Chapter 265: Engagement Banquet

Three days passed in a flash.

On the twenty-fifth of the first lunar month, the Dongshan Academy in the East City was the ancestral home of the Zuoqiu Gate.

The night curtain fell, and the lanterns were lit.

The vast and majestic nine-courtyard ancient mansion, full of scholarly atmosphere, was decorated with lanterns and festoons, red silk hung high, a scene of joy and harmony.

In the courtyard, some direct descendants of the Zuoqiu Gate and the Nine Li tribe members gathered by the Hidden Lord to help support the scene were all dressed in gorgeous clothes, gathered together, talking and laughing.

The Hidden Lord's identity tonight was the head of the Cang Li tribe—Li Songgu.

Although everything was simplified, it was still lively, the ceremony was cumbersome, and it was very formal.

The Zuoqiu Gate governed the family with Confucianism and took etiquette very seriously.

Li Songgu prepared eighty-one dowry chests, each with the signs of the nine major tribes, thereby openly telling the world that this engagement was a marriage alliance between the Nine Li tribe and the Zuoqiu Gate.

"Snow Sword Tang Ting, sends two boxes of thousand-year snow marrow, come to pay respects."

"Yingzhou Wanyan clan, sends a pair of Gu King Golden Bells."

"Leixiao Sect, sends a coral treasure tree from the East Sea."

"Lingxiao Palace... sends a Dao technique book, 'Great Compassion Heart Sutra Mantra'!"

Representing the imperial court, in addition to young generation juniors like Ge Xiantong, there were also two great internal experts over a hundred years old.

Li Youyi wore a white brocade robe, with a cloud-patterned Qilin pattern embroidered on his chest, and a thin gauze outer garment of the same color. Unlike his usual simplicity, he also had a sense of noble elegance.

Beside him, Hidden Twenty-Four and Yao Yin were both pure immortal bodies, with top-notch beauty, but they were set off like two little maids.

They were busy, but they had no complaints.

They knew this was just a show!

"Brother Youyi, this 'Great Compassion Heart Sutra Mantra' was specially picked by me to send to you on behalf of Jiang Ning." Ge Xiantong, a handsome young man, smiled and stepped forward.

His field force was strong, his eyes were unfathomable, and he had already broken through to the Dao Seed realm.

The aura revealed invisibly was like flying to a higher level.

Martial arts cultivation, every realm is a world, not an empty word.

Facing Qi Xiao, Li Youyi felt he had the power to fight, and the gap between major realms was not so untouchable.

But facing the current Ge Xiantong, Li Youyi felt a strong sense of urgency in his heart. The four words "not advancing is retreating" were deeply written in his mind at this moment.

Not suppressed by the other party's Dao Seed realm field, Li Youyi was calm: "Don't make trouble, Jiang and I have long since drawn a line. You are talking nonsense and making trouble like this, aren't you afraid my fiancée will come to fight you?"

Ge Xiantong thought of the ancient lamp on Zuoqiu Hongting's forehead and quickly restrained his smile: "Who dares to make trouble in Qiuzhou Prefecture City? Dao techniques are not cheap, this 'Great Compassion Heart Sutra Mantra' is definitely worth a fortune. When you and Li Jiao have time, come to Lingxiao City, I will be the host!"

After sending away the imperial court people, Tang Wanqiu came up.

Looking at Ge Xiantong's back, he first congratulated him, then whispered: "Brother Youyi, don't go to Lingxiao City, there is no perfect person under the Small Field Order."

Accompanied by Tang Wanqiu was a young man with a pure immortal body who was handsome to the extreme.

Li Youyi couldn't see his facial features clearly; there was only a feeling of "handsome," and his body was misty, as if he were standing in an independent space he had created himself.

The young man had no interest in communicating with the younger generation and walked straight to the Hidden Lord and Zuoqiu Ling, the space distorting as he moved.

The three were talking about something, and outsiders couldn't hear it.

Li Youyi felt an unusual aura: "Who is this?"

"My elder sister, Tang Wanzhou." Tang Wanqiu said.

Li Youyi said: "What a terrifying cultivation."

Tang Wanqiu showed a proud and triumphant smile: "My sister is just over thirty, and her cultivation is too high, so she didn't catch up. If she participated in the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival, the Snow Sword Tang Ting would never have been defeated, and the Luan-Sheng-Lin-You would have had little to do."

Tang Wanqiu's aptitude was second only to the Luan-Sheng-Lin-You, Ge Xiantong, and Zuoqiu Hongting. He was so confident in his sister, so Tang Wanzhou must have real talent and learning.

Li Youyi remembered this person.

"The north wind doesn't know spring is late, snow presses on the fourteen prefectures of the south. Tang Wanzhou, the youngest peak on the 'Sixty-Year Roster', not longevity, but can tie with longevity, the first person in a thousand years, is indeed awe-inspiring. Little Li, we also come to have a cup of wedding wine!"

Shi Liuyu, Shi Jiuzhai, Shi Shishi, Bai Shu, and others from the Earth Wolf King Army all came forward.

"Clang!"

With a crisp gong sound, the engagement ceremony officially began.

Zuoqiu Hongting appeared, not in men's clothing, nor in a Taoist robe.

For the first time, she appeared in front of everyone in a gorgeous woman's attire.

She wore a scarlet neon dress, her long hair tied into a high bun, inserted with a gold dangling hairpin inlaid with gems, her waist was graceful, her skirt trailed on the ground, and every step gave birth to a lotus.

Although wearing a veil, one could still see the peerless immortal face, eyebrows like distant mountains, eyes like autumn water.

Zuoqiu Hongting and Li Youyi, under the gaze of many eyes, walked toward the center of the courtyard.

Exclamations were endless!

Many people didn't expect that Zuoqiu Hongting not only had top-notch cultivation aptitude but also peerless beauty and figure.

"Really envious, Little Li, a mud-legged person, step by step, watching him become famous in the world, marrying the peerless noble girl of the Zuoqiu Gate. It's really more uncomfortable than killing me!" Shi Liuyu drank a cup.

Ge Xiantong sighed: "Zuoqiu Hongting is even more stunning than that night, her appearance is not lost at all, Jiang has no competitiveness, no wonder others became the son-in-law of the Zuoqiu Gate."

The discussion gradually subsided, leaving only the melodious sound of silk and bamboo echoing.

Li Songgu and Zuoqiu Ling each held red silk, one end of which was tied to the wrists of Li Youyi and Zuoqiu Hongting.

Under the high shout of the master of ceremonies, both sides exchanged tokens.

Li Youyi naturally didn't prepare tokens, but Li Ling held a tray and sent it up; it was prepared by Li Songgu long ago.

Seeing the treasures in the tray, someone exclaimed: "It's the Wind-Fire Dragon-Phoenix Pendant! Split into the Wind Dragon Pendant and the Fire Phoenix Pendant, both are first-grade thousand-character weapons. Together, they are third-grade thousand-character weapons."

Li Youyi took off the Fire Phoenix Pendant and handed it to Zuoqiu Hongting with both hands.

Both of them knew that this was just going through the motions, and they didn't take it seriously in their hearts.

But under the eyes of everyone, the play had to be acted out.

Zuoqiu Hongting's eyes were full of affection, and after taking the Phoenix Pendant, her slender fingers took out the token prepared by the Zuoqiu Gate.

It was two letters written by the transcendent of the Confucian line of the Zuoqiu Gate. One of them was handed to Li Youyi.

The letter contained blessings.

Every word contained strong thought power energy.

"Wearing this letter on your body, even if you encounter a great enemy in the Longevity realm, you can block a death calamity." Zuoqiu Ling transmitted this into Li Youyi's ears.

"Ceremony complete!"

The master of ceremonies shouted loudly.

"Boom!"

Fireworks shot into the sky, and the atmosphere became lively again.

Zuoqiu Hongting retreated, but Li Youyi was held back, and people came forward to toast one after another, drinking the thousand-year-old brew of the Zuoqiu Gate.

After drinking dozens of cups, Li Youyi, who had never touched alcohol, felt a bit drunk.

Shi Jiuzhai and Shi Shishi rescued him and dragged him to the table of the Earth Wolf King Army Wu Xiu.

Li Youyi felt lingering fear, quickly clasped his fists to thank them, and then looked at Shi Shishi: "Old Qi, why haven't I seen him?"

"He is now a human hegemon in the Dao Seed realm. A few days ago, he even notified me to attend his Dao Seed banquet. It's indeed a bit abnormal; today is your big day, how could he not come?" Shi Shishi said.

Bai Shu laughed: "Maybe he has already gone to the Prefecture side."

Li Youyi didn't think about Yang Qingxi; after all, finding someone was a trivial matter, and with the Qi family's energy in Qiuzhou Prefecture City, any subordinate could handle it.

It's just that Li Youyi didn't expect that because his engagement to Zuoqiu Hongting was imminent, Qi Xiao was worried that the news would leak and be unfavorable to him, so he went there personally.

Li Youyi recalled the fanaticism and excitement of Qi Xiao when he learned about the underground news of the Prefecture a few days ago, nodded lightly: "It's really possible! He is a person who risks his life for longevity. By the way, what is the situation in the Prefecture side now?"

Shi Liuyu joked: "The Prefecture is Jiang's territory, why don't you go ask Fairy Yu? Their Jiang family definitely knows more about the underground situation of the Prefecture than anyone else."

Because Jiang Ning could control seven Phoenix-Wing Moth Emperors, and because Li Youyi fought in all directions with double swords on the night of the Lantern Festival, the two were bound together by busybodies, and many true and false love stories were spread.

Shi Jiuzhai said: "The confirmed news has come back; it is indeed an underground entrance. But, the so-called underground immortal mansion seems to have been opened tens of thousands of years ago, built into a labyrinth-like ancient sect cultivation ancestral court."

"Currently, only a dozen miles of the entrance have been explored, and a large number of ancient buildings have been found, with hundreds of passages, caves, sculptures, stone beasts, martial arts fields, altars..."

"Continuing deeper, terrifying dangers appear."

"Five Seas realm experts have suffered countless casualties, and even Dao Seed realm senior experts have fallen."

"It is said that some people found ancient relics and Dao technique stone walls, belonging to a great sect tens of thousands of years ago. Others dug up thousand-year essence medicines, five thousand years old, rare in the world, with incalculable value."

Bai Shu was moved and surprised: "One-thousand-year-old essence medicine is already very rare. Except for the medicine fields of major thousand-year gates, one can only search in the Ghost Realm of the Dead and some dangerous secret realms. Five-thousand-year-old essence medicine, even thousand-year gates don't have it, right?"

Shi Liuyu was very interested and eager to try: "Building a sect court in a Wind Mansion world as huge as a prefecture, and then due to some unknown catastrophe, the whole sect sank underground and was buried for tens of thousands of years, now finally seeing the light of day again, the treasures inside are simply unimaginable."

Li Youyi said: "What kind of great sect is it, is there any statement?"

Shi Jiuzhai said: "Hard to say, that was tens of thousands of years ago, and the rulers of this land don't know how many times they have changed. We can only wait for more exploration news to come back to verify with the records in ancient books, and then infer. It must be related to a great sect that gave birth to ancient immortals..."

"Boom!"

Outside the ancestral home, thunder and lightning sprayed, and the earth shook.

More than a dozen golden lacquer boxes containing gifts exploded, energy overflowed, and it turned out to be thunder magic black ice.

The sudden change shocked the experts from all sides in the courtyard, who all performed their movement techniques and rushed to the door.

"Who is so bold to make trouble at the Zuoqiu ancestral home?"

Shi Jiuzhai and Shi Liuyu had just stood up, wanting to go out to watch the fun.

Suddenly...

A dangerous force that made the two of them numb all over broke out a few feet to the right.

A man in black in a stealth state appeared out of thin air, flashed forward, and slashed a sword at Li Youyi's head.

Killing intent filled the garden, and the aura was thick and terrifying.

"Boom!"

Shi Jiuzhai and Shi Jiuzhai, who were strong enough to be on the "Sixty-Year Roster", released their Dao heart external images, the sound of wolves howling in their bodies was high, breaking through the other party's intent suppression, and each hit with a palm.

But it was too slow!

The two of them were like being pinned in mid-air, and could only watch helplessly as the battle sword slashed at Li Youyi's head.

The two were scared out of their wits, their pupils contracted, realizing that the assassin's cultivation was extremely terrifying, possibly a longevity giant.