He gave another look at her. Her gentle features, watery eyes, soft manner… his eyes now widened in recognition. "Is that really you, Siyu?"
"Uncle Li," Shangguan Siyu stood gracefully and bowed slightly. "It has been many years."
Li Gengxin's face flickered with joy, but the moment he looked at the handsome youth sitting beside her, his expression tightened. Something in his eyes grew heavy.
"Xue'er," Li Wei whispered quietly, leaning close to Li Xue's ear. "Who are these people exactly?"
Li Xue leaned toward him as well, her breath brushing his cheek as she explained in a whisper. "They are from the Shangguan family of the Northern Territory. And… see the purple cloud emblem on their robes? That means they are disciples of Heaven's Gate."
"Heaven's Gate?" Li Wei's brow rose. "Are they strong?"
"They are one of the three great sects of the Northern Territory," Li Xue whispered. "Huge, powerful, and incredibly strict with tens of thousands of outer disciples. Their inner disciples are said to be stronger than most clan elders. People from Heaven's Gate always carry pride, although sometimes too much."
"Aahh…" Li Wei nodded, glancing at the handsome youth again.
That explained everything.
The cold face.
The disrespectful posture.
And the constant superiority in his eyes.
Everything made sense now.
He treated the Li clan like air because he didn't need to treat them as anything else.
Li Wei then noticed the same purple emblem on Shangguan Siyu's chest. "So she's also from Heaven's Gate," he murmured.
"Brother Li Wei…" Li Xue's voice suddenly became a little sharper. She clearly didn't like the way he looked at Shangguan Siyu.
"What? I'm just looking." Li Wei grinned, his heart slightly raised as the scent of Li Xue reached him. Honestly, he wanted nothing more than to pull Li Xue into his arms, but with everyone watching, he kept himself in check.
"Brother Wei," Li Xue whispered shyly, "do you know who Shangguan Siyu is?"
"Huh? Isn't she just someone from the Shangguan family?"
Li Xue bit her lip and finally said. "She's… your fiancée."
"What?"
Li Wei almost jumped out of his seat.
He stared at Shangguan Siyu again, whose beauty was on par with Li Xue.
This gentle, noble girl… was his fiancée?
Then their reason for coming…
Became painfully obvious.
He didn't even have to listen to their words to know why they came here.
Meanwhile, Li Gengxin finally addressed her, smiling warmly. "Siyu, you've grown beautifully. I hardly recognized you."
Li Wei and Li Xue both straightened up, no longer whispering.
Li Meiran, watching this from the side, nearly exploded with rage.
Why? Why Li Wei again?!
First Li Xue. Now a Shangguan princess from Heaven's Gate?!
What did Li Wei have that he didn't?
If jealousy were poison, Li Meiran would have died ten times over.
Shangguan Siyu lowered her head politely. "Uncle Li is too kind."
Li Gengxin continued, "I heard you entered Heaven's Gate years ago. Now seeing the emblem, it must be true. Truly impressive, Siyu."
But inside, his heart sank.
If she came with only Master Yuda, perhaps it was a friendly visit. But she arrived with a disciple of Heaven's Gate. And worse, one who sat proudly and arrogantly in their hall.
This wasn't a visit.
And Li Gengxin already guessed what request Master Yuda was about to make, too. His smile remained polite… but his heart tightened.
Master Yuda placed his hands on his knees and leaned forward slightly. "Patriarch Li," he said, "you asked what brought us to your Li clan. Then I shall speak frankly…"
*
Chapter 16 , Rewritten in the Same Style
Master Yuda cleared his throat, his earlier polite smile fading into dead seriousness. "Patriarch Li… this matter concerns Siyu. And… it is something personally instructed by the Master of Heaven's Gate."
The entire hall tensed at those words.
Li Gengxin's eyes froze for a moment before he slowly straightened his back. The name Heaven's Gate was like thunder across the Northern Territory. It was a top sect, a power no clan could provoke.
Even Li Gengxin, patriarch of the Li clan, felt the pressure and set aside his emotions.
"Master Yuda, please speak."
He had already guessed the reason.
He just didn't want it to be true.
Master Yuda exhaled a long breath as if forcing himself to continue. "Siyu entered Heaven's Gate, and the master values her extremely highly. He intends to groom her into the next leader of the sect. Because of that… he does not want her future to be limited in any way."
His voice weakened. "So… after the master learned she had a childhood engagement with Li Wei… he ordered that we come here personally… to dissolve the engagement."
The hall fell dead silent for half a breath, then erupted at once.
"What? They want to break off the marriage?!"
"Ridiculous! We set this match generations ago!"
"Even if Li Wei is… what he is… how dare they come to our Li clan and ask for our marriage to be broken!"
"Actually, Li Wei is unworthy of a girl like Siyu…"
"But if we accept this, won't everyone laugh at the Li clan?"
"That's right! They'll say our Li clan isn't even worthy of Heaven's Gate's leftovers!"
Within a few breaths, almost everyone began whispering.
Only Li Gengxin sat still. However, a deep crack had appeared on the armrest of his chair beneath his fingers.
He had already guessed this outcome.
Still, hearing it aloud as a father…
As the patriarch…
He felt utterly humiliated.
His son had already endured so much since childhood.
For years, Li Wei was weak, mocked, and pressured from all sides. Now that he had finally regained his confidence…
Someone came knocking to break off his marriage.
Li Gengxin closed his eyes for a moment, holding back his frustration.
Then he slowly looked at Li Wei.
"Brother Li Wei… are you alright?" Li Xue whispered. Her voice held a mix of worry and something she didn't want to acknowledge, a tiny spark of joy.
The girl herself seemed startled by her own emotions.
Meanwhile, Li Wei blinked. "Retreat the engagement?"
He looked at Shangguan Siyu as if seeing her for the first time.
A beauty like a spring breeze, soft, gentle, elegant. And yet… from the moment she stepped into the hall, she had not spared him a single glance.
Not once.
Even when the elders scolded him, she looked bored. When he fought over his seat, she remained calm.
His fiancée?
She didn't even treat him as a person.
Oh, so that was how it was.
Pretty face. And a Soft smile.
But deep down, when a richer, more powerful option appeared, she rushed to throw away the "poor fiancé"?
In modern terms… isn't this what they call a green tea girl?
Li Wei felt the urge to laugh.
He had already been cheated on before transmigrating.
He finally gets a system, starts his new life strong…
And the first thing he gets is a face-slap of a divorce request?
His fists clenched.
He really wanted to walk up and slap the truth onto that calm little face of hers.
But reason won over anger.
He activated Sky Eye.
And in the next moment, Cold data streamed into his vision.
*
Master Yuda – One-Star Legendary Warrior
Level: 41
Judgment: "The world is different" (far beyond your current strength)
*
Shangguan Siyu – Six-Star Exalt Warrior
Level: 26
Judgment: "The world is different" (cannot match)
*
Situ Qingfeng – Five-Star Upper-Exalt Warrior
Level: 35
Judgment: The world is different (irreversible gap)
*
Li Wei's eyes narrowed.
None of the three guests from Heaven's Gate was a simple person. Each of them carried an aura far stronger than anyone present in the Li clan, stronger even than Li Gengxin.
Basically, they were walking, living super-BOSSes. Shangguan Siyu alone possessed several earth-grade martial skills, and she was known to have a finishing technique similar in level to Li Wei's Mountain-Splitting Strike. Li Wei had seen firsthand how terrifying such a technique was.
It became clear why they dared to show up at the Li clan to demand a divorce.
Meanwhile, he was only a five-star Elite warrior with one earth-grade martial skill and a single weapon he couldn't even use yet. It made his heart feel stuffed with frustration.
He wanted nothing more than to run back into the Forest of Death for a few months, slaughter monsters until he leveled up a dozen times, and then return to shove everything in their faces.
His fiancée wanted to become a green-tea princess and retract the engagement?
Did he agree to that?
Who allowed it?!