Chapter 679: Old Acquaintance

Yunzhou, early morning.

The weather is fine, and the water is calm.

The high platform on the bend of the Tongyang River is eye-catching, and the spectator stands on both banks are packed with people, all dressed very formally; those with official uniforms wear them, and those without must also wear heavy, formal-looking attire, with the crowd extending to the back of the stands.

Scanning the entire venue, there are still more people wearing official uniforms.

In fact, this is a ceremony originating from the Imperial Court, which originally had a set of fixed protocols that had to be held in Jingcheng in the past, with the Emperor personally in attendance. But nowadays, it is becoming less and less formal. Not only has it been moved to the provinces, with only an Imperial Envoy sent to deliver the decree, but the Gaoyuan Marquis, who is in charge locally, is clearly preparing the ceremony with great care, yet the arrangements from all sides do not follow the rules, making it look neither fish nor fowl and very strange. An outsider might be bluffed by the grand ceremony, but officials from the Imperial Court cannot fail to notice it, and they all feel that the Gaoyuan Marquis is acting in a rebellious and highly unusual manner.

What's more, the audience for the ceremony even includes some people of all stripes, who have also ascended to the hall of elegance to sit alongside the officials, which leaves the nobles feeling dissatisfied.

Although dissatisfied, no one expresses it; firstly, this is the territory of the Gaoyuan Marquis, whose status is lofty and whom ordinary people cannot afford to offend. Secondly, there is a mysterious powerhouse sitting above, suppressing everyone so that they dare not speak much.

That mysterious powerhouse is naturally the Sword Immortal Highness who descended from the heavens. The seat he occupies is right in the center, facing south from the north; if it were in Jingcheng, that would be reserved for the Emperor.

Although it would certainly be an act of usurpation for anyone else to sit in this position, the Sword Immortal is a different matter. Although they are only addressed as "Highness," which should be one level lower than the "Majesty" who is the master of the world, theoretically, when a Sword Immortal descends to the mortal realm, he should also respect the human sovereign and not violate etiquette, but such matters depend on the comparison of strength between the two sides.

Back then, the founding Emperor of Jin swept across the world, reigned over the universe, and commanded the Nine Provinces, with no one daring to disobey. At that time, with the status of the master of Shenzhou added to him, which of the Sword Immortals from the heavens did not treat him with courtesy and consult with him?

It is even rumored that without the founding Emperor's nod, those Sword Immortals would not dare to descend at will.

As for now...

Now, as for that young master sitting in the imperial palace, let alone the Sword Immortals in the heavens, even if he walked a few more steps out of Jingcheng or even the imperial palace, basically no one would listen to him. Therefore, the status of the Sword Immortal has naturally and tacitly been raised. Even though there is an Imperial Envoy here, acting as if the Emperor himself had arrived, no one raised an objection to moving the seats.

Moreover, the attention of the crowd is not currently focused on the etiquette, but rather they are all wondering:

Why is that Tang Zhao nowhere to be seen?

Could he still be bathing and changing clothes?

But now the Imperial Envoy has arrived, the Gaoyuan Marquis is also present, and the auspicious hour is approaching; for him to not appear as the recipient of the title, this airs is too big.

Not to mention that the Sword Immortal is also waiting for him; how can he really play that "called a thousand times before he appears" routine? That is a tactic of putting on airs to raise one's own value. Seeing that the nobles from heaven and earth are all here, if you put on airs and offend any one of them, you will surely be in for a world of trouble.

Not to mention others, even Lady Min, the Imperial Envoy who had communicated with the Gaoyuan Marquis, is somewhat puzzled and signals to the Gaoyuan Marquis with her eyes.

The Gaoyuan Marquis calculates the time and says, "It can begin."

"Hum—"

Then the sound of ceremonial music rises, the dull sound of horns seeming to come from the ancient past and heading toward the future.

"Something is wrong," Wang Fei whispers in the stands. "This sound is not ceremonial music, but military music, it's a military bugle."

He has a noble status, being the legitimate Snow Mountain Prince, and this time he is here representing the Snow Mountain Prince openly, with a status among the most prominent of the guests. Therefore, he is not sitting with the familiar Yun Xiyan. Beside him is a young prince from the Shou Wangfu whose status is similar to his.

Shou Wang is the current uncle of the Emperor and has a lofty status, but Wang Fei is a legitimate Prince, while this young prince is only an ordinary grandson of Shou Wang; Shou Wang has at least double-digit grandsons, so the young prince is not as important as the Prince.

According to the royal seniority, the young prince must call Wang Fei "Royal Uncle." The young prince, who is not yet twenty, is quite sycophantic toward this Prince, and these past few days he has been calling him "Royal Uncle" very fluently. Wang Fei, considering they are both of the royal clan, treats him quite well.

The young prince is clearly a playboy who knows nothing and asks, "Royal Uncle, what does it mean to play a military bugle?"

Wang Fei says, "That is naturally..."

Naturally what?

It is to set out on an expedition!

Just as he is pondering that this answer is not quite right and seems inapplicable to this occasion, he feels his body drift, drifting up toward the sky.

It is not just him drifting; everyone has drifted up, or rather, the spectator stands have drifted up.

This kind of floating is quite steady, the stand being lifted as steadily as an eight-bearer sedan chair, only the height is a bit high, and it refuses to stop even after going up more than ten zhang. This height is nothing to those who know how to fly on swords, but for a playboy like the young prince, it is clearly too high; he almost screams and only steadies himself after grabbing Wang Fei's arm.

At this moment, the Gaoyuan Marquis says, "Distinguished guests, do not worry. We have actively raised this stand because the ceremony below is not suitable for close viewing. Moreover, there are protective measures around the stand; as long as you do not leave the stand, I guarantee you will be safe and sound."

She says it very calmly, as if announcing the start of a performance.

The Gaoyuan Marquis still has credibility, and everyone believes her, but believing does not mean they are not panicked. Especially someone like the young prince, who cannot help but be at a loss, grabbing Wang Fei's sleeve and saying, "Royal Uncle, Royal Uncle, what is going on?"

Royal Uncle does not know either.

Wang Fei is actually a bit panicked himself; he does not often fly on swords either, but he does not want to show cowardice in front of his nephew, so he barely calms down to observe the surroundings, discovering that even the ceremonial platform where the Gaoyuan Marquis and the Imperial Envoy are standing has drifted up.

Could it be that it is truly unsafe, and even the Gaoyuan Marquis is not safe?

The only thing that has not moved is the seat where the Sword Immortal Highness sits; perhaps the Gaoyuan Marquis felt he did not need extra care and so did not raise his chair, or perhaps his chair was also meant to drift up but was suppressed by him.

So now, what is going to...

At this moment, the sound of the military bugle stops, and two people walk out from behind the stands.

One of them is tall, burly, and powerful, with a dignified appearance and a vigorous gait, wearing the uniform of a third-rank military officer, looking like an old general who has been through many battles.

The other is a young man, looking only seventeen or eighteen years old, with a handsome appearance and a serious expression.

If there were rumors about Tang Zhao's identity and appearance before, some of which could even match that third-rank military officer, now, as soon as everyone sees Tang Zhao, they suddenly realize:

This person must be Tang Zhao!

An extraordinary person must have an extraordinary appearance; seeing the demeanor of this youth so outstanding, almost satisfying all people's imaginations of a talent, it seems not strange to be enfeoffed as a Marquis at a young age.

Although he is indeed young...

Alright, he is too young!

The young prince grabs Wang Fei and says, "Royal Uncle, don't you know Tang Zhao? Is this Tang Zhao?"

Wang Fei hums and says, "Yes. Who else could it be but him?"

After a pause, he says with some confusion, "He seems to have changed a bit." His experience is also average, and it is difficult to accurately describe his intuition; finally, after choosing his words for a long time, he says, "He has grown up."

If he was still a bit strange when he heard the military bugle before, seeing Tang Zhao's state, he suddenly feels it is not strange anymore: "He really is going to the battlefield."

Wang Fei himself has been on the battlefield, and he knows Tang Zhao's state well; it is not blood boiling, nor is it viewing death as a return home, but simply having made all preparations.

He is about to start fighting.

Then what can be seen next?

Just as Wang Fei thinks, Tang Zhao has made all preparations for today; he has adjusted his state to the best, not the most enthusiastic,

not the bravest, but the calmest. Nothing can break his state of mind...

Or perhaps not...

When Tang Zhao passes by the only chair still left on the ground and sees the person on the chair, he is suddenly stunned, his eyes widening, and he cannot help but say, "You... ah, you are..."

That Sword Immortal Highness smiled and said, "So, little friend Tang still remembers me."

Hearing how this "Sword Immortal Highness" addressed Tang Zhao, Han Shengyuan behind him suddenly widened his eyes, looking at Tang Zhao in utter disbelief.

Tang Zhao gave a wry smile and said, "How could I possibly not remember you?"

You are, after all, the strongest powerhouse I have ever met.

How should I address you?

Guiyuanshi... Emperor?

By the rules of the world, Sword Immortals are all addressed as Highness, so a Sword Saint, being a level higher, should be addressed as Emperor, right?

Although no one has explicitly stated this rule, perhaps it is because Sword Saints are truly too far removed from the Human World.

That is correct, this is the Kun Sword Sword Saint, the powerhouse who had a brief encounter with Tang Zhao in Jianzhou. At that time, Tang Zhao used the Kun Sword to resolve a trouble, and Guiyuanshi gifted him an item.

If not for that gift, there would be no ceremony today.

But why would a Sword Saint descend to the world? Surely not specifically to see him?

If that were the case, Tang Zhao would truly be flattered and humbled.

And not just humbled, but also somewhat flustered.

If it were any other powerhouse, even an unfamiliar one, watching him, he would not be timid, because he represents Yunzhou, acts openly and honestly, and stands tall and upright, so naturally, he has nothing to fear.

Only when facing this one... he is about to use his sword, after all.

He felt like Li Gui robbing people in front of Li Kui; regardless of whether Li Kui pursues the matter or not, he himself feels guilty.

For a moment, Tang Zhao even wanted to abandon the plan temporarily. Should he just not do the big thing today and honestly accept the investiture?

But the next moment, he dismissed the thought.

Everything is prepared, today is the best opportunity, the arrow is on the string and must be fired, how could he give up halfway?

Moreover, he has now decided to "take myself as the master"; the matter at hand is the most important, and Yunzhou is the most important. Everything else must give way.

At this time, Guiyuanshi spoke first: "Little friend is going to show off his skills today? I am waiting to see it."

Tang Zhao cast aside other emotions and said solemnly, "I remember you enjoy the countryside. Do you still remember the seeds you gave me last time?"

Guiyuanshi said, "Seeds... they were lotus seeds, right?"

In fact, it was a lotus pond; Guiyuanshi was intentionally following his lead.

Tang Zhao said, "If one plants a seed, then for the seed to grow sturdily, undergo Rooting, sprout, bloom, and bear fruit, that is also quite normal, right?"

Anyway, he tried his best to make up for it; he did not know if he could fool him or not.

Guiyuanshi pondered slightly and smiled: "I am very happy to see that planting leads to a harvest; a bountiful harvest of the five grains is a beautiful thing. Then let me see what fruit you have produced?"

Tang Zhao bowed slightly, turned his head to the burly man behind him, who was the Jian Di Si Commander and Qilin Sword, and said: "Commander, please part the water!"