Newly weds

The voice came from Xiong Jiao Lin. She was the step daughter of Xiong Jiao Mei. Xiong Jiao Mei had come to Gu Guangzhi's house earlier to ask for Gu Guangzhi's hand in marriage with Xiong Jiao Lin. But now, even she was looking displeased.

Earlier, when she proposed a marriage between Gu Guangzhi and Jiao Lin, she viewed Gu Guangzhi as a mediocre Rank 3 gu master. By using Jiao Lin, she could bring him into their faction which was a profit for her. But later, when Gu Guangzhi told everyone about his Fish Bubble Gu, he became a powerhouse with Rank 3 strength. She didn't want her step daughter to get such a powerful husband so she didn't follow through on her proposal. Now, Gu Guangzhi, who she believed to have external primeval essence in his aperture, was a soon-to-become useless gu master. Marrying him to Jiao Lin was a loss to her.

But Jiao Lin thought differently. She knew that her step mother didn't have her best interests in mind. When Jiao Lin became a Rank 1 gu master, her mother did everything in her power to take Jiao Lin' inheritance away from her. When Jiao Lin failed her inheritance mission, she failed to escape from the clutches of her step mother as well. Earlier, when she was told that she would be married to Gu Guangzhi, she felt that she was further being trapped in her mother's plans. But later, when she learnt about Gu Guangzhi's impure aperture from her mother's discussions with other elders, she saw that there was some hope for her. She wanted to marry Gu Guangzhi for the sake of further growth.

As the wife of a Rank 3 elder, she would have access to many resources to develop herself. She became a Rank 2 gu master despite interventions from her step mother. Now, as the wife of an elder, she could develop faster and break into Rank 3 in a few years. Later as Gu Guangzhi's aptitude dropped and he became useless, she could take over his assets and finally break free from everyone's clutches.

As Jiao Lin voiced her request to Gu Guangzhi, Gu Guangzhi was surprised. Xiong Jiao Mei was displeased and threatened her daughter that she wouldn't be getting any betrothal gifts from the family. However, Jiao Lin did not care. The senior elder who bought the Cleansing Gu was also taken aback. He tried to negotiate with Gu Guangzhi once again on the spot. Gu Guangzhi ignored all of that and agreed to get married to Xiong Jiao Lin. The clan leader ended the squabbles and allowed the marriage, formally recognizing Gu Guangzhi as an elder to the Xiong village.

After a small celebration, Gu Guangzhi returned to his home with Jiao Lin. Gu Guangzhi and Jiao Lin were alone in their bedroom. Gu Guangzhi handed a pair of jade earrings to Jiao Lin. In Southern border, it was customary for a married woman to wear jade earrings after consummation of marriage. Gu Guangzhi was supposed to give her the earrings after their first night together. So Jiao Lin looked at them with confusion.

"You've put up a good act in front of everyone but you've fooled no one. I've known you enough to know why you married me. You can wear these as a sign of our marriage and enjoy the benefits you desire. I just had to marry someone from the clan and that happened to be you.",said Gu Guangzhi nonchalantly.

Jiao Lin was a bit taken aback but she clenched her fists and spoke up, "Thank you. Since you spoke frankly, I too will not mince my words. I know about your impure aperture. I may be weak now and I can't find a Cleansing Gu for you but I promise, I'll take care of you once I break through to Rank 3. When your cultivation regresses, your position as elder will not matter much. I will be your support then."

"Hahaha! It seems you thought things through but it will not happen anytime soon. I can take care of my own."

"Don't underestimate external primeval essence. You must've taken a lot of external primeval essence from Yu Wen Zi to break through to Rank 3. If it is not removed, you may even lose your aptitude completely. Even your Fish Bubble Gu will become useless then."

Gu Guangzhi made no attempts at correcting her. He was laughing inwardly at all the stories he was hearing about himself. It was beneficial for him that everyone was underestimating him. He turned around and silently slept on his bed.

Jiao Lin was agitated, "I'm content that he is not an obstacle to my cultivation but I need to focus on my cultivation at full speed. If he loses his position as an elder before I break through to Rank 3, I will never be able to break free." She spent that night formulating plans to progress in her cultivation.

The next morning as Gu Guangzhi and Jiao Lin were walking on the streets, people smiled at them in greeting and congratulated them. Jiao Lin was wearing her jade earrings. Jiao Lin had a tired expression on her face as she stayed up all night but Gu Guangzhi's face was very fresh as he had a good night's sleep. People were secretly admiring Gu Guangzhi's stamina.

As they were strolling around, Gu Guangzhi saw Jia Fu leaving Qing Mao mountain in the distance. He had already seen him leave Qing Mao mountain a few days ago. He wondered what Jia Fu had returned for? He left Jiao Lin and went to Yu Wen Zi to inquire about it.

"It seems that Jia Fu's younger brother never showed up in the caravan. So Jia Fu made some investigations. It seems he was last seen with a gu master from Gu Yue village so he went back to Gu Yue village to confront them about it.", replied Yu Wen Zi.

"Wow. You seem to know an awful lot about it. How did you gather all this information?", asked Gu Guangzhi.

"Well, at first I only heard bits and pieces but once I heard the gu master's name who was involved with Jia Fu's brother, I tried to learn more about it.", said Yu Wen Zi.

"Who is that gu master?", asked Gu Guangzhi. He made a guess but was wishing that he didn't hear the name he feared the most.

Yu Wen Zi replied looking at Gu Guangzhi's eyes, "It's Fang Yuan!"