"What kind of godforsaken place is this? Why is it so cold?"

As a disgruntled voice echoed, a man clad in bright red robes cautiously unveiled half of his face. His expressions ranging from agony to, astonishingly, shock, finally morphed into unbridled joy.

"I'm...still alive?"

"Wait, no. I've reincarnated! The Nine Dragons Creation Cauldron didn't disappoint me after all.”

In his previous life, he had held the prestigious title as one of the three Great Dan Emperors in the Divine Martial Continent. He would have become the greatest Dan god of all times after surviving one last tribulation. However, an unforeseen event occurred at the critical moment of his tribulation. The defensive formation that he had built was unable to withstand the heavenly tribulation lightning and his body was reduced to ashes.

Luckily, in the face of mortal peril, he managed to sacrifice his most cherished artifact, the Nine Dragons Creation Cauldron. Its spirit managed to take in his soul, gifting him with this second chance at life.

Closing his eyes to immerse himself in recollection, Ren Tianyi scanned through the fragments of memory within his reincarnated body. His brain was mostly empty, except for a few details: His new body was also named Ren Tianyi, the sixth son of the Ren Family from the Divine Martial Continent's Starfall City. This version of Ren Tianyi was a disregarded lord who was not very well-liked or respected.

Adapting to his newfound body, Ren Tianyi took a look around. The bright red candles shone brilliantly; every piece of furniture within the room had a big, extravagant red character for "happiness" stuck to it. The pearlescent light made his surroundings seem surreal, straight from a dreamlike fantasy.

"A wedding chamber?"

The day before was indeed Ren Tianyi's wedding day. However, he was instantly freezed by the icy chill exuding from his bride, Bai Jing. As a result, he lost consciousness, and there was no ‘then’ to his wedding night tale.

Upon the subject of Bai Jing, Ren Tianyi could find scant information. All he knew was that Bai Jing was a local "celebrity" in Starfall City. The reason being, she was deemed as this mind-boggling amalgamation of beauty and horror—a deformed birthmark tainted one side of her face while the other half was as majestic as a fairy. Hence, she was often referred to as the "Ghastly Fairy."

On top of that, Bai Jing suffered from a fatal disease that restrained her from cultivating. It was rumoured she wouldn't survive past her eighteenth birthday. This year, coincidentally, she turns seventeen, same as Ren Tianyi.

As for Ren Tianyi, he was born with an innate issue that rendered him incapable of cultivation. In the Ren family, he was nothing more than a parasite who knew nothing other than eating and sleeping. His existence was even more pitiful than a lowly servant’s. His marriage with Bai Jing was one of political convenience, something both of them couldn't resist or fight against.

"Heh, you two are truly a match made in heaven," he chuckled, gripping his newfound body. "Since I now control your body, I shall take good care of it. I am renouncing the path of Dan in this life for the freedom and pleasure that life has to offer."

With a basic understanding of his current situation, Ren Tianyi couldn't help but laugh. In his previous life, he was so obsessed with the path of the Dan that he was oblivious to the pleasures and joys life could offer, until his passion consumed him in the heavenly tribulation. Now, he was set on living life to the fullest.

Having experienced the baptism of life and death, he came to see many things in a new light and detach himself from worldly concerns. This life was meant to make up for the regrets of his previous one and enjoy untrammeled freedom.

At the moment, his body was frozen stiff, yet he could distinctly feel a warm current emanating from his dantian and flowing throughout his body. He quickly checked his dantian, and all its aspects vividly appeared in his mind.

"The Nine Dragons Creation Ding!"

Ren Tianyi realized that a cauldron named Ding, covered in carvings and atop which nine lifelike divine dragons were engraved, had appeared at the center of the warm current in his dantian. Ren Tianyi couldn't suppress the excitement within his heart, on the verge of jumping for joy. He was all too familiar with this cauldron; he hadn't thought it would reincarnate with him.

This life was meant only for free and easy living. Now that he had the Nine Dragons Creation Ding, it was like he'd gained another ally to rely on. Suddenly, Ren Tianyi thought that his current body had imperfections from birth, possessing no martial veins, rendering cultivation impossible, and refining elixirs even more so.

"Congenital imperfections, huh?"

Ren Tianyi was somewhat unwilling to believe this, promptly starting to examine the meridians of his body. As the Emperor of Elixir Dao in his previous life, checking meridians was no hard matter at all.

After a short while, Ren Tianyi's brows furrowed; his body really did indeed have an irreparable flaw.

"What a joke? Did I really reincarnate into the body of a useless person with a congenital defect?"

At this moment, the warmth growing in his dantian got even stronger, and his frozen body started slowly warming up. Ren Tianyi also tried to find a way to fix his congenital imperfection. As the Emperor of Elixir Dao, he had experienced countless martial arts and skills throughout his life. If there were martial veins, even if they were flawed, he had the ability to temper them into heavenly martial veins. Only irreparable flaws left him feeling helpless.

Just as he was worrying, a sudden stinging pain swept in from his dantian. Countless mysterious golden characters sprung up on his Nine Dragons Creation Ding, rapidly revolving around the Ding. The pain was caused by these characters.

"The Ancient Nine Dragons Art has been activated!"

Ren Tianyi ignored the pain and was elated. These characters were the ones engraved on the Nine Dragons Creation Ding which had come to life and started moving. They were part of an art - the Ancient Nine Dragons Art, which could only be cultivated by someone with congenital defects. He had almost forgotten about it since he’d previously thought it useless. At this moment it seemed to be tailor-made for him.

"So, it seems that there already was a predestined plan in the works. Truly, heaven has not abandoned me. I, the Emperor, have returned."

However, these characters swam in his dantian only for a moment before disappearing back into the Ding. Tranquility returned to his dantian. Now that he had the Ancient Nine Dragons Art, opening the veins was only a matter of time. Prior to opening the veins, he needed to temper his body, as normal bodies wouldn't be able to withstand the Ancient Nine Dragons Art.

Ren Tianyi was in an excellent mood. After the tumultuous events, his physical strength had regained its intuition. He struggled to sit up, and as he lifted the covers, he saw Bai Jing. She was wearing a thin veil, curled up on her side, her hair spilled over the pillow, revealing half of her beautiful face. Her brows were curved delicately, her long and slightly curled eyelashes, her flawless fair skin, her small and well-defined nose, and lips as lovely as rose petals.

She was truly beautiful, an indescribable beauty.

Bai Jing's profile amazed Ren Tianyi, he couldn't help but be mesmerized.

In his previous life, he had no time to appreciate women, for his heart only had room for the path of alchemy, the Dao of the Pill.

"Such a stunning beauty, yet inflicted with a terminal illness, truly an injustice of the Heaven," he sighed.

Driven by the instincts of a Pill Emperor, Ren Tianyi reached for Bai Jing’s arm which was as delicate and boneless as mutton-fat jade, but cold as ice. He lightly exhaled, placing four fingers on her pulse, and closed his eyes to investigate.

After a while, a smile appeared at the corner of Ren Tianyi’s mouth.

"Heaven has not been unkind to this Emperor, I have found a treasure!" he exclaimed.

"Such martial veins were considered as a terminal disease, it’s extremely ridiculous, the martial arts of the Divine Martial Continent has truly declined to such a point."

Bai Jing was of the Profound Yin Phoenix Physique, a constitution extremely rare in the martial path, which appears once in a few thousand years. This kind of physique is a training genius, provided that she has a protector to guide her before her growth, otherwise, she would be backfired by the martial veins and die prematurely. Clearly, Bai Jing was in such a situation as she could not utilize the energy from this physique, and it instead became a harm to her.

At this moment, Bai Jing's body was cold as ice, her breathing was faint and uneven, seeming to stop at any moment.

Ren Tianyi quickly uncovered the blanket, his hands swift as flying, accurately pressing on several acupuncture points on Bai Jing's body.

"You are lucky to have met this Emperor, though this body's cultivation is too low to completely relieve your pain, there will absolutely be no issue with your survival."

After a while, Bai Jing also woke up with slight frowns, her beautiful eyes were filled with worries, she seemed extremely weak. She turned her face, hiding the half of her face disfigured by the birthmark, and struggled to pull over the blanket, wrapped herself, and curled up in the corner of the bed. Only then she finally spoke, "I remember I had another attack last night, I hope I didn’t hurt you?"