he practically never did a single thing that benefited the family.