“What a beautiful ring,” Xu Xiaoyan could not help saying.
Yue Zhengyu stretched out his palm to her. “Where’s my ring?”
Xu Xiaoyan was stunned for a moment. “Yours? I thought you would have prepared all the rings by yourself. Give it to me. I’m going to put it on for you.”
Yue Zhengyu said in astonishment, “Huh? Am I supposed to prepare it for myself? No one told me that. These people are unreliable.”
Xu Xiaoyan sniggered. “Foolish boy.” As she spoke, a flash of light came from her hand. A silver-white ring appeared in her palm. The ring had a simple design, but it was carved with a pattern of frost flowers. It was to commemorate the predecessor of Xu Xiaoyan’s Star Staff, the Starwheel Ice Staff. Small diamonds adorned the spaces between the flowers like speckles of starlight.
Yue Zhengyu cracked a smile at once. “From this day on, we are husband and wife.”
Xu Xiaoyan put on the ring for him. She huffed and said, “Then you better behave yourself and stay obedient. Don’t think that I don’t know many girls in the academy are constantly winking at you. If I were to find out that you did anything that wronged me, hmph!”
Yue Zhengyu burst out laughing. “That’s impossible!”
Xu Xiaoyan said with a smile, “That’s better.”
Yue Zhengyu laughed even more. “I was saying that it’s impossible that you’d find out. Could it be that a thief will leave his mark behind?”
“You!” Xu Xiaoyan made a punching hand gesture at him, but Yue Zhengyu grabbed her wrist.
All of a sudden, a pair of angel’s wings spread out from Yue Zhengyu’s back. She shouted in alarm as he carried her and flew into the sky.
“Hey, what are you doing?!”
Meanwhile, under the enormous dome in Shrek Academy’s gymnasium, a thousand streams of radiant swords flickered in a crisscross pattern. The pulsating glow looked was like dazzling starlight in the night sky.
The swords contracted while the swordspirit condensed into form. A faint silhouette appeared in the crisscrossing swords’ aura.
A chubby figure stood there on the edge. There was a slightly anxious look on his face. He wanted to call out to her a few times, but he could not bring himself to do it. This was because he knew very well how she loathed being disturbed during her sword training. Nevertheless, this was truly an important day!
At last, the sword’s radiance contracted. Ye Xinglan made her way to Xu Lizhi’s side calmly. She said, “What’s going on with you? You seemed perturbed by something. My sword aura can sense that there is something wrong with your emotions today. What’s going on?”
As he looked at the concerned look in Ye Xinglan’s eyes, Xu Lizhi immediately felt warmth spreading from his chest. He mustered the courage to say, “Sister Xinglan, no, Xing Lan. I, I…”
Although he was trying as hard as he could, he was incapable of uttering the words that were at the tip of his tongue.
Ye Xinglan asked in confusion, “What’s going on with you?”
Xu Lizhi got down on one knee and leaned his upper body forward. His usually steady hands held a ring box up to Ye Xinglan. He opened the box and revealed the ring inside it.
The ring was made up of jewels that were linked up together through a mysterious encrusting method. When seen from the surface, it looked as though no metal was used to make the ring. It was as though it consisted only of the dazzling jewels.
“Will you marry me?”
The four simple words instantly made Xu Lizhi sweat profusely. He had never cultivated the Body Sect’s Innate Secret Technique, yet at that moment, the sound of his heartbeat could be heard pumping violently throughout the entire gymnasium.
Ye Xinglan was obviously stunned. It was quite apparent that this was very unexpected for her.
Whatever the case, the radiance as sharp as a sword in her eyes immediately vanished when she saw the sweat covering Xu Lizhi’s face. She raised her hand and wiped it away with her sleeve. Then, she extended her hand to him.
Xu Lizhi was no fool, but he was at a loss as to what to do. Tears streamed down his face and his lips trembled.
He held Ye Xinglan’s hand gently as his own trembled. He struggled to slide the ring onto her finger three times before he managed the feat.
How many years had it been?
When he was young and met Ye Xinglan for the very first time, he fell in love with the arrogant, cold, unyielding young maiden. At the time, he could only follow her and remain at her side like a puppy.
She had always kept people at arm’s length and devoted her full attention to her sword training. She was always so competitive and was constantly working toward the perfection of her martial soul.
He was always there, watching over her like a silent protector. Even after she agreed to be with him during the Sea God’s Fated Date Festival that took place on the Sea God’s Lake later, Xu Lizhi still felt incredulous in the depths of his heart for a very long time. He had never engaged in any intimacy with her until now.
There was always a sense of inferiority within him. He felt an ineffable feeling in his heart all along as if his presence tarnished the purity of the fair maiden before him.
On the other hand, Xu Lizhi felt that everything was real for the very first time when she accepted his ring without the slightest hesitation. She was genuinely going to be his wife! The emotions in his heart had reached their pinnacle.
In fact, he found himself almost uttering ‘thank you’. He wanted to thank heaven for blessing him and also to express his gratitude for his beloved woman’s tolerance and approval.
Ye Xinglan’s eyes reddened as well.
It had already been so many years. She watched him gradually go from being a small chubby boy to a chubby man. However, he had never changed the way he looked at her. His gaze was always enticed and crystal-clear. He remained by her side, quietly guarding her all this time. When there was danger, he shielded her with his body like a wall. His sincere affection had melted her heart bit by bit.
In the beginning, she felt pity for him and even sympathized with him. Gradually, she was touched by his actions and her guard was melted away little by little. Then, he mustered the courage to confess his love for her during the Fated Date Festival and finally opened the door to her heart. In time, they had become the outstanding soul masters of the current Shrek Seven Monsters. He was already a dauntless man with an indomitable spirit.
She was well aware of how she accepted the ring willingly. It was because their relationship was no longer one-sided.
“You fool, I haven’t prepared your ring. What should I do now? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” She pulled him over to her side and held his hand.
“It’s..it’s fine. It’s alright. It’s fine as long as you put on the ring I’ve prepared for you,” said Xu Lizhi shyly. At this exact moment, the emotion in his eyes was overflowing to the outside.
Ye Xinglan said, “How is that fine? Please hold on.” As she spoke, she loosened her grip on Xu Lizhi’s hands and took a step back. There was a flash of light from her hand and a rapier appeared in her palm.
The rapier appeared to be forged from alloy and was slightly over one meter in length. The characteristic pattern of alloy could be seen on its surface.
Ye Xinglan’s eyes glimmered while she shook her wrist. At once, her sword’s consciousness filled the space.
A pure sword aura burst forth from her body and coiled around the rapier in her hand.
A strange scene emerged. The rapier began glowing brighter and brighter with the infusion of her sword’s consciousness. It turned incandescent in a split second and was shaking ever so slightly.
Soon, the rapier began shrinking in her hand. She used pure soul power to forcefully refine the impurities in the rapier and conserve only the essence of the alloy.
The sword turned smaller and smaller, and Ye Xinglan turned over her wrists. At once, the Hundred-refined alloy essence wrapped around her fingers and was bent into a tiny ring. The incandescent radiance on its surface had also faded away gradually.
The ring had a deep hue with layers of faint overlapping patterns on the surface. This refinement process could only be done by someone at least at Hyper Douluo rank! Moreover, it contained Ye Xinglan’s Sword God’s consciousness.
