Why do I feel like it's only just begun

Clip-clop... clip-clop... clip-clop...

The setting sun painted the sky in shades of orange and red.

A young man draped in linen, wearing a bamboo hat and casually chewing on a stalk of dog-tail grass, rode a brown ordinary horse. With both hands clasped behind his head, he squinted in contentment, relaxing as he ambled leisurely along a country path.

On either side stretched golden wheat fields, shimmering under the glow of dusk. A breeze swept through, and the ears of wheat swayed gently, rippling like waves of gold.

Ye Shu’s posture grew even more relaxed.

He lay down flat on the horse’s back, his head resting on its neck, crossing his legs casually as the evening wind, mingled with the scent of rice, brushed past his ears. Humming an unfamiliar tune under his breath, he sang softly:

“Shoes are worn~”

“Hat is torn~”

“The robe’s a tattered mess~”

“Hey, hey, hey.” Seeing him like this, Whitey couldn’t help kicking his face with her little foot. “You sing terribly. Now I’ve got nowhere to lean!”

Hearing this, Ye Shu neither replied nor opened his eyes.

He simply spread his arms wide. Whitey finally sighed in satisfaction, lying down and snuggling into his chest, contentedly rubbing against him before closing her eyes and mumbling, “That’s more like it.”

“So... you just went and destroyed the Cloud Firmament Sect like that?”

“Got a problem with it?”

“No problem, but... what about Li Qingran? If she wakes up and finds out you destroyed the sect, won’t she hate you to death? You’d better give up on her early, or she might stab you in the back and get you killed.” Whitey put on a look of concern.

Ye Shu, however, wore an expression of utter disdain and indifference.

“I’ve already said it, but it went in one ear and out the other.”

“I made sure she could rise to the position of Cloud Firmament Sect’s leader without lifting a finger. She should be thanking me, not hating me.”

“Huh? What?”

Whitey, curled up in Ye Shu’s arms, was stunned on the spot.

D-dammit.

What he said almost made sense, but at the same time, it didn’t make any sense at all.

Ye Shu paid no attention to Whitey’s confusion.

Right now, he felt empty.

Even though he had taken his revenge, a profound loneliness washed over him, and he found no joy in it.

Guess he hadn’t killed enough to feel satisfied.

Ye Shu replayed the battle in his mind. He could have done even better—like letting Feng Mengli learn the truth, or having the surviving disciples of the Cloud Firmament Sect heap blame on her so she’d live in guilt.

But what’s done is done, and dwelling on it was pointless.

Still, there was a little cleverness in how he destroyed the Cloud Firmament Sect.

He remembered that three chapters ago, he told Li Qingran they would have a rematch in the Cloud Firmament Sect’s training grounds two years later.

Now that he had reduced the training grounds to rubble, there was no place for the match. That meant she would always remain his fiancée.

If she tried to kill him, she’d be murdering her own husband.

At that thought, Ye Shu couldn’t help humming softly to himself.

Your Brother Ye’s cleverness—go ahead and learn from it. You’ll study it and end up speechless.

“Hey, don’t play dead.”

As he lounged there, a sudden drowsiness hit him. He lightly tapped his left hand against his right wrist and asked smugly:

“So? How did your husband perform? Unprecedented throughout the ages? Incomparable under heaven? Peerless and unmatched, a prodigy like no other before or after?”

There was no point in showing off if you didn’t flaunt it afterward.

“W-who’s your wife!”

Medusa’s voice came irritably from where she was hiding in his sleeve.

This bastard was always like this—give him an inch and he’d take a mile, show a little ability and he’d start bragging.

But even she had to admit how incredibly strong he was.

Ye Shu was terrifyingly powerful.

How old was he? According to his record, he had only cultivated for about a year, yet he was already at the Nascent Soul stage. And now he had single-handedly annihilated the Cloud Firmament Sect.

That was no joke.

Sure, he had relied on that jade pendant to kill Feng Wuwang.

But a cultivator at the early Nascent Soul stage defeating six Spirit Transformation cultivators and hundreds of Nascent Soul cultivators? That feat was absurd, almost downright mythical.

No one would believe it if they heard.

Yet Ye Shu had done it and walked away unscathed.

Even she admitted that she could never have pulled it off.

Medusa had never seen anyone like him in the Eastern Wastelands. Maybe someone like him existed in the Central Province, but she had never set foot there.

“Hey, hey, answer me.”

Ye Shu’s voice interrupted Medusa’s thoughts. “What, dazzled by my brilliance?”

“W-who’s dazzled by you?”

Medusa’s voice betrayed a hint of fluster, feigning indifference. “It was just average. I could do it too when I’m in good form. Nothing to brag about.”

Feeling she might have been a bit harsh, she added:

“Alright, it’s decent, I guess.”

“Tsk, so with that performance,” Ye Shu grinned, “don’t I get some kind of reward?”

“R-reward?”

Medusa was taken aback, then snapped indignantly, “You bastard, what do you take me for? Some kind of quest-giving tool that hands out rewards for completing missions!”

“Destroying the Cloud Firmament Sect was your own decision.”

“It wasn’t something I asked you to do. Why should I reward you? No way.”

“Oh...”

At that, Ye Shu lowered his head in disappointment, fell silent, and looked as forlorn as a child seeking praise from an adult but receiving none.

It was so pathetic that even Medusa felt a pang of guilt.

“Fine, fine. Quit looking like a sulky kid. I’ll be generous and spare you something.”

“Say what treasure you want.”

Hearing this, Ye Shu’s eyes lit up immediately.

He sat bolt upright.

“Whoa!”

Whitey, caught off guard, was flung from his arms and tumbled off the horse, letting out a dramatic, operatic shriek.

But Ye Shu felt no remorse.

He rubbed his hands together with a slightly lecherous grin, stretched out a finger toward the air, and chuckled.

“I want... a kiss!”

“What did you say?!”

Medusa hissed like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, almost leaping out from his wrist.

“What’s the matter?”

Ye Shu raised an eyebrow, teasingly. “Don’t tell me the Serpent Clan Queen, a Void Refinement-stage great cultivator like you, is someone who breaks her promises?”

“Wh-who breaks their promises!”

Provoked, Medusa’s temper flared.

In an instant, she manifested from beneath his sleeve, sitting astride the horse facing him, baring two sharp fangs menacingly. “Close your eyes!”

Anyone watching might think she was about to devour him.

Obediently, Ye Shu shut his eyes.

Soon, something soft and squishy pressed briefly against his lips—like a dragonfly skimming water, there and gone.

When Ye Shu opened his eyes, Medusa had already retreated into his sleeve, coiling herself into a tight ball emanating waves of heat.

Ye Shu smacked his lips.

It wasn’t easy, but he finally had his first intimate contact with the mother of his child. A good start.

Just as he was about to savor the memory of that kiss...

A female voice suddenly echoed in his heart—gentle, but tinged with sorrow, grievance, and a hint of jealousy.

“Shu’er...”

Ye Shu jolted.

Damn. How could he have forgotten about his newly wedded little wife?

He quickly channeled his spiritual senses into his ring.

There, Danxia frowned slightly, staring at him with a resentful expression, her lips pouting as if she might burst into tears at any moment.

"Oh my dear Master, what's wrong?" Ye Shu quickly stepped forward, pulling her into his arms and gently comforting her.

Danxia nestled in his embrace with a pitiful look, raised her head, and tentatively tested the waters: "Shu'er... are you disdainful of me, your master?"

Ye Shu was taken aback. "Master, why would you think that?"

"Because... because..."

Danxia's voice choked with emotion. "Everyone else can bear you children—Lin Qingxue can, Medusa can—but your master can't. Only... only I..."

She couldn't finish speaking before trailing off.

Hearing this, Ye Shu was momentarily stunned, then chuckled softly and patted her back. "I thought it was something serious. Turns out it's just this? Well, let me put it plainly—Medusa's child should count as yours, shouldn't it?"

"When the child is born, let it call you mother."

"As for Medusa... She's been so disobedient; let her be the godmother!"

Hearing such absurd words, Danxia immediately broke into a smile through her tears. Though she knew Shu'er was joking, just having this thought was enough for her.

She leaned against Ye Shu's chest and whispered softly.

"Shu'er, you're wonderful."

Just as the two were enjoying this brief moment of tenderness, Xiao Bai, who had fallen off the horse, finally scrambled out of the wheat field with her short little legs, huffing and puffing as she caught up.

She struggled to climb onto the horse by grabbing the tail, then kicked Ye Shu in the ribs, her cheeks puffing in anger.

"You scoundrel! How dare you throw me off the horse!"

"It hurts like hell, you know."

In response, Ye Shu simply said, "Oh."

"You little bastard..." Xiao Bai gritted her teeth but was helpless. She could only sit on his head in a huff, her voice muffled. "So, what are you planning to do now?"

"By now, you're the undisputed number one young figure of the Eastern Wasteland. You have Lin Heming backing you, the Cloud Soaring Sect has been destroyed, that villainous senior brother doesn't seem to be messing with you anymore, and the female leads are all completely done for."

As she spoke, Xiao Bai suddenly paused.

"Seems... seems like it's all over. There's nothing left to threaten you. All you have to do is cultivate steadily and let time take care of the rest."

It seemed, just like that... it had ended. She hadn't even fully realized it yet.

Ye Shu squinted his eyes, gazing into the distance.

Beyond the golden wheat fields stretched endless mountain ranges, layered one after another, extending out of sight. The sun slowly set, drawing in its final glow as night gradually descended.

"Over?"

"I have a feeling it's only just begun..."