Investing in the Reborn Empress, She Actually Calls Me ‘Husband’ Chapter 737: This is What I Call Accumulating Modest Virtues

Yuwen Cuojin kept his discovery of the Marriage Fate Tree Seed a secret. He maintained a facade of normalcy while traveling to the Great Shang Imperial Mausoleum.

Through careful preparation, they seized the Cycle of Life and Death Formation, using its power to invert the laws of mortality and resurrect a primal Qiongqi beast for the Hundred Beasts Hall.

Following that success, everything proceeded without a hitch. Even though the Qingyuan Sect met its demise, he let Situ Ding take all the credit for the achievement.

Having obtained the Seed of the Marriage Fate Dao, the petty internal power struggles and quests for prestige within the sect now felt as insignificant as passing clouds to him.

Once the seed was fully refined, what desire in this world would remain out of his reach?

Under the guise of sustaining injuries, Yuwen Cuojin deliberately severed his own established Dao path. As his cultivation level plummeted, he stepped down as Vice Sect Master and vanished into the mountain wilderness for a life of seclusion.

The years rolled by.

The Marriage Fate Tree Seed stayed in a state of dormancy, appearing entirely devoid of life. Had it not been for the principle that a Dao cannot truly vanish from existence, Yuwen Cuojin might have believed it was dead.

Initially, the mountains were lonely and desolate. However, as time passed, refugees escaping the fires of war began to settle there, eventually forming a small village.

Perhaps his solitary existence had grown stale, or perhaps the years away from the Demon Sect had softened him, but he began to appreciate the simple nuances of a commoner's life.

He took up residence in the small town, where several more years drifted past.

One particular day, amidst a soft drizzle and blooming apricot blossoms, the emerald mountains were draped in a thin veil of mist.

While he sat drinking, Yuwen Cuojin caught sight of a woman crossing a bridge with an umbrella in hand. In that instant, a question echoed in his soul: Would you be willing to turn into a stone bridge, enduring five hundred years of wind and five hundred years of rain, just for her to walk over you once?

He answered without a moment's pause:

"I would!"

Upon returning to his home, he found that the Marriage Fate Tree Seed had finally pushed forth a tiny green sprout.

A sudden realization dawned on him: to truly master the Marriage Fate Dao, one must possess a heart of genuine love.

This revelation filled him with joy. He had once believed that destroying his cultivation was a permanent sacrifice that barred him from the path of the profound forever, but now, a flicker of hope had returned.

He set out to woo the woman. Unfortunately, having spent his entire life focused on slaughter and arson, he was completely ignorant when it came to the intricacies of romance.

Even though she only viewed him as a casual acquaintance, the time spent with her became the most radiant period of his existence.

Three more years passed by.

As was his custom, he brought apricot blossom wine to the bridge where they first met. On this occasion, the woman drained the wine in a single breath and announced her departure for Penglai.

"I hope when I revisit this place, I can still see you here." Those were her parting words.

She likely viewed him as a mere mortal, believing that a bird of the peaks and a fish of the depths could never share a single path.

While it was a misunderstanding, the gap between them was indeed vast.

Once a person joins the Summoning Demon Sect, they are branded a Demon Sect member forever. Although the distant Penglai rarely involved itself in the conflicts of the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, its hatred for the Summoning Demon Sect was even more intense than that of the other orthodox sects.

Yet, Yuwen Cuojin refused to surrender. He still possessed his ultimate trump card—the Marriage Fate Dao.

'I only need to attain the Seventh Realm of the Marriage Fate Dao.'

With the woman gone, the growth of the Marriage Fate Tree hit a standstill. However, he managed to derive a new technique from the Dao Seed.

The love felt by others could also serve as nourishment for its growth.

But as he wandered far from the small town, he realized that sincere love was a rare treasure in this world.

"These two are inseparable every day, yet there is no love between them? What a pair of frauds!"

"How can this girl's heart be split into so many pieces? And why is every piece given to a different man?"

"He swore to return and wed her after the imperial examinations, so how did his love just vanish... no, it was simply redirected? Repulsive!"

"You two have raised a child for eight years, yet there is no love?"

Yuwen Cuojin was initially stunned. How could these mortals be more chaotic and fickle than the members of the Demon Sect?

What frustrated him more, however, was his agonizingly slow progress.

"A woman of the brothels like this will probably never comprehend the meaning of love..."

One afternoon, while passing a house of pleasure, Yuwen Cuojin shook his head in disappointment. But then, as if led by some unseen force, he made a discovery.

It appeared he had the power to... bind the marital fate threads of others to himself.

This was especially true for those whose affections were already wavering.

By acting as a "matchmaker" and pulling that love toward himself, even a fickle courtesan would become fanatically loyal to him.

And his targets did not even have to be women.

He had uncovered a dark shortcut to mastering the Marriage Fate Dao.

In the beginning, Yuwen Cuojin targeted weak-willed mortals. Then he moved on to martial artists. The power of his victims continued to rise until even the high-ranking Elders of major provincial sects were completely enamored with him.

Without realizing it, his hidden influence began to rival that of the Summoning Demon Sect itself. He stood on the threshold of the Seventh Realm, serving as the sole object of worship for countless followers.

He saw nothing wrong with his methods.

Since hearts of pure, unwavering gold were so rare, he felt he was doing a service by giving those who lacked love a chance to feel it.

However, after reaching a peak that surpassed his former life, he once again found himself bored.

Everyone he manipulated loved him, but what about his own heart?

Faintly, he recalled that small town, the bridge, and that afternoon of apricot blossoms and mist...

He remembered the woman with the umbrella.

In disguise, Yuwen Cuojin traveled to Penglai to ask for her hand. He was shocked by how quickly she agreed. He didn't even have to employ the strength of the Marriage Fate Tree.

Using it would have been pointless anyway. First, her devotion was already as solid as gold.

Second, the person she had loved so faithfully was him, right from the start.

During their wedding night, he finally asked the question that had been haunting him.

"When did you..."

"Back in that small town. It is only a shame that we did not reunite there."

As the words left her lips.

Thud—

A cold blade tore through his chest, silencing his racing heart.

Yuwen Cuojin was momentarily paralyzed by shock, but that feeling was quickly replaced by a sense of grim acceptance.

It turned out that he, too, had never truly understood what love was.

Zhang Xuan was a man who was nearly impossible to kill, unless he harbored a desire to die.

......

The sound of footsteps rang out through the hollow silence of the subterranean palace.

"If that woman truly loved Senior Yun Lu, why would she murder him with her own hands on their wedding night?"

Situ Ding could no longer keep the question to himself.

The disappearance of the Fateful Bond Dao was a topic of great fascination within the Demon Summoning Cult. Everyone wondered what dark taboo or ancient secret lay behind its fall.

Even Situ Ding was in the dark. Perhaps only the Great Patriarch, the Cult Master, knew the truth.

Some cult members had earlier mustered the courage to ask Qin Yuzhi, given her status as a former Cult Master.

Because of her rank, she likely possessed a deeper understanding of the event—perhaps she had even witnessed it.

Qin Yuzhi didn't treat the matter like a forbidden secret, recounting the tale as easily as pouring water.

Senior Yun Lu had died on his wedding day, killed by the person he loved most.

"Exactly, if their love was so deep, why did it end in tragedy?"

"Senior Yun Lu finally found a heart that loved him for who he was, without the influence of the Fateful Bond Tree. How could he be murdered?"

"I always assumed he had gone into hiding with his wife; I never imagined he was killed on his wedding night..."

The sudden dark turn in the story left the demon cultists reeling. The confusion in their minds only grew more intense.

"It happened because that woman from Penglai was an obsessive soul. It's hard to describe that kind of person...."

Qin Yuzhi paused to think, searching for the perfect word. After a moment, her face brightened:

"Right, to use Little Mo's terminology, she was a 'yandere'."

"......"

The cultists exchanged baffled looks. So, the reason this story remained a hidden secret wasn't because it contained some profound mystery.

It was because the truth was so bizarre that no one would believe it if it were written down?

"Wait, this 'Little Mo' you just mentioned... who is that?"

Situ Ding suddenly snapped back to attention.