Chapter 448 - 331: Happily Ever After
「The seventh day of the sixth month.」
Fang Yun had already finished all his preparations yesterday.
After a comfortable night’s sleep, Fang Yun felt exceptionally refreshed today.
Since reaching Foundation Establishment, the only time he truly slept was when his Divine Sense was over-exhausted. Otherwise, he rested by meditating. Yesterday was the first time he had rested so thoroughly without any significant exertion.
Today was his big day.
Zhong Yankun had repeatedly instructed him on all the dos and don’ts before he and Song Qiaoqiao officially became Tao Companions, terrified he might mess up a single part of the process.
First of all, the two of them were not allowed to see each other just yet.
"It’s still early. I think I’ll cultivate for a bit."
With that, Fang Yun entered the Cultivation Room.
’As for the rules, I’ll just do whatever Zhong Yankun tells me to do.’
Other than the process being a bit troublesome, none of it was a big deal to him.
The ceremony where they would officially become Tao Companions was to be held on the Main Peak. He didn’t need to worry about things like decorating the venue.
All he had to do was follow the plan step by step.
While Fang Yun was busy with his "little" cultivation session, the Celestial Cloud Sect was already bustling with excitement.
News that he and Song Qiaoqiao were becoming Tao Companions had already spread like wildfire among the disciples three days prior. The sect’s upper and middle management, however, had known for a long time and had already begun preparing their congratulatory gifts.
Within the Celestial Cloud Sect, Cultivators became Tao Companions every year.
These unions typically occurred between fellow disciples. When they became Tao Companions, very few people knew about it, and the process was extremely simple.
Forget the disciples; even when two Elders of the Celestial Cloud Sect formed a union, the affair was usually not complex. At their level, far more Elders and disciples would be aware, but the news was typically confined to one or two of the sect’s Four Peaks, Three Halls, and two institutes.
As for the sect’s Core Formation experts becoming Tao Companions with one another, that had never before happened in the history of the Celestial Cloud Sect.
There were, however, precedents for a male Supreme Elder marrying a female Elder.
But a female Supreme Elder marrying a male Elder? This was a first in the entire history of the Celestial Cloud Sect.
In terms of status within the sect, an Elder was certainly no match for a Supreme Elder. That much was a given. But when it came to influence, every Elder knew full well that even after Song Qiaoqiao reached Core Formation and became a Supreme Elder, she would be nowhere near as influential as Fang Yun.
In the Elders’ eyes, there was no problem whatsoever with Fang Yun taking Song Qiaoqiao as his wife.
Besides, the two of them had long been in love.
The Elders who knew some of the inside story were aware that the real reason Fang Yun and Song Qiaoqiao were only now becoming Tao Companions had a great deal to do with Zhong Yankun.
But as for the specific details, those Elders were in the dark.
Some among them speculated:
’It must be Supreme Elder Zhong Yankun. He must want to hold an exceptionally grand union ceremony for his great-granddaughter. To do that, either Fang Yun or Song Qiaoqiao needed to have a status that could stand alongside his.’
’Fang Yun’s influence alone would certainly draw many Cultivators to offer their congratulations, but it still wouldn’t be enough to reach the lavish scale Zhong Yankun had in mind.’
Of course, this speculation was just for fun. Only a very small number of people knew the actual situation.
"Senior Brother, Elder Fang and Elder Song are becoming Tao Companions. Are you going to watch?"
"Junior Sister, don’t even think about it. We can’t get in at all unless an Elder takes us."
"But I heard the venue is huge this time."
"Even if it’s huge, it’s not a place for ordinary disciples like us to go. If we were all allowed, even the biggest venue on the Main Peak couldn’t possibly hold every single Sect Disciple," the senior brother explained, adding, "Besides, even if you could get in, you’d still need to prepare a congratulatory gift for Elder Fang and Elder Song."
"Do you have anything like that?"
"What could disciples like us possibly offer?" the junior sister retorted.
"Exactly. We can’t offer anything, so there’s even less reason to go."
"Oh." The junior sister couldn’t argue with that.
"Come on, let’s take a trip to Dan Cloud Peak and Artifact Casting Peak."
"What for?"
"You really don’t know, Junior Sister? Pills are cheaper and Magical Artifacts are on sale today! If we miss out today, we won’t get many more chances like this."
"I was so focused on Elder Fang and Elder Song becoming Tao Companions... Senior Brother, let’s hurry over there!"
That day, many disciples rushed toward Dan Cloud Peak and Artifact Casting Peak.
The Stewards on duty at the Dan Cloud Pavilion and the Artifact Pavilion were exceptionally busy today.
「Early in the morning.」
Many Elders gathered together in groups of two and three.
They were preparing to head to the Main Peak together.
Some Elders started asking around about what others were giving as gifts, trying to gauge their value and see how their own offerings stacked up.
"Elder Tang, what are you giving as a gift?"
"I’m giving some top-grade Spiritual Materials for Artifact Refining. I’m sure Elder Fang will love it. Haha. That’s mine, now what about yours, Elder Zhang?"
"My gift is a book on Artifact Refining that I acquired just the other day. I skimmed through it, and it’s filled with insights and personal accounts about the craft. I was originally going to send it straight to the Library Pavilion, but after I heard Elder Fang and Elder Song were becoming Tao Companions, I decided to save it."
"You think Elder Fang needs a book of insights and experiences on Artifact Refining? If even you, Elder Zhang, could make sense of it, the knowledge within can’t be that profound."
"Elder Tang, you can’t look at it like that. Perhaps most of the experiences and insights on Artifact Refining in this book will be of no use to Elder Fang. But as long as a single point proves useful and gives him some new inspiration, won’t my gift have hit the mark perfectly?"