Cultivation Nerd: Chapter 359

Chapter 359 - Marriage & Traditions

Winter passed without much hassle, and spring quietly arrived.

I stood before the mirror, adjusting my new, overly fancy robes and the golden, crown-like ornament resting on my head. This world had its own strange traditions.

With a sigh, I glanced around the unfamiliar room, very different from the one I usually woke up in back at the Blazing Sun Sect.

The window here was far larger than I was used to, opening onto a view of green grass and blooming flowers native to the region.

This was a high-end inn located in the small city my clan owned, specifically in the inner district reserved for the Liu Clan.

Sure, a wedding meant accommodating a lot of guests under one roof, but that didn’t stop my clan from going out of its way to subtly look down on the commoners they ruled, those unfortunate enough not to share the Liu name.

It was always strange to see how far some clans took blood elitism.

Leaning against the edge of the window, I looked down into the inn’s courtyard, already bustling with people.

My disciples were among them. Tingfeng stood off to the side, antisocial as ever. At the same time, Jiang Yeming chatted easily with my male cousins and the twins, neither of whom had broken through to Foundation Establishment yet. While the great sects made breakthroughs seem commonplace thanks to intense competition, things were more relaxed here. For most people, reaching Foundation Establishment was the final major milestone they would ever achieve.

There was also the matter of the two neighboring clans. We no longer fought them in blood feuds because we had massacred them.

Well. Almost all of them.

I had taken time away from the sect to return to the Liu Clan for the marriage. Along the way, I’d carefully and temporarily erased my own memories, sealing them inside a dark cube.

I barely remembered the journey itself, and thankfully, an impending wedding was the perfect excuse for any awkward gaps forgetting what I’d done the night before, blank moments, misplaced thoughts. I could simply blame it on nerves and thoughts of married life.

This was the price I had to pay if I wanted even a chance against Song Song’s father.

Sealing memories within my own mind wasn’t enough, so I had to store them externally. As long as that dark orb remained intact, everything would be fine. If it shattered… I would lose everything sealed inside it.

I was taking countermeasures against every threat I could think of, only to promptly forget them as I cut, sealed, and rearranged my own memories.

When would be the best time to make a move?

After the wedding. Definitely after.

I sighed and stepped out of my room, glancing toward the neighboring door where my cousin, Liu Qian, stood guard.

She noticed my look immediately and crossed her arms.

“You aren’t supposed to see the bride until the wedding,” she said flatly. “It’s tradition.”

I smirked at her and took a step closer, then another. Despite the gap in our strength, my cousin didn’t back down. She puffed out her chest, stubbornly holding her ground.

“Such traditions usually only apply when the newlyweds have an arranged marriage and have never met or seen each other before,” I reminded her. I’d read quite a bit about regional customs back in the day when boredom drove me to research odd ceremonial rituals.

I’d even tested a few of them, just in case they did something interesting.

They hadn’t.

“Hmmm.” I stared at my cousin when she didn’t reply, then leaned casually against the door to Fu Yating’s room. “Are you just going to leave me hanging here?”

“If you hadn’t been such a rebel and taken your fiancée gallivanting around the world,” she replied with a smug smile, “maybe you could’ve preserved tradition.”

The smile gave her away. She didn’t care about tradition either; she just liked using it when it suited her.

Liu Qian was a true politician. She’d make an outstanding clan leader someday.

I chuckled and closed my eyes, resting them while extending my senses to gauge how many cultivators were nearby.

“I’m surprised so many people showed up,” I said, making small talk. “I expected a smaller wedding. I mean… Fu Yating is still a daughter of the Fu Clan.”

As the groom, I’d be expected to stand around greeting guests, exchanging pleasantries, and accepting gifts, while Fu Yating sat quietly at my side, smiling politely. It sounded exhausting. The fewer people there were, the better.

“You outgrew the clan a long time ago,” Liu Qian said. “Even your grandfather showed up. And you know he wanted nothing more than to suffer a grave injury just to avoid attending his favorite grandson’s wedding to a Fu Clan girl.”

She shook her head. “You’re a big name now.”

That was true. In the sect, I occupied a solid middle-to-upper tier position. Here, I was a powerhouse.

It still felt strange.

Maybe I’d always thought of myself as the underdog.

“It seems news travels faster around here these days,” I said with a shrug.

“Yep,” she nodded. “The neighboring sect we sold the Jia and Fu Clan territories to has a direct line to the Blazing Sun Sect now.”

“Interesting.”

“Of course, they’re probably nothing in your eyes,” she added with a grin. “But around here, they’re a big deal. Half a dozen elders at the peak of Foundation Establishment and the sect leader himself is the seventh, only in his sixties and with a real chance of breaking through to Core Formation.”

I nodded.

A part of me couldn’t help thinking that reaching Core Formation in one’s sixties or seventies was… unimpressive.

That alone told me how far I’d drifted from this place.

“By the way,” Liu Qian said, her tone sharpening, “you should really go out there and make an appearance at your own wedding. It’ll look strange if you and the bride come out together.”

She folded her arms. “People will say you’re ruled by your wife. And with her being from the Fu Clan already… well, you know how people are. Especially Grandfather.”

I sighed and pushed myself off the wall.

“Thanks for the reminder,” I said, and headed down the stairs to the first floor.

These traditions were so damn tedious. If it weren’t for making Fu Yating happy and giving her a proper wedding experience, I would’ve flipped the table, declared us married, and been done with it.

When I reached the first floor, a few people noticed me and raised their cups in greeting.

The wedding hall was large, built in an open style, with one entire wall removed to extend seating into the courtyard outside. As for my seat, it sat on a raised platform opposite the yard. The chair itself was… a massive golden statue of some many-armed goddess, sculpted so that I would be sitting on her lap, with Fu Yating placed right beside me.

I sat down at the main table, my gaze drifting to the closest table where my father was fawning over Wu Yan like the daughter he never had. He was feeding her cake, doting far too much, while Wu Yan looked too shy to refuse him.

Grandfather sat there as well, staring at me with the expression of a man who had just watched his best friend get shot in front of him.

He was being dramatic as fuck, as always.

I spent nearly an hour bored out of my mind, trying to think of anything useful while suffering through it. The so-called chair wasn’t even comfortable.

“Now comes the bride!” someone announced.

Soft, slow zither music began to play, and Fu Yating emerged from the doors, walking along the path through the green spring yard. She wore a heavy traditional robe that resembled a dress, her makeup thick and elaborate, making her look almost doll-like.

Honestly, she looked worse than usual. The makeup sat on her face like a mask.

But traditions were traditions.

I still smiled at her and raised an impressed brow.

She was escorted by my mother. Normally, it would’ve been her own mother, but if the bride’s mother was deceased, the groom’s mother could take her place.

There were supposed to be additional rituals before the wedding, including formal visits between families, shared meals, and a staged theft in which one of my relatives would secretly steal a spoon or household item from Fu Yating’s family. Symbolism and all that. Me “stealing” their daughter.

The crowd clapped and shouted their congratulations.

Thankfully, no one was drunk or stupid enough to comment on how I was marrying a woman from a clan that had been our enemy for centuries.

Fu Yating was escorted to the main table and sat beside me, and the celebration truly began.

Despite my boredom, I had no intention of ruining the mood. I leaned closer to her and whispered, “You look lovely.”

“You should thank your mother for that,” she replied quietly. “She’s a lovely person, but it was awkward being alone with her upstairs. She gave me the full lecture about a wife’s duties on her marriage night.”

I coughed into my hand to hide my chuckle.

The image alone washed away some of my boredom.

There were plenty of unwritten rules around these traditions. It would’ve been scandalous for the bride to learn certain things before marriage.

“I already heard all of that back in the Azure Frost Sect,” Fu Yating muttered. “Don’t ask me how a sect filled with century-old virgin hags is qualified to teach anything about this. Losing one’s virginity affects cultivation speed due to the techniques we practice, so they were quite strict. It was… entertaining, honestly.”

I coughed again, barely suppressing a laugh at the horrible image she’d just planted in my head.

When she put it like that, hundred-year-old virgins teaching young girls about intimacy, it felt oddly familiar.

Like people in my previous life giving relationship advice online despite never having been in one themselves. At least not a stable one.

All kinds of ridiculous.

…

The rest of the ceremony was rather dull and mentally exhausting, and I only stopped zoning out near the very end, when Fu Yating and I were finally led into the same room to consummate our marriage.

I immediately began removing my stiff, suffocating clothes, while Fu Yating used wet towels and a mirror to wipe away the heavy makeup layered on her face.

Her task was clearly harder, so I stepped closer and began helping her undo her braided hair, gently loosening the knots with my fingers while she worked through what felt like an obscene amount of makeup.

How was I even supposed to bring up the subject of the wedding night? I didn’t particularly care about consummating the marriage itself, but Fu Yating’s feelings mattered. She was my wife now.

Once I finished untangling her hair, I yawned and stretched.

“Well,” I said, “this has been quite a tiring day,” and moved to lie down on the large bed.

Before I could, Fu Yating stood up and forcefully grabbed my arm.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded.

“What?” I said. “I just want you not to feel pressured and to be comfor–”

Before I could finish, Fu Yating grabbed me by the collar and locked our lips in a kiss.

My first thought was that she wasn’t a very good kisser.

She was too aggressive, moving too fast, using far too much tongue. She wasn’t adjusting to my reactions at all, and with the excess enthusiasm came a bit too much saliva.

There were other things I could have noted like her head angle was awkward and her rhythm uneven but I decided not to dwell on it.

It was all easily explained by inexperience.

She had passion, and that was about all she brought into this.

After a moment, Fu Yating pulled back to catch her breath. As I was about to speak, she kissed me again.

She pulled away once more, eyes burning, and said, “Shut up. I know that if you say anything, you’ll ruin the moment.”

I chuckled and raised a questioning brow, careful not to say anything out loud.

“We’re consummating this marriage,” she said firmly. “No matter what.”

I smiled, then stood and cupped her cheeks in my hands, leaning in to kiss her properly this time—slow, controlled, taking the lead. There was no need to rush or bring tongues into it immediately when we weren’t used to each other yet.

We separated gently. I looked into her eyes, smiling softly, my hands still resting against her cheeks.

“Just relax,” I said quietly. “I’ll handle everything.”

…

The next day came slower than usual. I hadn’t slept a wink, yet I stayed beside Fu Yating until morning all the same. Thankfully, she slept without issue.

Once dawn arrived, I slipped on a robe and stepped onto the balcony.

Cool morning air filled my lungs as I leaned against the wooden railing, my gaze drifting toward the inner walls in the distance, the boundary separating the Liu Clan from those who did not share our name.

Damn it. It was my first day as a married man, and I was already well on my way to becoming a terrible husband. Right now, marriage and Fu Yating were the last things on my mind.

As my thoughts wandered, I noticed Jiang Yeming walking through the courtyard where the wedding had been held. Wu Yan was with her. Seeing those two together was unusual, but now that Wu Yan had temporarily lost her cultivation, Jiang Yeming no longer seemed uneasy around her.

At least they were getting along. If something happened to me, Jiang Yeming might convince herself that she could guide Wu Yan and make use of her future potential. That worked for me as well. Wu Yan would have someone watching over her to ensure she reached her full potential.

I still didn’t know what Jiang Yeming truly wanted, or what she hoped to gain from joining the Blazing Sun Sect. She had even refused an inner elder position, despite the influence I could have secured for her.

Judging by age alone, the sect viewed her as a talent on par with Song Song, only less unhinged. But I knew the truth would eventually surface. At this new stage, her cultivation would likely slow.

Jiang Yeming noticed my gaze and waved. Wu Yan followed suit.

“We’re going to explore the town and do some shopping!” Jiang Yeming called out.

I nodded as they hurried off, absorbed in their own plans.

My thoughts were interrupted by movement behind me. I turned to see Fu Yating stirring, her naked form wrapped loosely in a blanket as she sat up.

I smiled. This, at least, was familiar territory.

For many overthinking women, especially after their first time, insecurity came quickly worries about being unwanted or discarded once desire had been satisfied.

That didn’t quite apply to us anymore. We were married now.

From my storage ring, I took out a preserved red rose and a note I had written before the wedding. With a thread of Qi, I sent them floating gently toward her.

Fu Yating raised a brow, accepted the rose, and unfolded the note. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she read, then she looked up at me.

“Since when did you become so romantic?” she asked. There was suspicion in her voice, but her smile was genuine.

“If I don’t show romance to my wife,” I replied, “that just makes me a terrible husband.”

She chuckled and came to stand beside me, still wrapped in the blanket, leaning against the balcony railing. Her gaze never left mine.

“What do you think about trying for children again later, after I’ve rested?” she asked.

“There’s no need to rush,” I said gently. “Rest properly. Take your time.”

“Yes, but with the war ongoing and likely to worsen once the weather warms, you might die,” she said matter-of-factly. “And I want you to keep your promise.”

I laughed softly at her impulsiveness.

“You just ruined the romantic mood I was trying to build,” I said, shaking my head in mock disappointment.

I cast one last glance at the rising sun, then slipped an arm around her shoulders. Fu Yating leaned into me as we watched golden light spill across the clan grounds, the scene so still and vivid it felt like a painted landscape.

It was time to deal with the Blood Step Immortal.

Everything was already prepared.