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Chapter 6: Gods
What exactly did one million gold coins mean?
On both the Northern and Southern Continents, the common currency system was simple: copper coins, silver coins, and gold coins, all based on a decimal structure.
1 gold coin = 100 silver coins = 10,000 copper coins.
In terms of purchasing power, one copper coin was roughly equivalent to one yuan. One gold coin, then, was about ten thousand yuan.
An ordinary citizen of Golden Amber City earned less than one gold coin per month. Even slightly better-off workers might make one or two.
So when converted this way—
One million gold coins was an unimaginable fortune.
Su Cheng calmly continued reading aloud.
“Both parties confirm that after the dissolution of the engagement, there shall be no financial disputes or economic obligations between them…”
Bang!
Elder Li struck the table again, shattering yet another piece of furniture.
“One million gold coins? You certainly have a big mouth!”
“Hm?” Su Cheng looked up at him. “This is a penalty clause. If I breach the contract, I also have to pay. So why is only Murong Yue bearing all the risk? Or do you think he’ll go around announcing that we’re still engaged? Wait—wasn’t it you people who came asking me to break it off? Shouldn’t you be happy seeing a contract like this?”
Elder Li’s expression darkened further. He turned his gaze toward Murong Yue.
Murong Yue frowned slightly.
“One million gold coins is too much. If you’re trying to use this method—”
Su Cheng smiled faintly.
“Mr. Murong, I know you genuinely want to end this engagement. But what was your original plan?”
Her tone remained light, but her words cut cleanly through the air.
“Either you’d present various conditions and try to negotiate, or you’d insult and provoke me until my so-called ‘pride’ or ‘dignity’ made me hate you forever.”
She tilted her head slightly.
“Which route you chose probably depended on what kind of person I am, right?”
A pause.
“Either way, in the end I would have been the one left to face your father. I’d be the one standing firm when he came to pressure me, because you wouldn’t dare openly defy him. So you’d push the burden onto me.”
She glanced at him.
Of course, she suspected Old Master Murong himself might not actually care that much about the engagement.
His son had risen in status—he would likely agree in his heart that Murong Yue could find a better match.
But publicly, he still had to maintain appearances. The Murong family couldn’t afford to be labeled as breaking their word.
Su Cheng didn’t care about that.
She only wanted a clean ending.
No loose threads—or at least, compensation worth her time.
“And honestly,” she continued, “maybe your father is thinking the same thing. That in the end, you can present it as I was the one who refused the engagement. That way, your family stays spotless. From start to finish, I’m the only one taking all the pressure.”
Her smile didn’t change.
“So asking for a bit of money… isn’t that reasonable?”
“Miss Su.” Murong Yue’s gaze turned cold. “Watch your words.”
“What?” Su Cheng blinked. “I thought we were already at the stage where we tear off the masks and speak honestly. Not yet?”
She sighed.
“So, do you want to break off the engagement or not? If you do, just sign. Hesitating like this makes me wonder if you’re actually trying to keep me interested through some kind of push-and-pull strategy.”
Murong Yue closed his eyes briefly.
…Forget it.
Since she had already seen through everything, further explanation was pointless.
At least with this contract, he would have something to present to his father.
“You—!”
Elder Li’s face was full of fury as he looked at Su Cheng, his eyes filled with undisguised contempt.
“Such a young girl, completely lacking manners, obsessed with money—truly a lowly merchant-born woman!”
Lin Zhen’s expression also turned unpleasant, though he didn’t dare speak up.
Su Cheng casually waved the contract.
“Some people come to break off an engagement and still expect others to do all the work. Ungrateful on top of everything else. I won’t say who, but I suggest self-reflection.”
Elder Li glared at her.
Murong Yue sighed again.
“Elder Li, please refrain from such remarks. Her father is my father’s lifesaver.”
“Even so, she is ungrateful!” Elder Li snapped.
He had assumed this matter would proceed smoothly.
That everyone—from the Lin family to this Su girl—would treat them with respect.
Who could have expected this?
A mere Lin family branch, Lin Zhen himself only a fifth-tier warrior and vice chairman of the Golden Amber City Merchant Association—hardly worth mentioning.
In the Empire’s capital, such people wouldn’t even qualify to send their daughters as attendants to him.
And that girl—an orphaned niece of Lin Zhen, with no parents—
So what if she was a mage? At her age, reaching second tier would already be generous.
“Miss Su,” Elder Li sneered, “I assume you’ve only ever cultivated magic at home. You’ve probably never seen the outside world. It’s dangerous out there. One misstep, and you might suffer… bloodshed.”
Su Cheng: “?”
Was that a threat to her life?
Murong Yue also froze.
He didn’t believe in arranged marriages he never agreed to, but that didn’t mean he wanted her harmed.
“Elder Li,” he began, frowning—
But Su Cheng suddenly spoke first.
“Actually, I’m not too worried.”
She tapped the contract lightly.
“Our tribute to the Church has already been sent to the Holy City. Commander Ling even mentioned it yesterday.”
A faint smile appeared in her eyes.
“I believe there are quite a few people who wouldn’t want anything to happen to me. And if someone truly intends to kill me… then they’re probably heretics. Enemies of the Church.”
The entire group from South River Academy visibly changed expression.
The Holy City?
Someone had sent tribute there?
Commander Ling?
The Church’s Northern Continent forces were vast beyond imagination—millions of Holy Knights alone. Those who could bear the title “commander” were only a handful of legion commanders and high-ranking division leaders.
And among them, there was only one surname Ling.
The Lin family’s elders exchanged uneasy glances. They had seen the descending dragon yesterday, but they didn’t know the details.
Lin Zhen had only mentioned the Church hunting heretics—nothing more.
So that meant… they were actually connected to the Church?
No wonder the girl was so fearless.
Even a second-tier mage dared to confront South River Academy so openly.
“…There really was a dragon sighting nearby,” one instructor muttered, shaking his head. “Someone even descended from it.”
Elder Li’s face darkened further.
If it truly was Commander Ling, then even a glance of his spiritual pressure alone could inspect the entire estate. There would be no need to dismount from the dragon at all.
If he personally entered the courtyard, it could only mean one thing—
There was someone here worth his attention.
If Su Cheng had truly offered something significant to the Holy City and gained their favor…
Then everything made sense.
Elder Li had always taken pride in South River Academy and deeply respected its dean. He believed Murong Yue was destined to become a disciple there, and thus constantly defended him.
But deep down, he also knew—
In front of the Church, even a prestigious imperial academy meant nothing.
Even an emperor’s coronation required the Pope’s blessing. The entire empire was influenced by Church authority.
What, then, was an academy?
Everyone else reached similar conclusions.
And then their thoughts drifted further.
Was the one-million-gold-coin clause truly just Su Cheng’s idea?
Or was someone behind her applying pressure?
The more they thought, the more uneasy they became.
Sweat began to form on their backs as they reread the contract, suddenly feeling that every word carried hidden meaning.
Their hands trembled slightly as they held it.
One of the magicians coughed softly.
“Miss Su… originally, Young Master Murong intended to offer compensation…”
Su Cheng’s eyes lit up.
“Oh?”
Right.
In the original story, this was exactly where things would escalate. The heroine would mention compensation, the male lead would feel insulted, and everything would spiral into an argument.
Su Cheng picked up the quill again.
“I’ll add it into the contract.”
The elders: “?”
She wrote quickly, then set the pen down.
“How about this?”
Murong Yue read aloud slowly:
“…Party A, as the initiator of the engagement dissolution, agrees to pay Party B (to be filled) as compensation for potential emotional and social impact resulting from the engagement termination. Party A shall have no right to interfere in how Party B uses said compensation (including but not limited to spending, gifting, liquidating, or reselling). The compensation shall be a one-time payment, and Party A shall not, under any circumstances—including litigation, negotiation, or coercion—request its return.”
The hall fell into dead silence once again.
“…Neither Party A nor Party B, nor their direct relatives, retainers, or affiliated households, shall inflict any form of physical harm upon the other, including but not limited to direct violence, hired assassination, coercion of third parties, poisoning, or unlawful detention…”
Murong Yue’s expression darkened further as he continued reading.
He looked like he wanted to say such things were unnecessary—but still couldn’t stop reading.
“…In official inter-academy competitive events, actions conducted under established rules shall not be considered violations of this clause…”
Su Cheng waited until he finished.
“So? Any problems? If not, we’ll finalize it.”
Silence.
Finally, one instructor sighed deeply.
“Bring out the gift list and items for Miss Su to inspect.”
This was part of their original plan.
They had assumed she would be tempted by wealth.
After all, she was an orphan, the niece of a Lin family head, with no real backing.
A mage without resources still needed money—especially for cultivation, weapons, and potions, all of which became increasingly expensive with rank.
If she agreed to break off the engagement, these benefits would be hers.
But—
She seemed more eager than they were.
A young man approached and handed her a scroll.
“Thank you,” Su Cheng said.
She scanned it quickly.
“Elder, please help me verify the items outside. It’s not that I don’t trust you—it’s just that I don’t have much experience. If there’s any mistake, it’s better to clarify now.”
Lin Zhen gave her a helpless look, then took the list and left.
The room fell silent again, broken only by the scratch of the quill.
When he returned, he nodded slightly.
No issues.
Su Cheng handed the contract to Murong Yue.
He looked at her once more.
Her expression remained serious, eyes clear like polished amber—almost disarmingly innocent.
A complete illusion.
“…No problem,” he said.
She smiled in satisfaction.
Soon, the contract was copied onto a proper scroll by a professional scribe, neat and flawless.
Su Cheng filled in the names, signed her part, and passed it over.
Murong Yue signed after only a brief glance.
Lin Zhen and one of the academy elders also signed as witnesses.
Each side kept a copy.
Su Cheng looked at her contract and felt genuinely pleased.
Single again—and unexpectedly wealthy.
She was in a very good mood.
Then she noticed the academy elders looking increasingly grim.
So she decided to put on a little performance.
After all, they already believed she was connected to the Church.
She cleared her throat and raised the contract.
“In the name of the God of Law and the God of Contracts, I swear to uphold all terms herein.”
Her voice echoed softly through the hall.
Everyone froze.
Elder Li frowned.
So she was one of those merchants influenced by the Church’s rituals—someone who liked invoking gods to sound important.
But before he could finish the thought—
Light erupted.
Golden radiance exploded from the scroll, blinding everyone in the hall.
A vast, overwhelming pressure descended.
Two towering figures appeared in midair.
On the left stood a being with closed eyes and long golden curls cascading like molten sunlight. His expression was calm, almost serene.
His body was wrapped in a snow-white robe, powerful arms exposed and bound in thorned chains. The chains coiled like serpents around sculpted muscle, ending in golden bracelets that resembled both ornament and restraint.
In one hand he held a hammer engraved with countless runes. In the other, a heavy tome from which blood seeped between the pages, forming a crimson waterfall in the air.
On the right stood another figure—dark-haired, deep-skinned, impossibly refined. His smile was gentle, almost reassuring, as if inviting trust.
His upper body was bare, revealing a perfectly carved physique—broad chest, defined abs like sculpted stone, and a golden chain resting at his waist.
His arms, however, were not flesh—they were composed of countless floating scrolls, woven from parchment, leather, fiber, and stone, threaded together by millions of golden strands.
From the luminous void, a soft laugh echoed.
“Thus the contract is formed. All terms shall be executed as law.”
The voice was gentle.
And yet it carried a terrifying authority that pressed directly into everyone’s mind.
Some weaker individuals immediately collapsed unconscious.
Even those who remained awake felt their minds shake violently. Murong Yue pressed a hand to his forehead, gritting his teeth as he looked up into the sea of golden light.
It felt like something was watching.
No—many things were watching.
Then—
A second voice echoed.
“Blasphemer.”
The tone was calm, but absolute.
Elder Li was suddenly lifted into the air by an unseen force.
A seventh-tier warrior—someone capable of leveling half a city in moments—didn’t even have time to scream.
His body twisted violently midair.
His spine folded like broken metal. Limbs rotated unnaturally. Bones pierced through flesh. His entire form contorted like a discarded puppet torn apart by invisible hands.
Skin, stretched thin by distortion, began to crack.
“—Shall be punished.”
In the next instant, he was torn apart.
Exploding into a mist of blood that scattered across the hall like crimson rain.
