Bai Hu was stunned for a moment.
In fact, not only Bai Hu, but Bai Zixuan next to him was also stunned.
Mainly because the words were a bit convoluted, making it hard for the two of them to react at once. When he finally came to his senses, Bai Hu's eyes widened.
Trembling, he said, "So..."
"So..."
"Sister Bai Li, do you mean that in the future..."
"I can no longer be called Bai Hu, but must be called Ye Hu?"
"Huh? Ye Hu?"
Bai Li nodded solemnly and said, "Yes!"
"Sister Bai Li, this... this is too... too inappropriate. How can I just change my name so casually? If I do that, how will I face my father? How will I face my ancestors?"
Bai Hu shouted quite agitatedly.
Bai Li cut him off with a single sentence, "Don't get excited yet. Your father has to change his surname too!"
"Huh? What! Huh?"
Bai Hu's eyes were as wide as saucers.
His father had to change his surname too?
"And your family genealogy, that must be changed as well!"
Bai Hu felt a rumbling in his head. Although the Bai family had long since joined the Concentric Alliance, they were still a prestigious and prominent family. Now, because of him, they had to change their surname completely?
Just for a child that wasn't even born, or even conceived yet, they had to change their entire surname?
This...
This...
This...
"I knew it, you wouldn't agree."
"Saying that you loved me was just to coax me," Bai Li said faintly, a trace of sadness and even despair appearing on her face. "Indeed, in this life, other than Brother Ye Fan, no one will ever treat me with true sincerity again."
"No, Sister Bai Li..." Bai Hu hurriedly cried out. "It's not like that, it's not what you think. I am willing, I am willing to be with you."
"But you aren't even willing to change your surname for my child."
Provoked by these words, Bai Hu's expression instantly twisted. With a fierce look in his eyes, he shouted loudly, "I will change it! Sister Bai Li, for you, and so that your and Ren Tianye's child can grow up healthy and strong in the future, I will change it."
"From today onward, I am no longer Bai Hu."
"I am Ye Hu!"
"My father's surname is no longer Bai; his surname is Ye too!"
"Our Bai family will henceforth be the Ye family."
Such a resolute vow brought a look of relief to Bai Li's face. She said, "Since that is the case, I will give you this chance. When I return from Ren Tianye, I will come find you."
This counted as a promise, and Bai Hu's heart finally settled.
Tender affection instantly swept over his heart like a spring breeze. Bai Hu's gaze softened, and he subconsciously took two steps forward, reaching out to hold Bai Li's hands.
He wanted to feel her jade-like beauty before their impending separation.
But just as he got within a foot of her, Bai Li noticed his movement. She furrowed her brows and coldly rebuked, "What are you doing?"
"Sister Bai Li, I, I..."
"Put away your delusions!" Bai Li scolded mercilessly. "Ren Tianye is such a clever man. How could I have contact with another man before becoming his wife?"
"Let me tell you, my first time must be given to Ren Tianye."
"Before that, no man is allowed to touch me, not even slightly."
"Including you!"
"Do you understand?"
Bai Hu's eyes dimmed again, but he still said unwaveringly, "Sister Bai Li, I, I understand."
"Good that you understand," Bai Li said. "Alright, now I have matters to discuss with the Left Protector. You may step down first."
"I..."
"Step down!"
"Yes, yes, Sister Bai Li."
Bai Hu retreated. Next to her, Left Protector Bai Zixuan had by now understood Bai Li's actions and, even more so, her intentions.
The Third Palace Master wasn't looking for a backer at all!
The Third Palace Master herself was the biggest backer!
Bai Hu was the Right Protector of the Concentric Alliance, yet he could so easily be infatuated with the Third Palace Master. No matter how strong Ren Tianye was, how could he compare to the elites of their Concentric Alliance?
Therefore, the Third Palace Master was using the Right Protector to demonstrate her power to him!
And he, Bai Zixuan, had truly witnessed the Third Palace Master's power!
Bai Zixuan felt both shocked and full of adoration inwardly.
When Bai Li first came to the Concentric Alliance, she was naive to the ways of the world, possessing nothing but a heart full of hatred. How much time had passed since then? Under the personal tutelage of the First Palace Master, she already had the ability to make capable men fall madly and devotedly in love with her.
If such an ability were used on Ren Tianye...
Even if Ren Tianye's heart was sealed in concrete, so what?
Wouldn't he still obediently bow down beneath the Third Palace Master's skirt?
Obediently be abandoned by the Third Palace Master and live in regret for the rest of his life?
At this moment, the way Bai Zixuan looked at Bai Li changed once again.
It had shifted from reverence to deep admiration.
He had already placed Bai Li on the same level as the First Palace Master!
Bai Zixuan no longer had any doubts.
He would work for Bai Li even more wholeheartedly.
He quickly discussed and finalized the plan with the Seven Righteous Brothers of Chifeng. The Lin Family Army would dispatch a large force to escort Bai Li into the capital, where Ren Tianye would marry her. As long as Ren Tianye married Bai Li and received a personal reply from her, they would surrender the entire army to Ren Tianye.
And Ren Tianye would not refuse such a request.
He agreed immediately.
After all, the worst possible outcome was just marrying a Bai Li. Moreover, this Bai Li didn't even demand a grand wedding, nor did she even ask to be married as his legal wife.
At worst, it was just taking in a concubine.
He wouldn't suffer any loss.
Thus, Ren Tianye sent Wang Ming to lead a group to receive her.
The two sides met outside the capital city.
Wang Ming smoothly received Bai Li and brought her into the capital.
Among the Lin Family Army outside the city gates, Bai Hu, who had come to see her off, couldn't help but feel downcast. Looking up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle, his sorrow flowed like a river.
Bai Zixuan, who was a Protector alongside Bai Hu, couldn't quite bear to watch and comforted him, "Bai Hu, don't be too sad. She's just going to be Ren Tianye's concubine for a few years and get bullied by him in the bedroom for a few years. It's not like she won't survive it. Why must you be so sorrowful?"
Seeing Bai Zixuan offering comfort, the Seven Righteous Brothers of Chifeng all chimed in to console him as well.
"That's right, brother. If you want to get by in life, you have to wear a little green on your head. Look on the bright side."
"Alas, brother, you just take things too heavily. Isn't it just changing your name to Ye Hu in the future? What's the big deal? At most, you just won't need to use a chamber pot when you get up at night."
"Brother, no matter what, Ren Tianye is a capable man, and his bloodline must be quite good. When you raise his child in the future, it might turn out even better than one you fathered yourself. When you think of it that way, don't you feel much happier?"
...
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
