Chapter 212: CH. 212 | Wedding Procession
***
Two days later.
Right as all the preparations wrapped up, every disciple in the sect showed up wearing their finest blue outfits.
Some had bought theirs in the city, others had found pieces salvaged from ruined towns, and a few had actually shaped their outfits directly out of spiritual energy.
That day marked a huge occasion for everyone in the Lingxian Sect.
Their Sect Master, the very man who’d saved them and saved the Qin Kingdom from the Yuanmo Sect’s invasion, was about to get married in front of the entire sect.
The lucky bride to be at his side wasn’t Wu Yue, and it wasn’t Cao Ying either, and it certainly wasn’t Li Qingxue, despite all the rumors linking her closely to Lin Tian.
No, it was An Yue, his very first disciple, the one who’d always followed Lin Tian’s every word.
His first student from back when the Lingxian Sect had been on the brink of total collapse, the one who’d always stayed loyal and listened to everything he said.
Today, she’d be the one and only woman lucky enough to marry a man as remarkable as Lin Tian.
Lin Tian opened his eyes and looked ahead. He’d already dressed himself in a long, elegant red robe suited for a wedding ceremony.
He noticed no one else was around. He was still sitting cross legged at his cultivation altar in the sect’s main hall.
It seems... it’s time.
Lin Tian let out a slow breath, then rose to his feet and walked forward with steady, confident steps.
He reached out both hands, pushed the doors open, and saw that the disciples of the Lingxian Sect had already gathered in large numbers out in the front courtyard.
Red fabric decorations stretched from one pillar to the next, and the dormitory buildings had all been dressed up with beautiful red ornaments and hanging lanterns.
Li Huan walked over toward Lin Tian, and the man gave him a quick glance.
"Li Huan?"
"I’ll be part of your escort party, Master Lin," the young man said, his voice firm and warm.
Lin Tian nodded and walked forward to where a stage and podium had been set up right in the middle of the front courtyard.
That stage and podium had been prepared specifically for Lin Tian and An Yue to exchange their wedding vows.
But when he reached the podium, decked out with red accessories and ornaments, he was caught off guard, since An Yue wasn’t there at all.
Instead, only Wu Yue stood there, wearing his elder’s robe. Lin Tian smiled in confusion.
"Elder Wu?" Lin Tian asked.
"I know you’re strong. We all know that. But is your strength enough to actually protect Yue’er?" Wu Yue asked.
"What do you mean by that?"
Without warning, a formation appeared, catching Lin Tian off guard. Every mountain peak nearby was suddenly blanketed in magic formations glowing white, red, blue, and green.
Lin Tian watched all of it closely, though several of the disciples nearby seemed to find it more fascinating than alarming. They clearly wanted to know what was actually going on.
A woman sat in a chair, dressed in a beautiful red gown, her hair crowned with an elegant golden headpiece, her face nearly hidden behind a veil.
"Yue’er?"
Just as Lin Tian was about to tear through the formation covering Taixuan Peak, Wu Yue stepped in front of him, stopping him in his tracks.
"If you do that, it’ll be the same as trampling her dignity," Wu Yue said, then pointed toward the first mountain peak, Tianxing Peak.
"If you consider An Yue as important to you as your own pride, then complete the trial waiting for you at Tianxing Peak, and keep going, peak after peak, until you finally reach Taixuan."
Lin Tian smiled faintly, letting out a short laugh as he nodded. "Are you challenging me?"
"The bride’s family needs to witness your ability firsthand, to see whether you’re truly worthy of protecting An Yue or not."
Lin Tian didn’t mind that in the slightest. To prove himself to them, all he had to do was overcome whatever trial awaited him at each mountain peak.
Lin Tian shot off quickly from the sect’s front courtyard, heading straight for the peak of Tianxing.
But just as he was about to arrive, he stopped short, watching five whirlwinds suddenly rise up and surround him from every direction.
He realized only then that the moment he’d entered the mountain’s range, he’d unknowingly triggered the defense mechanism built into that rune array formation.
The person behind that rune array was An Xiao. She stood in front of the Sect Mission Hall’s main building, her gaze fixed straight ahead.
"Even though my cultivation base is low, I’m still going to do everything I can to stop you from marrying An Yue!"
An Xiao raised her hand and activated the qi orb resting in her palm. The moment it activated, five whirlwinds surged forward, trying to close in and trap Lin Tian inside the formation’s confinement.
Lin Tian was genuinely impressed. Even with the noticeable gaps in the rune array’s formation, he could tell the power behind it was strong and full of promise.
Drawing on everything he knew about array formations, Lin Tian raised his hand and aimed his attack forward, not at the five whirlwinds themselves, but directly at the core of the rune array’s formation.
Lin Tian’s white qi orb slammed into the rune array’s formation, tearing it apart and detonating it with tremendous force.
With the formation’s core destroyed, the five whirlwinds dissolved, and An Xiao didn’t press the attack any further, realizing that Lin Tian had already cleared the first of the five trials still ahead of him.
"Just as I expected. You really are unbeatable," An Xiao said.
Lin Tian smiled, raising both hands together and lowering his head respectfully. "Thank you for your guidance."
Once he’d cleared the trial at Tianxing Mountain, Lin Tian shot forward quickly, cutting through the clouds as he flew from one peak toward the next.
With the trial at Tianxing complete, that rune array formation shattered and vanished, the mountain returning to its original state.
If I have to clear a trial at every single peak, then it’s a safe bet my next one is going to come from Ji Xue at the Meridian Recovery Hall.
The moment Lin Tian arrived there, at the peak of Lingquan, he found the hall eerily quiet and empty, even though it had always been packed with female disciples before.
As he stepped deeper into the hall’s front courtyard, he was caught off guard by a powerful tremor beneath his feet.
When Lin Tian glanced down, thick tree roots suddenly shot up and wrapped tightly around his body.
With a single powerful pull, the roots yanked Lin Tian’s body straight down into the ground until there was nothing left of him on the surface.
Ji Xue revealed herself and her disciples again, stepping forward into the courtyard where Lin Tian had just been dragged underground.
One of Ji Xue’s disciples turned to her, asking specifically about what had just happened to Lin Tian. "Was that really it?"
"Who knows," Ji Xue said, "But honestly, I’d be thrilled if I actually managed to beat him. That would make me the strongest cultivator in the entire sect."