After Marrying the 'Long Aotian' in Drag to Counter Bad Luck - Chapter 3

“You actually agreed to this?” The Second Elder, who was still holding a cup of tea, trembled slightly as he looked at him with a face full of shock.

Rong Nianfeng raised an eyebrow. Moving as swiftly as the wind, he leaped lightly and snatched the Xuanying Jade from the elder’s hand. Twirling around, he lowered his head to fasten the jade to his waist and said lazily, “I agreed.”

What nonsense, that is cultivation after all!

Besides, Ye Xingchen could not really do anything to him anyway. At worst, when the time came, the two of them could just pull out their equipment and compare sizes. In a battle between two birds, who was to say whose would be bigger?

Furthermore, he could swindle both the elders of the Water Cloud Sect and the Black Heaven Sword Sect, grasping both spirit stones and cultivation at the same time. Was that not a beautiful prospect? Two years later, he would simply fake his death, switch back to male clothing, and continue his cultivation. Once he dodged that catastrophic disaster at the age of twenty-one, he could live a carefree life in the cultivation world forever.

“Matters of marriage are not something you can regret and back out of!” Seeing that he was about to leave, the Sect Master called out loudly.

Rong Nianfeng swung the long sword on his back and adjusted his sleeves, putting on an air of complete casualness. He originally intended to leap onto his long sword, but suddenly realized that he did not even know how to fly on a sword. He had no choice but to turn his head with an embarrassed smile and sheathe the sword back. “You can just arrange the rest of the matters.”

The Sect Master smiled so widely that his eyes narrowed into slits. “Good, good, good. Nephew-grandson, you just rest as much as you like. We old bones can handle the remaining tedious matters for you.”

“All right.” Rong Nianfeng nodded. After walking a short distance, he suddenly remembered something, turned back, and said, “By the way, Sect Master, about those heavenly materials and earthly treasures you mentioned earlier, please make sure they are accounted for.”

He stopped there, letting his words trail off expectantly. Yet, all of them knew his temperament very well. If this had been any other day, they would have greeted him with disciplinary martial techniques. However, Rong Nianfeng was now treated like a precious treasure, held in their hands for fear of dropping him and kept in their mouths for fear of melting him. Naturally, they knew exactly what he meant.

The Sect Master waved his hand and said, “Do not worry, I will have the Great Elder deliver them to your residence in a moment.”

The Great Elder was still bowing his head to play with crickets. Hearing this, he nodded vigorously and replied, “I will deliver them to you in a moment.”

The Sect Master continued with a smile, “If you want anything else recently, just say the word. As long as our sect can manage to secure it, we will arrange it for you.”

Before he could even finish speaking, the remaining people in the main affairs hall subtly covered their storage bags tightly, deeply afraid that Rong Nianfeng would demand them.

Fortunately, Rong Nianfeng merely thought about it and said, “The sect still owes me one thousand and twenty-one low-grade spirit stones.”

This request was nothing to the Sect Master, who immediately agreed readily, saying, “I will have Elder Ma deliver them to you tomorrow.”

The things he wanted were more or less secured. He was not that greedy, so he hummed a little tune in an excellent mood and headed back.

Later in the evening, the Great Elder indeed threw a profound-grade, low-quality storage bag to him with great reluctance. Although its grade was not high, for a small sect, such a storage bag still cost a significant amount of spirit stones.

The corners of Rong Nianfeng’s mouth never went down. He excitedly rummaged through the storage bag and saw a pile of pills and talismans inside, with quite a few spirit stones placed in the corner. He could not wait to snatch a bottle of blood-replenishing pills, eating half a bottle of them like jellybeans, and did not forget to comment, “It is sweet, not bad.”

This made the Great Elder glare with rage, huffing twice before swishing his sleeves and leaving.

An act had to be carried out fully. They were afraid Rong Nianfeng would show a flaw, as pretending to be Rong Nianxue for two years was no easy task either.

Because Rong Nianxue’s cultivation was already at the first layer of the Foundation Establishment stage, while he was only at the first layer of the Qi Condensation stage, there was a full difference of eight layers. This difference in cultivation would easily arouse suspicion. However, for the Water Cloud Sect to thrive so well among the lower-tier sects, they naturally possessed some skills of their own.

The ability of those elders in the main affairs hall to make up stories was unparalleled. Every few days, they would invite the sect masters and elders of other sects to drink together. After a few times, rumors spread among the lower-tier sects that Rong Nianxue had been injured while slaughtering exotic beasts in the Misty Forest, causing her cultivation to drop by an entire realm.

In addition, the Sect Master ordered the First Senior Sister and Second Senior Sister of the sect to teach Rong Nianfeng how to disguise himself as a woman. After tossing and turning like this for a short half-month, when Rong Nianfeng walked around the sect in women’s clothing, the disciples of the sect actually did not dare to step forward to recognize him.

Of course, to say it was flawless was also impossible, since his cultivation was barely at the first layer of the Qi Condensation stage. His vocal cords and such were easy to manage, as he could just pinch his throat to speak and use some magical techniques. The Adam’s apple could also be concealed with magic, but the chest was a bit more difficult. Therefore, a certain sight would frequently appear in the Water Cloud Sect lately.

A female immortal with skin like congealed fat and a countenance as bright as spring flowers carried a pitch-black long sword on her back. The red mole slightly below her brow made her look entirely listless, as if a banished immortal had descended to the mortal realm. From time to time, she would stop halfway with a face full of impatience, using her hands to support her chest, and nod with a very kind smile toward the passing sect disciples.

This managed to thoroughly terrify the male disciples whose eyes had been filled with infatuation just a second before.

In the blink of an eye, the day for Rong Nianxue to marry arrived. They were an upper-tier sect after all, and although this Dragon Proud Heaven had lost his parents since childhood, he was highly favored in his sect. The betrothal gifts were not lacking at all.

The sound of suona horns arose, and the gongs and drums shook the heavens.

Rong Nianfeng wore a bright red wedding robe and was supported by the First Senior Sister and Second Senior Sister as they walked outside.

By the time they arrived, there were already many people in the front hall of the Water Cloud Sect. Because he was wearing a bridal veil over his head, he could not see very clearly. Rong Nianfeng could only complain in his heart about how tightly woven the fabric was while lowering his head to look at the people beside him through his peripheral vision.

The newcomers consisted of dozens of cultivators. The hems of their robes were uniformly patterned with alternating red lines and inlaid with gold threads. From the belt downward, intricate and complex white cranes were embroidered, and anything higher than that was in Rong Nianfeng’s blind spot.

Although his cultivation was only at the first layer of the Qi Condensation stage, he could still vaguely sense the cultivation of great powerhouses. For instance, the dozens of people standing beside him were all at the early stage of the Golden Core realm. One must know that in the Water Cloud Sect, except for a few elders, not a single disciple could achieve such accomplishments.

Yet these cultivators, whether judged by their stature or their voices, were only about twenty-four or twenty-five years old. Furthermore, these were merely inner court disciples, let alone the strength of the direct disciples of the Black Heaven Sword Sect.

Rong Nianfeng could not help but sigh in his heart, thinking to himself that they truly deserved to be an upper-tier sect.

“Sect Master Bai, my disciple’s body makes it inconvenient for him to travel far. Today, this master brings all the disciples of the Lingyun Peak of the Black Heaven Sword Sect to welcome the bride.” An older elder with a powerful and resonant voice entered from the doorway holding a walking stick.

The Sect Master hurriedly went forward to greet him, laughing merrily as he said, “No matter, no matter. Please take the seat of honor quickly.”

“The journey is long, and you must be exhausted from the travel. Would Immortal Venerable Wuji care to have a cup of tea before leaving?”

It had not been easy to establish a connection with the Black Heaven Sword Sect. Although it was not entirely glorious, if they could receive a few words of guidance, it would be extremely beneficial for their cultivation. Perhaps in the sect grand competition next year, they could even squeeze into the ranks of the mid-tier sects.

This was Immortal Venerable Wuji, after all! His cultivation was already at the Great Perfection of the Soul Formation stage, only a single step away from the Void Refinement stage. One must know that in the entire Southern Continent, those who could step into the Void Refinement stage at around a thousand years old could be counted on one’s fingers.

Immortal Venerable Wuji was not polite either. In the midst of exchanging commercial compliments, he knocked back several cups of tea.

Before long, the topic was brought to Rong Nianfeng. “Presumably, this one must be Nianxue?”

To say Rong Nianfeng was not nervous would be a lie. After all, Immortal Venerable Wuji’s cultivation was already at the Great Perfection of the Soul Formation stage. With his own clumsy disguise, he was deeply afraid he would be seen through before even stepping out of the Water Cloud Sect.

He remembered clearly in his mind how the First Senior Sister had taught him how a woman should bow to her elders during a wedding. Although the cultivation world did not have as many tedious formalities as the mortal imperial courts, serving tea was still necessary during a wedding.

Immortal Venerable Wuji did not take the tea served by Rong Nianfeng but merely sized him up from top to bottom.

Sensing the gaze on his body, Rong Nianfeng’s breathing hitched. The rest of the people from the Water Cloud Sect in the room also fell silent, deeply afraid that Immortal Venerable Wuji would become furious and casually scatter the Water Cloud Sect like ashes.

Fortunately, it was a false alarm. Immortal Venerable Wuji was quite satisfied. Unexpectedly, in the very next sentence, he opened his mouth to ask, “Is Nianxue’s height a bit too tall? She looks only half a head shorter than Xingchen.”

As soon as these words were spoken, Rong Nianfeng instantly felt himself break out into a cold sweat.

The Sect Master hurriedly took over the conversation, vaguely brushing the topic aside by saying, “Nianxue, she has an exceptionally sturdy body. She eats a lot and grows incredibly fast! Naturally, she is as tall as an ordinary man.”

“So that is how it is. Then Xingchen can be considered blessed.”

“Oh, right.” Immortal Venerable Wuji paused and spoke to Rong Nianfeng, who was bowing his head, “Thinking that today is the grand joyful day for you and my beloved disciple, this master has prepared a good item for you.”

As he spoke, he took out a bottle of high-grade Foundation Establishment Pills from his storage bag. “I heard that you were injured in the Misty Forest, and the Foundation Establishment cultivation that you worked so hard to reach has dropped to the first layer of Qi Condensation. This master specially brought you Foundation Establishment Pills, which can be used when you reach the Great Perfection of Qi Condensation.”

“The Immortal Venerable gave a high-grade Foundation Establishment Pill that has been spiritually refined three times!” Among the disciples who came along from the Black Heaven Sword Sect, one person cried out in a low voice of surprise.

The other disciples all looked at each other and did not dare to say much. Although they were already at the Golden Core cultivation stage, these Foundation Establishment Pills that had been spiritually refined three times were not something everyone could obtain. For these inner court disciples, at most they only received high-grade Foundation Establishment Pills that had never been spiritually refined at all.

The various elders of the Water Cloud Sect were also incredibly shocked, thinking to themselves that they truly deserved to be the Black Heaven Sword Sect.

“Thank you, Master!” Rong Nianfeng stepped forward to receive it with a heart full of joy. At this moment, he actually felt grateful for this tightly woven bridal veil. The smile curling up on his lips could not be suppressed at all.

However, for a long while, the front hall fell completely silent, quiet to an eerie degree.

He was still wondering what had happened when he suddenly realized that he had failed to pinch his voice just now! He had actually used his natural male voice!

Great, fantastic, now he was truly going to die. If they could not discover this mistake, the people of the Black Heaven Sword Sect would have to be absolute fools!

Ma Laoliu was the first to jump out. His face and neck were flushed red as he blindly forced a laugh against his conscience, saying, “Voice-changing period, it is just the voice-changing period.”

The crowd of the Water Cloud Sect thought to themselves that it was quite a convenient voice-changing period.

Rong Nianfeng was extremely quick-witted. He hurriedly pinched his throat and said, “Oh my, how annoying.”

This voice sounded clear and melodious like striking jade, sweet, cloying, and delicate.

The people in the front hall all looked as if they had seen a ghost, their eyeballs nearly popping out of their heads.

“Hahaha.” Immortal Venerable Wuji laughed out loud and said, “The voice-changing period is good, the voice-changing period is good!”

Rong Nianfeng was completely speechless, so embarrassed that he wanted to find a hole to hide his head in.

“Since the tea has been served, it would be bad to delay the auspicious hour.” Immortal Venerable Wuji stood up, flicked his sleeve, took out a compass from his robe, and began to pour spiritual energy into the formation. The compass in his hand flew toward the center of the front hall, and ripples spread out from the center. The dense and majestic spiritual power forcefully tore open a large opening in the air that was wide enough for a person to pass through.

The people of the Water Cloud Sect had never seen such a spectacular scene before, and discussions began to spread everywhere.

“This is the cultivation of the Great Perfection of the Soul Formation stage!”

“As expected of the number one sect in the Southern Continent, their strength truly lives up to its reputation.”

“The recruitment of new disciples will take place in another month. The promise made by our Black Heaven Sword Sect before, that one person from your sect may go to practice every ten years, still holds true. At that time, you only need to hold this recommendation jade token. However, whether they can become an outer court disciple or an inner court disciple will depend entirely on their own destiny.”

Immortal Venerable Wuji formed a hand seal, handed the condensed recommendation jade token to the Sect Master, spoke a few more words of guidance, and then disappeared in front of the formation.

After another fifteen minutes, Immortal Venerable Wuji poked his head out from the formation, looked at the youth wearing a crimson robe embroidered with auspicious cloud patterns, and said, “Song Xiuyuan, if you do not leave now, you can fly back on your sword by yourself.”

The youth, who was laughing so hard that his body shook, withdrew his communication token and hurriedly said, “Coming right now.”

Meanwhile, on the other side, Ye Xingchen, who was lying sickly on the bed, looked at the words on the communication token and actually coughed up a painful mouthful of blood.

The message on the communication token read as follows:

Senior Sister Nianxue is currently in her voice-changing period. Her voice is sticky, sweet, soft enough to melt one’s bones, fiercely cute, and tenderly sweet with a little babyish tone. Ye Xingchen, you truly have good fortune!

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