“They are here!” someone shouted below. Everyone on the upper floors immediately squeezed over, rushing to the windows, craning their neck to take a look.
Everyone saw the grand wedding procession in the distance. Two snow-colored Azure Luans led the way, arriving slowly.
The Azure Luan was a Holy Beast that carried the Phoenix Race bloodline. It had been known as an auspicious beast since ancient times, and it symbolized pure love. Now, it was an auspicious beast reared by the dynasty.
Furthermore, these two snow-colored Azure Luans were mutated Azure Luans. They had pure-white feathers that looked like the snow on the tall mountains, uncontaminated by dirt.
There were one male and one female, forming a pair.
Rumor had it that when the Yan Emperor married the empress, he used the same two snow-colored Azure Luans.
It was practically impossible for a regular disciple of the dynasty to borrow them.
The cultivators of the imperial capital had not seen a pair of snow-colored Azure Luans for many years already.
The Azure Luans spread their wings and flew at a low altitude, shining with a pure and holy light. Seven-colored Auspicious Signs descended everywhere they passed, bathing the wedding procession behind in radiance, cladding them in colorful spiritual light.
The procession looked bright and vibrant, dazzling. Everyone looked extraordinary and boundlessly handsome.
This made the entire wedding procession appear glorious and magnificent.
After the snow-colored Azure Luans were pairs of tender and supple women riding red-crowned cranes. They smiled as they scattered seven-colored Heavenly Pills.
Naturally, the Heavenly Pills that came from the First Prince were of extraordinary rank. Everyone who managed to grab one rejoiced.
“What a grand show!”
“The First Prince is really generous. These are all Rank 5 Heavenly Pills. Sovereign Personages would be happy to consume them. Even Sovereign Emperors would not cast them aside.”
“Where is the First Prince? Why do I not see him?”
“There is no rush. The wedding procession is very long. I heard that it stretches for fifty kilometers. It will take a while before we see the First Prince.”
The fifty kilometers of the wedding procession were bathed in glistening, seven-colored Auspicious Signs. It headed towards the Smiling Daughter Pavilion while everyone on the street watched.
The wedding procession moved very slowly.
Occasionally, they had to stop to receive congratulatory gifts from the feudal lords and Noble Clans along the way, displaying their prestige to the world.
The cultivators in the buildings only saw the First Prince after four hours.
A person riding a tall, flaming stallion amid a large crowd appeared slowly before everyone’s eyes.
That tall stallion had long hair that looked like blazing flames. It released might and pressure from its eyes, exuding an ancient Divine Might from its body.
“Fire Qilin!”
“This is the legendary divine horse with the Qilin’s bloodline?”
“It really is that divine horse! I heard that the Yan Ancestor Emperor rode this horse to conquer all the land that is the Yanwu Dynasty today.”
“Unexpectedly, it is still alive. Furthermore, the First Prince is using it as his mount for the wedding.”
“This is extraordinarily grand. I’m speechless. The First Prince must really like headliner Ling Long.”
At the window, the hooded Ninth Prince smiled bitterly. “The Fire Qilin warhorse that the Ancestor Emperor used has not appeared for thousands of years. When it reappears, it is for a wedding. What a mockery!”
In the Ninth Prince’s heart, this Fire Qilin was not an auspicious beast but the divine beast protector of the dynasty.
When it appeared, no other place but a battlefield could be a worthy stage.
The Heavenly Book Scholar whispered, “Speak more softly. The First Prince is approaching.”
“Congratulations, First Prince. May the First Prince and headliner Ling Long’s marriage last a thousand years, a united heart forever!”
When the First Prince appeared, thunderous congratulations from everyone rang out simultaneously.
This scene felt very stunning. The calls of congratulations drowned out the noise. Even the auspicious clouds in the sky scattered as the congratulatory sounds echoed in the sky.
The First Prince Wang Fei wore a set of golden battle armor with a scarlet cape behind him. Seven-colored Auspicious Signs surrounded him.
As the First Prince Wang Fei rode the dynasty’s divine horse protector, the Fire Qilin, everyone gazed at him. He looked handsome and extraordinary, like he was already the crown prince, flaunting the dynasty’s might.
He showed a smile on his face, feeling joy as he looked at the cultivators on both sides of the street, nodding slightly at them.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
The tender and supple women riding red-crowned cranes flew over, scattering seven-colored Heavenly Pills, most of which were Rank 5 Heavenly Pills, with some Rank 7 Heavenly Pills.
This caused another commotion. Those that managed to grab a Rank 7 Heavenly Pill were overjoyed, unable to stop smiling.
“Reporting! Qi Province’s Marquis Qing Ping sends his congratulatory gift, a stalk of one-hundred-thousand-year-old Herb King!”
A horse galloped over from in front of the wedding procession. When that horse approached the procession, the cultivator on the horse leaped off and knelt on the ground, offering a gift from a marquis.
After receiving the congratulatory gift, the wedding procession continued forward, heading for the Smiling Daughter Pavilion.
The Heavenly Book Scholar said with some disdain, “Even before becoming the crown prince, he already shows more exuberant mannerisms than the Yan Emperor himself. To think that he got the various feudal lords to offer their congratulatory gifts on the streets while he makes his way to the Smiling Daughter Pavilion.”
The Ninth Prince Wang Yan remained silent.
Naturally, the Ninth Prince understood why the First Prince did this. The First Prince wanted to use this wedding to let everyone in the world know about his popularity.
Since ancient times, people helping in times of need were few. However, there had never been any lack of fair-weather friends.
By putting on such a show, the First Prince could get the feudal lords and Noble Clans still on the fence to choose a side. This would make his momentum truly unblockable.
Clearly, the First Prince would leave even the Eighth Prince and the Thirteenth Prince far behind after this wedding. All the more so for the other princes.
“First Brother is probably going to become the crown prince,” the Ninth Prince Wang Yan sighed. He did not hold a strong desire for the crown prince position. He only worried about the Azure Lotus Church, the backer of the Smiling Daughter Pavilion, a demonic sect with deep ties with the Xuewu Dynasty.
However, no matter how much the Ninth Prince worried, he could not deny that the First Prince’s current popularity far surpassed any of the other princes
Right now, the First Prince was complacent about his accomplishments. Not only could he obtain the beauty who was the leader of the top ten headliners in Yan City, but he could also use this wedding to gain many things. Nothing could compare to this.
When the wedding procession reached twenty-five kilometers of the Smiling Daughter Pavilion, it stopped. The First Prince continued riding on the dynasty’s divine beast protector, the Fire Qilin, slowly heading forward amid Auspicious Signs and letting everyone see him.
Finally, the First Prince arrived at the head of the wedding procession on his tall steed.
Then, the First Prince took a deep breath and shouted towards the Smiling Daughter Pavilion, “The Yanwu Dynasty’s Wang Fei invites headliner Ling Long to come out, to tie the eternal knot with me. In this life and the next, we will never part.”
“Present the bride price!” an old man shouted after Wang Fei spoke. Many cultivators walked out of the wedding procession in good order and arranged themselves in rows in the empty space in front. There was a total of ten thousand people.
The ten thousand people opened the brocade boxes in their hands. Pearls and treasure tools immediately dazzled everyone’s eyes, releasing seven-colored lights that illuminated half the imperial capital. Then, the lights coalesced into a rainbow that pierced through the sky, stretching out to the top floor of the Smiling Daughter Pavilion.
“This…”
“There are ten thousand kinds of treasures, all of them incredibly precious—each worth cities—and no duplication. The First Prince’s bride price is truly extraordinary!”
“It is not just extraordinary; those are extremely rare items. Clearly, those precious treasures are remarkable. This rainbow bridge lit up nearly the entire Yan City’s sky. This is truly incredible!”
When the brocade boxes were all open, all the cultivators paying attention to the wedding in Yan City were set abuzz.
When the rainbow bridge arrived at the top floor of the Smiling Daughter Pavilion, one hundred windows in the Smiling Daughter Pavilion opened grandly.
The entire Smiling Daughter Pavilion appeared like a blazing flame. As everyone marveled at this, a bright moon soared out from the flame mysterious phenomenon.
Nearly in that instant, a white-clad woman flew out from each of the open windows. All of them held a basket in their left hand and a sword in their right hand.
These one hundred beautiful women flew up together with the moon, shocking the world.
“It’s the Azure Lotus Sword Fairies…to think that all of them showed up.”
“This is too beautiful. I have no more regrets in life after seeing this scene.”
Various words of praise rang out continuously. All the cultivators watching had their breaths taken when they saw the scene of the white-clad women dancing under the moon.
Amid everyone’s anticipation, a veiled headliner Ling Long walked out from the bright moon and slowly landed on the rainbow bridge, which felt solid. Hazy moonlight covered her. The moment she appeared, the entire place fell absolutely silent. It was like all the light in the world focused on her.
She was like a heavenly fairy descending from the moon palace, walking down to the mundane world step by step.
At this moment, Wang Fei, who took this wedding only as a show, had a bright gleam in his eyes, his heart shaken.
Ling Long indeed has extraordinary beauty and air. Her grace inspires fantasy.
I want the world, and I cannot lack beauties, either. Wang Fei showed a faint smile. This brings everything to perfection.
However, something strange happened just at this moment.
Loud, noisy, and grand suona music suddenly appeared in this absolutely quiet world.
There were no signs or warnings. The grand music just suddenly sprang up, sorrowful and [mournful, bringing out everyone’s expectations.
No one had ever heard this melody before; it just suddenly appeared, catching everyone off guard.
“Dang! Dang! Dang!”
When the suona music reached its most solemn note, the loud clangor of cymbals rang out, bringing out lofty aspirations and hot-bloodedness in everyone’s heart.
Then, pipas joined in. The musicians’ fingers flew across their strings, the pipa music sounding like ten thousand gushing rivers showing waves that grew taller and faster than those before them.
The lofty aspirations and hot-bloodedness in everyone’s heart seemed to turn into rivers flowing in their heart.
Everyone’s heart pounded heavily, feeling like it would leap out of their chest.
Their gaze immediately shifted from the beautiful Ling Long. No matter how unwilling they were, they could not help the spewing hot-bloodedness in their heart.
Only this grand echoing music could shift everyone’s gaze away from the absolutely beautiful Ling Long.
“The Hundred Fairies of the Pear Garden!”
When everyone looked towards the music and saw the Hundred Fairies of the Pear Garden, they let out loud exclamations. What was even more unbelievable was that all of the Hundred Fairies of the Pear Garden, without exception, wore white mourning clothes.
Today was the First Prince’s wedding day. Why were the Hundred Fairies of the Pear Garden wearing mourning clothes?
The impact that this brought felt like a horrifying wave washing over everyone’s soul.
[TL Note: The author’s claim of many people hearing it before is obviously referring to the Chinese readers. This piece of music is often used in Chinese movies, especially in series or movies about the Journey to the West or the Monkey King, so there’s a chance that you guys might have heard it before. Anyway, here is a youtube link to the music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFu_EnV1cPc. I picked one that showed the orchestra so you can see what some of the instruments look like. There are some western instruments mixed in, though; most versions I found had them. I’m not too sure why. Perhaps it enhances the music, the original instruments might be rare with few players in the world, or it might be a modern piece.]
