Lu Yin felt himself in a dilemma, “Your Majesty, is it possible to cancel this marriage?”

“Do you have another sweetheart?” the Emperor asked curiously. Lu Yin almost instinctively shook his head, but quickly caught himself and nodded, which prompted a laugh, “Then forget her. Rocky Auna brought this marriage up personally, and rejecting it would humiliate the Aunas and turn the Fireforge Planet into a laughingstock.”

“Err… I actually don’t fancy Jenny.”

“Feelings don’t last a lifetime, especially for cultivators who live for hundreds of years. Emotions don’t last long; you two just have to get along and live your lives together, no need to overthink.”

Lu Yin was left in a bind, but the Emperor seemed to come up with something before he could think of a retort. The man leaned over, “Little Yin, tell me the truth; do you have any ideas about Wendy?”

Lu Yin blinked without a direct response, but this only convinced the Emperor that he’d guessed correctly. He started massaging his temples, “I promised Zishan that my family would be engaged to his, and through direct descendants. That does mean you and Wendy are engaged, but I simply cannot make the decision for her. You’ll have to fight for her hand in marriage yourself; the best I can offer is that I won’t oppose it.”

As Lu Yin looked down, The Undying Yushan sighed, “I’m not trying to bring you down, Little Yin, but Wendy is formidable even across the Innerverse. You should know of the Astral Combat Ranking, a list compiled by the Astral Combat Academy ranking the prodigies across the universe. She’s in the top 20 of that list, no more than 20 people in her current generation can match her across the universe. Even I cannot underestimate her power, and I definitely don’t plan to use her as a pawn in a political marriage to stabilize my Empire. Her goals are too high for me to touch; if you want to win her over, you have to get into the top 50 at least.”

“I’m confident in myself, Your Majesty,” Lu Yin looked up again.

Undying Yushan laughed, “Confidence is a good thing. Since that is so, I’ll help you speak to the Auna Family. There won’t be an outright rejection, but I will postpone the marriage by three years. Three years; if you haven’t wooed Wendy by then, you have to be obedient and marry Jenny, okay?”

Lu Yin nodded solemnly, “Three years, then. I’m confident Her Highness will sit up and take notice of me by then.”

The Undying Yushan nodded and watched Lu Yin leave, muttering to himself, “Sit up and take notice? Young ambition. Wendy is a disciple of the Myriad Swords Peak of the Innerverse, not someone groomed by the Great Yu Empire. Her noticing you isn’t just difficult, it’s impossible. Nevermind, three years is long enough to temper him.”

Lu Yin huffed after exiting the courtyard. Fortunately, he’d managed to use Wendy to defer the engagement, but three years? What a joke! He wasn’t the real King Zishan anyway, and in three years, he might not even be in the Great Yu Empire anymore. Who’d care about the engagement then? Still, the news of him trying to marry the Fifth Princess spread throughout the Zenyu Star within moments of his exit, inviting endless ridicule. The average person did not comprehend Wendy Yushan’s strength; she was a captain of the Thirteen Squadrons—someone who had defeated a Cruiser in her life—and a disciple of one of the Innerverse’s greatest powers. No one in the younger generation of the Great Yu Empire even deserved her attention, even those like Schutz or Gerbach. His desire for her left many considering him a lunatic. This matter swiftly became a joke on the Zenyu Star.

Within the Auna Family’s study, Patriarch Xueshan slammed the table, “A mere Fireforge Planet dares to make use of my family? I’ll repay this debt one day!”

Rocky Auna seemed indifferent, “Jenny seems to like Yan Feng.”

“So what if she likes him? The environment of the Fireforge Planet is unsuitable to our family. If this marriage goes through, how will we retain our independence in the Great Yu Empire?”

Rocky’s gadget was suddenly pinged by a message, and his brows furrowed as he read it through. Unhappiness filled his gaze.

“What happened?” Xueshan asked.

“King Zishan wants to marry Princess Wendy.”

Xueshan sneered, “He does not know his place; even someone like Schutz would not have the courage to say something like that. What, does he not fancy Jenny?”

“He utterly defeated her on Earth.”

The mere mention of this left the man angry, “Such a disappointment, couldn’t even beat a simple native. Pass down my orders, she better not think of leaving the manor before breaking through to the Melder realm.”

“What about King Zishan?”

Xueshan muttered to himself for a moment before speaking, “You already confirmed this engagement in the royal court, but the royal family also had its marriage agreement with the Zishans. No one will think less of us for this, but this boy is too much. He even dared to openly accept bribes a few days ago. Someone should knock some sense into him, or who knows what sort of din he’ll create if he enters our family?”

Not long after, Jenny was dragged home from a bar. Torry gave her a bitter smile, “Sorry, Miss, you won’t be able to leave the manor from today until you break through to Melder.”

Jenny Auna glared back, “I heard my uncle married me off to that bastard Lu Yin in the court, right? And he doesn’t even want to wed me, but wants Princess Wendy.”

Torry could only spread out his hands, as he did not know how to answer her.

Jenny was furious, “That bastard dares to slight me. I’ll never marry that pathetic native; he’s a thief, a despicable bastard! You can beat me to death, but I won’t agree to this wedding. Just watch, I’ll become a Melder and return all the humiliation he gave me!”

Torry sighed as she stormed off, wondering whether he should thank Lu Yin for firing up the Young Lady. If not for him, Jenny would likely still be immersed in her adoration of Yan Feng, without any motivation to train. He felt a hint of appreciation for that youth who dared to confront and even threaten him back on Earth; not every native dared to negotiate with the Empire, especially against an Explorer. Pity; a person’s talent was fixed at birth. Even if the boy had an innate gift, it was limited to the Great Yu Empire. Wendy was a recognized genius across the universe, and even Yan Feng could not match up to her.

……

Lu Yin did not think that this engagement would draw such strong reactions from everyone. Although most people ridiculed him, some grew really expectant, especially the army in the third ring. Although they weren’t in contact, they had always been following his actions closely.

Within the imperial prison, Sigmund Mathers was bound to his cell by light. A youth across the room was looking at him with a pained expression, his son Wukai.

“He wants to wed Princess Wendy? Too difficult,” Sigmund sighed.

Wukai replied, “If it happened, it would shake the Outerverse.”

“No, it would shock all the heavens. Princess Wendy is top twenty in the Astral Combat Ranking, a disciple of the Myriad Swords Peak whose name rings throughout the universe. Every action of hers is scrutinized by countless people, and people were already investigating Lu Yin the moment he was conferred his title.The wedding agreement is no secret, and with this high-profile claim, countless people will be discussing this.”

“What about us, Father? His Majesty saved your life.”

Sigmund looked at him, “Don’t speak about this in the future. Go home now, and don’t do anything. Stay away from people like Raas.”

Wukai nodded.

……

A beam of light charged out from the depths of the universe, a medium-sized spaceship in silver and white with a design of flying winds and swords. Around the emblem were ten lofty silhouettes, forming the crest of the Universe Youth Council. Those ten shadows represented the Ten Arbiters.

Within the spacecraft, dozens of servants were fighting to suppress shivers as an enormous man who was nearly three meters long was doing push-ups with a single finger. Sweat dripped onto the floor from his cheeks, already having formed a puddle on the ground. The sweat flowed into the dent formed by his finger, which was widening with every push. Not far away, a screen flashed with the value of the gravity in this training room: 150.

The man’s gaze trembled and he suddenly flipped up with a push from his finger. A maid at the side immediately crushed a water crystal and scrubbed his body as he asked, “King Zishan publicly proclaimed he wants to marry Councillor Wendy?”

The others bowed, “Yes, news spread out from the Great Yu Empire just now, and The Undying Yushan hasn’t denied it.”

The man sneered, “Such a brave dog. Just a savage native wanting to swallow the skies.”

One person stepped forward and spoke softly, “Representative Bazeer, this native may be puny, but this is disgusting. It wouldn’t be good if word of this spreads to Councillor Puyu.”