In reality, back during the annual competition the members of the audience had taken note of the mutual attraction between Feng Yue Ru and Qing Zi, especially the two sharp-eyed leaders of both clans.
After the annual competition concluded, true to her words, Feng Yue Ru sought out Qing Zi under the pretext of exchanging pointers. The two of them hit off very well, and got along like a house on fire. Interactions between both of them started to get more and more frequent, and from the heated gazes they exchanged, one could see that the two younglings had already fallen into the raging river of love.
Especially, after the Feng Clan saw Qing Shui's performance at the annual competition, they had decisively agreed to improve their relations with the Qing Clan through a marriage proposal.
Thus, Feng Wuxi had personally made a trip, hoping to settle the marriage engagement as soon as possible!
"Excellent, Excellent, this matter is concluded. Tomorrow I shall get Qing Jiang to make a trip personally down to the Feng Clan and deliver the betrothal gifts, and following that we will choose an auspicious date for the two lovebirds to get married." Qing Luo laughed uproariously. It could be seen that he was in an extremely good mood.
"Hahaha, Elder Qing Luo is indeed a straightforward man. I think the two young lovebirds would be tremendously pleased to hear of this." Feng Wuxi lightly smiled, and it was only now that she had stopped clutching Qing Shui's hand.
"Ah Grandpa, brother Qing Zi is getting married?" Qing Shui appeared startled, but hints of excitement could be heard in his voice.
"Yup! A grown up man and woman ought to get married. Your brother Qing Zi is already 26, and his talent on the path of cultivation could at most be considered slightly above average. It is time for him to set up a family and help out with the clan's businesses." Qing Luo replied with a smile; no hints of regret had appeared in his voice.
"Keke, Qing Shui, are you jealous that your brother Qing Zi is getting married? Do you want Aunty Xi to introduce to some lovely females that I am acquainted with? I truly do not know which of these ladies would have the luck to be able to marry to you." Feng Wuxi gently teased Qing Shui.
How could old man Qing Luo not see through Feng Wuxi's intentions? It was normal for humans to show favoritism. Feng Wuxi was someone who had a clear mind and kind heart with an extremely high level of foresight. He knew that she would not take advantage of Qing Shui.
Qing Luo also held some hints of admirations for this young leader of the Feng Clan. Her cultivation level could be considered within the top three in the entire Qing Village. Qing Luo knew that if it were not for the accident that occurred in the past, Feng Wuxi's cultivation level would not be merely at this level and could even be considered a phoenix soaring through the nine heavens.
After Qing Shui heard Feng Wuxi speaking of marriage, he shook his head inwardly. As long as the matter with the Yan Clan was not settled, he could not even begin to consider the possibility of marriage. Qing Shui now only wanted to pursue the path to power, so he had no desire to court any woman.
"Aunty Xi, I'm still young, so I will temporarily shelf the idea." Qing Shui replied, giggling happily. In his heart, even Qing Shui himself was disgusted by the actions he was doing. "Ahh, if I was still in my previous life, I would surely get the best actor award."
Indeed, after he arrived in this world, his personality has changed. Appearing cool and collected on the exterior, leaving a good impression to others and only displaying his true self when no one was around. For example, cussing and swearing when things went wrong could only be done in private. When the annual competition ended, the good impression they had of him, had only magnified into adoration. Qing Shui became the model of excellence for the younger generations to follow.
"Keke, no need to hurry." Feng Wuxi smiled, however Qing Shui could observe a slight hint of craftiness within that smile of hers. Shaking his head, he thought that he had hallucinated, but after blinking his eyes, he realized that there was no mistake. Such an expression on the face of this mature woman was so seductive and filled with attraction.
Feng Wuxi promptly left soon after she finished discussion of the marriage engagement. However, before she left, she extended an invitation to Qing Shui, asking him to visit the Feng Clan more often. After all, the two clans were soon to be interrelated.
"Qing Shui, this particular woman eats people up, even swallowing their skeletons, you'd best be careful. Were it not for that accident, how would she be here." Qing Luo mysteriously warned him before lapsing into silence.
Qing Shui felt that his Grandpa was trying to say something in between the lines, but looking at the expression of Qing Luo, Qing Shui knew that his Grandpa had no intention to elaborate on it. He only said so much in an attempt to warn him. Now that Qing Shui has been warned, there was no need for Qing Luo to continue elaborating.
For the next few days, Qing Shui joined the rest of the 3rd generation Clan members to cultivate. Compared to the past, there were many disciples who had come forward to engage with Qing Shui, in the hopes that he would give them some pointers.
After the new year, Qing Shui had decided to follow Qing Yi to help her out in her business over at Hundred Miles City. Initially, all of the Qing Clan elders had been shocked by his request. However, seeing how determined Qing Shui was, along with the many smooth lies prepared by Qing Shui, in the end they were all swayed by his arguments and had no choice but to acquiesce to his wishes.
Other than their 3rd uncle and his wife, who stayed over at Hundred Miles City in celebration for the new year, Qing Yi would be the one in charge to escort Qing Zi, Qing Shan, Qing Shi and Qing Shui to Hundred Miles City.
Both Qing You and Qing Hu wanted to go as well, but were denied their requests by Qing Luo, who told them to stop their nonsense and to treat this seriously. Qing Luo silently sighed to himself, "Qing Shui has already disrupted the original rules of the Qing Clan. This trouble was caused by his strength." Afterwards, Qing Luo could only laugh along.
The travellers hopped into a carriage which was pulled by two huge horses. Seeing the two horses caused Qing Shui to reminisce about the emberlion steed of Shi Qing Zhuang. However, following that line of thought, he was reminded involuntarily of that pretentious prick – Situ Bu Fan.
There was only a single route to travel if one wanted to go to Hundred Miles City. The width of the road was just enough for two carriages to traverse through. The terrain of the path was entirely mountainous, which made it difficult for smooth travel. Thus, travellers would need about four hours before they could arrive at their destination.
The scenery though not filled with visions of lush forests and open seas, were nevertheless scenic. There were many different types and shapes of fascinating rocks and stones along the path, which drew the interest of Qing Shui. "When I'm stronger in the future, I must leave my footprints on all the continents of this world."
Traversing on the road, especially sitting in a carriage, can be quite uninteresting and boring. Conversations between them soon started as a means to pass the time, and soon everyone was familiar with each other.
Not only were they from the same clan, they were direct relatives too. As such, their relationship got better and better after they were more familiar with each other.
Especially for Qing Shi, who was the son of Qing He and had circumstances similar to that of Qing Shui. He got along very well with Qing Shui. Qing Shi was exceedingly passionate for cultivation, but his talent was limited, and as such he had only broken through to the 4th grade of the Blue Lotus Art. Not to mention, their ages were close to each other. Qing Shui was only about a month older than him. Seeing how Qing Shui managed to break his own limits and arrived at his current strength today, Qing Shi quickly got well acquainted with Qing Shui, in the hopes that he could pick up some tips and pointers from him.
Qing Shui admired the personality of Qing Shi very much. Here is one who was the mirror image of himself, sharing the same fate. Qing Shui could not help thinking that this would be his destiny too, if not for some fortuitous encounters that happened.
Despite putting expending so much effort, because of his lack of talent, Qing Shi was doomed not to be able progress far on the path of cultivation. However, he never gave up, nor said a word in complaint; forging on ahead with confidence.
"We will arrive at Hundred Miles City shortly, and after that I will bring all of you to the "Yu He" Inn to enjoy the great food there!"