Uninvited Guest

"Heavenly Sound Old Man has actually come in person to offer his congratulations. This truly brings glory to our humble Langya Pavilion!" At this moment, Grand Elder Ye Jianxin, who was in charge of receiving guests, came forward and said with a beaming smile.

As the valley master of a top force in the Central Plains, and also a top expert at the Half-Saint level, Heavenly Sound Old Man clearly needed someone of sufficient weight like Ye Jianxin to personally come out and receive him.

They might be able to disregard other forces, but Heavenly Sound Old Man was one of the few leaders of a force in the Central Plains who could advance and retreat together with Langya Pavilion. Naturally, they could not slight him.

This was also trouble Xiao Han had caused back then. Thinking of this, Ye Jianxin sighed.

Because he had been eager to make Langya Pavilion's reputation known, but the newly established Langya Pavilion had had few strong experts at the time.

In a moment of desperation, Xiao Han had personally taken action and challenged the leaders of many major forces. Although he had made their name known, and had even gained the title of Ice Saint, at the same time, Langya Pavilion had also gained a whole group of unfriendly forces, all of them famous first-rate forces in the Central Plains.

Although they were not mortal enemies, in the end, he had risen by stepping on other people's reputations, so their relationships could not be considered good.

At a time like this, Sound Valley had been willing to brave the dissatisfaction of other forces and stand with Langya Pavilion. This friendship truly moved the disciples of Langya Pavilion deeply.

"It's all thanks to that fellow Xiao Han becoming close friends despite the age gap with Heavenly Sound Old Man..." Ye Jianxin sighed inwardly, even feeling somewhat fortunate.

Today, Heavenly Sound Old Man sending such a heavy gift was naturally also a declaration to all forces of the close relationship between the two sides.

After all, the Phoenix Cry Zither had long since become a symbol of Sound Valley, yet it had been given to Langya Pavilion. Was that not enough?

Although Xiao Han had always explained that he had merely gotten along well with Heavenly Sound Old Man, Ye Jianxin did not believe it one bit. If their relationship were only that, it would not be worth Heavenly Sound Old Man's continuous and unconditional full support.

After all, he was still the lord of a force. Naturally, what he prioritized was the interests of his own force, while cooperating with others for mutual benefit on the premise that his own interests did not suffer any loss. This was not snobbery, but reality.

However, according to Ye Jianxin's understanding, the benefits Langya Pavilion had brought Sound Valley did not match what Sound Valley had paid, yet even so, they had not fallen out.

Then Xiao Han must surely have done something that satisfied Sound Valley's demands for benefit, or perhaps had shown them a great kindness. Although Ye Jianxin was completely baffled by this, it still did not affect his admiration for Xiao Han.

"Elder Ye jests. This old man has come to offer congratulations, and I was hoping to share in the joy. I wonder when the Ice Saint will arrive and let us have a look?"

Heavenly Sound Old Man cupped his hands very amiably as he spoke.

"That's right, the groom should be here too."

"Exactly..."

Once these words came out, voices of agreement rose from all around.

"Haha, very well. This elder will go and invite our Pavilion Master over right away. Please wait a moment, everyone."

Ye Jianxin laughed loudly and agreed readily.

"Elder Wang, receive the guests for a while. Don't neglect the proper etiquette."

"Yes," Elder Wang replied.

This Elder Wang was also an elder from when Langya Pavilion had first been founded, and now he was also a four-star Dou Zun expert.

Ye Jianxin strode quickly out. The moment he stepped through the main doors, he wiped away the nonexistent cold sweat on his forehead.

"Fuck me, this job of receiving guests is way too tiring. I'd better hurry and drag that guy over. I can't let him have it easy."

As he spoke, he headed toward Xiao Han's room.

At this moment, Xiao Han was accompanying the nervous Yi Huang. "It's all right, Huang'er. Don't worry. I won't make you go out and meet anyone today."

Although the scene was grand, it had to be said that the elders had truly grasped the essence of keeping everything simple. The Grand Wedding process was extremely straightforward.

It saved Xiao Han quite a bit of trouble as well. There also were not that many rules, such as the groom not being allowed to see the bride in advance.

That was why Xiao Han could appear here now. As for Yi Huang, she was currently so nervous and shy that her whole body was trembling. The person who had originally looked forward to this wedding the most had instead become the one most afraid of it.

"All right, don't be nervous... okay?" Xiao Han stroked Yi Huang's head, comforting her in a tone as if he were coaxing a child.

"Pavilion Master, shouldn't you go receive the guests?" Just then, Ye Jianxin suddenly rushed in, spitting out each word through his teeth.

Good grief. I'm blocking bullets for you out front, and you're here whispering sweet nothings. Won't there be plenty of chances tonight? Do you have to deepen your bond right now?

"Oh, Old Ye, you're here? What's the matter?" Seeing Ye Jianxin's expression, Xiao Han knew there was no way he could slack off anymore, and said awkwardly.

"Oh? Receive the guests! Fine." Xiao Han was in the middle of agreeing when he suddenly realized something was wrong. Receive guests?

"All right, hurry up and come with me." Seeing that Xiao Han was about to notice his verbal trap, Ye Jianxin hurriedly grabbed him and left.

He did not forget to call back to the nervous Yi Huang, "Yi Huang, I'm taking this guy away. I'll deliver him back to you in one piece tonight."

The playfulness in his eyes instantly made Yi Huang flush from her neck all the way to the tips of her ears, her cheeks burning hot.

Time went back to just a quarter of an hour after Ye Jianxin had left.

Many guests swarmed toward Heavenly Sound Old Man's position. They scrambled to put on a good showing in front of him, hoping to make themselves familiar to him.

Although they were all prominent figures outside, who here would care about face? If they cared about face, they would not have cultivated to such heights.

Heavenly Sound Old Man was clearly extremely practiced with such a scene as well. He greeted everyone with a smile, then happily sent them away.

Really? Sent them away.

After that, several more great forces arrived, all envoys sent by Four Directions Pavilion, and their congratulatory gifts were much more generous too.

Although their grade was not that much higher—after all, they did not even have enough of the higher-level things for themselves, so how could they give them to others?—the quantity was just greater compared with the other forces.

"Pill Tower's Hill Elder presents five Eighth Grade Venerable Zenith Pills."

"Whoa..." The crowd instantly erupted.

"The Pill Tower truly deserved its reputation as an existence capable of challenging the Soul Hall. What a generous gift."

"Exactly, exactly."

"To think it's the Venerable Zenith Pill. I suppose only an alchemist faction like the Pill Tower could afford to bring something like this out..."

"Isn't that the truth? Any ordinary faction would have used them long ago. How could they possibly give away an incredibly precious pill like the Venerable Zenith Pill?"

The many factions immediately grew jealous again.

The Venerable Zenith Pill could unconditionally raise the strength of a Dou Zun expert by at least one star, and there was even an extremely slight chance of raising them by two stars in one go. Each Dou Zun expert could only use it once in their lifetime.

Even in the Central Plains, where the experts were as numerous as clouds, Dou Zun experts were rare beings, and after reaching such strength, improving became extremely difficult.

Getting stuck at a single star for a dozen or twenty years was no problem at all. From this, one could see just how precious the Venerable Zenith Pill was. It was enough to save a Dou Zun expert decades of bitter cultivation.

And it was extremely difficult to refine. Only an alchemist who had immersed themselves in the realm of an eighth-grade Grandmaster for many years could refine it.

Therefore, in the Central Plains, the Venerable Zenith Pill had always been in a seller's market, with demand outstripping supply. After an ordinary faction obtained a Venerable Zenith Pill, they would use it directly, converting it into strength to avoid any future trouble.

This was also enough to prove the Pill Tower's extravagance. The truth was, your grandpa was still your grandpa.

As the sacred land of the continent's alchemists, although the Pill Tower could not beat the Soul Hall, it was not something an ordinary first-rate faction could compare to. This was also a way of flaunting its strength.

Just as everyone had yet to recover from the Pill Tower's lavish gift, an unexpected voice rang out, and the entire venue instantly fell deathly silent:

"My Heavenly Underworld Sect's ancestor and Sect Master have come to congratulate Ice Saint on his Grand Wedding."