Chapter 900: Willow Family's Wedding

Crackling sounds echoed!

In the early morning, as the sky just brightened, Wangu Cheng resounded with firecracker noises. The once quiet streets, with few people, suddenly became lively and crowded.

Under an old tree, Ye Chen, who had been sleeping, was awakened. He slowly got up, glanced around at the bustling street, then casually put on his Gui Ming mask and blended into the noisy crowd, unnoticed by anyone.

“The Liu family is marrying off their daughter.”

“It’s said that it’s to Prince Liu Che. The Liu family has really caught a golden son-in-law this time.” Someone sighed. “Liu Qingquan is going to rise to prominence. He’s the future father-in-law of the ruler, after all! We can’t afford to mess with him lightly anymore.”

“Father-in-law, my foot.” Someone spat. “What kind of person is that Liu Che? Everyone in Tianxiang Guo knows. Dreaming of being the father-in-law? Liu Che has had eight hundred if not a thousand concubines, and none of them met a good end. He’s just a prince now, but if he becomes the ruler, he’ll definitely be a tyrant.”

“You have a point.” Someone else sighed. “What a pity for the Liu family’s daughter!”

Amid the tide of discussions, Ye Chen kept walking without slowing down, like a passing traveler with no attachments.

Ahead, the wedding procession was grand and imposing. Servants from the prince’s residence led the way, with bells and drums sounding together, firecrackers exploding, and everyone dressed in red, snaking through the crowd like a red dragon.

In the eight-carrier sedan, draped in red silk and jade decorations, Liu Ruyan sat inside in her wedding dress, as still as a statue. Unshed tears lingered at the corners of her eyes, her expression sorrowful and pitiable.

“I don’t even know your name.” Her voice choked with sobs, and mist filled her beautiful eyes, turning to frost under thousands of gazes. She should lament her fate and grieve over the tricks of destiny.

“Wangu Cheng, will I ever return in this life?” She smiled sadly, lifting the bead curtain and peering through the small window. With a dazed expression, she gazed at her hometown, wanting to etch everything here into her memory.

Liu Che was ruthless and cruel. None of his princess consorts had a good ending; most died far from home. Unless something unexpected happened, she would likely be one of them. What a tragic fate.

This was destiny!

She smiled through her tears, her sorrow evoking pity.

Just as she withdrew her gaze, in the sea of people, she caught sight of a slender figure. He carried no luggage, was covered in dust from travel, and even from behind, he exuded a sense of weariness.

Huh?

The noisy street suddenly grew even more chaotic because the bride had jumped out of the sedan.

What?

Everyone on the street froze in place, staring in astonishment at Liu Ruyan in her wedding dress. She stumbled along, frantically pushing through the crowd, as if searching for something.

Behind her, the prince’s servants had already rushed forward to block her. “Princess Consort, please don’t make this difficult for us.”

Liu Ruyan stopped, her face streaked with tears.

I am Liu Ruyan!

Tears blurred her vision, and that slender figure was gone, replaced only by the passing crowd.

Meanwhile, Ye Chen had already soared out of Wangu Cheng, streaking across the sky like a divine light.

A moment later, he landed in another ancient city in the mortal world.

As before in Wangu Cheng, as soon as he arrived, his divine sense enveloped the entire city, scanning every palace, building, pedestrian, and vendor. He found no cultivators and no sign of Chu Xuan.

He left again.

Next, he flitted from one ancient city to another in the mortal world, like a fleeting traveler—arriving in haste and departing in haste. Great rivers, majestic mountains—all passed by him like fleeting clouds.

Eventually, he left Tianxiang Guo and entered another mortal kingdom, landing in a grand and imposing imperial palace.

Come out and see me!

He stood atop the Jin Luan Hall, his divine sense transmitting the message, audible only to cultivators.

Soon, a young cultivator clutching a whisk stumbled in, perhaps running so fast that he lost a shoe. As soon as he entered the Jin Luan Hall, he knelt down with a thud.

“Greetings, Senior.” The young cultivator prostrated himself, not daring to breathe loudly. This fellow didn’t look like a proper immortal at all—skinny as a monkey, more like a thief. His eyes were sunken, his body frail despite being nourished by spiritual energy, and he clearly hadn’t led a virtuous life.

“From which sect are you a disciple?” Ye Chen asked calmly.

“I am a disciple of the Xuan generation from Feiyun Men, Li Xiao,” he replied.

“Feiyun Men.” Ye Chen murmured to himself, pondering but drawing a blank. Perhaps Feiyun Men was just a minor ninth-rate sect, so obscure that even he, the experienced Lord of Heaven Court, had never heard of it.

“I need you to find her.” Without further questions, Ye Chen waved his hand, producing a scroll that landed in front of the young cultivator. Along with it came a golden spiritual sword, a high-grade spirit weapon.

A spirit weapon?

The young cultivator’s heart raced, his eyes lighting up with greed.

As a disciple from a small sect with poor cultivation talent, he had been assigned to the mortal world as a royal advisor. He had never seen a high-grade spirit weapon before—his own life-bound tool was just an ordinary peach wood sword that he’d used for over a decade. Now, seeing this, how could he not be excited?

“Thank you, Senior. I’ll get right on it.” The young cultivator was overjoyed and eager to start. As the royal advisor, even the emperor had to listen to him. To find someone, he just needed to post a notice, and news would come quickly.

However, when he picked up the portrait of Chu Xuan, he paused. “This person… looks so familiar?”

“You’ve seen her?” Ye Chen stepped forward, his aura so strong that a gust of wind blew the young cultivator off his feet.

“Yes, yes.” The young cultivator scrambled up, scratching his head before confirming. “It was last year, someone came looking for her too. Yes, looking for her.”

As he spoke, he rummaged through his tattered storage bag and pulled out a portrait, presenting it to Ye Chen.

Ye Chen took it without looking— he didn’t need to. The person in the portrait could only be himself.

Keep searching!

With a whoosh, Ye Chen vanished from the hall, leaving behind a clone.

What are you staring at? Go find her!

Seeing the young cultivator hesitate, Ye Chen’s clone kicked him.

Ye Chen had already flown out of the palace, splitting into over a thousand clones that shot off in different directions, mostly heading straight for the imperial palaces of mortal kingdoms to enlist their royal advisors—it would make things easier.

After some time, he finally stopped atop a mountain peak, quietly surveying the surroundings and waiting for his clones to report back.

“Boss, there’s something we don’t know if we should mention.” From his dantian sea, the immortal fire and heavenly thunder spoke up.

“Speak.” Ye Chen replied indifferently.

“In Wangu Cheng, that Liu family woman seems to have, sort of, maybe, possibly saved you.” The immortal fire and heavenly thunder flickered, perhaps touching on some emotional entanglement. They directly transmitted a series of images through divine sense to Ye Chen.

Ye Chen instantly absorbed the divine sense images, his brow furrowing slightly. “No wonder that zither music felt so familiar.”