Finale

After the flute's notes faded, a towering figure whose aura pierced the clouds appeared in the center of the square.

He was a middle-aged Daoist with a three-foot jade flute at his waist, a Crimson Flame Cloak over his shoulders, and a Snow Wolf Fur Collar draped around him.

His features looked chiseled, elegance mingling with majesty, like ice and fire intertwined—a perfect match for the snowy scenery and Flame Platform.

Master Chun Xiao had been the sect leader candidate appointed by the Dao Alliance after the Sect-State War twenty years ago.

For that reason, the elders did not particularly welcome him.

And because he had used the Sect Master's Order to force all the elders to attend the Sect Tour Ceremony, none of them had greeted him.

Except for True Person Zhe Hui, whose love had turned to hatred and whose beauty had begun to fade.

She gave Master Chun Xiao a slight bow, her eyes brimming with affection, her charm impossible to conceal.

"I'm merely reminding you, Senior Brother, lest some fox spirit steal your soul and make you ruin important matters."

The fox spirit True Person Zhe Hui spoke of did not carry its biological meaning.

A fox spirit?

Master Chun Xiao's expression stiffened.

Not even fox spirits were willing to seduce him...

His hand pressed against the jade flute, and he forcibly held himself back from playing it.

He merely said calmly:

"Trust Junior Sister Yu Hu. She must have her reasons."

Having been overshadowed within the sect, True Person Zhe Hui had already held no small grudge against Elder Yuhu.

Now that she saw Master Chun Xiao still defending Yuhu, her anger surged all the more.

"Is it for the sake of that legendary Demon-Monster Fusion?"

It was worth mentioning that the Dao Alliance had not forbidden discussion of such a dangerous topic as Demon-Monster Fusion because, like turning stone into gold, it was impossible to succeed.

A legend was, in the end, only a legend.

Junior Sister Zhe Hui clearly wanted to use this opportunity to stir up trouble.

Master Chun Xiao stood with his hands behind his back, the majestic light in his eyes suddenly turning distant and profound.

"Are we cultivators not themselves fusions of demons and monsters?"

The moment those words left his mouth, the entire square fell silent.

Though it was merely a metaphor, such outrageously heretical words frightened the elders so badly that none dared respond.

For a long while.

Only then did a sentence drift down from the sky—

"You mustn't speak such words carelessly."

Everyone looked up.

A Dao Alliance Immortal Boat, black as ink and engraved with the Sword Cloud Insignia, slowly sailed over from the eastern sky.

Accompanying it was a royal traveling palace of the Xiahou Dynasty—

A Flying Horse Immortal Carriage.

And the sect leaders and elders of several other small sects from the Cambrian Kingdom, all arriving on flying swords with ceremonial gifts.

Seeing this, the old master of ceremonies took several more distinguished guest seats from his Storage Bag.

Standing like a sturdy pine, he shouted with rolling cadence:

"Welcome, Sect Overseer!"

"Welcome, Princess Fei Yue!"

"Welcome, Sect Master Ma, Elder Chen..."

Once the guests had landed, Sect Leader Master Chun Xiao slightly cupped his hands toward them and said respectfully:

"Princess, Sect Overseer, Sect Master Ma, Elder Chen... Your presence at our Humble Sect brings radiance to this humble dwelling."

Sect Overseer Qi Shan wore a black Sword Cloud robe. Tall and somewhat stout, with a short mustache, he carried an overwhelming presence.

The Dao Alliance had always valued freedom of speech, but joking that demons and monsters could fuse into humans was still going too far.

"Just call me Sect Overseer. If you do not hold the Dao Alliance in reverence, there is no need to add 'my lord' after my title."

Master Chun Xiao was older than Qi Shan, and his Peak Nascent Soul cultivation far surpassed Qi Shan's Nascent Soul Early Stage. He did not offer Qi Shan much of a pleasant expression either.

"Has Sect Overseer forgotten that I grew up in True Origin City?"

Qi Shan puffed out his not especially round belly, able only to use official authority to suppress others.

"It is best that Sect Leader Chun remembers that."

Princess Fei Yue, who had been listening from the side, finally returned Master Chun Xiao's bow and said:

"Sect Leader Chun is too courteous."

Though she still wore a simply tailored pink dress like that of a maidservant, Princess Fei Yue had cast aside her usual mischievous manner. She appeared noble and proper, gentle and refined; the bearing of a princess had finally emerged.

It set her apart sharply from the two actual maids beside her.

When she got serious, Princess Fei Yue truly knew how to handle people.

"If what Sect Leader Chun says is true, and cultivators are inherently combinations of demons and monsters, then demons and monsters need not be feared. The Dao Alliance shall endure in lasting peace."

After speaking, the princess smiled and asked Qi Shan:

"Am I right, Sect Overseer?"

Qi Shan's face turned livid at her words. With a cold snort, he said:

"I thought Xiahou Jing had sent you here to raise hell in the bridal chamber."

Xiahou Jing was the reigning emperor of the Cambrian Kingdom. He was currently half-retired, with the eldest prince, Xiahou Yuan, acting as regent.

Faced with Qi Shan's blatant mockery, Princess Fei Yue fired back:

"I heard the bride and groom spend every day in the Freezing Room, and they are nearly having a child already. When would it ever be my turn to cause trouble?"

This strike... this was an area attack!

Master Chun Xiao and Qi Shan both went black as ink.

The watching disciples and Core Disciples were jealous inside, yet could not help laughing aloud.

They all said Princess Fei Yue loved play more than life. Who would have thought she was so sharp-tongued, with an unmatched talent for skewering others?

The host, Master Chun Xiao, said with a dark face:

"Please take your seats!"

The old master of ceremonies immediately announced—

"Please welcome the newlyweds!"

At the mountain gate.

Led by an elderly female master of ceremonies.

Master Yuhu, the Onmyoji, Mu Yun, and the laborer Dao companion Xiao Bai walked from the long stairs of the mountain gate toward the square.

The newcomer referred only to Xiao Bai.

The purpose of the New Dao Companion Sect Tour Ceremony was mainly to let the important elders, instructors, and disciples in the sect get to know Xiao Bai, this newcomer, so they would not fail to recognize him in the future.

Beyond recognition, there was also acceptance.

When they had first heard that the Pill Elder was taking a Laborer Disciple as a Dao companion, if not for the Sect Master's Order, the elders would not have wanted to attend the Sect Tour Ceremony. Even if they did attend, they would not have brought gifts.

The reason was simple: who would acknowledge a laborer with Fetal Breath Cultivation?

Who had the time to indulge the Pill Elder's nonsense?

Everyone took their seats.

Beyond their sight, several strands of spiritual pressure gradually drew nearer from the stone steps...

Only Princess Fei Yue wore an excited expression, her mind entirely absent from Princess Mu Yun, whom she had not seen in years.

"I'm so excited!"

Shortly afterward.

The solemn-faced elderly female master of ceremonies slowly appeared at the edge of the square.

Following her was a petite girl dressed as a Daoist acolyte... Princess Mu Yun.

And a frail, narrow-eyed, effeminate man—the Onmyoji.

The two Core Disciples stood to either side, respectfully welcoming their master behind them.

Master Yuhu, cool as snow falling upon a tranquil lake and exquisite as a rippling immortal painting, drew the entire audience's gaze the instant she appeared.

The Pill Elder, who had not shown herself for a long time, seemed to have gained a faint touch of feminine radiance between her brows.

The male disciples, stewards, and elders stared in amazement and envy, their urge to kill nearly rising to the surface.

Only at the very end, as the finale, came that pretty-faced Laborer Disciple at the Fetal Breath Realm, whom everyone had hacked to pieces a thousand times over in their dreams...

Yet before they even saw Xiao Bai, everyone sensed a faint but undeniable spiritual pressure.

—Qi Refining!

The entire square was stunned.