My Host Only Marries the Strong

“Rustle.”

Pink peach blossom paper scattered everywhere, ink droplets flying as the gentle spiritual energy was disrupted, floating away in startled wisps.

The papers drifted to the ground in chaos, with a spirit heart buried underneath the pile, happily hiding itself.

Dark and cozy. Perfect.

In the deadly silence, the drifting spiritual energy regathered, filling the narrow realm with white mist once more, concealing a pair of dark, bewildered eyes hidden in the fog.

“E……cho!”

The low voice echoed through the spiritual mist, carrying a distinctly teeth-gritting quality.

Seraphine closed her eyes, reached out to pick up one of the peach blossom papers that had landed on her red dress, and stared at the serious yet crooked handwriting with a gaze sharp enough to pierce through the paper.

What was she up to now?

Seraphine’s fingers clenched the letter so tightly she might tear it. She even entertained the thought that Echo had been possessed by someone else.

Among all these letters filled with culinary desires, this inappropriate invitation stood out like a sore thumb—completely out of place and utterly…… offensive.

Swirling spiritual mist settled on her hair, the dense spiritual liquid condensing into water droplets across her hair, skin, and clothes.

Damp strands clung to her earlobes, and her normally pale skin had somehow turned red, a bashful color hidden beneath the darkness, too embarrassed to be spoken aloud.

Either Echo had finally developed human problems, or she’d learned something strange somewhere and decided to use it on her. The stupid thing was probably quite pleased with herself right now.

Seraphine thought coldly, reading the letter’s contents over and over again, half-believing as she wondered: “Is she…… complimenting my appearance?”

“……”

That stupid thing’s twisted logic had caught her off guard again. She’d just have to wait until Echo returned and ask her directly! Seraphine suppressed her strange emotions, snorted coldly, and tossed the letter aside.

The opportunity to cultivate in the Insight Academy’s secret realm was precious—she should focus on her training.

“Seraphine, if Echo’s brain isn’t working properly, does yours have to malfunction too? Stop blushing!” she scolded herself quietly, forming hand seals to draw spiritual energy into her body.

She closed her eyes again.

Half an hour later, Seraphine’s trembling eyes suddenly snapped open. She clicked her tongue in annoyance and hastily gathered all the letters from the ground, shoving them into her storage ring. Out of sight, out of mind!

The spirit heart, suddenly robbed of darkness, died peacefully.

Bright light. Unhappy.

⁂

Pingjin City, Small Alley.

Echo, Meng Xiangfei, and a female cultivator of Taiyan Sect named Tan Yue had spent the past several days investigating outside Pingjin City, yet found no trace of demonic cultivators.

Tan Yue’s master remained missing without any news, and the communication talismans she sent disappeared like stones thrown into the ocean—no responses at all.

Tan Yue grew increasingly anxious, fearing her master had fallen victim to the demon cultivator. She tried to venture outside the city daily, but today Meng Xiangfei stopped her, speaking in her melodious, seductive voice: “Little Sister Yue, you must be more careful. If your master has truly met with misfortune, with your abilities, even finding him would only mean throwing your life away. Stay calm and think of other solutions.”

Hearing Meng Xiangfei’s “comfort,” Tan Yue’s face went even paler. She sat helplessly on a long bench in the ruined building, cold north wind whistling through the holes in the walls, chilling her to the bone.

In this desolate winter scene, Meng Xiangfei sat perched on a fierce tiger she’d captured somewhere, her bare feet swinging playfully. Purple gauze wrapped around her body, exposing large expanses of pale skin.

Seeing Tan Yue’s dejected state, a flash of disdain crossed Meng Xiangfei’s eyes. She thought to herself that even though Tan Yue was a Nascent Soul cultivator, she couldn’t handle pressure at all. For all the Taiyan Sect’s claims of being the central continent’s premier sect, their disciples were nothing special.

Meng Xiangfei toyed with her fingers, glancing toward the window as Echo walked in. She pointed at Echo. “Look at Fellow Daoist Xi—even if the sky were falling, she wouldn’t let it interfere with her eating and playing. Truly admirable composure.”

Echo clutched Nine Heavens and said, “Thank you for the compliment. What are we doing today?”

Tan Yue forced a difficult smile and addressed Echo: “Senior, I’ve sent word to our sect. We should receive news within a day or two. Until then, let’s continue as before—one person guards the city while the other two search outside.”

“Oh,” Echo said. “Today’s my turn to guard the city, so I’ll head back now.”

She’d become friends with the little girl next door, and her parents had cleaned out a guest room for her to sleep in. Echo now had a draft-free space to write love letters—very satisfactory.

She wandered out playing her jade flute, walking just a few steps before turning into the neighboring doorway. She ran into Liu Ya’s mother carrying a basket, heading out to buy groceries.

When Liu Ya’s mother saw Echo, her expression became respectful as she said quietly, “Immortal, today I’ll buy a fat goose and stew it for you.”

“Wonderful!” Echo nodded enthusiastically.

Stewed goose sounded great—delicious!

She waved cheerfully at Liu Ya’s mother and watched her head toward the marketplace.

The mortal world knows no immortal worries. The Taiyan Sect’s sudden arrival had only brought Pingjin City’s residents a few days of panic. But seeing these immortals neither killed nor commanded arrogantly, people gradually returned to their normal routines.

Liu Ya’s family benefited greatly from this arrangement. They’d originally been among Pingjin City’s most ordinary households, eating meat only a few times a year.

Ever since a breathtakingly beautiful immortal had settled in the abandoned house next door, not only did they eat their fill daily, they also had thick quilts to keep them warm through the winter.

Echo stood in the courtyard and called, “Liu Ya!” Soon, a little girl in new clothes ran out from the house, standing before her and shyly lifting her gaze to meet hers.

As Meng Xiangfei passed by the door, she heard Echo use her clear, gentle voice to tell this child who wasn’t even as tall as her legs, “Let’s play a game.”

She snorted derisively, wondering what was wrong with this world—a peerless Soul Transformation sword cultivator playing with a five-year-old mortal child, while Seraphine protected her so thoroughly.

Was the dignified Luanyang Palace Lord fond of playing mother?

She laughed mockingly, sitting on her spirit tiger’s back as she controlled it toward the city outskirts. Every mortal they encountered fled in terror, running into houses and slamming their doors shut, looking at her as if she were a demon.

“……”

Meng Xiangfei cast a sneering glance at these fleeing mortals and rode her spirit tiger toward the city limits.

Over the past few days, they’d turned the area within a thousand miles of Pingjin City upside down and visited surrounding sects.

According to Tan Yue, the distant Wangjin City also had Taiyan Sect disciples stationed there. Meng Xiangfei planned to visit Wangjin City to share information with those disciples.

But as her tiger bounded through the mountain forests, just ten thousand meters from the city, she suddenly convulsed in agony and tumbled from the spirit tiger’s back. Meng Xiangfei screamed and collapsed, pain-induced cold sweat covering her body.

This excruciating pain didn’t come from her body, but from her soul—as if thousands of icy blades stabbed into herspiritone after another, tearing open gash after gash, like countless long needles piercing her nerves and stirring through her brain matter.

The agony nearly killed Meng Xiangfei as she rolled on the ground with rolled-back eyes. For a moment, she wanted to end her own life.

The spirit tiger roared, clawing at the ground before lowering its head to nuzzle Meng Xiangfei’s head.

Despite the cold winter day, Meng Xiangfei was drenched in sweat as if she’d been pulled from water.

“Heh, hehe.” The pain came and went quickly. Meng Xiangfei weakly climbed up, leaning against the spirit tiger. She looked toward a certain direction, not daring to show even a trace of hatred in her eyes.

After fearfully glancing in that direction, she climbed back onto the tiger’s back and directed it to run that way.

The world was full of mountains.

In these desolate peaks where tigers and leopards roamed, no mortals would venture, and cultivators had no interest in spiritually barren mountain ranges.

Meng Xiangfei jumped down from the tiger’s back, rubbing its head as she whispered, “Go.”

The spirit tiger’s round pupils slowly contracted into vertical slits, as if it no longer recognized the human it had carried all this way. Its throat immediately rumbled with threatening growls.

Meng Xiangfei smiled slightly and released just a bit of pressure. The unintelligent tiger immediately cowered, turning to flee in terror. Meng Xiangfei watched its golden fur disappear into the forest before turning to catch a glimpse of white.

“Brother Wen, you’re such a bad boy,” Meng Xiangfei said, patting her chest with displeasure. “You have countless ways to summon me—why torment me so? I nearly died.”

“If you wanted me dead, there are more comfortable methods. Why torture my soul like this?” Meng Xiangfei laughed delicately, raising her hand to bite her finger while gazing at Wen Chunsheng with unspoken implications.

Wen Chunsheng stood on a high cliff, gazing toward the distant town. Hearing her words, he frowned and said to MengXiangfei, “Vulgar language.”

“Oh, I didn’t say anything improper. Brother Wen shouldn’t let your thoughts wander.” Meng Xiangfei replied with an innocent expression, slowly walking up the cliff to stand behind Wen Chunsheng. Following his gaze, she saw PingjinCity sitting on the barren plains in the distance.

Meng Xiangfei’s pupils contracted. After a pause, she smiled sweetly. “But why has Brother Wen come all the way to the central continent? You disappeared from the Five Continents Competition without a word. Not seeing you at the Insight Academy Palace made me so heartbroken.”

Wen Chunsheng showed a gentle smile, saying softly, “Aren’t we meeting now?”

“……” Meng Xiangfei forced a smile. “Are those demon cultivators really your doing, Brother Wen?”

Wen Chunsheng turned to look at her, smiling as he asked, “Why, don’t you like them?”

Meng Xiangfei lowered her eyes, pouting playfully. “Of course not. I’m a righteous cultivator, after all. It’s only because you fancy my flower-like beauty and insist I submit to you that I have no choice.”

She tapped Wen Chunsheng’s arm with her finger, humming, “You mustn’t use soul summoning on me again—it really hurt.”

Wen Chunsheng’s mouth curved upward as he turned back toward Pingjin City.

Cold wind swept down from the north, driving dark clouds in urgent haste. It seemed this year’s first winter snow would arrive soon.

Wen Chunsheng gazed at the city with its drifting smoke, saying gently, “Without their assistance, how could I meet the Insight Academy Palace’s elite students?”

Meng Xiangfei was shocked, covering her lips. “Brother Wen, you want to……”

Kill these people?!

Various thoughts flashed through Meng Xiangfei’s mind, leaving her agitated and terrified. Her face turned uncontrollably pale as she smiled stiffly. “The Insight Academy Palace has Ink-Trace Venerable presiding over it. Do you already have means to oppose Ink-Trace Venerable?”

Oppose?

Wen Chunsheng chuckled softly. “You’re overthinking. I naturally wouldn’t do anything so foolish. Besides, you know I’ve always cherished talent.” As his words ended, two figures landed one after another, standing quietly behind Wen Chunsheng.

He waved his hand, and those two figures flew toward Pingjin City.

Meng Xiangfei gasped when she recognized one of them.

“What exactly do you want to do?”

Her voice was full of fear, and her body began trembling.

Wen Chunsheng continued smiling, saying gently, “Don’t be afraid. I rarely harm lives. It’s just that I’ve never encountered someone with such outstanding talent as Echo. I’m quite curious about her. Xiangfei, you’ve spent several days with Echo—what kind of person do you think she is?”

Meng Xiangfei swallowed hard and smiled. “I’m not familiar with her. I only think she’s remarkably capable, fearless, and somewhat innocent.” Innocence with significant attacking power.

Remembering that person’s calm, indifferent expression when casually issuing challenge letters without regard for anyone’s feelings, Meng Xiangfei found it hard to describe.

“Unworldly.”

Fearless, innocent, unworldly.

Wen Chunsheng savored these words, his eyes smiling more deeply.

Fearlessness came from never experiencing setbacks; innocence from never encountering darkness. The Lingshan Sect had never shown traces across the Five Continents—Echo was clearly a well-protected genius.

After a few years in the world gaining fame, dealing with innocent people was simple—just shatter their mental defenses.

Wen Chunsheng lowered his hand and turned to leave. Meng Xiangfei asked in shock, “You’re leaving just like that?”

“Yes,” Wen Chunsheng said quietly. “If you want to watch, stay here. As for Pingjin City……” He smiled. “You can’t enter anymore.”

Meng Xiangfei immediately turned toward the city shrouded in dark clouds.