You Province's first snow of the year came later than usual. Not until December, amid the howling north wind, did the heavy snow finally drift down belatedly...
And on the very second day after the snow arrived, December 26, Torch Dragon Territory in You Province once again became the focus of the world's attention.
For on this day, Zhang Changlei, eldest son of the late Thousand-Machine True Lord, would marry a Great Xia princess—the daughter of Xuanyuan Changying. Golden Crow Hall of You Province would formally enter into a marriage alliance with the Great Xia Imperial Family and become imperial kin.
This marriage alliance was a symbol. From this day onward, Golden Crow Hall of You Province would officially step into the ranks of Great Xia's foremost aristocratic clans and families.
Thousand-Machine True Lord had passed on, but Golden Crow Hall's glory was only just beginning.
Within the newly completed ancestral hall of Golden Crow Hall in Mysterious Heaven City, flames blazed and the bronze cauldrons glowed red-hot. Amid the flickering firelight, Zhang Changlei, clad in crimson ceremonial robes, stood silently beneath the altar with his hands behind his back, lips pressed tight and fists clenched. He raised his head to gaze at the newly erected statue of Zhang Tie in the hall, dozens of meters tall.
The Zhang Tie in the statue was young and handsome, standing with a sword in hand. His gaze was gentle yet resolute as he looked ahead, his bearing lofty and profound.
Beneath the statue stood Golden Crow Hall's first ancestral spirit tablet, over two meters tall and forged from pure gold, positioned at the center of the altar.
A striking line of red lettering ran across the tablet—Spirit Tablet of Golden Crow Hall's Heroic Ancestor Zhang Tie, Zhang Mushen.
On either side