In a high-level martial arts game, a wife is given to you at the start.

The masked man paused for a moment.

Lin Qiye stood atop the slope, looking down at it: "Go back and give a message to that person in the Holy City."

The masked man neither turned around nor took a step.

"Tell him," Lin Qiye said, "that what he's looking for is in my hands. If he wants it, he can come and get it himself."

The masked man remained silent for a long time.

Then it slowly spoke, its voice carrying a hint of something unreadable: "I will convey these words."

After saying that, it led the rest of the people away without looking back.

Lin Qiye stood at the top of the slope, watching the group disappear down the slope, his gaze calm.

That Zhenyuan Seal is fake—the real Zhenyuan Seal is still in the Gu Family Ancestral Hall.

But he didn't leave immediately.

He crouched down and saw a line of tracks left by boots where the masked man had stood—the tracks were shallow, but the direction was clear: not towards the Blood Raven stronghold, but towards the Holy City.

The masked man led his men toward the holy city.

Lin Qiye stood up, looking in that direction with a deep gaze.

Holy City.

It's the holy city again.

He turned and walked towards Ironwall City.

It was already dark when they returned to the Gu residence.

Gu Ruolan was waiting for him in the main room.

"Is the matter of Blood Raven settled?" she asked.

"That's settled," Lin Qiye said. "The crow is gone, carrying a message to the Holy City—what they want is in my hands."

Gu Ruolan didn't press for details. She simply nodded, closed the ledger, stood up, walked to the door, paused, and didn't turn back.

"Tomorrow, I'll give you a map of the Gu Family Ancestral Hall."

After she finished speaking, she walked out.

The sound of footsteps gradually faded away under the corridor.

Lin Qiye stood in the main room, looking at the bowl of water on the table that had gone cold, without touching it.

The Blood Ravens have retreated. The Gu family is now secure. He has truly established himself in this territory.

In the days that followed, he did not rush back to the Holy City.

He settled into the Gu family residence, spending his days studying the Gu family ancestors' notes and the sealed map, and his nights practicing his marksmanship in the courtyard. The Blood Ravens never attacked again, and Ironwall City returned to peace, as if the turmoil had never occurred.

He took Gu Ruolan as his wife.

There was no grand ceremony, no elaborate betrothal gifts. The Gu family needed someone to keep things in check, and she needed a reliable man; the two things were essentially one and the same. The Gu family elders initially had objections, but Gu Ruolan silenced them with a single sentence. Having been the head of the family for over a decade, she was always the one who meant what she said.

Soon, Gu Ruolan became pregnant.

The Gu family was on high alert. She herself remained calm, handling clan affairs as usual, but no longer personally leaving the city.

Lin Qiye sent a message back from the Holy City to Luo Sheng, whose second child was about to be born.

Another month passed, and news of Gu Qingshuang also emerged.

The Gu family of Iron Wall City is blessed with two happy events.

The day the news spread, Gu Ruolan sat in the main room, flipping through account books, and without looking up, asked him, "When do you plan to return to the Holy City?"

"Wait until the baby is born," Lin Qiye said.

"That's still a few months away."

"No rush," Lin Qiye said. "Someone is keeping an eye on things in the Holy City for me."

Gu Ruolan didn't reply. She turned a page in the account book, her tone flat: "The Holy City is a dangerous place. Go back, be careful."

"I know."

After Crow's group retreated, he had the Gu family's spies keep an eye on them for half a month to confirm that they had indeed returned towards the Holy City. The person behind Blood Raven is in the Holy City, and holds a high position.

A few months later, the child was born.

Gu Ruolan gave birth to a son, and Gu Qingshuang gave birth to a daughter. The Gu family was bustling with excitement for a while, and the elders' attitude towards Lin Qiye completely changed—from "outsider" to "son-in-law," and from "son-in-law" to "head of the family." From then on, the Gu family of Iron Wall City was half his.

On the night the two children were born, Lin Qiye sat on the steps of the Gu family ancestral hall, the emblem on his palm slightly warm.

The rudimentary form of bloodline resonance is more than twice as strong as it was at Dry Bone Ridge.

On the day his child turned one month old, he said to Gu Ruolan, "I should go back to the Holy City."

Gu Ruolan was breastfeeding her son, not even looking up: "When are you leaving?"

"tomorrow."

"Okay." She paused, "Take the Zhenyuan Seal with you."

"Is the one in the ancestral hall the real one?"

"Really," Gu Ruolan said. "It's more useful to take it than to leave it in the ancestral hall. Also, take the map left by our ancestors."

The next morning, Lin Qiye set off back to the Holy City.

Gu Qingshuang saw him off to the city gate, holding her daughter in her arms. She didn't say much, only asking, "When are you coming back?"

"I'll be back after I finish my business."

"Okay," Gu Qingshuang said. "I'll take care of things at home."

He didn't look back, but went out of the city gate and headed towards the holy city.

It was dusk when we returned to the holy city.

The courtyard in Qing Shi Lane was still the same. The old locust tree had sprouted new buds, and Little Man Niu had grown taller, chasing dragonflies in the yard. Seeing him push open the door, she paused for a moment, then rushed over and hugged his leg: "Daddy! You're back!"

Luo Sheng stood at the entrance of the main room, her belly quite large. Seeing him, she didn't ask about Iron Wall City, only saying, "You're back?"

"I'm back."

He sat by the courtyard, eyes closed, and went through the scents of both children one by one—the scent of the Holy City, the scent of Ironwall City, and the scent of the unborn child in Luo Sheng's womb. With each pass, the inscription on his palm grew warmer.

He opened his eyes, looked at the lamp in the courtyard, his gaze calm.

This is his foundation in the original universe.

The next day, he went to the mission square to complete the Night-Blooming Jasmine quest, and then went to the Household Registration Office to find Gu Yan.

Gu Yan, still with his shrewd demeanor, looked him up and down upon seeing him return: "You've lost weight. Does the environment of Ironwall City not allow people to gain weight?"

"Get to the point."

"Your official status is stalled at the guarantor stage," Gu Yan said. "You need a guarantor from an inner-city resident or a formal organization. You have no roots in the Holy City, so finding a guarantor will be difficult."

"I do," Lin Qiye said. "The Gu family of Ironwall City, are they qualified?"

Gu Yan paused for a moment: "The Gu family? The Gu family from Ironwall City?"

"right."

"The Gu family head is willing to vouch for you?" Gu Yan looked him up and down, a hint of inquiry in his eyes. "You went to Ironwall City and took down the Gu family?"

He took the guarantee letter from Lin Qiye, glanced at it, and efficiently completed the procedures.

Three days later, Lin Qiye received his official identity plaque: Lin Qiye, a rogue cultivator from the borderlands, registered in the western district of the outer city of the Holy City.

……

The next day, the temple deacon summoned him.

It was the same side hall, and the same middle-aged man in a plain white robe with a sun emblem embroidered on his chest. The steward sat at the head of the table, his gaze fixed on him for a few moments before he spoke: "Mr. Lin, you completed the mission to Black Wind Valley very well."

"Good luck."

"Luckily, the mission log won't say 'Source of the anomaly has been dealt with,'" the deacon said calmly. "The temple sent people to Blackwind Valley to verify—the black winds there have indeed stopped."

Lin Qiye did not respond.

"You're capable," the deacon said. "The Temple needs someone like you. The Purification Division is short a field officer; would you be willing to come?"