Yue Xi walked to the edge of the lake, gazing at the surface of the water. "A sudden whim?" she asked.

"Yes, a sudden whim. Perhaps it’s a sign of good news," Pure Goodness said.

Yue Xi froze for a moment. "Does that mean Xiaojiu might be alright?"

"We’ll know soon enough," Pure Goodness said with a chuckle. "Alright, the answer is about to emerge."

Images began to flash continuously across the lake’s surface. All five of the other Candidacy Saintesses appeared, with the sole exception of Jingyue.

The images flickered faster and faster until they became an indiscernible blur.

The faster they flashed, the closer they were to the answer.

Then, in an instant, the images froze.

To their surprise, however, the face that appeared was not Jiu Xi’s, nor did it belong to any of the other Candidacy Saintesses.

Instead, it was a dark silhouette, signifying an unknown Candidacy Saintess.

A flicker of confusion was immediately replaced by a sudden realization.

Pure Goodness’s mood instantly soured. It even felt a little disgusted.

Yue Xi gave an awkward smile. "How about... we try again?"

Pure Goodness: "..."

******

Jiang Zuo was on his way home. After an afternoon at work, he had managed to find a suitable commission.

Just a moment ago, however, he had felt a sudden chill, as if someone was plotting against him.

Jiang Zuo shook his head and quickened his pace.

Su Qi was waiting for him to have dinner. She’d get upset if he kept her waiting.

Before long, Jiang Zuo arrived home.

Su Qi was sitting on the sofa, her eyes glued to a romance drama on TV—the kind Jiang Zuo had absolutely no interest in.

’They say watching too many of these shows lowers your IQ.’

’Cartoons are more interesting.’

Fortunately, Su Qi never forced him to watch with her. That would have been torture.

Su Qi only noticed him when he closed the door behind him. She glanced over at Jiang Zuo and said, "Wait until I finish this episode, and we’ll eat together. Don’t you dare eat without me."

Jiang Zuo asked curiously, "Don’t you need to cultivate? It just occurred to me that I’ve never seen you cultivate at home."

Hearing this, Su Qi turned off the TV, looked at Jiang Zuo, and said, "Ever since we got together, I’ve barely cultivated. After we moved in together, I gave it up completely."

This made Jiang Zuo even more curious. ’So, for the past ten years, Su Qi has barely cultivated at all for the last few?’

’Then how did her Cultivation soar to 2.7?’

’Wait, how is it 2.7? Wasn’t it just 2.5 last month?’

"Doesn’t that affect you? Won’t a Cultivator get weaker if they don’t cultivate?"

Su Qi sat up straight, puffing out her chest proudly. "Because I cultivate quickly! By any measure, your wife is a genius."

"Besides, cultivating when I’m with you is no fun. I’d much rather be cuddling and whining for your attention."

When Jiang Zuo saw Su Qi puff out her chest, his gaze was subconsciously drawn there. In truth, it was just a quick, involuntary glance since it was so prominent.

He didn’t have any other ideas in mind.

Su Qi stood up. "Stop staring. I’m still dressed. What if I get shy? Let’s eat first."

Jiang Zuo was speechless. "..."

He truly had no ulterior motives. Even though her clothes were thin, his heart was as calm as still water.

Still, he was rather curious about Su Qi’s Cultivation.

’It must be due to some sort of fortuitous encounter. Otherwise, even the title of ’genius’ wouldn’t be enough to reach her current Realm after ten years of not cultivating.’

Jiang Zuo didn’t have any leads. In any case, it was time to eat.

"Let’s go for a walk after we eat. It’s been ages since we went out at night," Su Qi said, sitting beside Jiang Zuo at the table.

Jiang Zuo nodded. If Su Qi wanted to go out, of course he’d go with her.

Normally, Jiang Zuo wouldn’t go out unless he had to. He preferred to cultivate if he could, or just get some sleep if he couldn’t.

He had been severely sleep-deprived lately and had barely gotten any proper rest.

It was inevitable that his body would suffer for it.

Su Qi sidled up to Jiang Zuo. "Do you have anything else in mind?"

"No," Jiang Zuo replied without a moment’s hesitation.

Su Qi smiled. "Then I’ll get changed and we can head out."

"Okay."

’Going for a walk is much better than sleeping,’ he thought. ’For now, at least.’

After dinner, Su Qi changed into a simple pair of jeans and a T-shirt, then pulled Jiang Zuo out the door.

Dressed like this, no one would ever suspect they were anything but an ordinary couple.

At most, people would just assume he was a guy who’d somehow managed to land a girl way out of his league.

It couldn’t be helped; Su Qi was genuinely beautiful.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have fallen for her at first sight back when they were younger.

He had even done so many cringey, dramatic things to win her over. Fortunately, it had all worked out. Otherwise, he never would have had a chance with her.

But now, Su Qi was just... Su Qi. More than just a pretty face.

"Where are we heading?" Jiang Zuo asked once they were outside.

"Let’s just walk around. Hmm, first, let’s go clothes shopping. I want to buy you a couple of new things. It’s already October; it’ll be getting cold soon," Su Qi said.

Jiang Zuo didn’t feel like he needed any more clothes. Even in the freezing cold of the Holy Land, he had been perfectly fine in a T-shirt.

Now that he was Tier Two, the cold didn’t bother him at all. Wearing heavy clothes would just be a hassle.

Su Qi, however, was dressed like a normal person, as usual.

’It makes sense, though,’ he thought. ’She’s completely embraced the life of an ordinary person.’

’She married an ordinary person, after all. She probably doesn’t want to stand out.’

Still, buying clothes could wait. "I’m not in a hurry to buy anything. Let’s get something for you instead. I’ll wait until it actually gets cold."

Su Qi looked at Jiang Zuo and laughed brightly. "Are we listening to you, or are we listening to me?"

"..." In the end, Jiang Zuo said, "To me."

"Okay, then let’s go buy clothes. From now on, I’ll listen to you," Su Qi said, pulling Jiang Zuo along without giving him any chance to protest.

Jiang Zuo: "..."

’So, does my opinion even matter?’ he wondered.

What else could he say at this point?

He had no choice but to follow.

As they walked, Su Qi hesitated for a moment before asking, "Did you get your salary yet? I seem to recall you only work a few days a month."

"We’re not going to have trouble making ends meet, are we?"

Jiang Zuo replied expressionlessly, "Don’t worry. That day will never come."

Su Qi smiled. "If we’re short on money, you have to tell me. We can figure something out together. Luckily, I’m very low-maintenance."

Jiang Zuo nodded.

Just then, Jiang Zuo saw a man and a woman arguing up ahead. ’A couple? Or husband and wife?’

’Some kind of relationship like that, anyway.’

The woman shook off the man’s hand and turned to walk away.

"What’s your problem? I’m working myself to death out here! All this because I was a little late getting home?" the man yelled.

Seeing the couple argue, Su Qi squeezed Jiang Zuo’s hand tightly.

She never wanted to argue with Jiang Zuo like that.

’Why waste time arguing? If you can settle it with your hands, you shouldn’t be using your words. That’s how you really hurt someone’s feelings.’

Jiang Zuo moved a little closer to Su Qi. In truth, they had never fought like that.

The woman turned back. "You keep saying you’re working for me and the kids. You make it sound like if it weren’t for us, you wouldn’t have to work at all, like you wouldn’t even need to eat."

"That’s right, you don’t need to eat. You can just live on air!"

"It’s me and the kids who are dragging you down."

With that, the woman walked away without a backward glance.

She left the man standing there, bewildered. He couldn’t immediately process what his wife had just said.

But before he could fully grasp it, he was already chasing after her.

Watching the man run after her, Su Qi turned to Jiang Zuo. "You know, that woman has a point. You’d have to earn money whether I was around or not. So, you can’t work overtime. You have to come home and spend time with me every single day."

"You can’t just use ’providing for me’ as an excuse to brush me off."