Chapter Twenty-One: The Shackles of Affection

West Sea Dragon Palace.

After Yang Nan departed, Princess Long Yao’s lovely face flickered with shifting expressions, her heart in a state of chaotic agitation. Suddenly, she shattered a pink jade hairpin into dust. The sea-demon handmaidens attending to her, seeing their mistress—usually so poised and elegant—looking haggard and swinging between joy and fury, trembled in terror.

Princess Long Yao of the West Sea had always been renowned for her grace, erudition, and talent. Though she held a noble status, she never acted with the arrogance of a superior. Yet, over these past few days, seeing the princess’s mood darken daily after her guest’s departure, the handmaidens fell silent and fearful; even the most good-natured princess still held the power of life and death.

"A love trial... My father was right after all. Without passing through a trial of love, one can never attain sainthood... It seems Yang Nan is the one meant to be my trial."

Long Yao sighed softly, raising her eyes to her own flower-like reflection in the mirror. Her heart palpitated, and she could not help but recall Yang Nan’s incomparably handsome face and the way he had graciously promised to repay a debt of gratitude for his wife.

In her daze, her heart felt like a harp string, and Yang Nan was that slender hand, plucking the chord when she least expected it.

Once plucked, her once-tranquil heart, like a pond stirred by the wind, could never be still again.

Long Yao had cultivated for a thousand years and seen countless cultivators. How could she not know that a love trial arrives like a raging fire, a collapsing mountain, or a sinking earth, without the slightest warning?

Love is an obsession of life and death.

When it arrives, even if your divine powers are like those of a god, you cannot resist it.

Knowing that her heart’s door had been opened, pretending that nothing had happened was of no use.

"Such a loyal and affectionate young gentleman, already pledged to Sister Qingyan for three lifetimes. We are close friends, I wonder if..." As she murmured to herself, a thought struck her, and she suddenly gasped in horror. Her heart, a calm pool for over a millennium, had become so distracted in a single day.

It was only a chance encounter; how could she be so haunted by a man? Was a love trial truly so fierce, that in just a few short days, Yang Nan had taken root in her heart?

Otherwise, how could she, a Dragon Princess with the Daoist heart of a Grandmaster, even entertain the thought of sharing a husband with another woman?

"Vexing fate... truly a vexing fate! I, Long Yao, have cultivated for thousands of years; how can I be so obsessed with a man I just met? Is this a debt from a past life? And looking at Yang Nan’s ethereal, otherworldly air, could he even help me resolve this knot?"

Long Yao sat before her vanity, feeling the surging tides of her heart impossible to suppress. Yang Nan’s figure and face flickered in her mind, and her long-held Daoist heart seemed to have vanished without a trace.

"It is over... Once this thought takes hold, it truly obstructs the Daoist path. Any further progress in the future is impossible..."

She sat dejected on her stool, her heart shifting between joy and sorrow, her face flickering between a smile and a scowl, looking remarkably strange.

A voluptuous, brash shark-maiden, seeing the princess so troubled, took heart and spoke up, "Princess, you possess the bloodline of an ancient divine beast. Our sea clan has vast, omnipotent powers; everything under heaven is ours for the taking. Whatever you want, just reach out and take it. Why be so sad?"

Long Yao usually favored this maid above all others. Seeing her attempt to console her, she shook her head. "You are wrong. Even the emperors of the mortal realm cannot always have their way, and love that is forced is not true love at all. Though I can summon winds and rain, I cannot compel a man to cross the threshold of love with me."

***

'Love? The threshold of love?'

The handmaidens looked at one another in confusion, only then realizing that their mistress, the exalted sovereign of the West Sea White Dragon Realm, was actually pining for a man.

A princess dedicated to the Dao, moved by mortal desires?

For over a millennium, she had never felt such things. That she was now obsessed with a man she had met only once was more astonishing than her ascending to immortality.

Seeing the vacant looks on their faces, Long Yao’s irritation flared. With a sharp press of her slender hand, she pulverized the beautiful jade vanity into dust. Clutching a handful of the powder, she said coldly, "Now that you know my heart, do you intend only to mock me, or will you offer a solution? I give you one stick of incense to find a way, or I shall have your tongues cut out and marry you off to those crude sea-brutes! I am sure those rough men would be quite willing..."

Having fallen in love, the mere knowledge that others knew she desired a man was enough to fill her with shame and rage. If her handmaidens dared to mock her, they would find no mercy under her dragon claws.

The maids, terrified, knew that any one of them was a top-tier choice among the sea demons. To be married off to a crude brute would be a fate worse than death—and to lose their tongues in the bargain was even more miserable.

In short: if the Princess was not at peace, no one would be.

"Princess... I have an idea!" Seeing the ultimatum, only the shark-maiden grinned widely, unbothered.

Long Yao, her face flushed with fury, demanded, "Well? Speak!"

"Yes, Princess!" The shark-maiden winked playfully. "I assume you wish to form a bond of love with Immortal Yang?"

Long Yao, both ashamed and angry, snapped, "Nonsense! Are you finished yet? I told you to find a solution, not to pry into my heart!"

The shark-maiden laughed. "Do not be impatient, Princess. In my view, Immortal Yang acts with resolve and ruthlessness, yet he is deeply loyal. It would be hard to make him change his mind, but he seems to follow Lady Fang’s every wish. If we could move Madam Yang with sincerity, and combine the wealth of the Dragon Palace with the full strength of the sea, how could Immortal Yang turn us away?"

Long Yao shook her head with a bitter smile. "What do you know! Think of how much suffering Sister Fang endured to win even a shred of his affection. They have a marriage contract already. Do you think Yang Nan is a man who takes any woman he sees? He is devoted to the Dao and views love as a flood or a beast; if he has already chosen one, how could he take another? That is a terrible idea!"

As she mentioned his name, her face flushed like the evening glow. For an unmarried woman to be so obsessed with a man’s name was truly embarrassing.

The shark-maiden disagreed, grinning wide. "Princess, you are wrong. Does he not have two concubines at his side? If he were truly without desire, he could have cast his wife aside; why take concubines at all? And if he cannot cast her aside, what does one more princess matter? We of the Dragon clan are the most supreme race in the world. With your status and the wealth of a kingdom to offer as a concubine, how could he refuse?"

The shark-maiden did not suggest the princess become his wife, nor that he divorce his current one, for it was clear to anyone with eyes that Yang Nan cherished his own, but if provoked, he would show no mercy. If Long Yao tried to force him to divorce, it would only end in enmity.

What cultivator seeking longevity would ever abandon his wife to remarry? Thus, becoming a concubine was the best path. Even with her status and rank as a Grandmaster, Long Yao would not feel wronged, for Yang Nan hailed from Kunlun Mountain—his status was equal or higher, and besides, it was Long Yao who was the suitor.

***

Long Yao nodded. "You are right. However, I do not necessarily wish to marry him; I only seek a reason to remain by his side, hoping one day to break free from the shackles of this love trial. We who cultivate the Dao all aim for longevity; what meaning do worldly marriages hold? But he is traveling far; once we part now, when will we ever meet again?"

Thinking of Yang Nan returning to his homeland, her brows furrowed. Even with all her tenderness, how could she bind his soaring, wandering light? If she could not bind him, how was she to pass this treacherous trial alone?

This was something to be felt, not spoken of; it could never be solved by merely sitting at home.

Long Yao sighed, smiling bitterly to herself. 'I had nearly fulfilled my grand ambition and was on the verge of becoming a Venerable, yet this love trial has struck, and now I must swallow my pride and go beg him...'

Seeing her dilemma, the shark-maiden chuckled. "This is easy. Is the Immortal not returning to his hometown? Since he seeks to fulfill his vow to become a Venerable, he will likely stay in the mortal realm for a long time. Our Dragon Palace has countless demons; finding his location will be effortless. Later, we can find a pretext to seek him out. If you find a way to stay by his side then, will you not have your wish?"

"I do not believe that with your peerless beauty and the power of a future Venerable, Immortal Yang would not be moved."

Long Yao’s face brightened, and she clapped her hands. "That is it! If he will not come to me, I shall go to him! I will simply say I am visiting Sister Fang; how could he keep me at the door?"

The handmaidens breathed a collective sigh of relief as they saw the joy return to her face. Thank goodness for the shark-maiden’s suggestion; otherwise, had the princess remained enraged, they might truly have lost their tongues and been married off.

The maids looked pale, but the shark-maiden didn't mind. The shark clan was always passionate; if they liked a man, they would bite him to keep him. That a Kunlun Daoist could leave the Princess so lovesick made the shark-maiden chuckle to herself.

A few days later...

Long Yao sat in her palace and called out, "Commander Turtle!"

With the clanking of iron armor, a bald, thick-shelled man entered, bowing solemnly. "Your subordinate is here!"

Long Yao asked urgently, "I ordered you to send three hundred shark-riders to pursue Daoist Yang. Have you found anything?"

Commander Turtle hung his head, a look of embarrassment on his rugged face. "I am incompetent, Princess. The Immortal’s magical treasure and flight speed are too swift. Within days, he had already passed our Jade Dragon territory and entered the lands of the Seven Great Kings."

"The Seven Great Kings? King Long Yun?" Long Yao paused, then turned furious. "Useless! You demon kin are known for roaming the seas, are you not called the overlords of the East Sea? How could you fail to catch up to a single, ordinary magical treasure? Since you are so useless, guards! Drag him out and execute him!"

The princess was in a rage. Several brawny whale-guards stepped forward and dragged the commander away without a word. Seeing that the princess was truly prepared to kill him, Commander Turtle was terrified, feeling the injustice of his fate. He wailed, "Princess, have mercy! It is not that I did not try, but the Immortal’s powers are vast—how could small demons like us compare? Please spare my life, and I shall go to the mortal realm to bring the Immortal back myself!"