At the hour of the Tiger, the Great Xia Sword Sect.
Dawn had yet to break, but the Great Xia Sword Sect was already ablaze with lights, decorated everywhere with festive lanterns and streamers.
Nearly all the disciples were awake.
Zhong Lin, Li Sheng'an, and the others had all donned festive crimson robes, their faces brimming with bright smiles as they busied themselves with preparations.
Across the sect's main square, chest upon chest of congratulatory gifts were neatly arrayed, draped with large red rosettes.
Even the bottoms of the chests holding the gifts were paved entirely with high-grade spirit stones.
The redwood trunks were further inlaid with dragon-and-phoenix motifs woven from gold and silver threads.
A procession numbering nearly a thousand stood assembled in neat rows across the square, orderly and without clamor.
Yet within this retinue sent to deliver the betrothal gifts, even the weakest among them stood at the Nascent Soul realm!
The peak lords and elders of the sect had mobilized in full force.
Early that morning, Li Guanqi was awakened by the bustling commotion.
The brothers had ultimately failed to resist the lure of wine the night before, collapsing dead drunk across the floor one after another.
As they stirred awake one by one, they channeled their origin power to disperse the lingering reek of wine and impurities from their bodies.
Rising to their feet, they immediately began changing their clothes.
Just then, a figure flew through the air toward them.
"Guanqi, change your clothes first and come with me."
The woman's voice was gentle, yet it carried an unmistakable urgency.
The newcomer was none other than Tu Shan, whom Li Guanqi had saved in years past.
Li Guanqi hastily bowed in salutation and said softly, "Junior Guanqi greets Martial Mother Tu."
Tu Shan raised a hand with a warm smile. "You're still bowing to me... Enough of that. Hurry and come along."
"Huh? Where to?"
Li Guanqi looked utterly bewildered.
Tu Shan took him by the hand and said, "You haven't even put on your jade crown. One way or another, you need to be properly groomed. Your martial mother is still waiting for you up on Tianlei Peak."
Ye Feng chuckled. "Go on ahead, Eldest Brother. We'll wait for you at the square."
*Dong—!*
A deep, resonant toll of a bell rang out, followed by Lu Kangnian's hearty voice, carried by origin power to wash across the peaks!
"We depart in half an hour!"
***
Inside the detached courtyard atop Tianlei Peak.
Li Guanqi sat in a chair, feeling somewhat at a loss.
Looking at Li Guanqi dressed in auspicious wedding attire, Shen Lan's eyes reddened in spite of herself. She turned her head aside to wipe away her tears.
"If your master... were still here, who knows how happy he would be."
Li Guanqi sighed softly. Tearing open the void, he brought forth a soul enveloped in formidable immortal origin power, his voice gentle and subdued.
"Martial Mother, rest assured. Once I ascend to the Immortal Realm in the future, I will certainly find a way to help Master."
"Destruction before rebirth; nirvanic resurgence."
"Perhaps Master's cultivation will progress even faster in the Immortal Realm."
"In the meantime, you must take good care of yourself, Martial Mother, and cultivate diligently."
"In the future... once ascension is no longer so arduous, you will be able to come seek us out as well."
Listening to Li Guanqi's words, Shen Lan nodded firmly, deeply moved.
"Don't you worry. I will certainly cultivate with all my might and ascend as early as I can."
"Haha... when that time comes, you who go ahead first had better work hard."
"Otherwise, we won't even have a roof over our heads when we arrive."
Li Guanqi broke into a broad grin. "Rest easy, we definitely will!"
Shen Lan gently ran a comb through Li Guanqi's hair.
As the comb glided down, a tremor ran through Li Guanqi's heart.
A torrent of emotion surged within him; only now did he truly begin to feel nervous...
At the thought that he would soon set out to deliver the betrothal gifts, his heart thumped wildly against his chest.
A short while later, Li Guanqi wore a white jade crown atop his head, his brows trimmed and neat.
When he rose to his feet, Shen Lan and Tu Shan exchanged a glance, their gaze warm and fond, as if beholding their own son.
"Dashing and handsome."
"Now you truly look like an aristocratic young lord. With looks like these, who knows how many saintesses out there you would bewitch."
"Haha, there are already plenty of female cultivators in the sect who fancy Guanqi."
Li Guanqi grew a little embarrassed beneath their praise.
"Martial Mothers, let us head over together."
The three of them soared through the air toward the sect square.
This time, apart from a handful of disciples left behind to guard the grounds,
nearly the entire upper echelon of the Great Xia Sword Sect had mobilized!
Even Ling Daoyan, the pavilion keeper, was present.
From Guanyun Pavilion, Yu Hua, Qian Qiusuo, Ji Yuchuan, and Xi Yunhuai had all gathered.
Among the crowd carrying the betrothal gifts, Chen Xiaotian watched Li Guanqi with glowing, focused eyes.
Upon reaching the square, Li Guanqi recognized numerous familiar faces at a glance.
Laughing heartily, he opened his arms wide and walked toward Li Sheng'an and the others.
"Hahaha! Fatty Li! Zhong Lin!"
"Senior Brother Zhou Zhi!"
"Senior Brother Wu!"
"Hahaha, we thought you wouldn't recognize us anymore!"
"How could I ever! It's been far too long!"
As the group exchanged warm pleasantries, Li Guanqi turned his head and caught sight of yet another familiar figure.
"Hahaha, Shen Qi! Years have passed, and your cultivation speed is certainly not slow!"
The newcomer was none other than Shen Qi of Zhenyue Mountain—the burly youth who had once stood faithfully behind Li Guanqi with shield in hand.
Meeting again after so many years, the honest and straightforward Shen Qi bore a touch more steady maturity between his brows, looking even more like his father.
Shen Qi laughed boisterously and threw his arms out in a tight embrace.
"Haha, indeed, it's been so many years! But my realm can hardly compare to yours!"
"All these years, Zhenyue Mountain has also relied heavily on the care and support of the Great Xia Sword Sect."
Today, Zhenyue Mountain was likewise one of the foremost sects in the Great Xia Domain.
The reason was none other than its close ties with the Great Xia Sword Sect.
Shen Ye had gradually stepped back into a secondary role, entrusting virtually all affairs of Zhenyue Mountain to Shen Qi.
The group reminisced and chatted warmly after their long separation.
Seeing old friends again stirred fond memories and brought immense gratification.
Ye Feng and the others were also shooting the breeze with Zhong Lin and the rest.
Li Sheng'an looked toward Ye Feng and asked softly, "Ye Feng, did I see you go to the sect cemetery again yesterday?"
Ye Feng did not deny it. He smiled faintly. "One final visit."
Li Sheng'an let out a sigh at his response, touched with poignant emotion.
Before long, Lu Kangnian appeared in midair.
Today, the spiritual energy within the Great Xia Sword Sect was dense enough to drift around them like flowing rivers of spirit qi.
Over a thousand storage rings were tossed downward, falling into the hands of every member of the betrothal procession.
Li Guanqi was taken aback. "What's the meaning of this?"
Beside him, Wu Bing flourished his storage ring and chuckled. "The sect master said that across our journey spanning the Great Xia Domain, we should toss down spirit stones whenever we please, so the cultivators of the realm can all share in the good fortune."
"There are quite a few low-grade spirit herbs from heaven and earth inside as well."
The corner of Li Guanqi's mouth twitched at the explanation.
"Well then... Talk about being grand and wealthy now. Isn't this a bit too extravagant?"
Zhou Zhi burst into laughter. "Rest easy. To our sect today, this little bit is nothing more than a drop in the bucket."
"The sect's ability to amass wealth now is far beyond your imagination."
Li Guanqi shrugged. Since that was the case, he had no reason to object. For an event of this magnitude, the livelier it was, the better.
Lu Kangnian descended onto the square and waved to Li Guanqi.
The two stood side by side.
Everyone formed up into two columns. Ye Feng stood directly behind Li Guanqi in a line of his own.
Behind him, Cao Yan and Xiao Chen stood side by side, while Gu Li and Tang Ru stood shoulder to shoulder.
The five of them slowly lowered their stances and hoisted the betrothal gifts behind them, radiant smiles beaming upon their faces.
Gu Li even slipped a ring off his finger, handing out over a hundred low-grade inscribed talismans to each of the bearers.
"Throw these along the way, every last one of them!"
Rarely had Gu Li ever acted with such lavish extravagance; it was plain to see that he was truly overjoyed.
With that, the betrothal procession was fully assembled and ready.
His heart surging with fervor, Li Guanqi looked back over the grand retinue, waved his arm, and shouted with a hearty laugh:
"Let's go! Time to deliver the betrothal gifts!"
Chapter 1516