Chapter 867: Acting Out

The Ancestor Feng Yu nodded at Ding Huan: "You're quite impressive."

After bowing, Ding Huan spoke loudly: "I am also a member of the human race, and I know what must be done and what must not."

I am willing to shed my blood and sacrifice my life for the great cosmos. I may die, but the human race must endure, and the great cosmos must not perish."

Ding Huan's words rang out with force and conviction.

From his resolute gaze, everyone could see he had completely placed his own life and death beyond consideration.

"Hah! Our great cosmos needs warriors like you— I have high hopes for you."

Hearing Ding Huan's words, Feng Yu laughed heartily and praised him with clear satisfaction.

Whether he believed Ding Huan's words, no one knew.

"Before Ancestor Feng Yu, this humble disciple also volunteers to infiltrate the Tianmeng race and contribute to the human race of the great cosmos." Another abrupt voice rang out.

If Ding Huan's claim of going to the Tianmeng race to gather intelligence was somewhat understandable—as an attempt to curry favor with Yan Zhuo—

then seeing this man who claimed he would go to the Tianmeng race left everyone in the hall stunned.

For the speaker was Xi Changmei, the groom in the grand wedding hosted by the Zong Sect's current patriarch for his daughter.

No one could understand why Xi Changmei would go to the Tianmeng race to gather intelligence.

"Changmei, you…" Yan Jiuyue stared at Xi Changmei in disbelief, her mind in chaos.

Xi Changmei gripped Yan Jiuyue's hand, his eyes filled with unwavering resolve:

"Jiuyue, you don't want your Dao partner to be a coward, do you? The human race of the great cosmos has barely secured its footing—if we allow the Tianmeng race to oppress us further,

soon there will be no place left for our race in the great cosmos.

Jiuyue, though I am a selfish man, I absolutely cannot permit the Tianmeng race to seize control of our great cosmos. Even if I am reduced to dust and bones, I must do something for the great cosmos.

Even little Xiaotu, my little brother-in-law, can do this—how could I, his elder brother-in-law, fall behind?"

Xi Changmei's tone was firm, each word seeming to come from the depths of his soul, without a trace of hesitation, radiating an unstoppable momentum.

"Hah! Good, very good."

Ancestor Feng Yu laughed heartily, repeating "good" several times before turning to Yan Zhuo:

"Master Yan, you are quite impressive. Rest assured, after this matter is settled, your Starfall Sect may select a new territory to establish your sect."

The territory currently chosen by Starfall Sect is decent, but still far inferior to major Dao cities and holy sects.

It's not exactly what others rejected, but it's nearly the same.

"Ancestor, I also wish to go to the Tianmeng race with my husband…"

Yan Jiuyue felt her blood boiling.

Why should she be weaker than Jia Baihe? Jia Baihe could follow her fake Dao partner to the Tianmeng race—why couldn't she?

Besides, Xi Changmei was not her fake Dao partner—he was her true one.

And besides, if she stayed by Changmei's side, wouldn't he protect her?

Others didn't know Xi Changmei's abilities, but she knew them all too well.

No matter how desperate the situation, Xi Changmei always had endless trump cards.

When Yan Zhuo heard this, his head buzzed.

If he weren't on the Fifth Step of the Dao, he might have fainted.

Had he offended the Heavenly Dao?

His two daughters were each more troublesome than the last.

Baihe being forced to go to the Tianmeng race to die was unavoidable—but why was his eldest daughter Jiuyue rushing to join her?

All the guests looked at Yan Zhuo with pity.

They knew well that although Yan Jiuyue and Jia Baihe were both Yan Zhuo's adopted daughters, he had never shown them anything but genuine care.

To others, Yan Zhuo valued these two adopted daughters more than his own biological children.

Today was meant to be a great celebration, yet one after another was rushing out to die.

Ding Huan stared blankly at Yan Jiuyue.

This woman truly had no brains.

That Xi Changmei was no ordinary man—he had concealed his cultivation, and his entire aura carried Dao rhythms so subtle even Ding Huan could not detect any law fluctuations.

His strength must be among the strongest of the strong.

And only Ding Huan had noticed his concealment.

Even Ancestor Feng Yu might not have sensed it—demonstrating how powerful and perfectly attuned Xi Changmei's Dao art was to the cosmic laws.

Such Dao arts, perfectly attuned to heaven and earth, were the most terrifying.

Because Ding Huan's own cultivation of the great cosmos was precisely such a Dao art, perfectly attuned to cosmic laws.

Ding Huan didn't fully understand what Xi Changmei meant by volunteering to go to the Tianmeng race.

But he could guess: this man certainly wasn't going to help the human race.

Perhaps his goal was the same as his own—to secure a Dao lineage—or perhaps something else.

Whatever his motive, Ding Huan was certain Yan Jiuyue would receive no protection from Xi Changmei if she followed him to the Tianmeng race.

So if Yan Jiuyue went to the Tianmeng race, she would die without doubt.

Jia Baihe's situation was different—Ding Huan would never let her be harmed.

This brainless woman—what was she thinking?

Ancestor Feng Yu was clearly extremely satisfied.

With volunteers from his own world willingly infiltrating the Tianmeng race, when all the Dao Ancestors of the great cosmos gathered to discuss how to deal with the Tianmeng race, his Fengyu World would hold the upper hand—without needing to sacrifice more of his own strong cultivators.

Thinking this, Feng Yu, who had originally planned to leave, walked over and sat down in Yan Zhuo's former seat.

Yan Zhuo quickly stood aside, but Feng Yu waved him off: "Master Yan, today you are the host—sit beside me. Since I've come here, I shall also offer blessings to the three newlywed couples."

The wedding should be moving to the next item now—I've come to observe the ceremony.

Everyone understood: the Dao Ancestor Feng Yu was extremely satisfied with Lanxing Sect's performance today.

So he had voluntarily stayed behind to observe the grand wedding of the Lanxing Sect Sect Master's daughter.

First, to give Lanxing Sect great face, showing he, Feng Yu, appreciated it.

Second, to tell everyone in the Feng Yu world that whoever follows his wishes will surely receive his full support.

This son-in-law wedding ceremony was inherently simple.

In fact, after crossing the Shackles Gate, only the final exchange of gifts remained.

As Feng Yu Daozu arrived, Yan Zhuo dared not waste his time, so he raised his hand and dismissed the Shackles Gate, rushing to proceed with the final item.

Feng Yu Daozu had come here merely to go through the motions.

If he had lingered over the most time-consuming step—the Shackles Gate—he might have grown displeased.

Indeed, seeing Yan Zhuo act with such foresight, Feng Yu smiled in satisfaction.

His performance naturally required no long time—he had so many affairs daily; how much time could he spare for show?

Had it not been for the impressive conduct of these four new recruits of Lanxing Sect, he would have left long ago.

Once all were seated, the chief wedding elder stepped forward again: "Please, the three pairs of newlyweds present gifts to the elders."

The elder was no Bai Chi; he knew Feng Yu Daozu could not sit here long, so he skipped the entire sequence of wedding blessings and cut straight to the point.

Yan Jiuyue and Xi Changmei were the first pair of newlyweds; Xi Changmei

held a Bai Yu tray in both hands, upon which rested a ring.

As Xi Changmei approached Yan Zhuo, Yan Jiuyue followed beside him.

This was the ritual offering to the elders.

Later, the elders would return the gift.

Xi Changmei and Yan Jiuyue bowed deeply to Yan Zhuo, then presented the tray.

A maid stepped forward, took the tray, and stood aside.

Xi Changmei and Yan Jiuyue bowed again, then withdrew to stand on the opposite side.

Ding Huan's perception had already pierced through Xi Changmei's ring.

With Ding Huan's fusion with the laws of heaven and earth, plus the law-star river formed within his own world,

he needed not extend his spiritual sense—merely by accessing the spatial laws of this realm, he could unlock the ring's simple seal.

After all, this was a gift offering; before Yan Zhuo opened the ring's seal, no one dared scan it with spiritual sense.

Thus, Xi Changmei's seal could not be strong.

When Ding Huan saw what lay inside Xi Changmei's ring, his heart jolted.

What did Xi Changmei mean by this? Why gift something so precious?

Inside Xi Changmei's ring were thirty Chaos Divine Veins, fifty top-grade Divine Veins, and one top-tier Tian Zhi Hong Crystal.

The value of the Tian Zhi Hong Crystal was no less than that of Abyssal Nirvana Gold.

Was Xi Changmei this generous?

At that moment, Ding Huan felt Jia Baihe squeeze his hand tightly.

Though Jia Baihe said nothing, Ding Huan understood her meaning.

Was she eyeing Yan Zhuo's return gift?

It must be so.

What kind of outrageous return gift could Xi Changmei expect for giving so much?

Thinking of this, Ding Huan altered the contents of his own ring.

As long as Yan Zhuo was not biased, the return gift would surely match the value of the gift received—giving the most precious item to the one who gave the most.

Ding Huan carried a silver tray toward Yan Zhuo.

On the silver tray rested a golden jade box, its surface shimmering with flowing Dao runes.

Clearly visible upon it were the characters: Tian Ci Dao Yuan.

In appearance and presentation alone, Ding Huan's silver tray and golden jade box outshone Xi Changmei's plain jade tray and dull ring.

Not to mention the flowing Dao runes.

Xi Changmei stared wide-eyed at Ding Huan's tray.

Can you even cheat like this?

Too bad he didn't know the story of buying the casket and returning the pearl.

Nor did he understand the importance of packaging.

What he hadn't expected was yet to come.

Ding Huan, with Jia Baihe, did not immediately bow to Yan Zhuo. Instead, he led Jia Baihe to Feng Yu Daozu, bowed first to Feng Yu Daozu.

Only then did he approach Yan Zhuo and bow, handing his tray to the second maid who stepped forward.

Ding Huan brought Ji Baihe along and did not immediately bow to Yan Zhuo. Instead, he led Ji Baihe over to Dao Ancestor Feng Yu and bowed to Dao Ancestor Feng Yu first.

Had Ding Huan not bowed to Feng Yu first, Yan Zhuo would have been utterly uneasy.

He was indeed an elder, but with a Daozu present observing the ceremony, for the new couple to ignore the Daozu and bow only to him was like putting him on the fire.

After Ding Huan and Jia Baihe bowed, Feng Yu's expression visibly improved; he nodded approvingly.

Xi Changmei realized he had made a ritual error; he clenched his fists.

But it didn't matter—so long as his gift was weighty, the return from Yan Zhuo would surely be—

Xi Changmei knew his etiquette had been wrong earlier, and he clenched his fists.

But it didn't matter—as long as his gift was heavy, from Yan

What Zhuo obtained from Zhuo's hands was what he wanted; everything else was secondary.

Didn't he marry Yan Jiuyue precisely for this thing?

Yan Xunlan and his Dao-companion Fan Yikong were merely going through the motions; they followed suit, first bowing to Ancestor Feng Yu, then bowing to Yan Zhuo, and at the same time presenting their gifts.

After the three couples of newlyweds stepped back.

The presiding elder stepped forward, walked to the first tray, and picked up Xi Changmei's ring.

Everyone knew this was the moment to reciprocate gifts.