Translator: She.Wee

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Chapter 96: The Grand Wedding

The wedding ceremony of the demonic sect only becomes more lively as night falls.

Unlike mortal weddings, the weddings in the cultivation world don’t have many formalities. The bridal procession doesn’t have to set out early in the morning, and the “bride” doesn’t need to get dressed up at the crack of dawn.

The wedding ceremony in the demonic sect officially begins at noon. However, word of the event had already spread, and many people gathered near the Hehuan Sect to witness the spectacle.

No one knew what kind of celestial beauty this male disciple of the Hehuan Sect possessed that would make the young sect master of Qingze Sect, the Demon Lord himself, go to such lengths to hold this grand ceremony.

A long line of customized flying artifacts formed outside the sect, neatly arranged. The curtains on the artifacts fluttered gently in the breeze, creating a uniform rustling sound, showcasing an impressive display.

The leaves rustled as the warm sunlight filtered through the gaps between the peach blossoms, filling the air outside the Hehuan Sect with a sweet, overwhelming fragrance.

When the procession started, the person in the lead flying artifact was not Chi Muyao but Si Ruoyu, signifying that the sect master herself was personally escorting her disciple to the Qingze Sect.

Chi Muyao was in the second flying artifact.

Inside the Hehuan Sect, the place had become a hive of activity.

Chi Muyao was dressed in a red wedding robe today.

Although he was “marrying” into the Qingze Sect, he was still a man, and with the additional identity of being the Palace Master of the Thirty-Three Palaces of Qingze Sect, his attire was dignified and solemn, still in a male style, with a crown on his head.

However, his wedding robe had wide sleeves, while Xi Huai’s robe had trailing sleeves, making it more convenient for movement.

There were also differences in the embroidery patterns on their clothes.

Xi Huai’s robe was embroidered with a dragon soaring among the clouds, symbolizing the dragon controller of the heavens.

Chi Muyao’s robe was adorned with a radiant flower, with a single dragon claw emerging. This design… didn’t carry much significance; it was something Xi Huai designed himself, saying, “I’ve picked this flower,” and he had grinned with satisfaction for a long time.

Chi Muyao was still at the Hehuan Sect and had not yet set out, while the sisters in the sect were busying themselves. They were usually noisy, but today even more so, like a hundred nightingales gathered together, each chirping their own tune.

A single voice was melodious, but together they were rather noisy.

At this moment, a few more girls entered from outside, gathered together discussing something, and one of them quickly ran over to Chi Muyao, asking, “Junior Brother, are you going to wear a mask for your wedding ceremony too?”

Chi Muyao looked at her and smiled gently. “Yes, it’s a rule of the Hehuan Sect. From now on, I will always wear a mask when appearing in the demonic sect.”

Yi Qianxi had previously arrived at the Qingze Sect with Guan Nan Tianzun’s group, but they could only wait at the Qingze Sect and missed out on the earlier excitement.

Chi Muyao had luo Qiongzhi secretly bring Yi Qianxi over, dressed her in the Hehuan Sect’s uniform, and put on a peach blossom mask so she could join his group and take a nighttime tour of the demonic sect.

He preferred that Yi Qianxi be in his group, staying with him, rather than being treated as an ordinary guest.

However, due to gender, Hao Xia and Yi Lan couldn’t join the group.

Yi Qianxi was thrilled, circling around Chi Muyao and exclaiming, “Junior Brother, you usually dress so plainly, looking so pure. I didn’t expect you to look so dazzling in red.”

“If we’re talking about dazzling, Qinghuahua is still more dazzling.”

“How can a fox be dazzling?”

“Foxes are naturally dazzling! By the way, where’s Qinghuahua?”

“Didn’t bring it.”

“……” Sure enough, Yi Qianxi didn’t treat the Qing Fox Ancestor as a serious matter, only raising it as a pet.

After seeing Chi Muyao, Yi Qianxi was at ease and began to look around. After all, this was her first time in the demonic sect when it wasn’t a battle.

She leaned against the door, looking out, and sighed, “Your Hehuan Sect is so big.”

“Hmm, the demonic sect’s territory is quite large because few sects were established in the early days, so each sect occupies a large area. Although the Hehuan Sect hasn’t produced any high-level cultivators, it’s one of the oldest sects in the demonic sect.”

She continued to marvel, “This sect is so luxurious.”

“Yes, at the time, the demonic sect had little concept of architecture, so the craftsmen imitated the palaces of the human world, believing that to be grandeur. Unlike Nuan Yan Pavilion, which has talented individuals, and its sect is elegantly built.”

“Well, it’s still better than Yu Chong Sect’s little wooden huts.”

After saying that, Yi Qianxi moved in front of a mirror, looking at herself, and asked, “This mask is so pretty. Do I look good in this sect’s uniform?”

“Yes, you look good.”

She looked around and asked again, “The girls of the Hehuan Sect must be very beautiful, right? They all seem so graceful, and their movements are so light, like they can dance.”

“Hmm, the disciples of the Hehuan Sect are indeed skilled in singing and dancing, with outstanding appearances.”

Yi Qianxi, being naturally sociable, went over to chat with the disciples of the Hehuan Sect and even asked a few of them to take off their masks to see their faces, marveling at their beauty: “You’re all so beautiful!”

The female disciples of the Hehuan Sect weren’t wary of Chi Muyao’s personally invited friend.

After a tour, she couldn’t help but ask Chi Muyao, “After staying in a sect full of beauties for so long, how can you tolerate being in Yu Chong Sect, where it’s full of spiritual beasts?”

“Because I like animals, and the scenery at Puhe is beautiful.”

At this moment, another person entered the sect, and many girls gathered to look at him, all seemingly finding him extremely handsome, someone they couldn’t help but glance at.

One girl asked, “Little Junior Brother, is he your friend?”

Chi Muyao put down the scroll he was reading, walked out, took a glance, and smiled. The Azure Fox Ancestor had indeed followed them.

So, he replied, “Yes, he is!”

The other girls in the sect began to discuss: “I remember him, he was so powerful on the battlefield, able to control other cultivators for his own use.”

“Little Junior Brother even has friends in the Nascent Soul stage…”

The Azure Fox Ancestor ignored them, walked into Chi Muyao’s room, and glanced at Yi Qianxi. Even with her mask on, he recognized her immediately.

Yi Qianxi didn’t look at him; she was still excitedly chatting with the other disciples of the Hehuan Sect, clearly more interested in the pretty senior sisters.

The Azure Fox Ancestor snorted coldly, “Hmph.”

Chi Muyao teased, “You’re sticking pretty close.”

“I’m here to attend your Daoist partner ceremony!”

“Oh, well, thank you, Ancestor.”

The Azure Fox Ancestor stood next to him, surprised at what Chi Muyao was holding. “You’re looking at account books on the day of your ceremony?”

“Mm, I need to balance the books now. If there’s a problem, I’ll hand it over to someone else in the sect to handle. Otherwise, after the ceremony, I might not be able to leave the mountain for three to five months.”

His responsibility in the Hall of Affairs wasn’t by chance; he was naturally meticulous and always managed things carefully. Over time, the disciples in the sect had come to trust him greatly.

This time, the accounts for the ceremony had just been completed, and he needed to review them personally before handing them over to Xu Ranzhu to feel at ease.

Given Xi Huai’s temperament, he must have been holding back these days. After the ceremony, he would definitely set up a small mountain-sealing formation again, counting the flowers on Chi Muyao’s back tattoo one by one, identifying each type.

The time they’d spend on the mountain could be as short as three months or as long as six.

He needed to get everything settled before then.

After reviewing the account books for a while, Chi Muyao suddenly thought of something and asked the Azure Fox in surprise, “Hey, you can read?”

The Azure Fox Ancestor frowned. Although he had only recently taken human form, he was not illiterate. “Invading someone’s sea of consciousness allows me to extract some useful information.”

“That’s a pretty convenient ability…”

“Your Daoist partner could also see some things by entering your sea of consciousness.”

“What?!” Since he hadn’t yet reached the Nascent Soul stage, he didn’t know about these things.

“He hasn’t mentioned anything to you?”

“No.”

“Then it’s probably because your mind is completely empty. You’re not very smart, so there’s nothing interesting stored.”

Chi Muyao finally realized that the Azure Fox Ancestor was holding a grudge and was mocking him in return.

Sighing helplessly, he took the account books and went to find Xu Ranzhu.

After the hottest part of the day passed, the wedding procession arrived.

Chi Muyao still wanted to check the final accounts. He didn’t use an abacus, just his fingers for mental calculation, quickly coming to a total.

As the account book was snatched away, his fingers were still moving in calculation. Then he was pushed into a chair to wait for the procession.

He couldn’t help but complain, “You’re so rough, it’ll be hard to find a furnace.”

“Right, and you’re not rough, so you’re getting married, aren’t you?” Xu Ranzhu retorted.

“Exactly!”

“Yes, yes, yes!”

Yi Qianxi, Lou Qiongzhi, and the others stood by the courtyard wall outside, looking out as if they wanted to see what the ceremony was like.

Soon, someone came with news that Qingze Sect had sent over more than a thousand bundles.

In the cultivation world, storage artifacts are used, so these bundles represent gifts, which could be spirit stones, magical artifacts, robes, or even unrefined spiritual herbs or spirit beast corpses—all valuable items in the cultivation world.

During a Daoist partner ceremony, the groom’s side would send some bundles to express gratitude to the bride’s original sect for cultivating such an outstanding cultivator, giving the groom the chance to marry them.

Qingze Sect was wealthy and sent over more than a thousand bundles.

Lou Qiongzhi became anxious after seeing this. “What does it mean to send so much? Are they planning not to return our senior brother? Won’t they let him come back to the sect?”

“Don’t worry, it could be to give our senior brother more face. After all, many people have been talking about how Xi Huai married someone from the Hehuan Sect… This is his way of showing how much he values our senior brother.”

Yi Qianxi looked at the bundles and sighed enviously, “Wow~.”

When Xi Huai finally overcame all the challenges and reached the door where Chi Muyao was, the disciples stepped aside.

Si Ruoyu dipped a pair of intertwined branches into three-stone water. Xi Huai and Chi Muyao stood facing each other, both lowering their heads cooperatively.

Si Ruoyu flicked the intertwined branches lightly, sending sparkling water droplets toward them, which fell onto their hair.

With you, I share the intertwined branches, a bond that will last for three lifetimes.

A lifetime of rain, growing old together, holding hands forever from this day forward.

With the ceremony complete, Xi Huai handed Chi Muyao a red string, tied with a bell in the middle. Both ends were adorned with tassels and decorated with pendants made of spirit-gathering jade in the shape of the sun and moon.

Each holding one end, they walked out side by side, the bell ringing clearly as they moved, the tassels swaying in their hands.

They walked along the stone path of the Hehuan Sect, surrounded by the fragrance of peach blossoms, and exited the sect.

Cultivators who had been waiting outside stretched their necks to get a glimpse of the couple. Even though they could only see Chi Muyao as a masked man, they couldn’t help but marvel at his elegant posture and temperament, enough to captivate anyone.

No wonder the Demon Lord liked him.

Eventually, Chi Muyao boarded a flying artifact, while Xi Huai rode a majestic spirit beast. During this time, they couldn’t let go of the red string in their hands.

This batch of flying artifacts was similar to the ones used during the Thousand Sect Conference but with a more intricate design. The drapes hanging from the four beams were also in festive red.

Xi Huai had to stay diagonally in front of the artifact, maintaining a fixed distance to ensure the red string wouldn’t snag on the beams and bend.

Zong Sicheng and Song Weiyue naturally followed in the procession, and the wood-element cultivators like Zong Sicheng controlled the surrounding plants as they moved.

Wherever they passed, flowers would bloom instantly.

As they moved, the flowers blossomed.

Amid the tiger-striped clouds and the enchanting melody of the forest, these flowers added brilliance, creating a scene of colorful blooms that was mesmerizing.

Chi Muyao looked at the out-of-season flowers in amazement.

Such a beautiful sight of flowers paving the way could only be seen in the cultivation world.

It was his first time seeing it, and he was the main character.

Unexpectedly, this also made Xi Huai jealous. He said, “I can set a fire to liven things up too.”

“No need…” Chi Muyao quickly looked away, afraid Xi Huai would do something outrageous.

Fire element cultivators aren’t suited for romantic gestures.

Please, just keep your mouth shut.

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Author’s note: Xi Huai: Have you forgotten the fireworks I set for you? You heartless person!