I Was Forced to Marry a “Trash” Cultivator, But She Turned Out to Be a Reborn Empress!

Chapter 258: Preparing to Depart, The Void Refining Celestial Venerable

In the wake of the Refining Assembly, the name “Shen Xian” swept through Azure Nether City like a hurricane.

The title “Master Wang” was no longer just a polite honorific for a Nascent Soul cultivator. It had become a name that made even Soul Formation Venerables lower their heads and actively seek connections.

The Listening Rain Pavilion was under siege. Cultivators from every corner of the city, representing every faction imaginable, swarmed the gates, desperate to curry favor with the new Grandmaster.

Even the normally unflappable Qiu Ruoli was beginning to crack under the pressure.

It wasn’t just the social climbers. Shen Xian’s creation of a Top-grade Spirit Treasure with True Spirit characteristics had driven the local refining community into a frenzy. Every rogue refiner without a sect backing saw Shen Xian as their golden ticket to the Dao.

Refining was a path that relied heavily on heritage. These practitioners had reached their current level through luck and hard work, but to go further, they needed a teacher with a profound foundation.

And right now, Shen Xian was the biggest foundation in the city.

Listening Rain Pavilion.

Qiu Ruoli rubbed her temples, trying to massage away a headache that felt like a nail being driven into her skull. She slammed another stack of gilded invitations onto the table.

“These people are insane! The bastard son of a Cloudflow Pavilion Elder? Do they think I’m running a matchmaking service?”

“Master Wang—” she dragged the name out with venomous sarcasm. Frost gathered at her fingertips, freezing the top invitation into a block of ice. “This is the seventeenth wave today.”

He hides away in his refining room, enjoying the peace, while I deal with these jackals and tigers.

Initially, she had enjoyed the deference. It reminded her of her days as the Saintess of the Tianyao Sect. But there was a limit to how much sycophancy one woman could endure.

Crack.

The ice block in her hand shattered into powder.

“If they were just ordinary refiners, fine. But half of these people represent major factions!”

The visitors had dual motives: learn high-level techniques and uncover Shen Xian’s background. Rumors were already circulating that he came from a hidden, reclusive sect. That kind of connection made the major powers salivate. Even without a secret sect, Shen Xian’s skill alone—comparable to a Fifth-Rank Grandmaster—was enough to shift the balance of power in this border region.

Mishandling these egos could lead to disaster.

Shen Xian sat by the window, calmly reading a jade slip. He didn’t even look up.

“Ignore them. We are leaving soon anyway.”

With the windfalls from the competition, the gifts, and the payment from the Heaven-Reaching Chamber of Commerce, he had long surpassed the million Spirit Stones needed for the teleportation array to the Holy City. It was time to move on.

Qiu Ruoli paused. Her anger deflated, replaced by a complex emotion.

“When?” she asked, her voice low.

Although she still dreamed of escaping his clutches, the intensity of that desire had faded. After witnessing his godlike refining skills, a pragmatic part of her realized that following him might not be the worst fate. Even in the Sacred City, a man of his talents would surely rise.

Perhaps… seeing the wider world with him wouldn’t be so bad.

Shen Xian didn’t answer. His gaze shifted toward the courtyard entrance. His Divine Sense had picked up a familiar aura.

“Master Wang! Incredible news!”

Chen Min burst into the courtyard. The Chief Refiner of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, usually a man of composure, was flushed with excitement. His hands trembled as he bowed.

He took a deep breath to steady himself. “Venerable Zi Yun wishes to invite you to his residence as a guest!”

“Venerable?” Shen Xian raised an eyebrow.

He hadn’t expected the ripples of the competition to reach a Void Refining Celestial Venerable.

In a remote place like Azure Nether City, a Void Refining expert was a god. Even in the Sacred City, they were heavyweights. Such beings rarely lowered their gaze to notice a Fourth-Rank refiner.

Is there another reason?

“What is the background of this Venerable Zi Yun?” Shen Xian asked.

“Venerable Zi Yun is a renowned Formation Grandmaster from the Dao Xuan Sacred Land!” Chen Min explained, his eyes shining with worship. “It is said he has already reached the mid-stage of the Void Refining Realm. He was passing through the city and stayed specifically because he heard of the Assembly’s grandeur.”

Qiu Ruoli frowned. A Formation Grandmaster? Why would he care about refining?

“It is a supreme honor,” Chen Min lowered his voice conspiratorially. “The Venerable is a recluse. For him to issue an invitation… Master Wang, this is a fated chance that comes once in ten lifetimes!”

Shen Xian took the gilded invitation card. His fingers traced the complex patterns embossed on the surface.

A Formation Grandmaster interested in me…

He had doubts, but one did not refuse a Celestial Venerable.

“I understand,” Shen Xian nodded.

“Then please, follow me!” Chen Min beamed, bowing lower than he ever had before. He knew Shen Xian was destined for the heavens, and he intended to be the man who opened the door.

They arrived at a modest estate in a quiet district.

There were no golden lions or marble pillars. The entrance was marked only by two ancient pine trees.

Shen Xian’s eyes narrowed. To the untrained eye, they were trees. To him, they were Array Eyes, anchoring a formation that shrouded the entire estate in a veil of obscurity.

A young cultivator in star-patterned robes waited by the gate. He bowed respectfully. “Master Wang. My Master has been expecting you. Please.”

They passed through three courtyards. Shen Xian noted that every threshold, every stone lantern, concealed a deadly formation trigger.

The guide stopped before a simple bamboo hut. “Master is inside.”

Shen Xian pushed the door open. The scent of high-grade spirit tea washed over him.

An old man with white hair and a face as smooth as a child’s sat cross-legged on a mat, brewing tea. His gray robes were embroidered with shifting star charts that seemed to move when looked at peripherally.

He didn’t rise. He simply nodded. “Sit.”

Shen Xian’s heart tightened.

The old man had no spiritual pressure, yet the air around him warped with the Dao Rhythm of circulating stars. It was the Law of the Void Refining Realm—mastery over the fabric of reality itself.

“Taste this Starfall Tea,” Venerable Zi Yun said, sliding a cup across the low table. The liquid inside shimmered like the night sky. “I have traveled for decades, yet I never expected to see a refiner capable of triggering a Celestial Phenomenon in such a remote place.”

“Luck,” Shen Xian replied modestly. He sipped the tea.

A cool sensation washed through his mind, cleansing his Divine Sense of fatigue and impurities. Soul-nourishing tea. Priceless.

He set the cup down. “May I ask why the Venerable summoned this junior? What guidance do you have?”

Venerable Zi Yun smiled faintly.

“I summoned you today,” he said, his voice calm but heavy with implication, “for the sake of that Fifth-Rank Refining Inheritance.”