His cell-phone kept on buzzing as Ye Zichen stared fixedly at the notification on its screen.
“The Struggle for the Three Realms is about to begin. Would you like to teleport there in advance?”
Below, there were truly two options:
Accept, or….
Refuse.
“What the?” he frowned at in. Naturally, he’d known that his cell-phone would notify him before the Struggle for the Three Realms began, but he hadn’t thought it would use this sort of method.
He felt a sense of déjà vu; this was just like a mission in a video game.
“Ye Zichen, what are you doing? Get out here!”
Outside the room, Zuo Mo stopped and beckoned him over. He grunted his a.s.sent, then selected the “refuse” option and placed his phone back into his pocket.
Teleport?
How could he possibly have time for that right now?
He had yet to deal with Zhao Zizhao’s conspiracy. If he teleported to the location of Struggle for the Three Realms at a time like this, everything would be ruined.
After Ye Zichen reached her, Zuo Mo frowned. “What were you doing just now?”
“What?”
Ye Zichen’s mind was still fully occupied by the Struggle for the Three Realms to the point that he hadn’t heard Zuo Mo’s words.
“Could you please just focus for once?” she said helplessly.
Then she snuck a glance at the group walking ahead of them and transmitted, “You’ve been by Zhao Zizhao’s side this whole time, haven’t you? Did you discover anything? The wedding is about to start!”
“You’re the head of your clan. How could you still be this impatient?” he said, reaching out to pat her shoulder. “Don’t get too stressed out. Come on, learn from my example: take a deep breath.”
Slap.
She angrily slapped his hand down, then frowned coldly at him. “Wipe that smile off your face. You still haven’t answered my question: did you discover anything or not?”
“Nope,” said Ye Zichen with a helpless shrug. “He’s behaved quite well, and I discovered nothing out of the ordinary. That said, we’ll find a way to deal with whatever happens. It won’t be a problem.”
“....”
While Ye Zichen and Zuo Mo stayed back to converse, Zhao Zizhao walked forward, leading Lin Xihe by the hand. His mouth twisted into an eerie grin.
But before long, his face returned to normal, and he kept walking slowly towards the front hall.
At the end of the day, Lin Xihe was a city lord on the outskirts of the Immortal Realm. She had a very high status; naturally, many guests had come to attend her wedding.
The manor’s front hall was filled to the brim with people. The guests’ seating had been chosen with the utmost care.
Guests of high status naturally sat near the front, where the ceremony was to be held. Those of lower status sat outside.
Furthermore, merchants sat at tables with other merchants, and officials sat with other officials.
As for the peak-level powers of the outer Immortal Region, they each had a table to themselves. Some were represented by sect-leaders, others by elders, and each was accompanied by a group of apprentices.
Then one of the guests called out, “City Lord Lin has arrived.” Everyone turned to look and saw Zhao Zizhao, dressed in red wedding robes, leading red-veiled Lin Xihe towards the front hall.
“City Lord Lin, congratulations.”
“Congratulations on your wedding, City Lord Lin.”
“Congratulations!”
The guests all congratulated Lin Xihe, but no one so much as mentioned Zhao Zizhao.
Indeed, although Zhao Zizhao was a general and was somewhat well-known within Hundred Flowers City, he was still just a general. His status was far lower than Lin Xihe’s. In their eyes, he was her inferior and was marrying into her family, not the other way around.
Zhao Zizhao didn’t mind in the slightest. He just kept smiling and nodding politely at the wedding quests.
It was that Li Jiayi stood up from the Hundred Flowers Gate’s table. “Congratulations on your marriage, City Lord Lin and General Zhao,” she said, bowing to the couple. “My master is in seclusion and couldn’t make it, so he ordered me to lead my fellow apprentices here and congratulate you on his behalf.”
She wore a pale blue skirt, and her long hair draped over her shoulders. She was accompanied by a group from the same sect.
“Chief Disciple Li,” said Zhao Zizhao, cupping his hands respectfully. As he did so, there was yet another commotion.
“Emperor Ye.”
“Family Head Zuo.”
Zuo Mo caught up to him, and as the guests greeted them, the pair caught up to Zhao Zizhao and Lin Xihe.
“Jiayi,” said Ye Zichen in shock. When it came to Li Jiayi….
He really didn’t know what to say.
On the other hand, after Li Jiayi saw him, her expression froze for a moment, but she quickly recovered her wits.
“I wouldn’t have expected that Emperor Ye would be here too,” she said, smiling as if everything were normal.
“Indeed, Emperor Ye is my groomsman. I am deeply flattered, but was also surprised,” said Zhao Zizhao calmly.
“Before entering seclusion, my master entrusted me with this and told me to give it to you as a wedding present. But with Emperor Ye here, this wedding gift….”
“Hey, don’t blame me for this,” said Ye Zichen with a hint of laughter. “If you’re supposed to give it to him, just do it. What does that have to do with me? If he misses out on a present from the head of the Hundred Flower Sect’s on my account, won’t he blame me for it? I can’t bear the responsibility. ”
“Emperor Ye must surely be joking,” smiled Zhao Zizhao. “How could I possibly blame you?”
“Alright,” she said. “Then I’ll give it to you as planned. Here, this is the gift master prepared for you before entering seclusion.”
With that, she waved her right hand, and a pill appeared in the palm of her hand.
“This is a Barrier Breaking Pill. It can be used to break through, regardless of your cultivation level. Master knows that you are stuck at the late-stage sky immortal level, unable to reach the complete stage. This pill is admittedly somewhat less effective on sky immortals, but it might still be of use to you.”
“The sect master sent me such a precious gift; how could I possibly accept it?” said Zhao Zizhao. Although he verbally refused it, he reached out to accept the pill. Seeing this, Ye Zichen couldn’t help but snort.
Off to the side, Zuo Mo hurriedly shoved him, and he waved a hand apologetically, “sorry, I was thinking of something else.”
Just now, Zhao Zizhao acted just like someone who received a red packet at New Years, insisted they didn’t want it, yet stuffed it into their pockets anyway.
However, it had to be said, the head of the Hundred Flowers Sect was truly impressive.
A barrier breaking pill.
This was no mere mortal medicine. It was difficult for even Old Lord Taishang to produce.
“It seems Emperor Ye thought of something pleasant,” replied Zhao Zizhao.
Ye Zichen nodded noncommittally, then said, “it seems General Zhao is very concerned with my actions, and has been since we started preparing to greet the guests. But this is your wedding, your special day, shouldn’t you….”
Zhao Zizhao only laughed. “No rush.” But that smile...
It was hard to pin-point, but there was something strange about it.
“Not everyone is here yet,” said. Just as he finished his sentence, there was a loud bang as someone kicked in the door to the manor.
The instant the door broke open, Zhao Zizhao spoke again, this time with a playful grin.
“Hm, it seems we’re finally all here.”