The twenty-eighth day of the second lunar month, a rare auspicious day within a short period.
On this day, countless powerful figures gathered at the Lie family in Shu City, all to celebrate the wedding of the Lie family patriarch's youngest son, Lie Feng.
Of course, the one marrying Lie Feng was also Miss Lu Ling'er, who hailed from the reclusive Lu family.
The union of the two represented the formal merger of the Shu and Jiang families, forming a more formidable cultivation system.
"Oh, Brother Lie Quan! Brother Lu Ao, congratulations, congratulations! From now on, you will be the strongest existence in the southwest of the Dragon Country!"
"Indeed, indeed! The strong alliance of the two patriarchs will make even the Dragon Country's officials wary! It's a pity that due to the weakened spiritual energy, we cannot act freely in the outside world, otherwise..."
"Hey! Brother Sun Jin, you must be careful with your words. Although we remain secluded, the current officials are not to be trifled with. If we truly provoke them, hehe, we might all face cannons!"
"I was just joking, a joke."
Early in the morning, the two patriarchs, Lie Quan and Lu Ao, gathered in the Lie family's main hall to welcome the guests attending the wedding banquet.
Among the attendees were not only other reclusive families with whom they were on good terms but also many rogue cultivators from the outside.
Unlike the reclusive families who could afford to live in small enclaves with spirit gathering formations, these were all Foundation Establishment cultivators who had occupied their own cave dwellings with natural spiritual energy.
Under normal circumstances, they would never have abandoned their cave dwellings to visit either the Lu or Lie families. However, the merger of the two families had greatly increased their strength.
Thus, they had no choice but to come here to offer their gifts and express their stance.
As more and more people came to pay their respects, the smiles on the faces of Lu Ao and Lie Quan grew brighter.
The one who had spoken earlier was the Golden Snake Old Monster from the deep mountains of Shu, and Sun Jin, who followed, was the Jade-Faced Gentleman from the Jiang City Gorge.
Both were at the late stage of Core Formation, possessing formidable strength. If not for the alliance of the two families, no one would have received their pleasantries.
As they rejoiced, the sun gradually rose to its zenith.
According to ancient customs, the auspicious time for Lie Feng and Qin Ling'er was drawing near.
Lu Ao and Lie Quan exchanged glances and, side by side, ascended to the ceremonial hall.
The master of ceremonies then began to proceed with the ritual according to the ancient customs of the Dragon Country.
"The auspicious hour has arrived, please welcome the bride and groom!"
After a series of preparatory procedures,
The bride and groom of today's wedding finally emerged slowly from outside the hall, under the gaze of everyone.
The man was dressed in a red wedding robe, handsome and elegant.
The woman, supported by her dowry maids, wore a large red veil.
However, in stark contrast to the joyous occasion, Lie Feng, the groom, did not seem particularly happy.
His steps were stiff, and his handsome face was devoid of any expression.
This was not the demeanor of a groom on his wedding day.
So much so that a servant behind him kept whispering reminders, "Young master, smile, please smile a little!"
But he remained unyielding, his stiff expression almost shouting his unwillingness to marry.
"Hahaha, good! My worthy son-in-law is already handsome, and today, in his wedding attire, he is even more heroic and extraordinary!"
"It seems that when my Ling'er comes to your Lie family, she will surely be extremely happy!"
As if oblivious to Lie Feng's expression, Lu Ao let out a hearty laugh as the couple approached.
Seeing this, Lie Quan also laughed heartily and showered Qin Ling'er with praise.
With their words, the two finally moved from outside the main hall to the center of the ceremonial hall.
The master of ceremonies stood firm and continued with the wedding proceedings.
Next, the crucial bowing ceremony was to take place, and once it was completed, their wedding would be officially concluded.
"Next, please welcome the bride and groom forward."
"First bow to heaven and earth!"
The master of ceremonies' sonorous voice echoed from the center of the hall to the outside.
The newlywed couple did not move upon hearing this, but instead, stood in place with remarkable tacit understanding.
After a long pause, seeing that the couple still showed no signs of movement,
The master of ceremonies quickly chuckled and addressed everyone in the hall, "Oh my, it seems our newlyweds are a bit nervous today."
"It's alright, the first time is always like this!"
"Young Master Lie, Miss Lu, you just need to follow my instructions to perform the ceremony. Bow wherever I tell you to bow~"
Hahahaha!
Although they didn't know what was going on with the couple on stage, the guests knew that they absolutely could not displease the two patriarchs, Lu and Lie.
Therefore, even with some doubts about this marriage, everyone still joined in with hearty laughter.
The atmosphere gradually eased.
"Alright, everyone, please be quiet, let's proceed quickly!"
"Newlyweds, first bow to heaven and earth!"
"Bowing to heaven and earth means bowing to the heavens and earth outside!"
After pushing the process forward again, the couple remained standing motionless.
This forced the master of ceremonies to once again feign humor and explain in detail what it meant to bow to heaven and earth.
However, this time, the faces of the two patriarchs, Lu and Lie, were starting to lose their composure.
They knew that the two juniors below were both resentful, and their refusal to follow the master of ceremonies' instructions the first time was their way of resisting an arranged marriage.
But while they could tolerate such an event once, a second occurrence was quite a slap in the face.
If these two juniors continued to insist on this behavior today, causing the two patriarchs to lose face, then even if the Lu and Lie families eventually merged, they would still be laughed at by everyone present for eternity.
"Hmph, the juniors of today are truly going backward, their skin is thinner than ours was back then!"
"Feng'er, Ling'er, you will be the heirs of my Lu and Lie families from now on. With so many people present as witnesses, there's really nothing to be shy about!"
With a cold snort, Lie Quan grinned and said to the couple before them.
Although the words sounded good, the tone was far from polite.
Anyone present who heard it knew that the Lie family patriarch was angry.
Seeing this situation, Lie Feng's expression finally changed several times, and he gradually began to compromise.
Sensing this, the master of ceremonies hurriedly announced for the third time in a loud voice, asking the newlyweds to bow to heaven and earth.
"Wait, this surge of spiritual energy, could it be that a great figure has arrived?!"
Before the couple could bow, Lie Quan suddenly raised his hand, interrupting the ceremony that was finally able to proceed.
It wasn't that he had any issues with the wedding itself, but rather that a fierce energy fluctuation was emanating from the entrance of his Lie family's enclaved barrier.
Immediately after, all the guests in the ceremonial hall stood up in unison and looked towards the direction of the barrier's exit.
As cultivators, they naturally understood what this energy fluctuation represented.
At this moment, Lu Ao, who was sitting beside Lie Quan, suddenly wore an extremely strange expression.
This was because he had encountered this fluctuation before.
And the instigator of this energy fluctuation was none other than Qin Xuan, the brother with whom Qin Ling'er had depended on in the mortal world, whom he had previously wanted to take on as a guest elder!