Chapter 1493: Half for You, Half for Me, Collective Wedding

"By the way, what are these two statues for?"

Niya played with the two small wood carvings, each about a foot tall, as she asked Xia Duo. Both statues were in the style of an Elf; one had its arms spread forward as if to embrace something, while the other had its hands folded over its abdomen, sitting in a composed posture.

Xia Duo took the wood carvings from Niya's hands and began to introduce them to her: "This one is a Purification Statue; placing it at a water source can purify the water quality, which is very common in Elven society. And this one is a Fertility Statue; placing it in farmland can slightly increase crop yields."

"That's it?" Niya was somewhat unwilling to believe it.

"Of course that's all there is. It's just a standard gift for external affairs; what kind of precious items were you expecting? That set of poetry books is just ordinary literature. What's truly precious are these two jars of tea leaves!"

As he spoke, Xia Duo opened a jar containing Bonu Original Leaf, and in an instant, a familiar, refreshing fragrance drifted around the two of them.

Upon smelling this fresh scent, Xia Duo felt his limbs rapidly recovering and becoming strong again. After Niya smelled this aroma, it was as if her dusty memories had been awakened, and she immediately exclaimed:

"It's Bonu Original Leaf!"

Xia Duo had previously shared Bonu Original Leaf obtained from Aoruipusi with Niya, and she had a very deep impression of this special beverage that was highly suitable for a Spellcaster.

At this moment, her eyes would not leave the tea jar in Xia Duo's hands for even a second. Seeing this, Xia Duo handed the tea jar, along with another unopened one, to Niya and said, "Now they are yours!"

"Ah—"

Niya was first pleasantly surprised, then she thought, "Then what about you?"

"I have a quota for Bonu No. 2 at the Arcane Union, and I haven't even finished this year's supply yet. Besides, I'm going to Seventon next, and I shouldn't be short of No. 1 there either, so I won't fight you for the Original Leaf."

Xia Duo had originally thought that after saying this, Niya would happily accept all the tea, but to his surprise, she pouted and stubbornly refused: "That won't do, I only want this jar, the other one is for you!"

Niya's attitude was firm, and Xia Duo did not insist; he simply pulled Niya into his arms and fell onto the bed.

"You—didn't you just say you had no strength?"

"That was just now, I'm fine now!"

"Wait, the gifts haven't been put away yet!"

"It's fine, they won't break if they fall anyway!"

The next day, Xia Duo did not return to Seventon immediately, but instead joined Niya at the Territory's Code Plaza to attend a collective wedding for twenty newlywed couples.

Normally, the weddings of the territory's residents would not require Xia Duo's personal attendance, but this wedding was somewhat different from the usual. Besides being a collective wedding, more importantly, the couples were respectively from the Langasi and Netheril.

It could be said that this was a cross-ethnic and cross-cultural union; of course, it could also be said that this was a landmark event for the gradual integration of the different ethnic groups in Daxia Territory.

How could Xia Duo be absent!

It was not as if there had been no Langasi in the territory before; the Kewu Tribe had joined the territory nearly two years ago. However, the Kewu Tribe had a smaller population, only about a hundred people, and they were mostly young men and women, with the majority already married.

In the past, there were also relatively few marriageable women in the territory, and generally, they would prioritize choosing Netherese, so no cross-ethnic marriages had occurred.

Dragging on until now, the addition of the Grey Eagle Tribe allowed the two different ethnic groups within the territory to have a large number of marriageable young men and women at the same time. Under Xia Duo's intentional arrangement, it was not hard to understand why ten pairs of newlyweds appeared all at once.

This was actually part of the Winter New Life Movement. Although Xia Duo was not in the territory during this period, Laidun had executed the instructions he left behind very well.

On the plaza, Xia Duo watched the ten pairs of newlyweds entering in sequence, and he could not help but feel a bit excited, though in terms of atmosphere, he felt something was missing.

"Sigh! Almost forgot!"

Following that, Xia Duo pointed one hand toward the sky. A stream of light was seen flying from his fingertip straight into the firmament, but it immediately burst, turning into a rain of flowers that drifted down across the sky.

At the same time, those ten pairs of newlyweds also received Xia Duo's special attention; several streams of light landed on them, immediately transforming into sets of festive formal wear.

In terms of style and pattern, Xia Duo did not come up with many new tricks; they were still in the style of a Mage Robe, but much more streamlined, with shortened hems and added waist cinchers, making people look much more spirited.

The biggest change was actually in the color; Xia Duo bestowed the traditional bright red of his hometown upon the newlyweds' formal wear.

In Netheril, bright red was rarely used. On one hand, dyes of this color were hard to obtain, and on the other hand, bright red was almost exclusively used by the Advanced Priests of the Lord of Radiance.

Combined with gold, yellow, orange, and other similar colors, it was specifically used to symbolize the sun.

Of course, regarding the use of color, the Temple had no taboos; ordinary people did not use bright red mainly because they had no money.

As it was now, on the Code Plaza, Xia Duo could only see large swathes of gray and yellow, all the natural colors of the fabric, with few of the colorful hues seen on the streets of his hometown.

The only colors were probably Xia Duo and Niya; even Laidun was still wearing a drab gray cloak, lacking the demeanor of a Radiant Priest!

Now that these ten pairs of newlyweds had suddenly changed their attire and colors, there was an immediate gasp from the plaza; this was even more shocking than the rain of flowers Xia Duo had conjured.

After all, although a rain of flowers was not common, it was not rare either; during holidays and territory celebrations, there would always be some Trick performances, but newlyweds changing into red attire broke with convention.

It could even be said that among these tens of thousands of residents in Daxia Territory, apart from blood, they had likely never seen anything so red!

Just then, Laidun quickly trotted to Xia Duo's side and whispered, "My Lord, this is—"

"This is my blessing. From now on, those who wear red formal attire at their weddings will be able to receive my blessing!" Xia Duo said loudly.

Under the effect of the Spell, this voice spread throughout the entire Code Plaza. Of course, he was not just saying it; the blessing was indeed real.

Amidst the rain of flowers, twenty pillars of light descended from the sky, completely enveloping the ten pairs of newlyweds who had already taken their positions in front of the Code Sculpture.

The pillars of light were, of course, just special effects. For ordinary people, special effects often meant effectiveness, but inside, it contained elements of the Longevity Technique; it was Xia Duo conditioning the bodies of these ten pairs of newlyweds while healing some hidden ailments.

With Xia Duo taking action personally, these ten pairs of newlyweds were fortunate. Although it would not extend their maximum lifespan, their bodies, long accustomed to labor and hunting, could live longer after being conditioned.

Of course, Xia Duo would likely only do this personally this one time. For future weddings, he would let Laidun provide the blessing on his behalf; after all, he was not a full-time matchmaker. Even for Laidun, he would likely hand it over to other subordinates capable of casting Holy Power blessings later on.

It was similar to the "Happy Wedding" said by civil affairs bureau staff on Earth afterward!

It was just that the wedding blessing from Xia Duo's side provided more than just psychological comfort; it had practical effects, though the results varied in degree.