On the Eve of the Wedding, Immortals Came Bearing Congratulations

Time flowed like water. In the era before the Primordial World shattered, the living beings between Heaven and Earth had no shackles of lifespan. So long as they were not slain, they could theoretically live forever.

Yet precisely because of this, the expansion of the Primordial World and the recovery of spiritual vitality could never keep pace with the consumption brought by the proliferation of all living things.

Once the clans flourished to their peak and resources gradually grew scarce, conflict arose and the flames of war spread, eventually becoming a Calamity that washed Heaven and Earth clean.

After the Calamity left living beings withered and sparse while resources became abundant once more, all beings would lay down their weapons and multiply in peace, over and over in an unending cycle.

In the Primordial World of this era, time was the most meaningless thing. Only after the Primordial World shattered, when Heaven and Earth became increasingly incomplete, did the Three Calamities, Nine Tribulations, and limits on lifespan come to exist.

Even though Lingxiao had established the years, months, days, and hours, and set the temporal order of the Twelve Time Markers, the most common unit of time for Great Supernatural Beings remained the Yuanhui.

In the blink of an eye, nearly one Yuanhui had passed since Dao Ancestor Hongjun's first lecture at Violet Firmament Palace, and the wedding day of Lingxiao, Xihe, and Changxi was already at hand.

Xihe and Changxi had bid Lingxiao farewell and returned to Moon Palace on the Lunar Star under Nuwa's company, awaiting Lingxiao's arrival to fetch his brides.

As the wedding approached, the Primordial Starry Sky too became increasingly lively.

Innate Sacred Beings and Great Supernatural Beings from the Four Seas and Eight Wastelands all set out for the Sun Star. Some displayed divine abilities to leap across the starry river, some wielded spiritual treasures to tear through space, and some rode exotic beasts through the clouds. They arrived in an endless stream.

It was not merely the three thousand Violet Firmament Guests. Some Great Supernatural Beings with worse luck, who had failed to find Violet Firmament Palace, also came uninvited, paying visits and offering congratulatory gifts.

They could not find the Dao Ancestor's dojo.

Yet none of them were willing to miss such a grand occasion.

After all, with the Sun Star and Lunar Yin joining in marriage, nearly all three thousand Violet Firmament Guests would be attending. If they could befriend even one or two of them, then although they themselves lacked the fortune to hear the Dao, it would still be excellent if they could hear a few retellings from the Violet Firmament Guests.

"Zhen Yuanzi of Five Villages Temple on Mount Longevity has come to congratulate the three fellow Daoists on your wedding. I bring ninety-nine Grass-Returning Elixirs as a token of my regard."

That day, a figure strode across the stars. Using the divine ability Shrinking Earth to Inches, he crossed ten thousand miles in a single step and soon arrived outside the Sun Star's barrier.

The newcomer wore a Purple-Gold Lotus Crown and a Carefree Crane Cloak. He had the body of a child and the face of a beauty, with three wisps of long beard drifting beneath his chin. His gaze was as calm and deep as the earth itself. He was Zhen Yuanzi, transformed from the Primordial Wutu Essence and the future ancestor of the Earth Immortal Realm.

Swish, swish, swish!

With a light sweep of his sleeve, ninety-nine fruits slowly floated out.

The fruits resembled infants less than three days old, complete with limbs and facial features. Each was over a foot long, its skin lustrous white tinged with red, while faint Primordial Wutu Dao patterns circulated over its surface. Two tender green leaves grew from the stem, like an infant's fetal hair.

Their fragrance was crisp and lingering. As it drifted through the air, it cleansed the turbid qi of the soul. It could be smelled from dozens of miles away, and a single whiff could add three hundred and sixty years to one's life.

"Fellow Daoist Zhen Yuanzi, you have come from afar and must have had a tiring journey. Please."

On the Sun Star, the Fusang Tree, stretching across hundreds of millions of miles, extended its branches. They entwined with one another and formed a crimson-gold bridge that descended before Zhen Yuanzi.

The bridge was condensed from Solar True Fire, yet all its scorching heat had been restrained, leaving behind only a gentle warmth.

Lingxiao stepped onto the bridge and greeted him with a smiling cupped-hand salute. His gaze swept over the Grass-Returning Elixirs before he casually stored them in his sleeve.

Grass-Returning Elixirs, also known as Ginseng Fruit, were borne by the Ginseng Fruit, one of the ten great Innate Spiritual Roots and the ancestor of Wu Earth Spiritual Roots in the Primordial World.

It bloomed once every three thousand years, bore fruit once every three thousand years, and only ripened after another three thousand years. In a short span of ten thousand years, it could produce only thirty fruits. Eating one could extend one's lifespan by forty-seven thousand years, while smelling one allowed one to live an additional three hundred and sixty years.

However, to Zhen Yuanzi, they were hardly rare—

One Yuanhui was exactly one hundred and twenty-nine thousand, six hundred years, enough for him to harvest more than a dozen crops. Giving Lingxiao ninety-nine as a wedding gift merely meant less indulgence for his appetite; he would simply eat a few fewer himself.

—In later ages, after the Primordial World shattered, the Ginseng Fruit's life-extending effects became fiercely sought after. Yet with only thirty fruits per ten-thousand-year harvest, there were too many monks and too little porridge, too many wolves and too little meat, compared with the countless immortals, Buddhas, gods, and sacred beings of the Three Realms. It became a Supreme Treasure sought by many but obtained by few, far from the ease of this day.

However, in this era, there was certainly no shortage of them.

"Lei Ze of Cloud-Dream Marsh presents three Primordial Thunder Crystals!"

"Yu Qiang of the North Sea presents one Wind-Water Ice Lotus!"

"Fire Phoenix Patriarch of the Endless Volcanoes in the south presents ninety-nine Lian Fruits and three measures of Primordial Li Spring!"

"From the east..."

Zhen Yuanzi's arrival seemed to serve as a signal. What followed was one act ending only for another to take the stage.

For a time, voices announcing names rose and fell one after another. Great Supernatural Beings from every direction arrived in succession, each offering wedding gifts.

Kunpeng had arrived long ago. After presenting his gift, he remained at Lingxiao's side and quietly mentioned that the creation of a common script had begun to take shape. He also said that Eastern King Lord would arrive shortly; while the two had traveled the Eastern Sea, they had stumbled across a strange object and prepared a grand gift for him.

"Hong Yun of Fire Cloud Cave has come to congratulate the three fellow Daoists on your joyous occasion. I present an Auspicious Cloud Canopy!"

As the words fell, a red-robed figure came riding the clouds. His face was like jade beneath a crown, his smile gentle, and a Purple-Red Gourd hung at his waist. His entire body carried a peaceful Dao aura. He was Hong Yun, Zhen Yuanzi's close friend.

The Auspicious Cloud Canopy in his hand had been refined from thirty-six types of innate cloud-radiance and seventy-two kinds of earthly mist. When opened and closed, it gathered auspicious clouds to protect its bearer, warding off disasters and blocking tribulations. It was quite an ingenious gift.

The moment Kunpeng saw Hong Yun, his expression darkened sharply. Yet remembering that today was the auspicious day of Lingxiao's wedding, he ultimately did not act. He merely turned his head away with a cold face, refusing to look at him even once.

The grudge over the Violet Firmament Palace cushions from back then was, in the end, difficult to erase.

"Donghua of Purple Palace Isle in the Eastern Sea has come to congratulate Dao Brother Lingxiao on his joyous occasion, presenting one Primordial Golden Egg." Eastern King Lord had arrived as well.

Today, he wore a pure-yang Daoist robe patterned with violet lines. In his right hand, he held the Dragon-Headed Staff granted by the Dao Ancestor, his bearing dignified and composed. In his left, he supported an enormous golden egg ten thousand zhang tall, covered in profound Dao patterns and faintly radiating innate water spiritual qi. The instant it appeared, it stirred the surrounding innate spiritual qi into gentle fluctuations.

"A Primordial Golden Egg? What is that?"

"The Primordial Dao Embryo of an Innate Lifeform? No, Innate Lifeforms are born of Heaven and Earth, protected by fortune and favored by the world. Before they are born, not even a Primordial Golden Immortal can seize them by force!"

"If so, then its origins are unknown. Is it an egg of an innate divine beast, or a Ferocious Beast Tribulation egg? It cannot possibly be from the Phoenix Clan, can it?"

The Great Supernatural Beings gathered in their own circles according to their differing relationships, discussing it in a flurry of voices. From time to time, their gazes secretly swept toward the low-profile Fire Phoenix Patriarch in the corner, yet no one dared step forward and ask directly.

Before long, the Three Pure Ones and the Twelve Ancestral Witches arrived one after another.

Laozi walked at the front, with Yuanshi and Tongtian beside him. The three possessed transcendent bearing, and upon their arrival, the clear qi of Heaven and Earth in the surroundings resonated with them.

Tongtian laughed aloud and presented a gift on behalf of the Three Pure Ones. "Fellow Daoist Lingxiao is being wed. My two brothers and I have little to offer in congratulations, so we present nine hundred and ninety-nine pairs of Wind-Thunder Immortal Apricots as a token of our regard."

Though these Wind-Thunder Immortal Apricots were not among the ten great Innate Spiritual Roots, they were still genuine Supreme-Grade Innate Spiritual Roots. They ripened once every three thousand years. Consuming them could draw wind and thunder into the body, tempering flesh, body, and soul. They were an innate opportunity of Kunlun Mountains, presumably gathered by Yuanshi, though he had the forthright Tongtian present them instead. His proud and tsundere temperament was plain to see.

Following close behind were the Twelve Ancestral Witches.

Di Jiang, the Ancestral Witch of Space who led them, flashed forward in an instant. On behalf of the Twelve Ancestral Witches, he presented a tea tree brimming with vitality and declared, "We have come to congratulate Fellow Daoist Lingxiao on his wedding! This is Dongting Biluochun, a High-Grade Innate Spiritual Root. It can calm the heart, settle the mind, and cleanse the Primordial Spirit. We give it to you, fellow Daoist!"

To the Witch Race, which did not cultivate the Primordial Spirit and focused only on the physical body, this Spiritual Root was almost entirely useless. Yet to cultivators of the Primordial World, it was a rare supreme treasure for comprehending the Dao.

Though it was only a High-Grade Innate Spiritual Root, in terms of the value of a complete Spiritual Root, it surpassed the fruits of the Ginseng Fruit and the Wind-Thunder Immortal Apricot.

—The Ancestral Witches had always been straightforward. Even when attending a banquet, they would never allow themselves to lose even the slightest bit of face.

For a time, worthies gathered in full upon the Sun Star, and ten thousand immortals came to pay homage.

Since Dao Ancestor Hongjun lectured at Violet Firmament Palace, there had never been such a grand gathering in the Primordial World, with so many Great Supernatural Beings assembled in one hall.