Green Ram Mountain was decked with lanterns and banners, red silk hanging everywhere.
Today was the day the Li family married off their daughter. Their marriage alliance with the Xu Household was one of the greatest celebrations around Falling Moon Lake.
Colorful flags lined the route from the foot of the mountain to its summit. Musicians played festive tunes, and firecrackers crackled without end.
The tenant farmers below the mountain had put aside their farmwork and gathered along the roadside with their families to watch the festivities.
Children chased one another at play, while women clustered together and whispered. Whenever they mentioned the Li family's third daughter, they clicked their tongues in praise.
"The Li family's third young lady is a real beauty. I hear she's even had schooling."
"Indeed. The Li family had an immortal master among their ancestors. They may have fallen on hard times, but they still have some heritage."
"The Xu Household is a great clan. The third young lady is marrying into the Xu Household, marrying above her station..."
Before she finished, someone tugged her sleeve and whispered:
"Mind your words! He's a concubine's son of the Xu Household, marrying a legitimate daughter of the Li family. Who's marrying above their station is hardly settled."
The woman hastily fell silent, shutting her mouth in embarrassment.
Before the Li ancestral residence, Li Conglong stood with his hands behind his back, dressed in a brocade robe with a jade belt at his waist.
He had now reached the great perfection of the sixth level of Qi Refining. An emerald spiritual glow faintly radiated around him, like a thousand swaying branches, like a spring breeze brushing willows, life flowing without end. Merely standing there, he had something of an accomplished cultivator's bearing, inspiring awe.
The bridal procession had