Chapter 1194: Chapter 359: The Bibo Celestial Lake Matchmaking Event!
"Stop talking!" The companion beside him beat his chest and stamped his feet. "The more you say, the worse I feel! How can someone be this lucky?"
"His sect has three Spirit Severing experts sitting in town, and he himself is the only Level 4 Array Master in the Holy Martial Dynasty. Now every side is scrambling to win him over... this fortune is downright defying the heavens!"
"Heh, that old ancestor of the Nangong Family must be regretting it so much his guts are turning green now, right?" someone gloated.
"He got slashed by three Spirit Severing Realm experts until only a single wisp of Primordial Spirit was left. Now he doesn’t even have the qualifications to seek revenge!"
...
Countless people were chattering away, and no one noticed that in the crowd a yellow‑haired brat was standing on tiptoe, eyes almost popping out as he stared fixedly at the peerless beauties in the middle of the lake.
"Stunning! Every single one of them is top-grade!" Shen Yunzhou wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth and turned to look at Lu Yaoyao beside him.
"Miss Lu, you’ve got good fortune! In the future you might have a whole crowd of sisters‑in‑law doting on you!"
Lu Yaoyao snorted coldly, her little face taut. "Just pink‑faced skeletons! My Zhou would never look at them! If he’s going to find a dao companion, she at least has to be like Sister Han Yi!"
Shen Yunzhou rolled his eyes. "You women, all talk tough! What’s so good about my sis? She’s cold‑faced all day long..."
He turned back, staring infatuatedly toward the center of the lake. "Look at them—gentle as water, each with her own charm..."
Lu Yaoyao pressed her lips together and stopped replying. She silently took out her sect Identity Token and sent another message.
The spiritual light flickering on the light screen still showed no reply. She dejectedly put away the token and let out a soft sigh.
It’s been three days... Senior Brother probably isn’t coming.
"Has Sister Shen... still not come back?" she suddenly turned and asked.
Shen Yunzhou was staring infatuatedly at the lake center. Hearing this, he waved his hand. "Don’t bring up such a buzz‑kill on a happy day. Don’t worry, if my sis comes back, she’ll definitely look for us first thing."
But soon, his eyes rolled as if he’d thought of something. He quietly leaned in and sized up Lu Yaoyao. "But—"
"That head of silver hair of yours is exactly the same as my big sis’s!" He mysteriously pulled out a Jade Talisman from his chest.
"Look, this is the ’Fox Borrowing the Tiger’s Might’ talisman my sis gave me. It’s carved with a Three-Color Restriction and can simulate a Spirit Severing Realm aura."
"We’ll put on masks and go occupy an empty platform. Just with my sis’s reputation for severely injuring Xuanyuan Shuo, I guarantee this whole bunch will have to stand up and salute!"
The more he spoke, the more excited he got. "By then we can not only discuss the Dao with them, but also admire these fairies up close..."
"Are you crazy!" Lu Yaoyao’s eyes widened. "No wonder Sister Shen always says you cause trouble! I’m not going!"
"What’s there to be afraid of!" Shen Yunzhou refused to give up. "You just act cold and aloof, I’ll be the mouthpiece. Your Brother Shen has seen tons of Spirit Severing Realm experts; these few don’t even count..."
Lu Yaoyao shook her head like a rattle drum. "Then I might as well just directly manifest my Realm and summon Senior Brother Zhou..."
Shen Yunzhou’s eyes lit up at once. "Oh! Now that’s a brilliant idea!"
He rubbed his hands excitedly. "We can be his spokespersons, and then..."
"Get lost!" Lu Yaoyao cut him off, exasperated. "Don’t you hang around rotten corpses and bones all day? Since when are you so invested in pretty women?"
Shen Yunzhou looked aggrieved. "Realm is Realm, and preference is preference, alright! By your logic, I’d have to go pick a dao companion from a mass grave in the future?"
"Pfft—" Lu Yaoyao couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.
Shen Yunzhou pictured that scene himself and couldn’t help shuddering, then burst into loud laughter as well.
As their laughter gradually faded, Shen Yunzhou suddenly grew serious. "Do you really think... my sis and Brother Zhou are a good match?"
Lu Yaoyao nodded earnestly. "Don’t you think so?"
Shen Yunzhou’s brows knit slightly. "It’s not that I’m against it... it’s just..."
He hesitated, then finally sighed.
"You should know, my Shen Family is one of the eight great super clans in Nanhuang State of the Celestial Fate Sacred Dynasty. The Yan Family ranks third, we rank fifth."
He looked at the reflection on the lake surface, his voice low. "Don’t be fooled by it being ’just’ a clan—its complexity surpasses even your Holy Martial Imperial Palace..."
"The powers behind each aunt’s branch are tangled and deep‑rooted. Open and hidden struggles have never stopped."
He turned his head and looked straight at Lu Yaoyao. "If my sis really formed a dao companion bond with Brother Zhou, the Taiqing Sect... might not be able to withstand that storm."
Lu Yaoyao’s brows furrowed tightly, her face full of disbelief. "Is it really that scary?"
"Your Taiqing Sect is too friendly and pure." Shen Yunzhou suddenly put away his playful look, his gaze turning gloomy. "Cultivating in that kind of environment, of course you don’t understand. Let me give you a few simple examples."
As he spoke, he started counting on his fingers, "Framing others, diverting disaster, killing with a borrowed knife, crossing the river and demolishing the bridge..."
With every word he said, his voice rose a notch, drawing the side glances of the surrounding cultivators.
Seeing Lu Yaoyao’s stunned expression, he instead grew more interested, and continued rattling them off like treasured items: "Deceiving superiors and concealing from subordinates, turning black into white, kicking someone when they’re down, honeyed words with a snake’s heart..."
He got so into it that he even started gesturing wildly, "Paying lip service while going against orders, sowing discord, looting a burning house..."
Lu Yaoyao’s mouth twitched. They were both surnamed Shen—did he really have to be this ruthless?
No wonder you could comprehend such a disgusting Realm—being able to survive in an environment like that is already impressive; whether your psychology is twisted or not is just a minor detail.
...
Meanwhile, on the jade platform at the center of the lake, seven figures each occupied a side.
Patriarch Murong lightly tapped the jade table, his aged voice carrying a hint of amusement: "What do you all think—do you believe that Zhou will be willing to show us face today?"
Patriarch Zhuge’s beard-stroking fingers paused slightly, and the corner of his eye swept over the plain-robed woman standing quietly behind him: "The young care most about face. Since we’ve joined hands in inviting him, I imagine..."
"What’s the rush!" The bearded hulk of the Tuoba clan tipped his head back and gulped down a mouthful of strong liquor, the wine dripping from his thick beard. "Not even fifty years old, already at Divinity Transformation Perfection, and a Level 4 Array Master to boot—someone like that is worth us waiting a few more days!"
Patriarch Sun chuckled as he smoothed things over: "Even if he doesn’t come, it’s no big deal—just means us old fogeys can sit and catch up properly."
"Indeed," the old crone of the Ji clan tapped the jade platform with her dragon-headed staff, "it’s a good chance to exchange some intel. This Holy Martial Dynasty has quietly produced several Spirit Severing Realm cultivators of late, yet we were completely in the dark."
The one-armed sword cultivator from Heavenly Sword Pavilion suddenly opened his eyes: "The three elders of the Taiqing Sect in the Eastern Domain—the one who beheaded the Chief Eunuch in the middle of the street, the one who broke into that old ghost Nangong’s inner treasury at night..."
"You’re still missing one," Patriarch Wang lightly caressed his jade flute. "That white-haired female Spirit Slash who flattened the Array Hall. Our juniors from each clan used to be able to train in arrays at that Hall; now look, they’ve all been sent home."
Patriarch Murong stroked his snow-white long beard and spoke unhurriedly: "But in the end, she is not someone of our Holy Martial Dynasty. However..."
A glint flashed through his clouded old eyes. "I am rather curious—how did her battle with the Peng Emperor turn out?"
"Though those Demon Emperors at the border constantly scheme against each other in private, once they’re facing our Human Race they’re united as one."
"Hahahaha!" The bearded hulk of the Tuoba clan suddenly slammed the table and burst out laughing, making the liquor slosh out of the wine jar.
"Looks like you lot really haven’t been paying attention to the world these past years! There’s something you probably still don’t know—the Spider Emperor Ye Luo is already dead!"
"What?!" The six patriarchs’ expressions changed at the same time, and the surge of their powerful Divine Sense made the entire lake surface tremble.
The Tuoba hulk shook the wine jar smugly. "A few days ago, I went to the border specifically to look for ’Nine Nether Darksteel’; only then did I find out what happened."
He deliberately kept them in suspense, slowly wiping the wine from his beard. "Guess who did it?"
Seeing everyone hold their breath, he finally enunciated each word: "It was that silver-haired, veiled woman! And moreover..."
He lowered his voice. "She did it on the Flood Dragon Emperor Xuan Qiu’s turf! Because of the lingering impact of his obsession, Xuan Qiu has no choice now but to move over to the Spider Emperor’s old lair."
He took another huge swig of wine as he spoke. "So, if Brother Xuan Yuan wasn’t lying, then the Peng Emperor is dead for sure this time!"
The few patriarchs looked at each other, each sinking into their own thoughts.
If the Peng Emperor really couldn’t escape this calamity, then among the Myriad Beasts Mountain Range at the border, only the Flood Dragon Emperor, the Qinluo Beast, and the Weilun Demon would remain on guard.
Even if the Demon Emperors deeper within wanted to use this chance to expand their territory, they’d still need time to mobilize their forces...
In that case, they could spare the time to drop by for a look—maybe they’d pick up some unclaimed treasures.
...
"I wonder if my Ghost Mastiff will ever get such a grand scene one day!"
When Zhou Qing and the other two arrived at Bibo Celestial Lake and took in the sea of people thronging the lakeshore, Ghost Mastiff couldn’t help clicking his tongue in amazement.
Luo Lingling covered her mouth and laughed lightly. "What’s so hard about that? Don’t forget, you’re Xiao Qing’s eldest senior brother. On the day you get married, the people coming to offer their congratulations will probably be several times more than this."
Ghost Mastiff curled his lip. "Those people wouldn’t be here for me—they’d clearly be here for our little junior brother."
Zhou Qing shook his head with a wry smile. His gaze swept over the crowd unintentionally, then suddenly lit up.
He saw that at the rear of the crowd on the far side of the lake, there was a woman with a golden note reading [Good Dad] floating above her head.
Though the crowd was surging and he could only vaguely see that streak of golden light flickering in and out of view among the people, who else could it be but Lu Yaoyao?
"Senior Brother, Second Senior Sister..." Zhou Qing lowered his voice and shot the two a look, then quietly moved back.
The three figures then shot off toward the opposite shore...
