When he returned to the Han family’s courtyard, the long night was only half over. Yuan Tianwen did not sleep, but instead sat down cross-legged and made use of this peaceful time before daybreak when no one would disturb him to cultivate.

　　Yuan Tianwen achieved all he has today not only because of he was talented; in the entire Profound Sky Sect, he dares to say that he’s the most hardworking one of them all.

　　Yuan Tianwen was in the middle of forming a hand seal during his meditation when the surrounding lights began to flicker, and a kite suddenly knocked onto the window with a “zi” sound.

　　Yuan Tianwen walked over and opened the window. The kite flew in and landed on the floor, then turned into a hologram of a man.

　　Yuan Tianwen said in shock, “Daddy, why did you come over here personally? Did something major happen at home?”

　　This was one of Yuan Tianwen’s Dad’s soul consciousness that he had attached to a Linking Soul Kite. Even though his Dad had not personally made the trip down, thanks to the function of the Linking Soul Kite it had the same effect as his Dad being here in person.

　　“Of course something major happened.” Su Mo’s complexion didn’t look good, he pulled a long face that was rarely seen and said, “Why is it that as a Dad, I didn’t even know that my own son was about to become Dao companions with someone else!”

　　Yuan Tianwen silently breathed a sigh of relief; nothing big had happened at home, so all is well.

　　“Regarding this matter, I had intended to settle everything here first before telling you and Father. But since someone had so enthusiastically helped your son deliver the message, it would save me the trip back home.” Yuan Tianwen said.

　　Su Mo slammed his palm on the table, then said with a black face, “Looks like your feathers are all fully grown and you’re ready to spread your wings now1, you actually dare to act first before reporting your intentions to us2!”

　　Yuan Tianwen said, “Dad, I’ve already reached a suitable age for marriage, and coincidentally I met someone whom I want to protect for life. I just don’t want to miss this opportunity.”

　　Su Mo furrowed his brows, then said, “Of course I’ll support you if you want to find a companion, but the one you found doesn’t suit you in any way. Daddy has already checked, before today, he was still the fiance of Lin Zhan’s only son. How is it that within the blink of an eye, he’s suddenly together with you? Do you have a deep understanding of this person’s moral conduct? Also, how did you get acquainted with him, was he the one who took the initiative to b.u.t.ter up to you?”

　　When facing his Dad, Yuan Tianwen didn’t dare to hide the truth so he explained, “He saved my life and we had already made a pledge to get married3, I sincerely hope that Dad and Father can agree to our marriage.”

　　Saved his life, made a pledge?

　　Well, that was very specific.

　　Su Mo was slightly stunned; he was evidently in the dark regarding the inside story, so he said, “Explain to Daddy, what exactly happened between the two of you? I’ll hear the whole story first before judging whether or not the two of you are suitable for each other.”

　　Yuan Tianwen nodded, then slowly said, “A year ago, I was hunting an infant stage nine star snake beast at Flying Luan peak 5000 li4 away from Qing city. But it wounded me, and coincidentally I couldn’t suppress my cultivation and was about to break through my Foundation Stage fifth layer cultivation, so within a moment I had undergone a Qi deviation and my internal blood and Qi were raging within my body.”

　　“What?!” Su Mo immediately became anxious and lifted his hands up to touch Yuan Tianwen’s face as he said, “My son, you actually went to hunt an infant stage nine star demonic beast by yourself, were you courting your own death? How are you……how are you that audacious!”

　　Yuan Tianwen said with remorse, “I was too conceited and let Daddy down, I definitely won’t repeat my mistake in the future.”

　　Su Mo suppressed his urge to ask about Yuan Tianwen’s body before he said, “Continue your story.”

　　Yuan Tianwen said, “After I underwent a Qi deviation, I lost sight in both eyes and my cultivation even dropped to a mere Foundation Stage’s first layer. That snake beast wanted to take advantage of my plight to kill me, but right at this moment, Han Yuran appeared. He fought off that snake beast and saved me, then brought me to a cave to take care of me.”

　　Yuan Tianwen rubbed his nose and looked like he was too embarra.s.sed to continue before he said, “At that time, I needed to find a way to get dispel my internal spiritual Qi that was in absolute disarray. I didn’t expect that the snake beast’s saliva would contain a lewd poison, so while my mind was in a mess, I took Yuran by force……”

　　Su Mo’s expression…became unfathomable.

　　So basically, his son was so big of a b.a.s.t.a.r.d that instead of repaying his debt with grat.i.tude, he had actually bitten the hand that fed him and bullied the other party?

　　“But afterwards, Yuran didn’t get mad and instead continued to take care of the me who had lost my sense of sight. As our interactions increased with each pa.s.sing day, I fell in love with him unwittingly and he had also grown fond of me. During that period, our interactions with one another were extremely harmonious.” When Yuan Tianwen spoke up to this point, he couldn’t help but sigh and said, “But he had never told me who he was; he said that he didn’t want any form of repayment, and was more than satisfied with our short-lived relationship.”

　　Su Mo was stunned and said, “Did he know who you were?”

　　Yuan Tianwen nodded, then said, “I had my Breaking Sky sword with me; the moment he picked me up he had already recognised me, and even teased me by saying that he didn’t expect the Profound Sky Sect’s young peak master could be in such dire straits.”

　　Su Mo narrowed his eyes, then pondered for a bit as he said, “To remain unmoved even after knowing who you were, he really is an odd one.”

　　“He really is the most unique person I’ve ever met.” Yuan Tianwen nodded, then continued to say, “When my cultivation broke through to Foundation Stage fifth layer and I was about to regain my sight, he wanted to leave me without saying a word. I was greatly alarmed and quickly chased after him, but had fallen down the valley and lost consciousness. When I awoke in a daze, I had regained my sight, and coincidentally he was worried about me and returned to look for me so I managed to catch him. That was when I finally knew who he was, so at least I didn’t miss my opportunity to meet him.”

　　When Yuan Tianwen spoke up to this point, he sighed with slight trepidation. If he hadn’t coincidentally awoke right at that moment, and had coincidentally regained his sight and cultivation, he would have probably missed the opportunity to meet Han Yuran entirely.

　　When Su Mo heard his words up to this point, he could more or less guess why Yuan Tianwen was so head over heels over a man who was already engaged and was even willing to brave the risk of being rebuked by his family to lock this person down before reporting to them.

　　Su Mo pondered for a bit, then said, “If that’s really the case, then Han Yuran really is worthy of how you’ve been treating him. But there’s just one thing, how are you so sure that he was the one who saved you?”

　　“That’s easy.” Yuan Tianwen said, “When I asked Yuran about it, Yuran didn’t deny my claims, and at that time Flying Luan peak was in the midst of winter; it was somber and desolate with only faint pockets of spiritual Qi, it was so deserted you wouldn’t see a single person within a 100 li radius. If it wasn’t him, who else could it be?”

　　Yuan Tianwen had never doubted that his saviour was not Han Yuran.

　　He had also never thought that someone would have the gall to lie to him regarding such an important matter.

　　Su Mo was still muttering to himself.

　　Yuan Tianwen feared that Su Mo wouldn’t agree to his marriage with Han Yuran, so he continued, “Daddy, you and Father taught me when I was little to repay others’ kindness; everything that happens in this world has its cause and effect, if I don’t repay this debt, my cultivation would be affected too.”

　　Su Mo swept a glance over Yuan Tianwen, then tsked and said, “Did I say that I wouldn’t agree to your marriage with him? He hasn’t even entered the Yuan family and you’re already defending your wife; after he enters our family, will you start talking back to me on his behalf?”

　　“Of course not.” Yuan Tianwen secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately brightened up and smiled, “Daddy’s the head of the family, all our lives are in your hands. Even Father doesn’t dare to talk back to you, so how could I?”

　　“You’ve really learnt how to smooth talk.” Su Mo revealed a faint smile for the first time today, then said, “The one you set your sights on definitely won’t be too bad a person. Today your Father heard about the trouble you caused in Qing city and became pretty unhappy. He’s chopping trees again this late at night, looks like I’ll have to go coax him.”

　　In Yuan Tianwen’s family, only his Dad could keep his Father under control.

　　If they were to allow his Father to arbitrarily chop those 10 000-year-old trees down with his bare hands, the elders in his family would probably cry themselves to death the next day.

　　Yuan Tianwen smiled, “Take care Daddy.”

　　Su Mo looked Yuan Tianwen up and down, then said, “After some time has pa.s.sed, bring him home ba.”

　　Yuan Tianwen rushed forward to hug Su Mo’s soul consciousness and said, “Thank you Daddy!”

　　“Alright alright, don’t be so corny.” Su Mo patted Yuan Tianwen’s shoulder.

　　Yuan Tianwen recalled the att.i.tude that Duan second elder had shown him during the day and was a bit puzzled, so he asked, “Dad, did our family get into any conflict with the Duan family?”

　　Su Mo said, “Why did you ask that? The Duan family is a long time friend of ours, when you were a kid, the Duan family’s Xiao Yuyang5 had even stayed at our house for a short period of time. At that time he was as skinny as a little monkey and was so adorable!”

　　“Then why didn’t Duan second elder accept my bow?” Yuan Tianwen still felt puzzled, and a little wronged.

　　When Su Mo heard that, he had an epiphany and said, “If it’s about Duan second elder, then I know why. Half a year ago, Duan second elder personally brought Xiao Yuyang to our house. From his tone, it seemed that he wanted Yuyang to marry you; at that time I even asked if you were willing, but you rejected it straightaway. Duan second elder might hold some bias against you because of that.”

　　Yuan Tianwen was stunned, then said, “How am I not aware of that? Daddy why didn’t you tell me then?”

　　“And now you’re pushing the blame onto me, how could I not have told you?” Su Mo rolled his eyes, then said, “All I said was that someone wanted to act as a matchmaker for you, but you resolutely stated that you already had someone you liked and that you wouldn’t want anyone aside from that person. You didn’t even bother getting the name of the matchmaker before you rejected them.”

　　Yuan Tianwen finally understood what had happened, and a wave of embarra.s.sment flooded his heart.

　　At that time he was in hot pursuit of Han Yuran and wasn’t the least bit bothered with who had asked for his hand in marriage; if he had known, then he definitely wouldn’t have stupidly ran up to them today to be humiliated like a fool.

　　Also, the Yuan and Duan families are considered long-time friends. If he had been a bit more patient and at least asked for the name of the people who had approached him, he wouldn’t have handled it with such little care. As a result of that, Duan second elder and Duan Yuyang must have a good few reservations about him now.

　　1. Original phrase is “翅膀硬了”, which is a phrase often used by parents to scold their kids who talk back to them/make their own decisions without consulting them with a meaning akin to saying that “Wow, looks like you’re all grown up now aren’t you, so much so that you dare to talk back to me and won’t listen to what I say anymore”↩

　　2. Original phrase is “先斩后奏”, which means you act first then report later; means you don’t care about reporting it as much as you care about doing it↩

　　3. Original meaning also meant that they had pledged to get married without the approval of their parents i.e. they decided their marriage by themselves↩

　　4. 500m↩

　　5. Xiao = small/little↩