My Host Only Marries the Strong

Over the next few days, more and more sects arrived from across the five continents.

Smoke rose continuously from the Taiyan Sect’s main hall as Echo wandered around, completing Seraphine’s mission to observe humans and search for demon cultivators.

Ever since her battle with demon cultivators in Pingjin City, the demon cultivators in the Central Continent seemed to have vanished completely. Only the empty, devastated cities remained as proof of their evil deeds.

Stranger still, only the Central Continent showed signs of demon cultivator activity—nothing similar had happened in the other four continents.

Echo sat on her little stool, playing with Nine Heavens in her hands. She had hung her Insight Academy Palace jade token from the sword’s hilt, so the words “Immediately Ascend” kept flashing in everyone’s peripheral vision.

So noisy.

Echo was getting pretty bored. Every time she went to visit Seraphine these past few days, she was cultivating.

The letters Echo had left for her remained unopened. She hadn’t been able to have a proper conversation with Seraphineat all.

Meanwhile, the Taiyan Sect Leader was saying, “Demon cultivators are greedy—they absolutely won’t strike just once. The five continents cannot afford more chaos. I propose we establish a Five Continents Alliance to deal with the demon cultivation threat.”

Echo swung her little sword around, staring at the black stone tiles. She thought for a moment, then poked one with Nine Heavens’ hilt, wondering if she should test whether the stones were harder or Nine Heavens’ hilt was stronger.

On the other side of the hall, someone said, “The Sect Master’s proposal is good, but isn’t this making too big a deal of things? We’re putting too much importance on these demon cultivators. I think these fiends are just cowards who only dare cause trouble in the shadows—they’re probably not a real threat!”

“Ha! Those demon cultivators are already at Soul Transformation level and you say they’re not a threat? The entire Golden Sun Sect has vanished without a trace, and you’re still here making empty arguments. Your sect will probably disappear next!”

“You!”

“Now, now, don’t get agitated. I think the Five Continents Alliance could work, but……” Where would it be based? Who pays for it? Who provides personnel? Who becomes the alliance leader? You’re Soul Transformation, but so am I—why should I listen to you?

The major sects argued, the minor sects played fence-sitter, and the mid-tier sects went whichever way the wind blew.

Echo tapped her sword against the tiles.

Crack.

The tile grudgingly chipped a small corner. Echo hissed softly, quickly looked around to make sure everyone was still focused on their argument, then guiltily pressed her palms together and apologized to the injured floor. She put the broken piece back and stepped on it.

Sorry, sorry. Although I did that on purpose, you really are kind of brittle.

She took out a small handkerchief to wipe Nine Heavens clean, patting the sword with satisfaction.

What a good Nine Heavens.

Yu Xuefei, who had been watching Echo collect material while listening to the arguments, thought: Senior Sister Xi is really bored.

She glanced at the person next to her. Meng Xiangfei had emerged today, sitting there with sultry grace. Her snow-white arm rested on the armrest, and an ice-blue dragonfly perched on her dangling fingers.

If the dragonfly didn’t occasionally flutter its wings, one might think it was an exquisite piece of jewelry.

Ice Crystal Dragonfly—medicinal, extremely rare. No idea where that demoness caught it.

Such a waste.

Yu Xuefei’s smile grew thin. In her field of vision, Meng Xiangfei raised her long lashes, her tender, water-soft eyes meeting Yu Xuefei’s gaze with apparent surprise.

Meng Xiangfei lifted her finger to show Yu Xuefei the dragonfly, opening her mouth to ask silently: Want it?

The devastatingly beautiful woman bit her lip with a coy smile, gently shaking her head: Not giving it to you.

Ugh, that demoness!

Yu Xuefei found Meng Xiangfei not just shameless, but extremely shameless! She coldly looked away.

Meng Xiangfei smiled, letting her gaze linger on Yu Xuefei for a moment before shifting to the woman beside her.

Mu Wei, Valley Master of the Thousand Beauty Valley.

She had arrived at the Taiyan Sect two days ago to examine Tan Yue and her master, but the master-disciple pair still hadn’t awakened.

During a brief lull in the arguments, Mu Wei stood up. The Thousand Beauty Valley existed apart from worldly concerns, respected by all sides.

The valley’s disciples all carried an air of being untouched by mortal dust, and Mu Wei was no exception.

She spoke calmly: “Tan Yue and her master have lost their souls, but only part of their spiritual consciousness was taken. I’ve been trying to trace their remaining soul fragments to locate the missing pieces, but so far I’ve had no results.”

“With methods like these, who still dares claim they weren’t controlled by demon cultivators!” one cultivator said angrily.

“Even Soul Transformation cultivators fell victim to demon cultivation tricks, and you still won’t wake up!”

The hall grew quiet.

Someone said, “If demon cultivators wanted to possess them, why leave their spiritual consciousness intact? If they only wanted control, why take part of their spiritual consciousness at all?”

“Maybe it’s a soul cultivation technique?” Meng Xiangfei raised her hand to admire the dragonfly on her fingertip, speaking casually.

“They’ve become living corpses—perfect for shutting their mouths so you can all keep arguing endlessly here. Who knows? The outside world might already belong to the demon cultivators.”

She laughed softly after speaking. Everyone’s expressions turned cold, and quite a few people looked at her with suspicion.

Mysterious Yin Sect’s reputation wasn’t exactly pristine—their “Little Demon Sect” nickname wasn’t just for show. Hearing such words from Meng Xiangfei felt deeply ironic.

Mu Wei said, “I agree with the Insight Academy Palace student’s assessment. Demon cultivators used secret techniques to control righteous cultivators and sow discord. There are probably still controlled individuals among the five continents’ sects.”

The main hall grew even quieter.

Are you people still puzzling over this? Echo thought, spinning Nine Heavens boredly.

She pulled out two spirit stones from her storage ring and handed them to Feng Zhen beside her.

Since returning to the Taiyan Sect, she’d been so busy she was practically invisible.

Right now she was hiding behind a pillar, hugging her sword while trying to nap.

Suddenly, a Taiyan Sect disciple flew in from the mountain gate, calling out loudly: “Sect Leader! Senior Sister Zhu Shiyuhas arrived with several Insight Academy Palace disciples!”

Echo watched Feng Zhen suddenly sit bolt upright, eyes still closed, as the storage ring Echo had just given her dropped to the floor with a thunk.

She forced one eye open: “?”

Several beams of light descended from the Insight Academy Palace’s great vessel.

This time they’d sent Nascent Soul stage disciples, led by Zhu Shiyu carrying her sword.

She bowed respectfully and announced: “By the Venerable’s decree, we bring Blue Jade Beads to distribute across the five continents. Every immortal cultivation disciple must undergo Blue Jade Bead testing to verify their spiritual body!”

The Taiyan Sect Leader replied: “Originally, the Venerable ordered everyone to discuss countermeasures for the demon cultivation crisis.”

“I’ve already informed the Venerable about the Pingjin City incident. It seems the Venerable also doesn’t want demon cultivators hiding among the righteous sects. Now that the decree has been issued, how do you all respond?”

The Insight Academy Palace usually avoided worldly affairs, but this time they were clearly determined to get involved in continental politics. Were the demon cultivators making even the Venerable this nervous?

The sect leaders and elders, each harboring their own thoughts, suppressed their scheming behind smiling faces and respectfully bowed: “We obey the decree.”

The Blue Jade Beads Zhu Shiyu brought were artifacts crafted by the Academy’s weapon-forging masters.

They’d been used during the Five Continents Competition to examine registered cultivators, and now they would detect whether any cultivators had been possessed by demons.

However, only about half the five continents’ sects had come to the Taiyan Sect. Academy disciples would have to personally visit those still traveling or those who hadn’t moved, supervising their testing directly.

“So the work ultimately falls on us anyway?” Meng Xiangfei sneered. “This Five Continents Alliance turns out to be just us. Getting into the Insight Academy Palace really does have its perks.”

Yu Xuefei said, “If Fellow Daoist Meng is unwilling, you are free to return home.”

“Of course I’m willing—more than willing! Getting to work alongside such a devastatingly beautiful woman as Little Sister Yu, how could I be anything but delighted?” Meng Xiangfei said sweetly.

Yu Xuefei smiled back warmly: “Unfortunately, I need to stay at the Taiyan Sect with my master to find a way to break the soul-loss condition. I’ll have to trouble Fellow Daoist Meng to make this hard journey.”

“Little Sister Yu is too kind. I’ll certainly give it my all.” Meng Xiangfei replied with a smile.

Echo looked back and forth between them, handed Feng Zhen the spirit stones to pay for the broken floor tile, and thought: Finally! I can get out of here!

The Academy disciples came in even numbers, pairing up in teams for their assigned regions. Echo was partnered with Zhu Shiyu for the Nanyang Continent.

If she’s my teammate, I should try to get along with her peacefully, Echo reasoned, flying alongside her and asking: “Fellow Daoist Zhu, how’s your Ruthless Path cultivation coming along lately?”

Zhu Shiyu paused briefly. “Well enough.”

“Oh!”

“That’s great!” Echo said.

She breathed a sigh of relief, very satisfied as she flew sword-riding into the wind. Zhu Shiyu beside her looked both amused and exasperated.

The Insight Academy Palace’s reputation proved extremely useful. Every sect they visited, regardless of their private thoughts, welcomed them warmly and showed no resistance to Ink-Trace Venerable’s decree.

Soul Transformation and Nascent Soul cultivators personally escorted their people to be tested, not daring to show the slightest disrespect.

They traveled at a steady pace, with Echo occasionally landing in the mountains to pick flowers. Zhu Shiyu asked curiously: “Senior Sister Xi, what do you need the flowers for? I’ve never seen you wear them.”

Echo looked at Zhu Shiyu and said with complete sincerity: “You cultivate the Ruthless Path. You wouldn’t understand.”

“?” Zhu Shiyu looked confused. Wouldn’t understand what?

They flew from the Central Continent all the way to the Nanyang Continent, spending half of their time sword-flying through the air. Everything went smoothly, and they didn’t discover anyone controlled by demon cultivators.

Months later, Zhu Shiyu noticed that Senior Sister Xi’s face grew colder by the day, her expression increasingly distant and detached.

When she landed at various sect gates, before she even spoke, the disciples’ legs would go weak with fear.

One day, after Zhu Shiyu finished testing a sect’s disciples and left behind two Blue Jade Beads for their continued use, she glanced at the calm, cold-faced Echo as they descended the mountain. “Senior Sister Xi, is something troubling you?”

Echo turned to her with surprise. “No, nothing.”

“But I’ve noticed you seem less enthusiastic lately. Are you tired?” Zhu Shiyu asked.

Echo shook her head. “No.”

This kind of easy work could never exhaust me—please have faith in my capabilities!

Seeing that Echo didn’t want to elaborate, Zhu Shiyu probed: “Senior Sister doesn’t want to chat with me because I wouldn’t understand’?”

“Huh.” Echo looked even more surprised, then said sincerely to Zhu Shiyu: “You’re very perceptive.”

She caught sight of a perfectly bloomed osmanthus flower beside the mountain path and hurried over, happily raising Nine Heavens to cut off two branches.

The osmanthus was sweetly fragrant. Echo gazed at the golden flower branches and said quietly: “Seraphine gave me osmanthus flowers once before.”

Golden petals had scattered all over her then, filling her with their fragrance. She’d loved it so much.

But now it had been ages since she’d smelled that lovely scent on Seraphine, ages since they’d had a proper conversation.

A new emotion she’d never experienced before pressed against her chest, heavy and uncomfortable. She frowned and rubbed at her heart.

Unhappy.

Even when Seraphine had gone into closed-door cultivation before, she’d waited patiently for long periods, but she’d never felt this dejected.

Was it because this separation was lasting even longer than her cultivation retreats?

Or was it because Seraphine was clearly there, but we still couldn’t be together?

With this long-distance mission, she could only visit Seraphine occasionally.

And when she did manage to see her, shewas either in cultivation retreat or competing in the academy halls. Echo could only sit in the jade box, poking at Spirit heart’s little head.

She had written so many love letters to Seraphine, but why did she keep leaving her with nothing but “Read” notifications? Why wasn’t she falling for her yet?

“Maybe she still hasn’t had her romantic awakening?” Echo wondered suspiciously.

The other systems who’d taught her romance techniques had said: If two people’s relationship stays balanced in a delicate equilibrium, decisive action might shatter that balance. When it’s time to make your move, make your move.

Balance. Make a move.

But they’d also warned that this kind of “decisive strike” might either elevate the relationship to unimaginable heights or crash it into rock bottom. Extremely risky. They’d told her to wait for the right moment.

Right moment. Decisive strike.

Echo walked back holding the osmanthus flowers. Zhu Shiyu watched her lowered lashes and detached expression as she crushed a golden flower between her fingertips, and felt a chill of alarm. “Senior Sister Xi……”

“Mm.” Echo gave a distracted response, thinking: I’ve written so many love letters and none of them moved her. If Seraphine rejects me, what then?

Melancholy settled over her as her lashes trembled. She suddenly looked up at Zhu Shiyu.

Zhu Shiyu frowned, sensing Echo was about to say something extremely important. She held her breath and listened intently.

But Echo just looked at her once, then continued walking down the mountain with her osmanthus flowers.

A mountain breeze carried Echo’s voice to Zhu Shiyu’s ears:

“Maybe I should…… beg her?”

[Author’s Note]:

Zhu Shiyu (silence): ……I really don’t understand.

Work Log…

I’ve got an idea!

So, my love letters aren’t working. Clearly, it’s time to escalate. Want to see my master plan for winning Seraphine’s heart—or at least her attention? Get the spicy details 20 chapters ahead at Pxtreon➡️LoveisLove520!