Wedding

A hand reached out for a youth dressed in white from head to toe as he left the gates of the City Lord's mansion. He turned around but wasn't surprised, since he knew the person who had reached out to him.

It was a youth dressed in black, who was followed by another youth in blue. The two youths were Mo Jidong and Long He Yu, they had joined in with the commotion and watched the event from inside the crowd at another spot.

They had also left the event after the outcome was decided. Since they had no relation to the City Lord's mansion, it was pointless for them to stay any longer. On the way back, the three of them explored Whitecloud city, before heading back to the inn for the night.

Inside his room, Yan Lenglei was sitting cross-legged and cultivating. A purple light surrounded his entire body, as the soft rumbling of thunder could be heard outside the inn. Within his Divine Rune, a small and tightly condensed ball of purple Thunder Qi was seen crazily absorbing Spiritual Qi in the atmosphere.

Currently, Yan Lenglei was trying to make a breakthrough in his Concept of Thunder. Within the Concept, there were also stages within. Thunderhead, Thunderstorm, Thunderclap, and Thunderbolt were the four stages of Thunder.

Each stage was more powerful and faster than the other. The only difference between each stage was in qualitative and quantitative differences, otherwise, they were all the same.

Other Concepts also had four stages each. For example, Yan Lenglei's Concept of Ice had Snow, Freeze, Frost, and Glacial. So far, he was in the first stages of both Concepts that he comprehended, even so, the power and speed behind each of his attacks were incredibly powerful, enough to fight across a realm.

Once he made a breakthrough, his attacks would be even more devastating than before. Of course, he also planned on comprehending other kinds of Concepts as well. While the more he comprehended meant that he would need to spend more time to even them all out, he would be more powerful, and have more ways of fighting against his opponents.

Even so, he predicted that he would still need several years before he could reach the Freeze and Thunderstorm stage. Inside their rooms, Mo Jidong and Long He Yu were also cultivating respectively.

At their age group, they basically had no opponents aside from each other. Even so, they still needed to get stronger if they wanted to explore the Three Thousand Worlds in the future. Only by attaining enough strength, would they be able to face the difficulties of the future.

******

A week later. Inside a fancy inn filled with customers dining in and being served by the stewards, there were many people talking amongst each other. "Did you hear? The City Lord mansion will hold the eldest daughter's wedding next week, they will also be holding a tournament held between those underneath the Noble realm." someone said, in a not so low voice.

"I heard, but I don't know the reason, do you?" a bearded man stroked his semi-long beard as he asked with curiosity. "Apparently, the second daughter is returning from the Celestial Lotus Sect, one of the supreme sects of the Great Solar Empire, a Grade Four sect!"

"What?! The Second Miss is returning? It's been a year since she had left, after awakening her Heaven Grade Divine Rune at the young age of only fifteen! By now, she should be in the Noble Realm right?" another man who was on the same table spat his tea.

The man talking first wiped the tea off his face, as he continued, "Who knows, if the Second Miss had agreed to leave the Great Solar Empire and join the Heavenly Ice Palace which is located in the Great Night Empire, her cultivation would've been unfathomable."

"Fortunately, she was filial and remained here in the Great Solar Empire, in the future we can put up a better fight than the previous tournaments."

"If the Second Miss still hasn't reached the Noble Realm, maybe she will participate in the tournament at the City Lord's mansion, I should get my son to participate…"

On their table, Yan Lenglei, Mo Jidong, and Long He Yu had heard everything clearly. Every other table around them was talking about it. It seemed like the City Lord's Second Miss was extraordinarily talented.

Even though this tournament didn't interest them, it would be another story if this Second Miss of the City Lord's mansion participated. There was still some time left before the wedding and the tournament to start. Yan Lenglei's group cultivated whenever they could, and stopped when they needed to stop.

After all, cultivation was a slow and arduous journey, taking one step at a time. While spending a lot of time to cultivate was good, spending too long wasn't beneficial and was actually detrimental if one spent too long doing so each day.

Whitecloud city was large, but there wasn't much to do there. Yan Lenglei's group weren't natives to the city either and didn't know many people, hence there was nothing to do.

In the blink of an eye, a week had gone by and the Eldest Miss's wedding was celebrated throughout the entire Whitecloud city. Red decoration filled the streets, as a large carriage, as well as strong horses pulling the carriage along with expensive dowry.

Fireworks and firecrackers were cracked up, as loud noises filled the streets, with young children and adults alike celebrating and following the carriage. Inside the large and extravagant carriage, was the City Lord's First Miss, dressed in her wedding dress, and had a red veil covering her head.

Underneath this veil, nobody could see the beautiful features of this eldest daughter of the Whitecloud city's City Lord. Soon, the carriage arrived in front of the City Lord's mansion that had originally come over from the groom's home.

The carriage stopped and was gently put down onto the ground, allowing the bride to leave the carriage and enter the City Lord's mansion. The bridge left the carriage, and slowly entered the mansion along with the citizens who came along to watch from outside.

Eventually, the bride arrived, where the groom and the parents of both sides were already seated and waiting for her. Keeping the veil on, the newly married couple poured three cups of tea for their parents, before bowing to the parents, the heavens, and to each other.

A feast was held within the City Lord's mansion that day, and lasted throughout the night. The bridge and groom left the banquet early and headed to their room for their night of consummation.

Once the guests all left, including the friends and family, as well as the other few powerhouses on the same level as the City Lord himself, the sound of a bell rung softly along with the wind, as a single girl of sixteen entered the City Lord's mansion on her own.

Within his room, the City Lord opened his eyes as he noticed this presence. "Qi er, your playfulness hasn't changed at all during this past year, I guess old habits die hard."

Soon, a soft giggling sound was heard, as a little girl of around sixteen enters the City Lord's room from the window. Inside the City Lord's room, was a young girl of sixteen. Even young, her features were beautiful, being more graceful and elegant compared to her elder sister's fiery temperament.

Her height was slightly above average, as she came dressed in a long pale-blue hanfu that was neat and didn't have any special embroidery on it. Her long black hair was tied up neatly with a jade hairpin that was actually a Spiritual Tool made for both attacking and defending.

"Father, I've returned." she said in a polite, yet playful manner. Shaking his head, the City Lord didn't know how to handle this second daughter of his. Since she was young, she was always a naughty one who liked to play tricks on others.

The only thing he was proud of was that she wasn't haughty and arrogant, not looking down on others in unfortunate situations. Her great talents in cultivation was just a bonus in which he didn't care about, to him, character was the most important trait in a person.

"Rest well, you can tell your father and elder siblings of your experience during the past year in the morning." the City Lord said, dismissing her.

"Yes father." his daughter, Ning Lianqi replied, leaving his room quietly so as to not disturb her father any longer. Once his daughter left, the City Lord looked outside the window as a yearning expression filled his face.

"Fei er, our daughters are grown up now, one has gotten married, while the other has joined a big sect. Will you ever return? I hope wherever you are, you will think of our daughters." he quietly muttered so that only he himself could hear.

******

Soon, two weeks after the wedding had gone by, and news of the tournament being held in the City Lord's mansion was spread throughout Whitecloud city. Yan Lenglei's group didn't leave the city during this time, waiting for this tournament to begin.

A battle between those below the Baron stage didn't interest them, but a super talent of the Great Solar Empire was a must see. They wanted to see for themselves just how powerful this talent was, enough for her to be recruited even by a Grade One sect that was outside of the empire.

After having breakfast, Yan Lenglei's group left the inn and headed for the City Lord's mansion. Along the way, there were many others rushing towards the City Lord's mansion in order to get a good seat and watch the battle.

They were in no worry and couldn't care less where they were seated. With their sharp and powerful senses, all three of them could see everything that took place in a small area around them. Nothing could escape from their sights within this area, even a single dustmite passing through the air could be sensed.

When they arrived, the battles had yet to begin. The seats were all filled to the brim, while the spectators were lively. Finding a place outside of the spectators area, Yan Lenglei, Mo Jidong, and Long He Yu stood in order to watch.

The stage used for this tournament was the same as the one used during the battle to be the Eldest Miss' husband. Nearby, the Eldest Miss and her husband were already seated and waiting for the City Lord, as well as their younger sister.

Soon, the City Lord arrived and with his youngest daughter, Ning Lianqi and took the stage. The crowd stood up and applauded during the City Lord's short speech, as well as when is second daughter stood next to him.

It had been a year since the citizens had seen this Second Misses of the City Lord's mansion. She had indeed grown a little bit from the past, being slightly more mature, but her playful nature was still seen from her expression.

Sitting down, the City Lord began to start the tournament. Ning Lianqi was automatically moved to the finals, and whoever made it to the end would battle her. Of course, nobody refuted since they knew of the Second Misses heavenly talents that hadn't appeared in the Great Solar Empire for many years.

The Great Solar Empire had used to be the most glorious and highest ranked empire, but slowly declined after all the talented figured died or moved to the Upper Realms. Since then, there was not even one figure who had such talents on their level. That was only until Ning Lianqi was born.

On the day that Ning Lianqi was born, the sky dark clouds on that day cleared up, as a rainbow passed through the Whitecloud city, allowing the city to enjoy rays of sunshine. A bright light was also released in the sky that day, attracting the attention of the Emperor of the realm!

The Emperor himself, who was the absolute ruler of this realm sent out an imperial decree to bestow upon Ning Lianqi a high court official ranking once she came of age. Now that this has come to pass, the decree would immediately take effect.

On the stage, there were many youths who were all under twenty years old. Many of them were around the Seventh stage of the Awakening Realm, with the weakest being at the Sixth stage.

There were also a few of the Eighth and even Ninth stage, with one even halfway to the Noble Realm. After a couple of hours had gone by, there were only two people left. The two were Ning Lianqi who had yet to participate, and would display her unmatched talents during this match, against a young man who was at the pinnacle of the Awakening Realm, with half his foot into the Noble Realm.

Judging from the aura around Ning Lianqi, Yan Lenglei's group had deduced that she was already in the Noble Realm, and would temporarily regress her cultivation stage to fight her opponent.

Since the beginning, they had all observed her from their location, wanting to see her so-called unparalleled talents. Her aura seemed ordinary, yet unordinary at the same time, but a large Fighting Will that couldn't be hidden surrounded her.

It seemed this girl enjoyed fighting, and tempering herself through battle, making her stronger and stronger with each battle. This type of opponent was a good foe, but was also an annoying one at the same time.

Think about it, how would someone feel if a pesky person they had defeated multiple times kept asking them to spar over and over again? One would have a big headache just thinking about it.