3 Chapter 3 - Shattering Frozen Heart!

Time passed as Roland and Xia Hongyi were absorbed by their conversation. They discussed not only their new business ventures but also about the Blue Wind Empire and what was considered normal there.

Even though Roland didn't need to talk about the common sense of that place, he was forced to listen to Xia Hongyi's explanation because he pretended not to know. He forced himself to go through the boring conversation because it was important to his plan.

Through their conversation, Roland and Xia Hongyi dropped the formality when calling each other. Alas, they had to stop since it was time for dinner. Xia Hongyi had ordered the maid to tell the cooks to prepare a feast when the dinner time was approaching. After Xia Hongyi and Roland were notified by a maid that the feast preparation had been completed, the duo decided to head for the dining hall.

"We shall have a feast to celebrate our partnership! Follow me, Nephew Lan!"

"After you, Uncle Hongyi."

They entered the dining hall, and Roland only saw Xia Hongyi's son, Xia Yuanba, sitting in his chair beside the dining table. Roland arched his eyebrows to indicate his surprise when he saw the size of the guy.

'Man, it's been mentioned many times in fanfic, but reading about it and seeing it with my own eyes are two different concepts! This guy is huge! I have a hard time believing that this guy is only fourteen!' Roland commented inwardly.

Xia Yuanba had been waiting for his father and big sister to come so he could start eating the scrumptious feast in front of him. He didn't know why the cooks prepared a feast, but he didn't care about the reason.

However, he was surprised when he saw Roland entering the dining hall with his father, who seemed to be in a good mood. He looked at Roland curiously because he had never seen him before.

'Is he the important guest of Father?' Xia Yuanba wondered after recalling the topic discussed by the gossiping maids. 'Those maids are right! He is so manly and handsome!'

If Roland heard Xia Yuanba's thoughts, Roland would surely slap his head. After all, Roland didn't want to be praised like that by someone like him, although it was different if it was his sister who praised Roland like that.

Anyway, Xia Yuanba was amazed by Roland's look. Sure, he'd seen a pretty boy like his best friend as well as sister's fiance, Xiao Che, but it was first for him to see someone as manly and handsome as Roland.

"Yuanba, come here!" Xia Hongyi called out to his son, who promptly did what he was told.

Xia Yuanba got up from his chair and rushed to the side of his father. Then, Xia Hongyi introduced his son to Roland and vice versa.

"Nephew Lan, this is my son. His name's Xia Yuanba, and he's fourteen years old. Yuanba, this is Father's important guest from a 'far away' place. His name's Rou Lan, and he will start living with us from today."

Roland noticed how Xia Hongyi stressed certain words, and he knew what it implied since he knew the story of his wife. However, it flew through Xia Yuanba's head.

"Hello. My name's Xia Yuanba. I'm fourteen years old this year. Nice to meet you!" Xia Yuanba cupped his fist in greeting.

Roland returned the gesture and introduced himself. "It's a pleasure to meet Uncle Hongyi's son. My name is Rou Lan, and I'm seventeen years old. No need to be formal with me. Just call me big brother or by my name."

"Then, can I call you Big Bro Lan?" Xia Yuanba tilted his head and showed a hopeful look.

Roland's lips twitched when he saw Xia Yuanba tilting his head like that. Honestly, that's not cute!

"You can. You don't mind if I call you Yuanba, do you?" asked Roland after coming to his senses.

"Nope! I don't mind!" Xia Yuanba grinned widely.

"By the way, where's your big sister, Yuanba?" asked Xia Hongyi suddenly.

"Big Sis is locking herself in her courtyard like always!" Xia Yuanba said to his father.

Xia Hongyi sighed helplessly after hearing his son's answer. "Yuanba, can you help Nephew Lan to the table? I need to tell a servant to call Qingyue to join us here."

"I get it!" Xia Yuanba nodded to his father before turning to Roland. "Let's go to the table, Big Bro Lan!"

Roland smiled wryly when Xia Yuanba pulled his hand and took him to the table. Then, they sat down beside each other. Xia Hongyi joined them at the table shortly after.

Being an energetic kid, Xia Yuanba asked Roland many questions. Where did you come from? Did you come from outside of the Blue Wind Empire? What's your favorite food? How strong are you?

Roland was overwhelmed by Xia Yuanba's curiosity. Thankfully, Xia Hongyi took pity and told his son to stop bothering Roland with many questions.

Even though he stopped asking questions, Xia Yuanba didn't stop his ramblings. He told Roland about himself, his big sister, his best friend who's also his big sister's fiance, his favorite food, and so on.

Roland couldn't help but listen to Xia Yuanba's ramblings. Still, that's better than answering some questions he doesn't want to answer unless his real target is with them. He didn't want to lose ammunition to get closer to Xia Qingyue.

So Xia Qingyue is betrothed to Xiao Che, so what? It's not like they are already married!

She is still a fair game!

And speaking of Xia Qingyue…

"Qingyue, you are finally here," said Xia Hongyi, announcing his daughter's arrival.

"Ah, big sis! You're so slow! We're waiting for you!" Xia Yuanba whined at his sister after he stopped talking, or rather rambling, to Roland.

Roland turned his head towards Xia Qingyue. At this moment, their eyes met.

And they fell in love with each other… yeah, not!

Roland did a quick scan on her body, which was covered by a high quality robe. He had to admit that she was rather developed for a 15 years old girl. Then, he met Xia Qingyue's icy cold look with his unperturbed deadpan gaze.

Of course, Roland could keep his face straight and his gaze calm because of his powers. If it was him before the life-changing event in that white place, he would've fallen into a daze and looked at Xia Qingyue like a piece of meat.

His powers helped him control himself in front of his target and his family to keep up a good reputation he'd built so far. Only he knew that one mind partition had been assigned to simping over Xia Qingyue.

Yeah, Roland is such a simp!

On the other hand, Xia Qingyue was surprised and curious — though only mildly since her emotions were frozen by that ridiculous technique of that man-hating sect — when she met Roland's gaze. She couldn't see the covetous and lustful desires she normally saw in other guys' eyes, and suffice to say, it was a novel experience for her.

She had to admit that she never saw such a manly and handsome man like Roland. Of course, this was only a result of factual observation. His look, no matter how exquisitely handsome and manly he seemed to be, wasn't enough to thaw her frozen heart.

Then, there was Roland's presence. Xia Qingyue couldn't help but feel unnerved by it, which felt like a slumbering monster that's better to be left alone undisturbed. Her intuition told her that he was strong, stronger than her, and she didn't know how far the gap between their strength was.

They only looked at each other for a few seconds, but many things happened in the span of those few seconds.

Roland finally turned to Xia Hongyi and saw the old man was observing him. 'Is he trying to see if I'm like those typical Young Masters?' he wondered inwardly, though he openly asked Xia Hongyi: "Is that your daughter?"

"Yes. She's my daughter, Xia Qingyue." Xia Hongyi nodded, somewhat relieved when he didn't see a covetous lustful look on Roland's face.

In truth, Xia Hongyi felt anxious and wary of Roland's reaction after meeting his daughter. He was aware of his daughter's beauty, and there was a proverb saying "beauty is the source of calamity."

Oh sure, he was proud of how beautiful his daughter grew up to be. However, he had many headaches in the past due to the trouble that his daughter's beauty caused.

He was afraid that Roland would act like some lustful Young Masters and demanded his daughter's body. And his fear was warranted.

He didn't know how strong Roland was because Roland was being vague when he fished for intels when they chatted before. However, he knew that Roland was the strongest person in the Floating Cloud City at the time.

A Sky Profound Practitioner at the minimum, but taking Roland's mysterious background in the equation, he wouldn't be surprised if Roland was beyond the Sovereign Profound Realm despite his young age.

"Anyway, Qingyue, he's Rou Lan, someone from 'far away'." Xia Hongyi introduced Roland to Xia Qingyue who came to his side and was about to take a seat.

Unlike her little brother, Xia Qingyue understands the meaning behind the words her father stressed. Her body froze, her eyes opened wide, and Her Frozen Heart cracked because her emotions went all over after figuring out that Roland knew about the Realm of Gods.

Roland didn't miss Xia Qingyue's reaction, although he had to admit that the girl was really good because she quickly came to her senses and sat down like nothing strange had happened. Even so, she lacked subtlety since she eyed Roland intensely.

Anyway, Roland was satisfied with what happened. He didn't expect Xia Hongyi to smoothen his plan for his daughter!

"So, Big Bro Lan, what do you think about my sister? Isn't she beautiful?" asked Xia Yuanba with a boastful face.

"Yes. She's beautiful, but…" Roland trailed off and showed a dubious look at Xia Qingyue, who'd just taken a seat beside her father.

Sensing his gaze, Xia Qingyue gave him a cold, demanding gaze befitting of her status as a disciple of Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace. Her father and brother also paid attention to Roland because of his strange expression and unfinished speech.

"But what, Nephew Lan?" urged Xia Hongyi.

"Well, are you aware that your daughter is crippling her potential?" asked Roland.

"What?!" Xia Hongyi gasped in surprise. "What did you mean by that, Nephew Lan?!" He demanded an explanation and seemed worried.

Xia Qingyue also wanted to hear Roland's explanation. She could sense that Roland wasn't lying or saying nonsense, though she didn't know that it was because of her Heart of the Snow Glazed Glass.

Even though it wasn't awakened yet, it still allowed her to perceive what's a lie or what's true. However, her ability to lie is close to non-existent in return.

"Well, your children are special. No offense, but it's obvious that you're not the cause…" Roland stopped when he realized that he'd stepped a landmine. After all, Yue Wuguo is a sore subject for Xia Hongyi and his daughter.

He cleared his throat and continued. "Anyway, Uncle Hongyi, your daughter has the potential to reach the Divine Master Realm, and for your information, it's the seventh realm of the Divine Profound Way, and there's seven great realms after the Sovereign Profound Realm. The Divine Master Realm is the peak existence reachable by mortals in the Realm of Gods of the current era!

"Alas, whatever Profound Art she's practicing at the moment, it's crippling her amazing potential and slowly killing her. Not only will she be unable to enter the Divine Origin Realm, a realm after the Sovereign Profound Realm, but her lifespan will be far shorter than the regular Profound Practitioners at her level. I don't know if it's just ignorance, idiocy, or desperation for her to learn such a defective art."

"My advice is that she stops practicing that defective art and chooses another art. She's still young, so it's not too late. If she wants power for whatever reason, there's a better and safer way than discarding her life pointlessly like this. If she keeps practicing it stubbornly until it's too late, she'll die before she can achieve her goal." 

Done with his rant, Roland checked the state of everyone at the table.

Xia Yuanba was confused and worried, mostly the former. Although he was clueless, he knew that his sister was not fine.

Xia Hongyi was looking at his daughter in confusion and worry, and from his look, obviously he didn't know that her daughter had joined the Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace.

Xia Qingyue, on the other hand, looked ahead with a glazed look. Her fair skin was sickly pale, her body was shivering, and her expression was filled with despair.

Looking at Xia Qingyue's state, Roland couldn't help but feel a little guilty.