Chapter 31

PS: The ranking of the new book has been overtaken, please give me recommendation votes!! Sob sob...

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Ximen Yanyan suddenly cried out, "Father..."

Yang Dingtian also said urgently, "Uncle, didn't we agree before? We wouldn't force Yanyan to marry me."

Ximen Wuyan ignored the two and continued to stare at Yang Dingtian, saying slowly, "Yang Dingtian, if I betroth Ximen Yanyan to you as your wife, will you love her for life, protect her for life, and take care of her for life?"

He stared at Yang Dingtian, his eyes filled with countless meanings, yet only one.

Yang Dingtian felt a pang of sorrow and said, "You will be fine, you don't have to do this."

"Answer me, Yang Dingtian," Ximen Wuyan said, word by word.

"Yes, Uncle," Yang Dingtian said, "I will take care of Yanyan for life, I will protect her for life."

Ximen Wuyan turned his gaze to his daughter and said, word by word, "Ximen Yanyan, if I betroth you to Yang Dingtian, are you willing to love him for life, to regard him as your sky and earth, to bear his children, and to cook and wash for him?"

"Father..." Ximen Yanyan cried, "Why are you doing this? Why are you doing this?"

"Ximen Yanyan, are you going to defy your father like Dongfang Bingling?" Ximen Wuyan said sternly.

"I, I dare not," Ximen Yanyan said.

Ximen Wuyan said, "Then tell me, are you willing to marry Yang Dingtian, to love him for life, to regard him as your sky and earth, to bear his children, and to cook and wash for him?"

Ximen Yanyan immediately fell to the ground, sobbing, "I am willing, I am willing! I am willing to do anything, as long as you get better. Don't scare me, don't scare me."

Ximen Wuyan said with a serious face, "Very well, then you two will get married today, right here and now."

"Uncle!" Yang Dingtian said hurriedly, "Let's wait until we get back to Cloud Peak City..."

"Right here," Ximen Wuyan said firmly, "Do you want to defy my wishes?"

"I dare not."

"I dare not!" Yang Dingtian and Ximen Yanyan bowed their heads.

"Very well, stand up now," Ximen Wuyan said.

Yang Dingtian and Ximen Yanyan stood up.

"Face east, bow to heaven and earth!" Ximen Wuyan said.

The two knelt toward the east and bowed.

"Yang Dingtian, where are your parents?" Ximen Wuyan said.

"They are no longer in this world," Yang Dingtian said.

"Then I will take their place," Ximen Wuyan said, "Kneel to me, bow to your parents!"

Yang Dingtian and Ximen Yanyan knelt toward Ximen Wuyan and bowed.

"Kneel to each other!"

Yang Dingtian and Ximen Yanyan knelt facing each other, bowed, and then stood up. Ximen Yanyan's beautiful eyes were filled with tears, but also a hint of shyness.

"Come here," Ximen Wuyan beckoned.

Yang Dingtian and Ximen Yanyan stepped forward. Ximen Wuyan held one of their hands, looked at Yanyan with a loving and gentle expression, and said, "Good child, although your cultivation is far behind Dongfang Bingling and your fame is not as great as hers, you have always been your father's treasure. You have always been your father's pride, no matter how strong or weak your cultivation is. Your father has never been able to bear to scold you, and the thought of you growing up and marrying someone makes me both hopeful and sad."

"I never thought this day would come so soon. I haven't cherished you enough, and now you have to marry someone. I really don't want to, I really don't want to," Ximen Wuyan sighed, his eyes fixed on his daughter as if he wanted to see her one last time.

Then, Ximen Wuyan changed to a gentleness he had never shown before, "From today on, another man will love and care for you. Don't worry, the husband I have chosen for you is the best. He will cherish you in his heart, and will not let you suffer or be hurt in any way."

"Yang Dingtian, do you agree with what I said?" Ximen Wuyan looked at Yang Dingtian.

"Yes, yes, I will," Yang Dingtian said, holding back tears and nodding forcefully.

Ximen Wuyan gripped Yang Dingtian's hand and said, "Child, I can no longer protect you. From now on, you have to rely on yourself. Remember what you said, I am entrusting my precious daughter to you, I am entrusting Cloud Peak City to you, and I am entrusting my ideals to you."

At this moment, Ximen Wuyan's eyes seemed like a flame, which was getting smaller and dimmer.

"Spit..." Then, a mouthful of black blood spewed out of Ximen Wuyan's mouth, shooting over ten meters and splashing on the ground, emitting a cloud of black smoke. The flowers in the cabin withered and died instantly.

"Uncle, why is this happening? You were fine when the battle ended," Yang Dingtian said, "How can you be cured? Tell me."

"It's no use!" Ximen Wuyan smiled slightly at Yang Dingtian, "Zhu Qingzhu's palm almost destroyed all my vitality. The energy in his mystic qi can devour everything. My tendons, my blood, my mystic qi, my qi sea, everything in my body..."

"I have overestimated his danger to the maximum, but I still didn't expect it. The Supreme Elder of the Yin-Yang Sect's shocking mystic technique didn't harm me, and Dongfang Bingling's Yin-Yang Array didn't take my life. But Zhu Qingzhu's light palm easily destroyed my life, and he didn't even use his full strength," Ximen Wuyan's breath grew weaker, "Child, remember, never engage in combat with Zhu Qingzhu unless you have absolute confidence. His mystic qi energy is completely destructive. Even a tiny bit of energy entering your body will quickly infect and devour everything in your body, turning your mystic qi and blood into dark energy, one becomes two, two becomes four, four becomes eight. Soon, every part of your body will be filled with this dark energy, which will devour all your vitality."

"It can be saved, it can be saved, tell me, tell me!" Yang Dingtian said.

"It can't be saved, this dark energy has already reached my qi sea and heart. Most of my blood has already turned black," Ximen Wuyan said, "When this dark energy reaches my qi sea and heart, do you know what the consequences will be?"

Yang Dingtian shook his head.

"I will become a bloodthirsty monster, completely losing my mind, only knowing how to kill. I will kill everyone on this ship," Ximen Wuyan said.

Suddenly, Yang Dingtian and Ximen Yanyan were stunned.

"No, Father, you won't," Ximen Yanyan cried.

"This mystic qi energy is called Soul Devourer. I have only read about it in books, but I never thought this most evil technique would reappear in the world," Ximen Wuyan said, "I have tried every method to suppress the Soul Devourer energy, but all have failed. Look at my eyes, the black area of my pupils is getting larger. When the black pupils completely take over my eyes, I will become that bloodthirsty monster!"

"You don't want me to become that kind of monster, do you?" Ximen Wuyan said, "Remember, don't tell anyone about the Soul Devourer, or it will bring disaster."

"The time has come!" Ximen Wuyan looked at Yang Dingtian, "Child, I believe you will do well!"

"Protect Yanyan, protect Cloud Peak City..."

"Yang Dingtian, Uncle can no longer protect you. From now on, you really have to rely on yourself!"

After saying this, Ximen Wuyan's hand suddenly struck his heart, fast as lightning, unstoppable.

"Father, no..."

"Uncle, no..."

Yang Dingtian and Ximen Yanyan cried out in shock. Ximen Wuyan's last mouthful of black blood spurted out, and then his head drooped, his eyes closed, and he was silent.

"Father, don't leave me..." Ximen Yanyan cried out, fainting like a bleeding nightingale.

Yang Dingtian could no longer hold back his tears, which flooded his face.

"Father..." Outside, Ximen Yan rushed in, kneeling before Ximen Wuyan, sobbing.

Suddenly, the people of Cloud Peak City rushed in, staring in disbelief at Ximen Wuyan on the bed, as if struck by lightning. In their minds, Ximen Wuyan was as powerful as a god, invincible, immortal, but now...

Everyone slowly knelt down, as if the sky and earth had collapsed. Perhaps for them, the sky had truly fallen, because Ximen Wuyan was the sky of Cloud Peak City.

Ximen Yanyan slowly woke up, looking at the crowd crying in the room, and said in a clear voice, "Why are you crying? My father is not dead, he is just in a deep meditative state to heal his injuries."

"This deep meditation will last three years, and my father will wake up after three years," Ximen Yanyan said, "So remember, these three years will be the most dangerous and difficult for Cloud Peak City. We must work together and strive to be strong. Crying now won't help. My father has protected you for many years, and it's time for us to stand on our own."

"Go back to your posts, do what you need to do," Ximen Yanyan said, "Remember, when dealing with outsiders, we will uniformly say that my father is in seclusion. Anyone who reveals what happened today will have their cultivation stripped and be expelled."

Everyone immediately stopped crying, their faces showing a glimmer of hope.

"Still not leaving?" Ximen Yanyan said, "My father needs peace to heal. Remember to send a fifth-grade recovery pill every day, crush it, and burn it near my father. This will help his recovery."

After these words, everyone believed that Ximen Wuyan was truly in a deep meditative state.

"Yes, Miss!" Then, everyone bowed and left, each returning to their posts.

Ximen Yan stayed behind. After everyone had left, he said slowly, "Yanyan, you can fool others, but not me. Father is gone."

Then, his eyes filled with hatred as he glared at Yang Dingtian, saying coldly, "You are a disaster. It's all because of you that Father is dead. You are a disaster."