In the Cosmos Palace, the red silks and veils hanging from above were shredded by the sword energy of the "Hundred Flowers Killer," splattering like blood across the sky.
Before anyone could react, the two figures flashed past and dashed out of the hall.
Only Wei Zhanyang’s desperate cry echoed in the great hall: "Save me—"
"Zhanyang!"
"Hongzhu!"
True Person Xuyun and Wei Zhenren moved the fastest, intercepting the two on the Fleeting Water Bridge.
The guests erupted in uproar and rushed out of the hall.
Jade tables were overturned, wine cups trampled to pieces. The solemn, joyous hall was instantly thrown into chaos.
People swept past Fairy Miaoyan, who stood there dazed and disheartened. No one offered her comfort or even paid her any attention.
Amid the turmoil, Song Qianji leisurely rose to his feet, swaying slightly.
Ji Chen and Meng Heze supported him on either side.
Song Qianji struggled reluctantly: "What are you doing? Do I look drunk to you?"
Lin Feiyuan leaned in and asked, "Then do you know how to farm?"
Song Qianji: "Of course I do!"
Lin Feiyuan waved a hand: "He’s dead drunk—carry him away!"
Ji Chen: "Got it!"
When sober, Song Qianji would modestly claim he only knew the basics, saying the farming experts among the peasants of Thousand Canals were his teachers and far more skilled than him. Thus, Thousand Canals was built on agriculture, and cultivators never looked down on mortals.
Now, as he was being carried away, he turned back and called out:
"Friend Ziye, something’s happening outside—aren’t you going to take a look?"
Ziye Wenshu said nothing but silently stood up.
The students of Green Cliff gave Song Qianji grateful, friendly smiles. If the Courtyard Overseer was unwilling to go, they couldn’t go watch the excitement either.
Most of the guests surging toward the Fleeting Water Bridge were driven by a "love of drama and chaos."
On the day of the engagement, the bride drew her sword and chased her fiancé.
Such a bizarre event, unseen in the Cultivation World for a thousand years—what complex grudges and passions lay behind it?
The bridge was paved with brocade, like a long rainbow.
At the bridgehead, a peach tree bloomed in the snow, petals scattering like falling blossoms.
Clouds surged, wind and mist gathered and dispersed.
Wei Zhanyang, shielded behind Wei Zhenren, hastily swallowed a hemostatic elixir.
His hair crown was lost, one shoe missing. Disheveled and barefoot, he clutched his wound, his ceremonial robes stained with blood.
He shouldn’t have been this disgraced.
Chen Hongzhu’s sword strike had come too unexpectedly, shattering the beautiful dream he thought was about to come true.
Why? They had almost reached an understanding.
Xuyun also tried to stop Chen Hongzhu, but she glared with reddened eyes, pressing her sword to her throat: "Stay back!"
"Hongzhu, what are you doing?!" Xuyun was both furious and anxious, deeply embarrassed. "Put down the Hundred Flowers Killer!"
Chen Hongzhu remained unmoved, the blade drawing a line of blood across her neck.
The Huawel Sect members panicked.
Wei Zhanyang’s mind raced. Since they had already torn off the mask, it was about who could strike first: "Chen Hongzhu, you want to kill me so you can go to him, right?"
He raised a hand and pointed. The crowd at the bridgehead recoiled in shock, scrambling backward like a receding tide, afraid to be implicated.
Song Qianji and his companions, standing firm, were exposed like rocks.
Wei Zhanyang’s finger was aimed directly at Song Qianji.
Whispers spread. No one knew what had happened between Chen and Wei in the back hall, but clearly, the situation was critical—anything could happen now.
Though Huawel Sect had tried to suppress the news of Chen Hongzhu releasing the outer sect disciples, rumors still leaked out.
Li Ying grew inexplicably flustered: "Hey, this is between your Wei family and Huawel Sect—don’t go making baseless accusations!"Wei Zhanyang happened to spit out a mouthful of blood, perfectly timed.
Song Qianji stood beneath the peach blossom tree: "Why is everyone staring at me and the library?"
"Because you're pretty to look at," Lin Feiyuan snapped irritably, thinking you're really drunk, aren't you afraid that old scoundrel Xu Yun might fly into a shameful rage and draw his sword to cut you down?
Chen Hongzhu sneered coldly: "It is I who wants to kill you, what does it have to do with anyone else?"
Wei Zhanyang leaned out from behind Wei Zhenren and shouted: "You, how dare you claim it's not for Song Qianji?"
Chen Hongzhu scanned the surroundings, meeting countless skeptical faces.
She threw her head back and laughed heartily, raising her hand to smash the golden crown from her head: "I dare!"
The exquisite gold filigree crown fell to the ground, scattering thousands of pearl beads.
Xu Yun had never seen his daughter like this—as if she cared for nothing and held nothing in regard.
Realizing the situation had spiraled completely out of control, his face turned from red to pale: "Hongzhu, calm down!"
Members of the Huawel Sect called out one after another:
"Young mistress, stop this nonsense."
"Let's talk things through slowly. Put down the sword first, don't hurt yourself."
Chen Hongzhu's long hair fluttered in the wind. She raised her left hand and with the sharp sword in her right, slashed across it—fresh blood instantly welled from her tender white palm:
"I, Chen Hongzhu, swear upon my Dao heart: from this day forward, I devote my body to the Dao, dedicating my entire life to the sect, and shall never marry!"
Hot blood sprinkled down onto the Fleeting Water Bridge, and the five-colored carp throughout the entire cloud sea swiftly gathered.
They feed on flesh and blood, leaping upward in dense masses. In their extreme eagerness, they emitted hissing sounds like serpents flicking their tongues, competing to devour her blood.
What was once an incredibly beautiful scene now sent chills down everyone's spines and stirred nausea in their chests.
A deathly silence fell over the scene; no one wanted to watch the spectacle anymore.
"What nonsense are you spouting? This is no joking matter!" Xu Yun roared.
Chen Hongzhu smiled bitterly.
"You don't believe me, so I dare to swear an oath. In this life, I will neither form a union with Song Qianji nor meet him in private. Otherwise, may I die a miserable death, my corpse falling into the Cloud Sea Grand Formation, devoured by ten thousand carp until not a single hair remains!" The young woman raised her voice: "My words are irrevocable. I ask all heroes under heaven to bear witness!"
Echoes reverberated through Huawel Mountain, every disciple hearing it crystal clear.
Xu Yun trembled all over, furious beyond measure.
He wanted to shout sternly, to roar in anger, but two streams of tears fell first: "Hongzhu, oh Hongzhu, how could you be so foolish..."
He beat his chest and stamped his feet, like a failed father.
Yuan Qingshi's voice trembled: "Junior sister, you, why must you go this far?"
The "Hundred Flowers Killer" had been unsheathed today to taste blood, staining it with the blood of two people.
Chen Hongzhu's long skirt fluttered like burning flames, her back straight, her expression resolute.
This was her engagement banquet; she was not a supporting character in anyone else's story.
She was the protagonist today.
The Huawel Sect members wanted to persuade her, but when they opened their mouths, no words came out. They slightly turned their heads away, unable to bear watching any longer.
On the Fleeting Water Bridge, only sighs remained.
Until Wei Zhenren spoke angrily: "If you wish to devote yourself to the Dao, then do so! But what reason is there to hunt down my son? With all sects of the Cultivation World present here, your Huawel Sect must give an explanation!"
Wei Zhanyang hadn't expected Chen Hongzhu to be so extreme. Seeing that he couldn't implicate Song Qianji and that the guests were all intimidated by Chen Hongzhu's actions,
He hardened his heart, slammed the railing of the Fleeting Water Bridge, and actually shed tears:
"Hongzhu, though we haven't known each other long, I ask myself honestly—I've treated you with sincere intentions. Why are you so heartless?"
His wounds still bled, his appearance pitiful, and the crowd vaguely began to feel sympathy for him.
"Miss Chen has indeed acted against righteousness this time. With today's broken engagement, where does that leave the elders of both families?""Even if she was unwilling to marry, she shouldn't have drawn her sword to kill her fiancé..."
He Qingqing stepped forward but was pulled back by Meng Zhi, who whispered:
"Senior Sister, where are you going?"
The female cultivators of the Celestial Sound Sect watched with concern, subtly shaking their heads at He Qingqing.
"Senior Sister, this matter has nothing to do with you."
It was only because of He Qingqing's presence earlier that the Celestial Sound Sect hadn't lost face.
Thus, they were grateful to He Qingqing and didn't want her to wade into these troubled waters and get stained by the mess.
A cold wind brushed He Qingqing's face, carrying a faint scent of blood and a few blood-stained peach petals.
Through the crowd, she could only see the fluttering hem of Chen Hongzhu's skirt.
She found it absurd.
What kind of Cultivation World was this?
What kind of world was this?
For a female cultivator to prove she had no ulterior motives, she had to resort to such a bloody method.
She could only swear to devote herself to the Dao—only then would her father, her senior brother, and the elders who watched her grow up truly believe her.
He Qingqing murmured, "I don't want to live in such a world."
"What did Senior Sister say?"
He Qingqing abruptly shook off Meng Zhi's hand and strode out of the crowd.
As soon as she spoke, everyone turned to look at her.
Because she said, "Young Master Wei, that's not what you said last night."
Wei Zhanyang's face instantly turned pale, two trails of tears still on his cheeks. His "sincerity" had become a joke, making him appear somewhat ridiculous:
"Q-Qingqing Fairy!"
"You said you didn't like her, wanted to break off the engagement, and even proposed forming a cultivation partnership with me. Have you forgotten?" He Qingqing said with a smile.
The crowd erupted in uproar again.
"What's going on here?"
"Is the Senior Sister of the Celestial Sound Sect involved too?! Two families have become three?"
Chen Hongzhu had just sworn a poisonous oath that she had no connection with Song Qianji, so all the blame shifted to Wei Zhanyang.
The female cultivators especially couldn't stand it.
Feng Ziyi snorted coldly, "So it was you who were faithless and fickle, flirting around even the night before your engagement. If it were me, I'd set a tiger on you too."
Li Ying said, "Miss Chen has a fiery temper—how could she endure such an insult? Of course she'd want to kill him!"
The female cultivators of the Celestial Sound Sect felt embarrassed and didn't want to show their faces, desperately sending voice transmissions and gesturing for He Qingqing to come back.
Chen Hongzhu stared at He Qingqing in astonishment; she hadn't expected the other to step forward.
He Qingqing gave her a slight nod.
Chen Hongzhu's nose tingled, nearly bringing her to tears, but she declared loudly, "Everyone, today it's not that I want to kill him—it's that Wei Zhanyang betrayed me first. I will never coexist with him under the same sky!"
"Good!" Feng Ziyi shouted. "That's the Chen Hongzhu I know!"
The crowd cheered in agreement.
He Qingqing's smile was radiant, like ice and snow melting, but Wei Zhanyang felt a chill run through his body. He looked around in panic: "I, I..."
He hurriedly sent a voice transmission: "Qingqing, I was lying to her! Don't say anything now, or we'll both be in trouble!"
Wei Zhenren drew his sword and shouted, "Demoness! Stop spreading lies!"
He Qingqing continued smiling as if she hadn't heard the transmission or seen the drawn sword, calmly taking two steps closer: "Do you dare swear you never said those things? Miss Chen made a poisonous oath—why don't you swear one too and see which of you faces divine retribution first."
Wei Zhanyang stepped back repeatedly: "This... oaths are not to be taken lightly."
"If you don't dare, I will!" He Qingqing's expression suddenly turned cold as she turned to the crowd at the bridge and declared sharply, "If I deceive any of you today, may I..."Suddenly, something flew over the heads of the crowd, leaving only a shadow behind.
With a sharp crack, two severed peach blossom branches landed three feet behind He Qingqing.
The branches were cleanly broken, as if sliced by a sharp sword.
True Person Xuyun roared angrily: "Wei Shide, are you trying to silence a witness?"
Wei Zhenren snorted coldly: "What does this have to do with me?"
He Qingqing looked past the crowd and saw Song Qianji retracting his sleeve.
Ji Chen exclaimed in shock: "What happened?"
Song Qianji replied: "'The Soundless, Traceless, Formless Sword' is Wei Zhenren's signature technique."
Meng Heze asked: "Senior Brother Song, how did you detect it from so far away?"
Song Qianji patted the peach tree: "Because all the flowers on Hua Wei Mountain have bloomed."
"Are you drunk, Senior Brother?" Meng Heze couldn't understand the connection between these two things. In his momentary confusion, Song Qianji had already walked out of the crowd.
"Ah, where is Senior Brother Song going?"
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