The wedding was complete

The marriage settled into place as naturally as water flowing into a channel. The Autumn Gourd School had been waiting for it for a long time.

With the Chen Household sealing off its mountain, the atmosphere from the plains all the way to Green Peaks grew increasingly tense. These small Qi Refining sects were like lone boats amid towering waves; the slightest misstep could capsize them.

Wen Xiuyun was afraid. Sometimes she woke with a start late at night, terrified that someone would breach the mountain gates and slaughter their way inside. Instinctively, she clung to the Great Red Abbey like a drowning person grasping at one last lifeline.

She sat at the front of the hall and carefully read through the betrothal letter Xu Xuan had written.

Every courtesy had been observed, with no hint of arrogance. The betrothal gifts were high-grade Qi Refining Spirit Treasures, things rarely seen in the Autumn Gourd School.

Most of the school's members were female cultivators. They had inherited only a few tricks for weaving and mending enchanted robes, and their combat skills were too poor to bear watching.

Other sects would generally entrust Spirit Treasures to them to make or repair clothing. They earned little more than the wages of hard labor, and only the goodwill they accumulated allowed them to maintain a foothold in Green Peaks.

The spiritual energy on Treasure Gourd Mountain was dwindling, and it produced no Spirit Treasures. Supporting a single Qi Refining cultivator was already its limit. She had painstakingly cultivated to the third layer, but had not advanced another step in who knew how many years.

"Shu'er, are you ready?"

Wen Xiuyun called toward the inner room, her delicate brows still knitted with anxiety.

"Master, I'm ready."

Shen Shu emerged with measured steps and gracefully approached to pay her respects.

She had finished dressing and wore ceremonial robes adorned with hairpins and ornaments, their blue-green hues rich and splendid, with gold threads and a jade belt. Only the red jade hairpin on her head looked somewhat crudely fashioned and not particularly pretty.

Wen Xiuyun cupped her disciple's delicate face, examined her closely, and helped straighten her appearance once more.

"Once you're in Green Luo, mind everything you do. Don't neglect the proper courtesies."

"Our school is weak and cannot stand behind you. If you feel unhappy or suffer any wrongs, you'll have no choice but to bear them."

"When you get there, settle down and be a wife. You needn't keep worrying about the school. Think everything through, and give more consideration to your husband's household."

Shen Shu answered softly, trembling a little.

An irrepressible desolation crept into Wen Xiuyun's voice. Little by little, she tidied Shen Shu's cloudlike hair, put on her woven silk bridal veil, and escorted her down the mountain to the wedding procession.

The party at the foot of the mountain had been waiting for some time. Liu Xiaowen stood among them, looking at his senior brother in his wide-sleeved crimson robes.

Wang Qiyun sat on a white horse, looking rather different from his usual self. His round face wore a smile, though some unspoken emotion seemed to lurk beneath it.

He watched Wen Xiuyun escort Shen Shu along the road, her slender figure disappearing into the sedan chair.

Wen Xiuyun said little, merely nodding to him. Wang Qiyun bowed, then led the party back toward Green Luo.

The horses and carriages moved slowly, jolting along the uneven road, much like Shen Shu's heart at that moment.

She had not cried when saying goodbye to her master. But once she truly entered the sedan chair and began inching toward Green Luo, a place utterly unfamiliar to her, uncertainty about the future washed over her like water, slowly sinking her heart.

"Are you all right?"

The voice came from beside her. Wang Qiyun had drawn up alongside the sedan chair, lifted the curtain, and asked quietly.

His voice was warm and calm. It reminded Shen Shu of their first meeting, when Wang Qiyun had shown her around Green Luo. Neither of them was good with words, and eventually they had fallen silent.

When they reached Rosy Dawn Peak, Wang Qiyun noticed her spirits flagging and asked her the same question.

Shen Shu had not known how to answer, yet he went straight into the hall and left her alone.

Knowing that her school was weak and still had to rely on the Great Red Abbey, she assumed he looked down on her. What little self-respect she had left seemed to have been thrown into the mud. Still, she dared not show her feelings and simply waited outside the hall.

After a short while, he came back out, apparently having just finished his work. In his hand was a somewhat crooked red jade hairpin.

"It's for you. I don't know how to do anything else, only refine artifacts. Don't go complaining about me to your master. I couldn't bear that."

In the faint sunlight, Wang Qiyun's face was utterly earnest. He seemed genuinely afraid she might say something, looking almost pitiful.

Now, sitting in the sedan chair, she heard that calm voice again. She gently touched the hairpin through the fabric, and a little hope suddenly stirred within her. Softly, she said she was all right.

The horses and carriages moved slowly. Green Luo was far away, but they would reach it eventually.

Xu Xuan was very pleased with the marriage. Shen Shu's cultivation was respectable, and she had experience crafting enchanted robes. She could certainly be considered talented, and her temperament was good as well. She was a fine match.

Though the Autumn Gourd School was weak, there were still benefits to the two sects helping one another.

Among her dowry was a copy of the "Record of Cloud Raiment and Splendid Adornment," containing one of the Autumn Gourd School's secret methods for making clothing. Although it was only an incomplete text rather than the full inheritance, it was enough to let the abbey craft high-grade Fetal Breath enchanted robes for its disciples.

Wen Xiuyun knew how to give gifts. Most of Xu Xuan's disciples lacked enchanted robes to protect them. The Autumn Gourd School had few members and produced little, accepting commissions only for the core members of other sects, mostly for Qi Refining robes.

By giving Xu Xuan this method for making Fetal Breath robes, she retained her monopoly on producing Qi Refining robes, surrendering a little profit in exchange for goodwill.

Wang Xiwei had drunk a little too much that day. Whether it was deliberate was anyone's guess.

After the feast, the newlyweds were escorted to the bridal chamber.

With a face full of curiosity, Liu Xiaowen asked Xu Xuan what the two of them were going to do. Xu Xuan's expression darkened, and he merely told him to go play elsewhere. Unconvinced, the boy ran off to the scripture repository.

Xu Xuan went alone to Azure Sky Peak. Night settled over the land, and scattered lights could be seen throughout Green Luo.

He sat cross-legged on a blue stone, bathed in moonlight, and silently circulated his qi. He took out a crimson fruit wreathed in flowing flames, a fruit borne by the [Earthflame Noon-Origin Tree].

The fruit gave off a delicate fragrance, spiritual energy spilling from it. Only someone at Qi Refining could consume it. He had sent one each to Wang Xiwei and Wen Si'an.

As for Qiyun, he would soon break through to Qi Refining as well. His cultivation was advancing quite quickly. Xu Xuan had also sent him one, to consume after his breakthrough and stabilize his cultivation.

The crimson fruit melted in his mouth into a stream of warm, gentle primordial energy that nourished Xu Xuan's cultivated body, expanding the little Thunder Marsh within his sea of qi.

Though this spiritual treasure's medicinal power was considerable, refining it still required hard work. The little he had refined for now merely stabilized the realm he had reached after his breakthrough.

It's nowhere near that [Spirit-Gathering Blood Pill]-

The thought rose naturally in Xu Xuan's mind, without the slightest warning. He did not even feel that anything was wrong.

Only a moment later did a sudden surge of horror strike him, jolting him to his feet. A fine layer of cold sweat broke out across his back.

A nausea unlike anything he had ever experienced welled up inside him. His spine, that great dragon, shuddered again and again. Despite his sixth-layer Qi Refining cultivation, he began to retch, yet could bring nothing up.

He felt mournful voices rising from his organs, his muscles and bones, his blood and meridians. They were exceedingly faint, yet reached his mind with utter clarity.

The joy of Qiyun's wedding was swept away in an instant. From deep within the Founders' Hall, a scrutinizing gaze seemed to fall upon him, seeing him through completely.

Xu Xuan had thought he could bear this price. But the unease of his conscience struck with such force that it tore away his last scrap of concealment, leaving him stark naked and exposed.

He walked down the mountain, lost and desolate, not daring to look back.

(End of chapter)