Chapter 0933: The Sacred Dao Pond’s Grand Ceremony
Chapter 0933: The Sacred Dao Pond’s Grand Ceremony
In the Grand Essence Domain, there has always been a saying. “The Grand Essence Domain’s ten great forces; five on ground; four in sea; and one in air.”
The only force in the air was the 9-Revolution Sacred Dao Pond. When Ning Cheng and Ruo Xi arrived outside the 9-Revolution Sacred Dao Pond, only then did they realise why such a saying existed.
To be precise, the 9-Revolution Sacred Dao Pond covered a huge area filled with different mountain ranges, with 9-Revolution Sacred Dao Peak in the centre. The mountain ranges were naturally on the ground. But the 9-Revolution Sacred Dao Peak was the only one suspended in the air, albeit inverted.
Even the many disciples of the sect couldn’t enter the 9-Revolution Sacred Dao Peak without special permission. But this time, since the 9-Revolution Sacred Dao Pond and the 7-Star Sacred Sect were entering into a marriage, they jointly opened up a separate path to the 9-Revolution Sacred Dao Peak. Therefore, one didn’t need to pass through the outer mountain ranges to enter the 9-Revolution Sacred Dao Pond’s central 9-Revolution Sacred Dao Peak.
This new entrance to the centre of the 9-Revolution Sacred Dao Pond was guarded by two cultivators. It had faint clouds that stretched from the ground into the air. Amid these clouds, one could also see a vague staircase, seemingly leading to the 9-Revolution Sacred Dao Peak.
After checking Ning Cheng’s invitation, the two cultivators guarding the entrance to the staircase made an inviting gesture to Ning Cheng. They then stepped aside, allowing Ning Cheng and Ruo Xi to ascend the stairs.
“It’s a spirit artefact-level treasure, but not of a high rank.” Seeing Ning Cheng observing the staircase beneath his feet, Ruo Xi took the initiative to speak up.
Ning Cheng was an Artefact-crafting Master who could already refine middle-rank spirit artefacts. As such, he naturally knew that the staircase under his feet was a spirit artefact. In fact, it was only a middle-rank spirit artefact. The only reason he observed it was because he had not refined such auxiliary-type spirit artefacts.
The staircase wasn’t short, but to show respect to the Sacred Dao Pond, the cultivators ascending didn’t do so in a hurry. Ning Cheng and Ruo Xi naturally didn’t dare to act rashly. The two kept walking up this staircase for about half an incense stick worth of time, finally arriving before a huge pond.
The front of this pond only had a few big words, “1-Revolution Sacred Dao Pond.”
The surface of the pond was lined with white mist, with nothing above it. Ning Cheng’s spiritual consciousness swept in but found that it could only sweep halfway into the pond.
When the female cultivator receiving the guests saw Ning Cheng and Ruo Xi arrive at the pond, she hurriedly stepped forward. She then quickly bowed, “Two respected guests, please follow me.”
The way this female cultivator arrived in front of them somewhat surprised Ning Cheng. He clearly could tell that this female cultivator hadn’t used any movement skills or techniques. Nor did he see any bridge over the pond. Yet, this female cultivator had walked across the pond as if it never existed.
When she stepped on the pond to reach them, it was as if there was an extraordinary power that held her up, preventing her from falling into the pond. However, Ning Cheng didn’t sense any formation around him or any fluctuations from the pond.
“May I ask why this pond is called the 1-Revolution Sacred Dao Pond?” Ning Cheng asked. He couldn’t help but think about the Seven Bridges Spirit Technique, which gave him a similar feeling.
The female cultivator who led the way showed a faint smile and said with a slight bow. “This place is where the disciples of my 9-Revolution Sacred Dao Pond begin their cultivation journey.”
After saying this, the female cultivator didn’t speak anymore. By this moment, the three of them had already walked past the pond. They then arrived at a white jade-paved path.
Ruo Xi promptly transmitted a message to Ning Cheng. “I learned a few things about the 9-Revolution Sacred Dao Pond’s cultivation methods. To cultivate the 9-Revolution Sacred Dao Pond’s cultivation method, one had to undergo their first reincarnation in this pond.”
Ning Cheng did know something about Sacred Dao Pond’s connection with reincarnation. Shi Qionghua had reincarnated nine times, but in the end, because of him, all her hard work had gone to waste.
Thinking of Shi Qionghua, Ning Cheng sighed and was in no mood to say anything else.
By the time Ning Cheng and Ruo Xi followed the female cultivator to the ceremony hall, the hall had already filled up with people. As Ning Cheng’s gaze swept over, he saw many Dao Sculpting and above experts. Unfortunately, he didn’t know any of them.
Ruo Xi’s voice came over again, “Don’t use your spiritual consciousness to sweep around here; there are many Dao Confirming cultivators here.”
“Many thanks.” Ning Cheng thanked her.
His deal with Ruo Xi had, in fact, ended when he arrived here. Yet, Ruo Xi still reminded him, showing that this woman had some human feelings.
After the two sat down, a few more people walked into the hall one after another. Gradually, some people Ning Cheng knew also stepped into the great hall. Moreover, some of them were Dao Confirming experts he had seen when he had entered the Grand Essence Mystic Realm.
When a silver-haired woman walked in, Ning Cheng subconsciously lowered his head. But he quickly recalled that he was using a different disguise.
Ning Cheng knew this silver-haired woman. Man Jiuren had ‘blackmailed’ this same woman to come to the Mysterious Yellow Starland. He had later saved her and had also made a deal back then. Unexpectedly, this woman had also come to the Sacred Dao Pond to attend the ceremony.
After a few moments, several beautiful-looking female cultivators walked in one after another. Ning Cheng actually knew a few of those women, Shi Yisheng and Na Yuanxing, along with Shan Yaocen and Yan Xishuang. After these few, Qu Baiyi, Lu Yixian, Ji Pingzhong and even Peng Shan stepped in.
Ning Cheng didn’t find it strange for those women to come here. After all, it was only normal for Shui Yueke to have a few of her peers come over to cheer for her wedding. It was only when he saw Shan Yaocen did Ning Cheng feel a little puzzled. Ning Cheng knew that Ying Yongxuan, who was about to marry Shui Yueke, had previously chased Shan Yaocen.
But what made Ning Cheng even more disappointed was that he didn’t see the female cultivator who looked like Shi Qionghua. One should know that he had come here specifically for that female cultivator.
Everyone knew what kind of place they currently stood within. Therefore, when they came in, even those who knew each other just nodded. No one dared to make any kind of noise here.
However, precious spirit fruits and spirit wines constantly made the rounds among guests. As these top-quality wines went down, the voices in the hall gradually started to rise.
But just as the atmosphere started to warm up, a beautiful woman with a holy crown on her head walked in, accompanied by a few more cultivators wearing similarly precious crowns.
“Greetings Holy Emperor Heavenly Burden[1]….”
“Greetings Holy Emperor Far Void[2]….”
Seeing this group enter, the crowd immediately stood up to greet them. Even Ning Cheng and Ruo Xi stood up.
“On behalf of the 9-Revolution Sacred Dao Pond, I, Shi Tianhe, would like to thank everyone for coming here and participating in the marriage ceremony between my 9-Revolution Sacred Dao Pond and the 7-Star Sacred Sect.” The beautiful woman with the holy crown on her head raised her hand in greeting and spoke with a faint smile. The subdued and soft smile paired well with her hand gesture, which felt perfect and impossible to replicate.
After the beautiful woman finished speaking, the middle-aged man beside her showed a slight smile and made a similar greeting gesture. “On behalf of the 7-Star Sacred Sect, this Mu Yuankong also appreciates our friends for coming here. Thank you all for participating in the marriage ceremony between my 7-Star Sacred Sect and the 9-Revolution Sacred Dao Pond.”
After the two finished their greeting, they walked towards the host’s seats. Ning Cheng only then saw Ying Yongxuan following behind My Yuankong but didn’t see Shui Yueke.
After listening to the chatter around him, Ning Cheng realised that Shi Tianhe was one of Dao Pond’s nine saints[3]. She is also the Vice-matriarch of the 9-Revolution Sacred Dao Pond. And Mu Yuankong was likewise the Deputy Sect Master of 7-Star Sacred Sect.
Ruo Xi’s voice transmission came over once again. “Both Shi Tianhe and Mu Yuankong are powerful individuals who have touched the second step of Dao Confirming.”
Ning Cheng nodded slightly. He understood what Ruo Xi meant. Although he had not told Ruo Xi what he wanted to do here, this woman was still afraid that he would act recklessly.
After the crowd settled down, a middle-aged female cultivator slowly walked into the hall.
As soon as this middle-aged cultivator walked in, and before she could speak, numerous cheers resounded throughout the hall. Ning Cheng then saw her make the same greeting gesture as Shi Tianhe and Mu Yuankong did before.
Ning Cheng felt a little puzzled. This female cultivator didn’t seem to have high cultivation, so how did she have such great prestige? He was just about to ask when he heard Ruo Xi’s voice transmission. “That woman is the Third Union Master of the Grand Essence Domain’s Pill Union, Holy Emperor Qing Yi[4]. Not only is she a Dao Transformation expert, but she is also a Dao Transformation Pill Sage. I just heard people talking about her.”
Ruo Xi’s strength was far higher than Ning Cheng’s; therefore, her hearing would naturally be better than Ning Cheng’s hearing.
No wonder everyone respected her so much. She was actually a Dao Transformation Pill Sage. However, Ning Cheng quickly turned speechless. How come the ones who came here today were all vice-heads or deputies? Wasn’t the third union head also a deputy? In a certain sense, one could even say that she was the deputy of a deputy.
The female cultivator waited for the crowd’s voice to die down before she showed a warm smile. “The 9-Revolution Sacred Dao Pond has a sacred daughter Shui Yueke, whose qualifications and looks are heavenly. The 7-Star Sacred Sect has a sacred son, Ying Yongxuan, a great scholar of the Grand Essence Domain. Since the two hearts are pleased with each other and have decided to form a daoist couple, this ceremony certainly would be heavenly……”
Ning Cheng secretly shook his head. It was pretty apparent that the two sects wanted to form an alliance. Marriage was simply the best excuse to achieve it.
He started to prepare himself to slip away and look for the woman who looked like Shi Qionghua. But just when he turned to talk to Ruo Xi about it, he was dumbfounded.
Ruo Xi had already disappeared, and he didn’t even notice it.
Ning Cheng’s expressions turned a little ugly. From the looks of it, he had been set up by this woman. One of the two seats on an invitation being empty wouldn’t be conspicuous. But if they both turned up empty, it would definitely stand out. In other words, he would have to stay here until Ruo Xi returned.
But that woman, Ruo Xi, came here to steal something. So, would she even come back? Perhaps this woman had already planned to backstab him after retrieving her stuff before escaping from the sacred dao pond. Once this woman ran away without him, he truly would be finished.
Indeed, one shouldn’t trust people casually. Beautiful or not, everyone had to be treated with the same caution. Ning Cheng couldn’t help but touch his ring in hatred. Luckily, he still had a child talisman. If he really couldn’t get away, he could activate the child talisman to escape. As for whether the Boundary Breaking Talisman could break through the interface here, Ning Cheng wasn’t entirely confident. However, the child talisman was a part of the Opening Heaven Talisman, which means it wouldn’t be much of a problem.
At this moment, Ning Cheng even had some doubts about whether Ruo Xi had purposely helped him re-invigorate the child talisman to gain his confidence.
Holy Emperor Qing Yi’s voice continued, “Now for the first part of the ceremony. Ying Yongxuan of the 7-Star Sacred Sect and Shui Yueke of the 9-Revolution Sacred Dao Pond, please come forward and make your vows before the distinguished guests.”
As Holy Emperor Qing Yi’s voice fell, Ying Yongxuan, dressed in a white ceremonial robe, walked out to the middle of the hall and calmly bowed to the surrounding cultivators. Ying Yongxuan already was a handsome-looking man. Now that he wore the ceremonial robe, it made him look even more handsome and extraordinary. As such, his greeting immediately drew a burst of cheers and praises from the crowd.
Ning Cheng was unable to leave and could only sit on his seat. He could tell that the wedding ceremony here was completely different from that on Earth. Making your vows here was, in truth, nothing more than a display of how handsome or beautiful you were.
“Shui Yueke of the 9-Revolution Sacred Dao Pond, please come and make your vows in front of all the guests….” Holy Emperor Qing Yi spoke up once again.
Only then did Ning Cheng realise that the only person who hadn’t come out till now was Shui Yueke.
As one of the Dao Pond’s nine saints, Shi Tianhe’s expressions turned slightly ugly. At such a moment, if Shui Yueke didn’t appear, it would truly be a slap to the face of her 9-Revolution Sacred Dao Pond.
[1] ‘Tianhe’ and ‘Heavenly Burden’ are both interchangeable as a title and a name
[2] ‘Yuankong’ and ‘Far Void’ are both interchangeable as a title and a name
[3] The full title is ‘9-Revolution Sacred Dao Pond’s Saint of the Dao Pond.’
[4] This is not her title but her name.