You Are Still My Fiancée

Clang!!!

The majestic might of heaven was blinding in its brilliance.

A dazzling golden light pierced through heaven and earth, sword beams spanning countless miles, shaking the entire mountain peak. Fragments of stone flew everywhere, and the mere residual force sent the disciples of Cloud Soaring Sect flying backward. Those of lower cultivation directly coughed up mouthfuls of blood, their eyes filled with shock.

Who could have imagined that even watching from the sidelines would lead to being caught in the crossfire?

Just how powerful had Ye Shu become?

The many disciples of Cloud Soaring Sect turned pale, their gazes worriedly fixed on the center of the arena.

Could Senior Sister Li... withstand this strike?

"Miss!!!"

Xiaocui’s face went white with panic, ignoring the injuries from the earlier shockwaves as she frantically rushed toward the center of the square.

Whoosh~

The dust and smoke scattered, revealing the scene within.

Ye Shu knelt on one knee, one arm wrapped around Li Qingran’s waist, breathing heavily, a thin trickle of blood slowly seeping from the corner of his mouth. In his arms, Li Qingran’s aura was faint, her face as pale as paper. Across her chest was a horrifying sword wound, extending from her collarbone all the way to her waist. The gash was gruesome, flesh turned outward, so deep that the beating of her heart could almost be seen through the gap. Blood gushed out like it cost nothing.

"So close, just barely."

Ye Shu held Li Qingran, feeling a slight sense of relief inside.

In his haste, he had only managed to withdraw seventy percent of his strength, and he had suffered from spiritual energy backlash. The overflow of energy had injured the spectators nearby.

Otherwise, with his control, external injuries would have been impossible.

A true master uses every ounce of force with precision, never allowing power to leak out.

But at least he had saved this convenient fiancée.

Even though she had grievances against him, Ye Shu had no intention of harming her. After all, Li Qingran only opposed an arranged marriage—she didn’t deserve death for that.

"Miss!"

At that moment, Xiaocui finally rushed over from the edge of the arena. Seeing the gruesome scar across Li Qingran’s chest, she was on the verge of tears.

"Miss, you're bleeding. So much blood."

"Boo-hoo... Miss, I told you not to be impulsive, but you insisted on fighting that guy. Now, h-how am I supposed to explain this to the master?" Xiaocui wiped her tears, but when Li Qingran didn’t respond, she cried even harder.

"Miss, say something! Don’t scare me like this."

"Quiet. She just fainted; she’ll wake up soon." Ye Shu’s ears were ringing from her crying, so he snapped at her sharply.

Xiaocui trembled all over and dared not speak anymore. She simply held Li Qingran’s hand, her big eyes full of worry.

Ye Shu used his spiritual energy to heal Li Qingran while probing her internal injuries. When he reached her dantian, he found it full of fine cracks.

"A damaged dantian, cultivation realm dropping?"

Ye Shu frowned.

According to logic, Li Qingran shouldn’t have suffered any major injuries this year. His script from Xiaobai hadn’t mentioned this either.

And in Cloud Soaring Sect, who could possibly harm her?

"Hey, you—crybaby."

Ye Shu looked at Xiaocui. "Didn’t your lady reach the peak of the Golden Core stage a year ago? Why is she only at the middle of the Golden Core stage now?"

Xiaocui sniffled, her eyes red.

"It’s all because of you, you big jerk! Why else would the lady end up like this?"

"Because of me?"

Ye Shu stared blankly, pointing at his own nose.

“No, I haven’t seen your mistress for a whole year, and that can’t be pinned on me. This is like a husband coming home after three years away at work, only to find his wife’s kid is already a month old—are you saying that’s my fault?”

“Do you think I’m that stupid?”

Ye Shu wore an expression that declared, I’m a genius—no way you can fool me.

Hearing this, Xiaocui’s pretty face flushed red. She pointed at Ye Shu’s nose and cursed: “You bastard! You’ve beaten the mistress like this, and you’re still making sarcastic remarks! No wonder the mistress wants to break off the engagement with you!”

“Do you even know? The mistress ended up like this because of you... wuwuwu... She was originally preparing to break through to the Nascent Soul stage.”

“It’s all because of you, you big villain!”

The more she spoke, the sadder she grew, her voice choked with sobs:

“A year ago, when the sect leader was chasing you through the Beast Mountain Range, the mistress found out about it. To have a fair fight with you, that big villain, she crippled her own cultivation, falling from the peak of Golden Core down to the peak of Foundation Establishment—just so the sect leader wouldn’t trouble you anymore.”

“But... but you couldn’t even give the mistress time to recover, and you beat her like this... boohoo...”

“You jerk, I hate you!”

The more Xiaocui thought about it, the more she felt it was all for nothing. She grabbed Li Qingran’s hand and cried her eyes out.

“This... this...”

Ye Shu listened, his expression turning strange.

Even if he racked his brains, he never would have imagined this turn of events. Yet it made sense—it was exactly the kind of thing his fiancée would do.

But why though?

If the system had given her a script, Li Qingran should have reacted somehow. So why hadn’t she changed at all?

This question kept gnawing at Ye Shu, baffling him.

Soon, his confusion came to an abrupt halt.

Because he sensed that Li Qingran’s sea of consciousness was also shattered, and part of her soul was missing.

In just 0.03 seconds,

Ye Shu’s blinding intellect pieced everything together.

“So that’s how it all fits,” he murmured softly.

Knowing his fiancée’s personality, she probably didn’t want to gain an unfair advantage in battle by knowing his fighting style, which would tarnish the purity of their three-year agreement.

So... she severed her own soul.

To ensure a fair fight, she even chose to cut away the false memories given by the system?

This stubbornness in the face of certain failure...

Haha, Ji’ran, I respect you now.

Ye Shu stared at Li Qingran in his arms, gazing at her delicate but pale face. A feeling he could only call heartache welled up inside him.

Who would have thought? The one who trusted him most wasn’t Danxia.

Nor was it his childhood sweetheart Zhao Zhixia.

It was this woman—the one who publicly broke off their engagement and set the three-year pact—his... rival?

A warmth spread through his chest. Was he actually getting touched?

At this moment, Ye Shu had to admit it.

He felt regret.

“So this is what the ‘regret story arc’ feels like? How fascinating,” Ye Shu muttered to himself. He used to think those regret-based storylines were stupid and cheesy, but now that it was happening to him for real, he finally understood—they were genuinely sweet.

Who could resist this?

Could you, if you were in his shoes? Ye Shu sure couldn’t.

“Hmph! Playing the tender lover, are we?”

Medusa, curled up in Ye Shu’s sleeve, snorted coldly, a pang of jealousy twisting her heart.

Just how many mothers is this scumbag planning to give this kid?

On the other side, Danxia inside the ring bit her lower lip tightly, her heart a mixture of emotions.

Clearly, she was thinking about the events in the Monster Beast Mountains again.

“Since things have come to this, let’s tend to the injuries first.”

Ye Shu sighed, suppressing his pity. He took out the healing pill that Lin Qingxue had given him from his pocket, slipped it into Li Qingran’s mouth, and channeled a surge of spiritual power to refine it.

The pill’s effect was excellent.

Within moments, the bleeding stopped, and Li Qingran’s complexion gradually regained its rosy hue.

Not long after, her eyelashes began to tremble slightly.

Seeing this, Xiaocui quickly grabbed Li Qingran’s hand and exclaimed in surprise, “Miss, you’re awake? You had me so worried!” She wrapped her arms around Li Qingran’s neck, her voice filled with the joy of surviving a life-threatening ordeal.

Caught off guard by the embrace, Li Qingran’s wounds reopened a little, and she sucked in a sharp breath from the pain.

“Xiaocui…”

“Ah! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!”

Xiaocui quickly let go, her eyes reddening again. “Miss, I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s fine.”

Li Qingran waved her hand. The pain helped her feel the reality of being alive.

“Did you hold back?”

She looked at Ye Shu, a flicker of confusion in her eyes. That earlier sword strike had been terrifyingly powerful—as a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator, she had no way to avoid it and had already prepared herself for death.

“That’s right. We’ve never been mortal enemies, so there was no need to fight to the bitter end.”

Ye Shu said calmly.

“……”

Li Qingran paused for a moment, a bitter smile curling at the corner of her lips.

She had never imagined she would lose so miserably—unable to withstand even a single blow, needing Ye Shu to pull back at the last moment to survive. This was a heavy blow to the proud Li Qingran.

If she hadn’t willingly destroyed her own core,

if she were now at the early Nascent Soul stage, would things have been different? Perhaps this battle would have turned out differently, or at least, even if she lost, it wouldn’t have been so humiliating.

But losing was losing…

No matter how much resentment she felt, it was her choice.

“Let go of me.”

Li Qingran struggled to stand up from Ye Shu’s embrace. His gentleness made her feel uncomfortable.

“Miss…”

Xiaocui quickly steadied her. “Are you alright, miss? Your wounds…”

Li Qingran shook her head. Her figure swayed as she pressed her sword into the ground for support, steadying herself before Ye Shu. Weakly, she spoke:

“This battle is yours.”

She bit her lower lip and slowly knelt, bending both knees: “I, Li Qingran, accept my defeat and will keep my word. From now on, I am no longer the Ye family’s betrothed. I will follow Ye Shu forever as a servant or a slave…”

But before she could kneel,

a pair of strong arms gently caught her, making it impossible for her to bow.

“What are you doing?”

Li Qingran looked up, a stubborn gleam in her eyes: “Are you pitying me? I don’t need that. I, Li Qingran, am not one to refuse defeat. I mean what I say!”

“You keep your word, and I am not one to break my promise either.”

Ye Shu paused for a moment before slowly shaking his head. “Our agreement was a three-year pact: to fight at the Cloud Sky Sect’s training grounds in three years.”

“But only a year has passed.”

“This battle was merely a preliminary run for my visit.” Ye Shu revealed a warm, gentle smile and extended a hand toward Li Qingran.

"We will fight again in two years."

"Right now, you are still my fiancée. Is there any problem with my helping my own fiancée to her feet?"