âRewards from the dao of heaven...â Jiang Yue thought and was a little excited.
He didnât know what kind of rewards would be given, but he felt they wouldnât be shabby.
"When will the ranking happen?"
"In six months." Qi Shuo informed.
Jiang Yue was conflicted when he heard that.
He planned to break through to the origin tempering realm as soon as Yu Nianzhen came out of the Black Wind Abyss.
However, the news about the Cangxing list made him pause.
If he and Yu Nianzhen broke through to the origin tempering realm, they wouldnât make the top ten of the origin tempering realm category.
This meant they wouldnât receive the heavenly dao rewards, and he didnât want to miss out.
âShould we delay our breakthrough?â He wondered and sunk into his thoughts.
No one liked delaying their cultivation, but this time, he felt the benefits outweighed the disadvantages.
With their current strength, Jiang Yue felt they would make the top ten of the qi transformation realm category.
More importantly, delaying the breakthrough by six months wouldnât affect their plan for the Ice Palace meeting.
âLetâs do it this way.â He thought and nodded.
"Yeying?" Qi Feiyan called.
"Do the two fellow Daoists plan to delay their breakthrough until after the ranking?"
"Thatâs our plan." Qi Shuo answered and nodded.
"I canât wait to receive a title." Qi Feiyan said excitedly.
"Title?"
"After your name enters the Cangxing list, the tao of heaven will give you a title." She explained.
"Titles like âtiger flame masterâ, âblue sand master, or âformless sword masterâ."
"When the list comes out, your title will appear in your sea of consciousness. Also, the list shows the title and not the name of each cultivator."
"However, I heard there is another list which shows the true names behind the titles. The list is kept by the Celestial Sky sect." Qi Shuo added, and Jiang Yue frowned when he heard that.
He was excited when he heard that the list did not show names and didnât like the idea of another more detailed list.
"Is the detailed list available to everyone?"
"It is not." Qi Shuo assured.
He didnât know the details, but he knew the list was strictly guarded by the Celestial Sky sect.
However, he didnât know the purpose of its existence.
"Thatâs good." Jiang Yue muttered and thought about everything he knew.
"You said that a testing stone will randomly appear when the time comes. What happens if a person doesnât test?" He asked.
"I heard itâs impossible to refuse." Qi Feiyan said but shrugged since she didnât know much more.
"How will we know the results?"
"The list will appear in our sea of consciousness together with the title. Also, a number and title will appear just below your star." She said and pointed at a place on her wrist.
âThis world is too mysterious.â Jiang Yue sighed and looked at his right wrist.
He looked forward to seeing his rank and measuring himself against others in the same realm.
"However, the rank isnât fixed. It will keep changing over the next one hundred years." Qi Shuo stated.
After that, the three began to speculate about rankings.
For this discussion, Jiang Yue listened more than talked.
The reason for this was because he didnât know a lot of the famed cultivators in the Cangxing world.
If he wanted to mention people, he could only talk about the ones he met in the Thousand Herbs Garden.
However, that group of people were too young to be famed amongst qi transformation realm cultivators.
Although they were genius cultivators, their cultivation time was too short. Unless they encountered big opportunities, most would not have cultivated to the peak of the qi transformation realm.
Still, Jiang Yue was a little curious about some of the geniuses he met back then.
âLi Futian, Xuan Ke, Meng Zihua, Bei Chengling, Zhu Bing, Wei Ge, Shen Ru, Lin Huang, ...I wonder where they will rank.â He wondered and couldnât wait for the ranking to start.
He chuckled a little and then turned to the two siblings.
"Are there titles you like?" He asked.
"I heard that titles relate to origin and personality. I donât know what kind of title I will receive." Qi Feiyan said and sighed in yearning. She hoped to receive a good title but couldnât guess what it would be.
"Every time there..." Qi Shuo started but suddenly stopped.
He felt a change in the surrounding aura, but before he could react, a person appeared next to Yeying.
The man was dressed in black and wore a silver mask that covered most of his face.
However, what shocked Qi Shuo was the manâs temperament.
Although the man had no aura and felt like an ordinary mortal, he had a majestic bearing that couldnât be ignored.
"Who are you?" He asked and immediately stood up.
He looked at the person vigilantly and itched to remove his weapon from his storage ring.
However, he felt no malicious intent from the person and releasing his weapon felt like an overreaction.
"Azhen." Jiang Yue suddenly shouted, and his lips curled in a gorgeous smile.
He threw himself into the personâs arms, and the man wrapped his arms around him. His lips also curled in a smile, and his whole person became softer.
"I am back." Yu Nianzhen said.
His voice didnât fluctuate, but Jiang Yue could hear his husbandâs excitement. He could hear the rapid beating of Yu Nianzhenâs heart, and Jiang Yueâs smile grew wider.
âI am home.â He thought, and his arms tightened around Yu Nianzhenâs neck.
He had been waiting for so long, and his world changed when the person appeared.
"I missed you." Yu Nianzhen said in a low voice.
Although his face under the mask was expressionless, his heart was full.
The seven years he spent away from his husband were unexpectedly long, and he often wanted to abandon his training to find Jiang Yue.
However, whenever he was tempted, he forced his mind to calm down.
He continuously reminded himself that the brief separation was the price for a long future together.
His love and desire for Jiang Yue were endless. To ensure an eternity together, the corresponding price had to be paid.
"I missed you too." Jiang Yue said and kissed Yu Nianzhenâs cheek. He then laughed happily, and the arms around his waist tightened.
Before they got carried away, Qi Feiyan coughed, and Jiang Yue remembered that he still had guests. He sighed in frustration and extricated himself from his husbandâs embrace.
"Yeying, wonât you introduce us?" The girl asked.
Jiang Yue rolled his eyes and pulled Yu Nianzhen to sit down.
"Azhen, she is Qi Feiyan, a young lady of the Qi family." He introduced.
"Young miss Qi." Yu Nianzhen nodded.
"He is Qi Shuo, a young master of the Qi family." Jiang Yue continued.
"Young master Qi."
"This is my Taoist companion. His name is..." Jiang Yue started but didnât know how to continue.
When he transmigrated to the Cangxing world, he had a readymade nickname and didnât need to come up with one.
However, Yu Nianzhen wasnât so lucky.
âWe should have thought of one before now.â Jiang Yue lamented their miscalculation.
The first time they wore masks was for the auction.
However, they didnât need to introduce themselves to others and forgot the necessity of coming up with an alias for Yu Nianzhen.
When Jiang Yue arrived in Black Wind city, he naturally used âYeyingâ and didnât think about Yu Nianzhen.
âWhat a miss.â He thought and looked at Yu Nianzhen.
He lifted an eyebrow in question, but Yu Nianzhen couldnât see it and didnât cooperate. He just shrugged and left it to his lover to figure out.
"Azhen?" Qi Feiyan asked, and Jiang Yueâs eyes narrowed.
His body exuded a cold aura, and Qi Feiyan shivered.
âWhatâs wrong with him?â She wondered and looked at her brother for help.
Qi Shuo shrugged helplessly because he didnât know how to help her.
However, Jiang Yue soon calmed himself.
"Donât call him that." He said, but his voice had a little growl.
He sounded like he wanted to beat Qi Feiyan for daring to mention the name even if she didnât call it directly.
"I understand." She said.
Her voice had a slight tremor, and Jiang Yue felt sorry for scaring her.
However, he didnât like when others called his lover âAzhenâ.
"Itâs okay." Yu Nianzhen hugged his lover to comfort him.
He was happy that Jiang Yue was territorial and couldnât help the smile that curled his lips.
As an ordinary man, he liked his lover to be jealous and possessive of him.
Although this jealousy was not proof that Jiang Yue loved him, Yu Nianzhen still liked to see it.
In the same way, he would be unhappy if someone called his lover âXiaoYueâ. Yu Nianzhen wanted to own the name and be the only one who could use it.
With a sigh, Jiang Yue let go of the negative emotions and looked at the two siblings apologetically.
"His name is Little Saint." He said.