"Huh?" Zhou Bai exhaled a breath: "Em's abilities... quite amazing... by the way, have you already figured out how to use the power of the void?"

The female voice said: "If you're interested, then I invite you to join us in studying the power of the void. That's my other request."

Zhou Bai touched his chin and asked: "How do you propose to study it?"

Female Voice: "Many of your abilities and Taoist techniques inherently draw from the power of the void, and you can safely enter and exit the void like Em. I want to use that capability of yours to further our exploration of the void, seek information from within it, and uncover some secrets I've always wanted to understand."

Zhou Bai contemplated for a moment, then nodded and said: "I can agree to that, but you must show me your research plan. I need to know exactly what I'll be doing."

...

"What?"

Within Donghua City, in Zhou Bai's Sea of Consciousness, Christina leapt directly from her scratching post: "You agreed to marry Ming Yue according to the Supreme Heavenly Venerate? A grand wedding in Central City in three months? And broadcast it to the world?"

Christina exclaimed: "Are you nuts?"

With her paws pressed against her head, Christina kneaded her head furiously, twisting her body into a ball, and shouted: "How old is Ming Yue? How old are you? You're too young even to be her grandson, that woman is absolutely shameless."

Zhou Bai frowned: "Ming Yue is just over a thousand years old, which is considered quite young among immortals."

"But..." Christina first licked a few tufts of her fur, calmed down, then shouted: "Get a grip, Zhou Bai. How many times have you even met Ming Yue? Do you have any emotional foundation? She's over a thousand years old; who knows how many young hearts she's toyed with. Are you sure your relationship can ever be balanced..."

Before Christina could finish, Zhou Bai directly said: "Don't worry about that, Ming Yue was a cultivation fanatic in the past, never dated anyone, so she's relatively easy to charm.

Plus, on the wedding day, I can sign my name on the original version of the Immortal Ascension Book, get an Immortal Artifact, nine Wuji Creation Immortal Pills, and a load of heavenly materials and earthly treasures. Even if the Immortal Artifact is symbolic and unusable, it's still bound to be valuable."

As he spoke, a cold glint flashed in Zhou Bai's eyes: "I'm definitely getting those things."

Christina rolled her eyes: "You can't just marry a woman a thousand years your senior for material gain. It's not right."

Zhou Bai nodded: "It's not quite right, so I plan to grab the goods and then just ditch the wedding."

Christina: "..."

"But..." Christina shook her head, feeling a little dizzy: "You can't spend your whole life running away, can you?"

Zhou Bai said: "Of course not. I've already planned that in a couple of years, after I've gained enough strength, I'll go to the Heavenly Court to call off the marriage, and I'll give Ming Yue a breakup fee to ensure she's not shortchanged."

Zhou Bai sighed: "It's a matter of life and death right now, so there's no time to quibble about ethics. We have to exploit whatever resources we can."

Christina said: "Ming Yue is definitely going to kill you."

Zhou Bai said helplessly: "The Supreme Heavenly Venerate was blinking ominously above me at the time, and that old trickster could even reduce my wisdom. What could I do? If anyone's to blame, it's him." He thought bitterly to himself: 'I got fooled this time, but next time I won't believe a single word he says.'

Elsa curiously asked from the side: "Zhou Bai, are you getting married? Are you going to have a baby?"

Zhou Bai pursed his lips: "What baby? I'm still a baby myself."

Christina frowned, still trying to persuade Zhou Bai to change his mind.

It was then that Xuan Nu ran over all smiles and asked, "Zhou Bai, what do you want for dinner?"

At that moment, Xuan Nu had a head of long black hair tied into a ponytail and wore a plain long dress, looking just like a housewife with a warm smile on her face.

Zhou Bai also smiled and said: "I'd like to eat some dragon meat, could you go to Dao School and ask the great elder to bring some for me?"

Watching Xuan Nu's departing figure, Christina said: "What about Xuan Nu? How will you tell her about this?"

"Can't tell Xuan Nu," Zhou Bai said, "You've seen her situation. If she finds out about this, she'll go mad and become even more mutated, so we can't let her know."

Christina was speechless: "You can't hide it from her. If she finds out on her own, she might stab you."

Zhou Bai shook his head: "Xuan Nu and I are in a very delicate situation. If we don't pierce it, it can stay a trusted relationship for a long time. But if she finds out about my marriage to Ming Yue, she might start distrusting me. Even explanations won't help because emotional issues aren't something anyone can guarantee to completely overcome with logic. Marriage, after all, carries a different kind of weight.

If she's dissatisfied or harbors any suspicion of me, then she'd step out of the follower state and we'd inevitably become enemies. At that point, it'll be either I kill her or she kills me.

I don't want that to happen now, so I must keep it from her, it's also a way to protect her."

Christina couldn't help but shout: "Then just don't marry Ming Yue."

"I still need the support of Wanxian Island, and I need the content on the Immortal Ascension Book for trading with the Heavenly Demons for quantum communication network technology, plus I need to find Primitive Daozang 08." He thought to himself: 'And there's Li Tai's identity.'

"And besides, I've already promised the Supreme Heavenly Venerate and Ming Yue. Right now I'm not capable enough to fight them or back out of the marriage." Zhou Bai sighed: "You didn't see the way Ming Yue looked at me. If I dared to suggest breaking off the marriage, she'd probably have the Supreme Heavenly Venerate turn me into a vegetative state and then drag me to get married."

Christina couldn't help but close her eyes: "But wasn't the Supreme Heavenly Venerate going to announce it to the world? How will you hide it from Xuan Nu?"

Zhou Bai said: "Under my strong recommendation, they agreed to announce it to the world after the wedding. By that time, I'll have long been gone. Naturally, they won't be able to announce it worldwide, and Xuan Nu won't find out. I'll protect her and make sure she's never aware of this."

Not far from the building, in a small alley, Xuan Nu looked at a girl in front of her who resembled her but had a slightly dull expression, and slightly frowned, "Still some flaws."

The girl in front of her, who resembled her a bit, was a sub-body Xuan Nu had split off from herself using her mutation ability.

This was a mutational ability learned from the mutated entity Xuan Bai Jian, enabling her to split her body to form sub-bodies like clones.

Xuan Nu opened her mouth and swallowed the sub-body back.

"I need more practice."

"Once I can master this ability proficiently, I'll send the sub-body to Central City to help Zhou Bai."

...

In the Celestial Court's Plague Department, Yan Zhen stood by the conference table, reporting earnestly about the summary of this encirclement against Sky Flipping Sect regarding Zhou Bai.

"...This time apart from previously discovered abilities, we've found he has at least two new abilities."

"...When he mutters his own name, a strong distortion effect occurs."

"...Also, I suspect that after reciting poetry, his combat effectiveness increases."

"...In summary, Zhou Bai's language has all sorts of strange powers, and how to limit these powers is something we need to address."

On the other side of the conference table, the seemingly frail, as if ready to lie in a coffin at any moment, Bao Bing Heavenly Monarch said faintly: "Reciting poetry enhances combat ability?" He looked somewhat puzzled at Si Yi: "Is that true?"

Si Yi nodded seriously and said: "Indeed, after Zhou Bai recited poetry, he defeated Xiang Tiandi's Dinghai Godly Treasure Iron. He then again defeated Lord Tanlang and Lord Yan with one move after reciting poetry."

Bao Bing Heavenly Monarch nodded weakly: "Proceed."

Noticing the attention of the crowd gradually focused on him, Yan Zhen faced the gazes filled with trust, saying confidently: "To limit the abilities Zhou Bai exhibits through language, I propose to block certain keywords to hinder Zhou Bai's spoken abilities."

"Below is the compilation of intelligence from various sources, suggesting the keywords to block: handsome, Zhou Bai, poop, borrow..."