Chapter 3: The Reason I Improved the Maiden Art Was, Naturally, To Be With My Wife

Xiao Yifeng spoke for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense. By the end, his mouth was parched, his throat dry as dust.

With a leisurely air, he walked over to one of the side chairs, sat down uninvited, and poured himself a cup of tea. After downing it in one gulp, he finally continued.

“Hanyan, you must be careful. Feixue Hall has been infiltrated by the Starry Sky Sacred Hall. The spy is your Senior Sister, Guangyun. I will write you a detailed list of the others later. Do you believe me now?”

Liu Hanyan sat in silence, her brow furrowed in deep thought.

“You claim there is a giant hand manipulating everything in this world, and that you died by this mastermind’s schemes? You claim my Senior Sister is a spy, and that Guangwei, the Hall Master of Qiankun Hall, is colluding with the Demon Sect? Do you have any evidence?”

She compared his words against everything she knew. Indeed, many inexplicable events from the past suddenly made sense when threaded together by his narrative. Yet, she remained cautious.

“The evidence? I am the evidence,” Xiao Yifeng replied calmly. “I was reborn here with nothing but my memories. However, I can predict what will happen next, and you can verify it yourself.”

His eyes suddenly lit up. “Oh, right! There is a cultivation technique we created together. It is an improved version of the Ice Heart Art. It is no longer a ‘Furnace’ technique.”

He looked at Liu Hanyan with a gentle gaze.

“You can perfectly convert your current Ice Heart Art cultivation to this new circulation path. It will only take ten years to completely transform your true essence. The power of this mantra far surpasses the original. Do you have a brush and paper? I’ll write it down for you…”

He wanted to transcribe the mantra and the circulation routes but lacked the tools.

Liu Hanyan waved her hand. A set of ink, brush, paper, and an inkstone materialized on the table beside him.

Xiao Yifeng immediately picked up the brush. He wrote down the mnemonic chants, drew the circulation diagrams, and annotated the key points line by line.

Liu Hanyan couldn’t help but walk over. She watched him bent over the desk, writing furiously, his tender, childish face filled with absolute focus.

Is this little brat really my husband?

Me? Becoming Dao Companions with a Demon Sect villain? That must be a lie.

However, Xiao Yifeng’s calligraphy was exquisite—bold and flowing, completely inconsistent with his identity as a 10-year-old village boy.

When she read the mantra, her expression grew solemn.

The chant was exceptionally profound. It was clear that the creator had immersed themselves in the Ice Heart Art for many years; it was born from her technique but transcended it. The circulation path was unheard of, even shocking, yet upon careful deduction, it seemed entirely feasible.

“These circulation paths… they utilize meridians that only exist in my Innate Ice Meridian Blockage,” Liu Hanyan murmured, realizing the truth. “This technique isn’t for ordinary people. It is tailor-made for me.”

“Exactly! My wife is truly brilliant as ice and snow,” Xiao Yifeng nodded enthusiastically, speaking from habit. “We spent nearly three years of painstaking research to create this. We drew references from the Nine Scrolls of Asking Heaven, the True Explanation of Stars, and the Formless Heart Sutra. Combined with your unique constitution, its power is immense.”

He grinned. “And the most important point? You won’t break your cultivation if you engage in marital acts…”

“Shut up!”

Liu Hanyan’s face flushed red, anger rising in her eyes. “Who is your wife? Since you admit to being from the Starry Sky Sacred Hall, I should eliminate you right now to protect the common people!”

This guy went to such great lengths to modify this technique just to drag me into bed for those disgraceful affairs?

“Don’t! Hanyan, I told you, I was framed!” Xiao Yifeng pretended to be aggrieved. “I have never killed the innocent. If you kill me, you’re only helping the mastermind behind the scenes. He’ll become even more unrestrained!”

“Do not call me by my name!” Liu Hanyan snapped.

Then, a thought struck her. Her eyes narrowed. “How can you be sure you were reborn? What if you merely crossed over to a parallel universe?”

She continued, her voice turning cold. “Even if you really are reborn, and in that other world, you and I were Dao Companions… that was the Liu Hanyan of that world. Not me.”

She looked down at him with frosty detachment. “You and I are strangers. The ‘me’ of this world does not like you. Be clear about that.”

Liu Hanyan was indeed brilliant. Even if she accepted that Xiao Yifeng had traveled through time, she immediately found a logical wall to separate herself from his claims.

Xiao Yifeng’s face turned deathly pale.

He wasn’t stupid. He had considered the possibility of parallel timelines, but he had deliberately avoided the thought. Now that she had pierced that bubble, he could no longer deceive himself.

He slumped into the chair, looking utterly desolate and lost.

“Do you understand now?” Liu Hanyan said, feeling a slight pang of pity at his reaction, but maintaining her firmness. “I am not the Liu Hanyan you know. I am not your wife.”

“Fine…” Xiao Yifeng took a deep breath, struggling to compose himself. “Guanghan Fairy, I have a request. Can you help me enter the Wentian Sect as a True Disciple in this batch of new intakes?”

“Impossible,” Liu Hanyan rejected him instantly. “Although I have the authority to recommend, with your poor aptitude, I will not do so.”

“In that case, Guanghan Fairy…” Xiao Yifeng stood up, his expression hardening. “You have already seen the first half of this technique. I don’t need to explain its value to you. This is the life’s blood of me and my wife. I cannot simply give it to an outsider for free.”

He waved the half-written manuscript in his hand. “Since you are not my wife, I have no obligation to gift it to you. Let’s make a trade. I will exchange this technique for your help in getting me into the Wentian Sect!”

“You…”

Liu Hanyan stared speechlessly at the brat. One moment he was crying “Wife,” the next he was ruthlessly bargaining.

She took a breath to calm herself. “Fine. How do you propose we trade?”

“I told you,” Xiao Yifeng smiled. “I want to enter the Wentian Sect as a True Disciple. You can just accept me as your personal disciple.”

“Impossible. Don’t even dream of it,” Liu Hanyan scoffed, turning her head away. “My Feixue Hall never accepts male disciples.”

“If you don’t take me, how can I possibly become a True Disciple with my aptitude?” Xiao Yifeng retorted angrily. “You can’t just throw me back to the Novice quarters to be a servant! Is my technique worth so little to you?”

“With your aptitude, being a servant disciple is already generous,” Liu Hanyan replied coldly. “I may be a Hall Master, but the Wentian Sect is not a dictatorship. I cannot break the rules so easily.”

“I don’t care! I must enter your Hall!” Xiao Yifeng shouted, his face crumpling. “Otherwise, I won’t give you the technique! Kill me if you want, I don’t care!”

Perhaps it was the influence of his 10-year-old body, but his temper had become childish and stubborn.

“Fine!”

Liu Hanyan felt her blood pressure spiking. She gritted her teeth. “I agree! I will accept you into my Hall. But I warn you—if you do anything to betray the Righteous Path, I will not spare you! And one more thing: after entering the sect, you must never let anyone know about the relationship between us!”

Xiao Yifeng nodded repeatedly like a chicken pecking rice.

Seeing her extend her hand, he hurriedly finished writing the Improved Ice Heart Art. He also wrote down the list of spies within Feixue Hall and handed everything over.

Liu Hanyan took the manuscript. She read it carefully, checking for any flaws. Finding none, she nodded.

Suddenly, she raised an eyebrow.

“Then… what about that ‘Qingyan’ you mentioned when you first woke up?”

Xiao Yifeng’s face stiffened. He gave a dry, awkward laugh and stayed silent.

Liu Hanyan narrowed her eyes. She recalled every detail since meeting this brat. He had woken up apologizing to her. And just now, when he spoke of his past, he had been evasive.

“You…” Her voice dropped to absolute zero. “You dared to betray the ‘me’ of the other world? You have another woman?”

Frost began to creep across the floor.

“No, no! It’s not like that! Qingyan and I…” Xiao Yifeng waved his hands in terror.

“You were willing to die for her? You left the other me behind?” The anger on Liu Hanyan’s face intensified.

“Hanyan, it’s not what you think! Listen to me, don’t be angry… Wait!”

Xiao Yifeng paused, realizing the contradiction. “This has nothing to do with you! You said it yourself—you aren’t my Hanyan!”

“I am standing up for the ‘me’ of that other world!” Liu Hanyan declared self-righteously, her aura flaring. “Scumbags like you—everyone has the right to punish them!”

Whoosh!

A terrifying wave of cold energy slammed into him. Xiao Yifeng felt his very soul freeze over.

Before his consciousness faded into darkness, a final thought drifted through his mind:

Just like in my past life… a jealous vinegar jar. Turning me into a popsicle at the slightest provocation.