Chapter 100 - 99:Preparations
The morning sun rose above the mist-covered mountains of the valley, spreading warm light across the large estate. The soft sound of the waterfall in the garden filled the air, creating a calm feeling that stood in sharp contrast to the sudden rush of activity taking place in the grand main hall.
Standing at the absolute center of the pavilion was Bai Chen. The young cultivator had his sleeves rolled up, his face flushed with excitement as he orchestrated a group of hired artisans and decorators.
"No, no! Move that drapery a little more to the left!" Bai Chen directed, pointing toward the massive pillars of the hall. "My cousin prefers it that way, and the red needs to catch the morning light perfectly! And the Azure Cloud-Bells—place them near the entrance so the wind carries their fragrance directly into the pavilion. She will absolutely love that!"
The workers, a bustling crew of highly skilled mortal craftsmen, hurried to follow his every command. They carried massive rolls of vibrant red silk, intricately carved spirit-wood lanterns, and crates overflowing with glowing, freshly bloomed flowers.
Through the chaos of the preparations, Bai Chen spotted a specific foreman jogging into the courtyard, wiping sweat from his brow.
"You there!" Bai Chen called out, waving the man over. "Did you finish the task I assigned you yesterday? Did you paste the wedding announcements on the city boards?"
The foreman bowed deeply, out of breath but entirely respectful. "Yes, Young Master Bai! My men and I rode through the night. We pasted the wedding announcement on the central notice boards in both Azure Cloud City and the capital, Sky Jade City, exactly as you requested!"
Bai Chen nodded with immense satisfaction, tossing the man a small pouch of gold coins for his swiftness.
It was a testament to the precision of Lin Yuan’s defensive barrier that this entire workforce had been able to enter the estate at all. Before entering secluded cultivation, Lin Yuan had cast a defensive formation over the estate. However, the formation was specifically designed to target cultivators, not mortals.
Because these artisans were merely mundane mortals, possessing no spiritual energy and carrying nothing in their hearts beyond the honest desire to earn their wages by hanging silk and arranging flowers, the barrier naturally allowed them to pass.
Meanwhile, on the highest floor of the master pavilion,within the cultivation chamber, the miniature River of Years Pagoda ceased its spinning rotation. The temporal runes faded, and with a soft woom, the artifact shrunk into a speck of light, seamlessly returning to Lin Yuan’s spatial storage.
Lin Yuan stood in the center of the room. He did not immediately move. He took a slow, deep breath, adjusting his consciousness to the standard flow of time in the physical world. He had spent forty-five years inside that void. To his mind and his soul, decades had passed. Yet, out here, it had only been nine days.
With a mere thought, he summoned his status panel to review his progress. The system text materialized brilliantly in his vision:
[Millionfold Return System]
[Host:] Lin Yuan
[Wife:] Bai Qingyue
[Root Bone:] Supreme Heavenly Talent
[Comprehension:] 12500 (God-Tier Perception)
[Lifespan:] 65/1000 years
[Physique: Ancient Beast Body (Rank 1)]
[Realm:] Nascent Soul Realm (Late Stage)
[Divine Skills:] Death Gaze, Thunder Rain Dao Intent, Immortal Cloud Step, Thunder Step, Eye of Heavenly Retribution (Autonomous), False Immortal Palmstrike, Shatter Illusion, See Truth
Lin Yuan’s eyes scanned the interface, his gaze naturally stopping at the lifespan metric. He saw that spending all that time in the River of Years Pagoda did indeed add to his lifespan. His age had jumped from 20 to 65 years old.
Yet, as he looked down at his own hands, there was absolutely no sign of aging. His skin remained flawless, and forged of indestructible beast-iron. In the mortal world, a sixty-five-year-old man was in the twilight of his life, his hair greying and his bones aching. But in the world of cultivation, possessing a baseline lifespan of a thousand years meant that a sixty-five-year-old Nascent Soul expert was practically a newborn infant. He had merely consumed a tiny fraction of his overarching vitality to secure absolute power.
Suddenly, Lin Yuan’s hearing picked up the bustling noises echoing from the floors below. He could hear the shouting of workers, the dragging of wooden crates, and Bai Chen’s enthusiastic, but commanding voice.
Curious, and feeling a profound sense of calm having stabilized his Late Stage foundation, Lin Yuan decided to see exactly what his brother-in-law was doing.
Zzzzt!
Channeling his teleportation ability, space folded effortlessly around him. He bypassed the staircases entirely, teleporting out of the cultivation chamber and materializing on the second-floor balcony that overlooked the grand main hall.
As Lin Yuan looked down, his breath was genuinely taken away.
He had expected Bai Chen to do some basic cleaning, perhaps light some incense and sweep the floors. Instead, he was looking at an absolute masterpiece of matrimonial celebration. The entire hall had been transformed into a breathtaking, ethereal sea of deep crimson and vibrant gold. Miles of flawless red silk were draped elegantly from the vaulted ceilings, cascading down the white jade pillars like waterfalls of fire.
Hundreds of intricately carved, floating spirit-lanterns hovered in the air, casting a warm, romantic, and eternal glow over the room. The air was thick with the sweet, intoxicating perfume of thousands of rare spirit flowers meticulously arranged along the aisles.
To his absolute awe, it was beautiful. It was overwhelmingly beautiful.
Lin Yuan stood on the balcony, his mind briefly flashing back to his previous life on modern Earth. He remembered the grand, expensive weddings of the modern era—the electric lights, the luxury cars, the sterile banquet halls, and the decorations. None of it... absolutely not a single fraction of that modern opulence could hold a candle to the raw, majestic, and immortal beauty of the scene laid out before him. This was a wedding aesthetic forged by the heavens, radiating a cultural and spiritual depth that transcended time itself.
Down below, Bai Chen happened to glance upward and spotted the tall, imposing figure of his brother-in-law standing on the balcony. Even with Lin Yuan heavily suppressing his newly acquired Late Stage aura, Bai Chen could feel an unfathomable pressure radiating from the man.
"Brother-in-law! You have emerged!" Bai Chen shouted, his face splitting into a massive, proud grin. He waved his arms frantically, completely abandoning the decorators to jog toward the staircase.
Lin Yuan offered a soft smile, floating gently down from the balcony and landing silently on the floor.
"You have been incredibly busy, Bai Chen," Lin Yuan noted, gesturing to the sprawling sea of crimson and gold.
Bai Chen puffed his chest out with intense pride, immediately beginning to summarize what he had done so far. "I hired the absolute best artisans in the entire province! They have been working day and night for the past week! We have decorated the main hall, lined the garden pathways with luminescent lotuses, and prepared a grand banquet table for the ceremony! I even made sure that the floral arrangements specifically highlight the Azure Cloud-Bells that Cousin loves so much!"
"It is magnificent," Lin Yuan praised genuinely. "But I overheard your conversation with the foreman just now. You sent riders to Azure Cloud City and the capital? So, you decided to make the wedding known to most?"
Bai Chen’s smile softened. He looked at Lin Yuan, his eyes burning with conviction.
"I did," Bai Chen admitted, his voice firm. "I want everyone to bear witness to my cousin’s new life. I want the entire Zhao Province to know that the woman that was thrown into the outer-city slums is now standing at the absolute pinnacle, draped in crimson silk, marrying a Nascent Soul expert. She deserves to have her joy proclaimed to the heavens."
Lin Yuan felt a deep surge of respect for the boy. The protective love Bai Chen held for Qingyue was absolute.
"Let them witness it, then," Lin Yuan agreed smoothly. He crossed his arms, his deep purple eyes scanning the room one more time. "And while I was in seclusion refining my cultivation... did anything worth noting happen?"
Bai Chen shook his head adamantly. "None at all, Brother-in-law. Now that nothing happened, the days were completely peaceful. The defensive barrier you established were flawless. Not a single cultivator dared to approach the valley. We were entirely left alone to prepare."
"Good," Lin Yuan murmured.
As the workers continued to scurry about, putting the final touches on the lanterns and the floral archways, Lin Yuan’s gaze wandered the grand main hall. He walked slowly down the central aisle, marveling at the decorations, the glowing gold threads, and the vibrant spirit flowers.