Yan Nie stared at the pill cauldron roasted by the five-colored flame in the center of the alchemy chamber in a daze. The Five Element Truefire was created by him after he separated from Monarch Pillrabbit and founded the Flame Pill Tower. Even for the current Yan Nie, creating the Five Element Truefire took a lot out of him, much less letting it stabilize and burn for eternity
That’s why he built Flame Pill Tower atop Flamecloud Peak. Flamecloud Peak wasn’t just an active volcano, but it was a node full of fire attribute spiritual qi, a fire spiritual vein. Not only did the spiritual vein stabilize the Five Element Truefire and keep it from extinguishing, it was much easier to use for concocting pills. True, it was easier to control the Five Element Truefire created by himself at the moment, but it also took up more concentration—concentration that he needed to concoct pills.
He wasn’t the only beneficiary of the Five Element Truefire. All the alchemists of Flame Pill Tower could use an offshoot of the Five Element Truefire, belonging to any of the five elements or a combination of the five elemental fires, to concoct. They just had to spend contribution points they earned in the service of Pill Flame Tower.
Yan Nie’s hand never stopped moving as he controlled the Five Element Truefire. The herbs melted and transformed into the purest essence of the plants inside the cauldron. Under his control, they slowly came together to form a spherical shape. It was the most crucial step, integrating all components into a pill.
However, what was reflected in Yan Nie’s eyes during the process wasn’t the embryonic pill, but the memories of Yun Xialan from their childhood to now. To be honest, until her gender was revealed, he never thought of her as anything but his sworn brother.
Funny how things turned out. After reconnecting with Yun Xialan and understanding the situation on the Heaven Continent, Yan Nie planned to aid her after the Anti-Earth Alliance conquered the Eight Pillar Sect. He never expected that the Cloud Goddess Cult would suddenly switch sides to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Or rather, the Cloud Goddess Cult had always been the Buzhou Immortal Sect’s agent—gathering all the dissidents of the Heaven Continent into one group to lower the guard of the other two hegemonic forces and ease of elimination when the time turned ripe.
Suddenly, black smoke wafted from the pill cauldron. Yan Nie waved his hand, dispersing the smoke and minimizing the flame. A charred pill floated out of the cauldron.
Yan Nie sighed. Really, what was he thinking? Obviously, his mind wasn’t focused, yet he still tried to concoct a pill. What’s more, he wasted enough materials that would make true immortals cry with hurt if they wasted the same amount of resources as he did. Yan Nie sighed and stored the failed pill into his spatial ring. He could always recycle the materials in some way.
With another sigh, he walked out of his alchemy chamber. There, he saw an elder in a snow-white robe. “Master.”
“Yan Nie, Yan Nie, why are you attempting alchemy at such a time? Nervous?” Monarch Pillrabbit asked.
Yan Nie paused. Was he nervous? After experiencing the apocalypse, he thought he wouldn’t become nervous just because of a wedding, but reality made him realize his fallacy. “Perhaps.”
Monarch Pillrabbit shook his head. “Well, enough teasing. Since you’re out, don’t continue to concoct pills. Your friends and family are here.”
“Friends and family?” Yan Nie asked. Then he smiled. “Why did no one inform me?”
“Who would dare to disturb you while you’re concocting pills?” Monarch Pillrabbit asked with a laugh. Aside from Yan Nie, the Yan Clan didn’t have any talents. The grandmasters and venerables that appeared were born because of Yan Nie’s pills.
Yan Nie didn’t stall and walked toward where his friends and family waited. As long as he thought about it, he could sense almost everything in the Flame Pill Tower. In a few minutes, he walked into a room with people full of smiles.
“Haha, Nie’er!” Yan Nie’s father, the Yan Patriarch, said as he gave his son a bear hug. “It still seems like yesterday that you were just born. But, in a blink of an eye and you’re already getting married. And to Little Yun, too.”
Yan Nie gave a wry smile, but his smile turned strange as he looked at his father closely. “Father, did you already know that Xialan was a girl?”
“Of course,” the Yan Patriarch said. Then, it was his turn to look at his son strangely. “You didn’t know?”
“What are you talking about? Of course I knew,” Yan Nie said, but he avoided his father’s gaze.
The Yan Patriarch just laughed and let go of his son. He wasn’t the only one who wanted to congratulate Yan Nie. Soon, the latter found himself surrounded. As he received the well wishes of his friends and family, one voice stood out.
“Congratulations.”
Yan Nie turned his head to see a young woman with noble features exuding an elegant aura. Although she sent her salutations, he could not see any happiness on her face. “Lanyue.”
Pan Lanyue smiled, but anyone could tell it did not reach her eyes. “Congratulations.”
“You already said that.” Yan Nie immediately wanted to slap himself after speaking. He wasn’t a dull idiot, and he could detect some of Pan Lanyue’s feelings. This girl even followed him to the Earth Continent. It was just that as the two’s strength began to widen, Pan Lanyue started to have her own adventures to catch up.
Had the engagement break-up never happened, Yan Nie thought he would probably marry this girl, but it did. Although Yan Nie understood Pan Lanyue’s actions from a logical point of view, he couldn’t accept it on an emotional level. All chances of them being together vanished the moment Yun Xialan appeared again. Compared to Pan Lanyue, who had called off the engagement, he was much more willing to accept Yun Xialan.
An awkward silence settled between the two. Even the other people in the room could detect it, and the jovial atmosphere became tense. Yan Nie wanted to find something to change the topic, but his usual limber mind became as slow as a turtle at this moment.
His eyes lit up. “Someone intruded in the airspace reserved for members of Flame Pill Tower. I have to check it out.”
Without waiting for anyone to react, Yan Nie left without turning back. He flew outside of the tower and saw a weird spaceship-like thing. He didn’t even need to guess who created it. Very few people in the Huang Realm would create such a strange immortal boat. “Can’t you just obediently enter at the entrance and not use the member-only entrance?”
“With our relationship, can we be considered ordinary guests?”
Upon hearing Tianyi’s rebuttal, Yan Nie rolled his eyes, but he still invited Tianyi in. Tianyi, Daoyi, and his disciples entered the Flame Pill Tower, and with a wave of his hand, Tianyi stored the Voidverse Shuttle. Even if he didn’t want to, Tianyi still became the center of attention. Although many still paid attention to Yan Nie, neither his strength nor status could compare with Tianyi.
Tianyi’s presence gave rise to a different sort of tension, one different between Yan Nie and Pan Lanyue. To Yan Nie’s friends and family, Tianyi was someone on another level compared to them. More importantly, they weren’t as familiar with Tianyi as they were with Yan Nie.
The situation only lasted a day since Yan Nie left the next day to bring back Yun Xialan from the Cloud Goddess Cult. Most of the Cloud Goddess Cult became members of the Immortal Court or Cultivator Alliance. A few members remained to propagate the Cloud Goddess religion. Yun Xialan was one of the members that decided not to join the Immortal Court or Cultivator Alliance.
Yan Nie rode on a red-haired horse with flames burning on its hooves. Each step the horse took left a hoof mark in the sky. Behind him was a gorgeous red sedan pulled by two avian beasts that inherited the bloodline of the Phoenix Clan. Accompanying them were Yan Nie’s male friends. Although he was an immortal monarch, only a few of his friends had become immortals. And this included Pan Lanyue, so most of them were venerables or saints.
Flamecloud Peak wasn’t too far away from the new location of the diminished Cloud Goddess Cult. The wedding procession stopped outside of the Cloud Goddess Cult’s entrance, and Yan Nie got off his horse. His friends, including Tianyi, accompanied him to the gate. “Xialan! I’m here to take you back to become my wife!”
At this time, a few robed priests with cloud embroideries stopped Yan Nie. They weren’t really preventing him from marrying Yun Xialan, but it was just part of tradition. “Divine Flame Monarch, not anyone can marry our Holy Cloud Saintess. To bring her away, you must pass our tests.”
Yan Nie nodded. He recognized the speaker. He was Yun Xialan’s master, the previous Holy Cloud Saint. The test was simple. Yan Nie only had to endure a single strike from all generations of holy cloud saints and saintesses.
As the previous generation, Yun Xialan’s master was the first to strike. He only had the power of a true immortal, so Yan Nie easily deflected his strike. Then the generation before that attacked, and the generation before that. Finally, an immortal monarch-level cloud saint appeared and attacked Yan Nie, which he also deflected. Of the twenty-five cloud saints and saintesses, only three were immortal monarchs.
Because they used faith, an external force, to cultivate and become true immortals and monarchs, they were weaker than most immortals in the same realm. Yan Nie wouldn’t discount any outliers either, plus, they could burst with extremely strong combat power for a short time by using faith energy. Still, this wasn’t a battle, but a ceremony, so most of them only went through the movements with no real intent on hindering Yan Nie.
Without any accident, Yan Nie passed all the trials.
According to tradition, the closest male relative of the same generation would transfer the bride to the sedan, so Yun Xialan’s cousin carried the bride out on his back. Yan Nie couldn’t see Yun Xialan’s face through her red veil and red wedding dress, but he knew that she was undoubtedly the most beautiful woman in the entire universe at this moment.
Yun Xialan’s cousin transferred Yun Xialan into the marriage sedan, and the wedding procession made its way back to Flamecloud Peak, accompanied by members of the Cloud Goddess Cult. By this time, the sun had already dipped into the horizon.
Yan Nie and Yun Xialan entered the main hall, where the Yan Patriarch sat on the highest seat. In the seat next to him was a plaque with Yan Nie’s mother’s name on it. The bride and groom stood in front of the Yan Patriarch. Standing in front of the two was Monarch Pillrabbit, who was officiating the ceremony.
“The first bow, bowing to heaven and earth!”
Yan Nie and Yun Xialan got onto their knees, bowing to the heavens and the earth.
“The second bow, bowing to one’s parents,” Monarch Pillrabbit said after the two got up.
Once again, the two got onto their knees. Only this time, they bowed to the Yan Patriarch and the plaque of the Yan Matriarch.
Without missing a beat, Monarch Pillrabbit declared the third bow. “The third bow, bowing to one’s spouse.”
This time, Yan Nie and Yun Xialan turned toward each other before getting on their knees and bowing to each other.
“After the three bows, you two are now husband and wife,” Monarch Pillrabbit said with fatherly affection, not one whit dimmer than the Yan Patriarch. With a dramatic flourish of his sleeve, he said. “Send the bride to the bridal chamber!”
