Volume One Chapter One: Savior

“Don’t… don’t…”
“Beauty, bear with me. I’ll be done soon…”
“Scoundrel! Be gentle!”
In a lavish seaside suite, after a passionate encounter, the open window let in a breeze that scattered the intoxicating scent lingering in the room.
Chu Ming lounged lazily against the headboard. “Beauty, you’re really strong!”
Yun Xueyan’s hazy eyes snapped clear. She screamed, clutching the blanket with one hand and grabbing a pillow with the other, hurling it at Chu Ming with furious, blushing cheeks. “Scoundrel! Who are you? What did you do to me?”
Chu Ming dodged her attack and rubbed his nose. “Beauty, is this how you treat your savior?”
“If not for me, you’d be dead by now!”
Chu Ming, sent by his master to fulfill a marriage promise, passed by the Winding River and found Yun Xueyan had fallen in. After rescuing her, she was unconscious. Upon examination, he discovered she suffered from a rare cold ailment, her body riddled with lethal chill—her days numbered.
This illness was incurable by medicine; only a legendary physique, the Solar Body, could balance the cold toxin through the union of yin and yang, using the heat of yang fire to neutralize the chill and save her life.
By chance, he possessed this rare Solar Body. Driven by a compassionate sense of duty—if he didn’t descend into hell, who would?—he brought Yun Xueyan to the hotel, sacrificing his own virginity to save her.
Yun Xueyan shook her head, her memories returning. Her expression grew complicated, but when she saw Chu Ming’s smug demeanor, she was instantly infuriated. “So, I should thank you?”
Chu Ming waved his hand cheerfully. “No need to thank me. But your cold toxin is deeply embedded. To fully recover, you’ll need this treatment every seven days!”
“Despicable rogue!”
Yun Xueyan’s anger flared, but she quickly gave a bitter laugh. Forget it—Chu Ming had saved her once, and with only seven days left to live, what was the point of quibbling?
She dressed silently, pulled out five hundred yuan, threw it on the bed, and said coldly, “Forget everything that happened today. Leave East City at once.”
Chu Ming’s forehead was suddenly lined with three black streaks as he stared at the money on the bed.
What did this mean?
Was she treating him like a gigolo?
Chu Ming’s lip twitched, and he replied earnestly, “Beauty, I can take responsibility.”
“Responsibility?”
Yun Xueyan frowned.
“Yes. Even though it was to save you, I took your innocence. I can compensate you—be it money or help. Name your price, or if you have a difficult problem, I can solve it for you.”
Yun Xueyan laughed in anger.
She was the heiress of the Yun family, East City’s foremost dynasty, commanding a business empire worth hundreds of billions. This country bumpkin in rustic clothes—how much could he possibly offer?
As for solving problems, she ignored the comment entirely.
If the Yun family couldn’t solve it, what could he possibly do?
Yun Xueyan gave him a cold look. “Do you realize that for what you did today, the Yun family could easily have your life?”
Chu Ming snorted disdainfully. “The Yun family? They’re nothing. No one on earth has been born who can take my life.”
Yun Xueyan didn’t bother responding, finished dressing, and said coldly, “Stop boasting. Leave quickly, and you might survive.”
Watching Yun Xueyan walk away with clenched legs, Chu Ming’s lips curled up. “This little girl’s got quite a personality! I like it.”
“I owe you once. When I’ve finished my affairs, I’ll find a way to repay you.”
He hailed a cab, fingering the Emperor’s Token and a marriage contract, recalling his master’s words before descending the mountain.
“Brat, you’ve graduated. From now on, you’re the new Lord of the Emperor’s Hall, the world’s greatest power—thousands of experts, trillions in wealth, all at your command!”
“And before your parents disappeared, they left you a marriage contract. Now, it’s time you give her an answer.”
Chu Ming tucked away the marriage contract, memories surfacing of a mischievous little girl who followed him everywhere as a child. He smiled softly. “Little Mingyue, do you remember Brother Chu Ming?”
Meanwhile, Yun Xueyan had just returned home when Yun Tianding rushed over. “Mu’er, where have you been? Come quickly! Grandfather has invited the national medical sage, Master Huangfu. He will surely cure your illness!”
Yun Xueyan shook her head gently. “Grandpa, it’s useless. I was born with the cold toxin; I’m doomed not to live past twenty-five. Please don’t waste your efforts.”
“No matter what, we must try!”
Yun Tianding bowed respectfully to the man behind him. “Master Huangfu, please!”
Huangfu Duan, with his immortal aura, stepped within two paces of Yun Xueyan and suddenly exclaimed, “Such intense cold! Even three steps away, the chill is overwhelming. The toxin must have invaded her organs!”
Yun Tianding immediately asked anxiously, “Master Huangfu, can you cure it?”
Huangfu Duan frowned deeply, hesitating. “I can only try.”
“Miss Yun, please lie down so I may examine your pulse.”
Yun Xueyan complied, and as Huangfu Duan felt her pulse, his expression grew strange.
“Huh? How can this be?”
“Master, what’s wrong with my granddaughter?”
Yun Tianding asked anxiously.
Huangfu Duan replied, “By rights, with the cold toxin, her body should be freezing. Yet within Miss Yun, there is a faint, fiery yang energy, constantly suppressing the cold toxin’s advance!”
“Miss Yun, were you treated by any eminent physician recently?”
Yun Xueyan shook her head, puzzled. “No.”
“Strange!”
Huangfu Duan continued his examination, then raised his eyebrow suddenly. “Miss Yun, have you lost your virginity?”
“What?!”
Yun Tianding exclaimed, then erupted in fury. “Which bastard dared to violate my granddaughter?! Yan Yan, tell me who he is! Even if I must dig three feet into the earth, I will tear him to pieces!”
“Haha, excellent! Excellent indeed!”
Huangfu Duan suddenly beamed, laughing heartily.
“Master Huangfu, you…”
Seeing Yun Tianding about to rage, Huangfu Duan quickly explained, “Master Yun, this man has saved Miss Yun’s life!”
“Born with a cold toxin, no medicine can cure it. Only the legendary Solar Body, united with hers, can resolve it completely!”
“And every Solar Body’s possessor has been an unparalleled powerhouse. This man is Miss Yun’s fated husband—only he can preserve her life!”
Yun Tianding’s joy was boundless.
Who was Huangfu Duan? The national medical sage, of the highest status. If he called someone unparalleled, how could that person be ordinary?
Not only had Yun Xueyan’s life been saved, she had gained a formidable grandson-in-law. It was double happiness!
“Yan Yan, who were you with before? Tell grandfather quickly!”
Yun Xueyan was equally astonished, Chu Ming’s roguish face appearing in her mind. Could he truly be her destined husband?
She recounted the events simply, and Yun Tianding waved his hand, his voice echoing through the Yun family estate.
“Send word to everyone in the Yun family—find Master Ye immediately!”
“Mobilize all our resources. Welcome Master Ye home with the highest honors!”