"Damn you, you cursed brat, who gave you this body?" An aged yet dignified and noble voice echoed as two fists met.
"My wives, mostly," Qingyi laughed, retreating before advancing again.
Qingyi’s fist landed on his opponent’s stomach, while the old man’s hit Qingyi’s handsome, masculine face.
The two took steps back, exhausted.
They were covered in sweat, their clothes turned into rags that revealed powerful muscles.
The arena, made to withstand fights between experts of the Astral Body Realm, was in shambles, holes and punch marks surrounding the pure white walls, floor, and even the ceiling.
"Your women? What are you telling me? That you slept with them until you became this strong?"
"Yes," Qingyi nodded honestly, eliciting a laugh from the elder.
"Ah... Advancing in cultivation through sex. Imagine if that were real? Even dual cultivation sects don’t have it that easy."
The old man sighed, sitting down on the floor and letting his blood cool.
Qingyi didn’t insist on the subject either, sitting down on the floor right after him.
"Do you have anything good to drink, old man? You promised to treat me to something good," Qingyi said, letting himself fall onto his back.
Using his hands as a pillow, he closed his eyes for a brief moment.
"Don’t call me old man, it’s grandpa to you now," Jianming retorted.
He opened his spatial ring and took out a small jar of liquor, pouring the drink into two wooden cups.
"Ah... What an honor. Considering that you lost to me, shouldn’t you be the one calling me grandpa?"
Qingyi raised his torso, sitting up again and picking up one of the cups.
"Hmpff," Jianming snorted, taking a sip of the sweet liquor. "In your dreams, brat."
Qingyi just laughed bitterly in response, drinking as well.
It wasn’t bad at all.
With nothing else to say, the two men just drank in silence. Their eyes focused on nothingness as their agitated Qis calmed down.
After a few more minutes like this and shaking the empty jar, Jianming finally broke the silence.
"So, when are you planning the wedding?"
"It will depend on my father-in-law," Qingyi replied after a moment’s thought. "But I’m sure it will all be quick. I have things to take care of in the Beastman Lands soon."
"Ugh... Beastman Lands," the old man spat on the ground. "I led an army on a military mission there once, some forty thousand years ago. I lost half my army in weeks of campaigning, and the damn Cat People Patriarch at the time nearly gouged out one of my eyes."
"What the hell are you going to do in that cursed land?" Jianming asked.
"I’m not exactly human," Qingyi shook his head. "I think it’s a pretty nice place."
"You’re not human, but you’re not from that land either." The old man stood up, his eyes focusing on the door leading to the arena’s exit.
A loud bang echoed as they opened, revealing a burly, panting figure.
"Oh... So there you are, you brat! It’s been hours since I got here, why haven’t you come to greet your father-in-law?" Jianming roared angrily.
"Grumpy as ever. I thought your vacation would be enough to calm your fire down," Jin Hao shook his head, sighing in defeat.
Three years, and that damn old man hadn’t changed a bit.
Grumpy, quarrelsome, and annoying.
It didn’t even seem like he was over ninety thousand years old.
"I’ll calm my fire when I die, son-in-law. Now where is my little girl? And my granddaughter? Who gave you permission to marry her off?"
Jianming continued to grumble as Jin Hao guided him out of the arena.
"I didn’t marry her off, she chose Qingyi," the Gold King replied, frustrated.
"Of course she did. Meilin has always had much better vision than you. You’re lucky to have a daughter like her to inherit your legacy."
As he listened to the discussion, Qingyi couldn’t help but smile slightly.
It reminded him of his first mother-in-law on Earth.
He would like to call her a disgusting, poisonous snake, but that would be an affront to disgusting, poisonous snakes.
That woman didn’t even deserve to be compared to such a creature.
For an entire year, she made his life a living hell that almost drove him to suicide.
’At least her daughter was hot...’ Qingyi shook his head, remembering that beautiful face.
Nowadays, she wouldn’t even be worthy of entering his harem. How things had changed, uh?
Well, at least Jianming truly had affection for his son-in-law, daughter, and granddaughter, unlike that demonic woman.
Jin Hao, Qingyi, and Jianming had barely taken a single step into the luxurious central hall of the mansion before they stopped, looking at the anxious face of a Shadow.
"Master Hao, your wife came to the medical clinic where the Third Prince was staying," the Shadow declared, bowing.
"And? What happened?" Jin Hao asked, confused.
One of his Shadows would not come to him for something so minor.
"She is aware that it was Meilin who did that to the Third Young Master," the Shadow said.
Jin Hao’s face froze and his eyes widened.
"Knowing that crazy woman, she must have already gone after Meilin," Jianming said beside Jin Hao.
The man nodded, leaving his mansion before immediately bursting into speed, tearing through the skies.
Qingyi and Jianming followed close behind.
"Aren’t you worried about your wife, kid?" Jianming asked.
"She can take care of herself," Qingyi smiled.
Even if it were an expert of the Astral Body Realm, with Khaedryss and Ruxue now complete, almost nothing on this continent would actually be able to hurt any of his wives.
Not to mention someone like the Third Young Master’s mother, who had only reached the level of an Ancestral Empress using her husband’s resources.
After a few moments of flying, they arrived at Meilin’s mansion, a sigh of relief escaping Jin Hao’s lips.
His third wife was not there, and not even a single sign of combat or irregularity in the Qi of that place was visible.
The only person present was Meilin, who was in the garden enjoying the birdsong.
"Something wrong, Father?" she asked, her eyes widening as they fell on the old man accompanying her father and husband. "Grandfather? You’re back? Did Mother come too?"