The rain in the Cloud Sparrow Kingdom was gentle, unlike the torrential, spirit-infused storms of
the Cultivation World's inner regions. Here, the rain merely wet the stones; it did not threaten to
shatter one's soul.
Li Wei stood under the eaves of the Golden Phoenix Pavilion, watching the droplets slide off the
glazed tiles. He took a deep breath of the damp, earthy air. It smelled of dust, unwashed horses,
and fried dough from the stall across the street. It smelled of mortality.
It smelled like home.
"Husband, the accounts are closed for the month," a soft voice called from inside the shop.
Li Wei turned, a genuine smile breaking the weary mask he had worn for a decade. Su Mei
stepped out from behind the heavy oak counter. She was nineteen, with eyes like polished
almonds and hands rough from work but gentle in touch. She wasn't a fairy of the Nine
Heavens. She didn't have skin like jade or an aura that commanded the winds. She was a
mortal girl, the daughter of a failed scholar, and to Li Wei, she was the most precious thing in
this terrifying universe.
"Did we make a profit?" Li Wei asked, walking over to wrap a shawl around her shoulders. The
autumn chill was setting in.
"A modest one," Su Mei replied, leaning into his warmth. "The new shipment of silk from the
Southern Provinces sold well. But the spices... the dampness ruined a sack of star-anise."
Li Wei chuckled. "A sack of star-anise is a small price to pay for peace."
Ten years.
It had been ten years since Li Wei woke up in the body of an eighteen-year-old orphan in the
outer fringes of the Azure Cloud Sect's territory. He had arrived with the arrogance typical of
Earth's transmigrators. He had waited for the "ding" of a system. He had jumped off small cliffs
hoping to find a hidden cave with an ancient manual. He had spent his meager savings on spirit
root testing.
The result? Grade 5 Mixed Spirit Root. Technically capable of cultivation, but so slow that he
would die of old age before reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.
He had tried. God, he had tried. He scavenged herbs, he worked as a servant for outer
disciples, he swallowed insults that would make a modern man scream. But the cultivation world
was a meat grinder. Without talent, background, or a cheat, you were just biomass for the
strong.
At twenty-five, after watching his only friend get beheaded for looking at a Young Master the
wrong way, Li Wei gave up. He took his savings, traveled three months to the mortal kingdom of
Cloud Sparrow—a place with thin spiritual energy where cultivators rarely bothered to go—and
started a business.
He applied modern business concepts: a department store model, membership cards, seasonal
sales. The Golden Phoenix Pavilion became the premier shopping destination in the capital.
He met Su Mei a year later. They courted in the old way—poems, tea, walks by the river. He
married her three months ago.
"What are you thinking about?" Su Mei asked, touching his cheek.
"Just... how lucky I am," Li Wei said, kissing her forehead. "Let's go home. I bought a carp. I'll
make that sweet and sour fish you like."
They locked the heavy wooden doors of the mall. Li Wei didn't use a locking formation; he used Their home was a courtyard house behind the commercial district. It was quiet. As they
prepared dinner, the domesticity of it all washed over Li Wei, soothing the old scars of his
ambition. He watched Su Mei chop vegetables. The candlelight danced on her face.
This is enough, he told himself. I don't need to fly on swords. I don't need to live for ten
thousand years. I just want to grow old with her.
They ate dinner sharing stories of the customers. Su Mei laughed at the tale of a noblewoman
who tried to haggle over the price of a fixed-rate mirror.
Later, in the bedroom, the atmosphere turned intimate. The red wedding candles were still fresh
enough to burn bright. They lay together under the silk quilts, the sound of rain outside creating
a cocoon of safety.
"Li Wei," Su Mei whispered, tracing the line of his jaw. "Do you ever regret it? Coming here? You
talk about the outside world sometimes... with a look in your eyes."
Li Wei stiffened slightly, then relaxed. "No. The outside world is cold. Here, it's warm."
He kissed her, and the world fell away.
As he drifted toward sleep, holding his wife, a strange sensation buzzed at the base of his skull.
It wasn't the headache of stress. It was a mechanical, rhythmic vibration.
Ding.
Li Wei's eyes snapped open. He froze. The sound he had waited ten years for. The sound he
had begged for while bleeding in the mud of the Azure Cloud Sect.
A translucent blue screen materialized in the darkness, hovering directly above Su Mei's
sleeping face.
[System Booting...] [Host Detected: Li Wei] [Condition Met: Married a Mortal Spouse with
S-Grade Latent Talent.] [System Name: The Empress Maker (Wife Support System)]
Li Wei's heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird. He stopped breathing. Now? You
come now? When I've finally found peace?
[Host Status Analysis:]
● Name: Li Wei
● Lifespan: Immortal (System Bonded) - Host will not age or die of natural causes as long
as the bond exists.
● Cultivation: Qi Condensation Level 1 (Stagnant)
● Role: The Guardian / The Resource / The Stepping Stone.
[Target Status Analysis:]
● Name: Su Mei
● Age: 19
● Root: Heavenly Yin Ice Body (Dormant/Sealed)
● Potential: Limitless. Capable of shaking the Nine Heavens.
[Main Quest Initiated: The Path to the Throne]
● Objective: Assist Su Mei in reaching the Golden Core Stage within 10 years.
● Reward: Host gains the "Eye of Insight."
● Failure Penalty: Host's soul annihilation.
Li Wei stared at the screen. The blue light cast a ghostly pallor over Su Mei's sleeping face.
"Immortal lifespan," he whispered internally. The words tasted like ash.
If he was immortal, and she was mortal... he would watch her die. Unless she cultivated.
But he knew the cultivation world. He knew the cruelty. He knew what power did to people. He
looked at Su Mei—sweet, kind Su Mei who cried when she accidentally cut her finger.
"You want me to turn a sheep into a wolf," Li Wei thought, a cold dread settling in his stomach.
[Correction: The System creates Empresses. Wolves are merely food for Empresses.]
Li Wei closed his eyes. The rain outside suddenly sounded like the drumming of war. His peaceful life was over. The System hadn't come to save him. It had come to use him.
But as he looked at Su Mei, he realized he had no choice. If he did nothing, she would wither
and die in sixty years while he remained young forever, mourning her for eternity. If he accepted,
he threw her into the meat grinder.
He tightened his arm around her. She murmured in her sleep and snuggled closer.
"I will protect you," he vowed silently, staring at the glowing text. "I will give you the heavens, Su
Mei. But I pray... I pray you don't lose yourself on the way up."