Inside the hall, there was a dead silence.
The rogue-like expression on Zhang Mingyuan's face froze completely.
He could even hear his own heart stopping from sheer shock, only to start pounding frantically like a drum.
“Thump, thump! Thump, thump, thump!”
A Heavenly Marriage? Dao companions?
What nonsense was this crazy woman spouting?
Had she really gone stupid from his kiss?
Or had something gone wrong with whatever cultivation technique she practiced, causing her to suffer qi deviation and lose her mind?
Zhang Mingyuan's brain worked furiously, trying to find a rational explanation for this absurd and preposterous scene.
But even if he racked his brain, he couldn't figure it out.
Looking at Su Jinxue's cold, exquisite face, which now carried a trace of a morbid smile, Zhang Mingyuan felt his entire worldview being repeatedly dragged through the dirt.
“N-No way...” His Adam's apple bobbed as he squeezed out a few words with great difficulty. “Are... are you serious?”
His voice was as dry as gravel that had been parched in a desert for a century.
Seeing his utterly terrified expression, the smile in Su Jinxue's eyes deepened.
She unhurriedly adjusted her slightly disheveled collar with elegant movements, as if the person who had just initiated the announcement of a Heavenly Marriage wasn't her at all.
“Otherwise?” she asked calmly, her tone carrying a matter-of-fact air. “Isn't this exactly what you wanted?”
“Haven't you spent five thousand years plotting just for this day?”
What I wanted?
Like hell I wanted this!
Zhang Mingyuan roared furiously in his heart.
I wanted to annoy you, disgust you, and see you jump in frustration!
Who the hell wants to form a Heavenly Marriage with you!
If I become Dao companions with a crazy woman like you, will I have any peace for the rest of my life?
I'd probably be constantly hovering on the edge of being stabbed to death by your sword every single day!
“I didn't! I don't! Stop talking nonsense!”
His survival instinct conquered everything at this moment. Zhang Mingyuan shook his head frantically, a triple denial slipping out of his mouth.
He was truly terrified now.
He would rather be beaten half to death by Su Jinxue on the spot than be entangled in this bizarre relationship with her.
“Immortal Lord, I was wrong! I was truly wrong!” Zhang Mingyuan's attitude did a complete 180-degree turn. He was just a step away from falling to his knees on the spot.
With a face full of sincerity, he was practically ready to swear to the heavens:
“Everything I just said was complete nonsense! I'm just a bastard, a rogue! Lusting after your body was total bullshit, I just wanted to make you angry! You are a magnanimous figure, please don't lower yourself to the level of a petty scoundrel like me!”
As he spoke, he carefully observed Su Jinxue's expression.
“Just tell me what you want me to do, give it to me straight! As long as you don't mess with me like this, I'll do anything! Copy the palace rules? I'll copy them ten thousand times! Clean the Spirit Beast Garden? I'll sweep it until the end of time! Even if you cripple my cultivation right now and throw me out of the Myriad Snow Palace, I won't say a single word of complaint!”
However, Su Jinxue merely listened quietly to his "confession." There wasn't the slightest ripple of emotion in her cold eyes; instead, she looked as if she were enjoying an entertaining play.
Only when Zhang Mingyuan's throat had gone completely dry did she curl her lips slightly and spit out two words.
“No.”
Zhang Mingyuan's face instantly fell.
“But I want it this way.” Su Jinxue's tone carried an unquestionable obsession. She took another step forward, pressing almost flat against Zhang Mingyuan as she exhaled a breath as sweet as orchids. “Didn't you want to become my Dao companion? This Seat shall grant your wish.”
“...”
Zhang Mingyuan was completely speechless.
He could see that this crazy woman was absolutely determined to go all the way with him today.
He couldn't explain it, and reasoning with her was impossible.
He couldn't defeat her in a fight either.
What else could he do?
A deep sense of powerlessness welled up in Zhang Mingyuan's heart, eventually turning into a long sigh.
He gave up struggling, completely deflating like a defeated rooster.
“Fine, fine, whatever you want.” He waved his hand weakly, adopting a completely resigned attitude. “If you say we're marrying, we're marrying. Do whatever you want. Let the world burn, I'm tired.”
He accepted his fate.
Wasn't it just a Heavenly Marriage? Fine, let's do it!
At worst, he would just spend every day matching wits with this crazy woman, continuing to be her nemesis in a different way!
Seeing that Zhang Mingyuan had finally "accepted his fate," a trace of satisfaction finally appeared on Su Jinxue's face.
She was just about to speak.
Right at that moment, a sudden change occurred!
“Hum—!”
A profound sound of the Dao, seemingly originating from the primordial wilderness, echoed through the entire Immortal Lord's Palace without any warning!
Immediately after, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth across the entire Immortal Lord's Peak, the entire Myriad Snow Palace, and even the entire Eastern Territory began to surge frantically!
Endless golden auspicious clouds gathered from all directions, blanketing the sky above the Immortal Lord's Peak. High in the heavens, the Great Dao laws manifested, transforming into countless profound golden runes that drifted down like raindrops.
Purple qi surged thirty thousand miles from the east, immortal music chimed in waves, and heavenly flowers fell in profusion!
Such an earth-shattering phenomenon instantly alarmed all the top powerhouses of the Xuanling Realm!
At this moment, countless old monsters who had been in seclusion for years woke from their deep slumber one after another. They projected their divine sense toward the Eastern Territory's Myriad Snow Palace, their faces filled with shock!
“Is this... resonance with the Heavenly Dao?!”
“Just who has triggered such a phenomenon? Could someone be ascending to immortality?”
“No! This aura... it's a Heavenly Marriage! Someone is forming a marriage covenant recognized by the Heavenly Dao!”
“Who is it? In this day and age, whose union could possibly prompt the Heavenly Dao itself to descend and grant its blessing?!”
...
Inside the hall.
Zhang Mingyuan and Su Jinxue were also stunned by this sudden turn of events.
They stared up at the golden runes formed by the Great Dao laws swirling above the dome of the hall. Feeling the majestic heavenly pressure, their minds went briefly blank.
“W-What's going on?” Zhang Mingyuan was dumbfounded.
Su Jinxue also knit her brows. As a Red Dust Immortal, her comprehension of the Great Dao far surpassed that of ordinary people. She could clearly perceive that these law runes contained an ancient and sacred covenant power.
And this covenant seemed to be directly related to the two of them!
A bad premonition suddenly rose in her heart.
In the next instant, the golden runes filling the sky seemed to be drawn by some force, gathering frantically toward the center of the hall.
The light was blindingly brilliant, forcing them to squint.
Once the light dissipated, a golden scroll condensed from the pure power of the Great Dao laws floated quietly in front of Zhang Mingyuan and Su Jinxue.
Upon the scroll, two names written in divine characters of the Great Dao shone with brilliant light.
On the left—Su Jinxue.
On the right—Zhang Mingyuan.
Below the two names, there was a line of large characters also written in the divine script of the Great Dao.
【A match made in heaven, forever of one heart. With the Great Dao as witness, this vow shall never falter.】
Boom!
The moment he saw this "Heavenly Dao marriage certificate," Zhang Mingyuan felt as if a bolt of Nine Heavens Tribulation Lightning had struck the very crown of his head.
His... his... his marriage with Su Jinxue...
Had been officially certified by the Heavenly Dao?!
What kind of joke was this!
Was the Heavenly Dao really that bored? It didn't care when other people fell in love, yet when he made a joke with a crazy woman like Su Jinxue, it took it seriously and personally stepped in to stamp its seal and grant a marriage?!
Was there no justice left in the world!
Was there no law and order!
“N-No... it's not like this...” Looking at the glittering golden marriage certificate, Zhang Mingyuan turned pale with fright and waved his hands repeatedly. “Big Brother Heavenly Dao, you've made a mistake! We were just joking! This doesn't count!”
However, the Heavenly Dao marriage certificate had already been formed, and the power of the laws was flowing. How could it be retracted just because he claimed it was a joke?
The golden scroll slowly drifted down, seemingly wanting to land in their hands.
Zhang Mingyuan backed away in sheer terror, avoiding it like a venomous snake.
Su Jinxue's expression also became somewhat delicate.
She looked at the marriage certificate, then at Zhang Mingyuan, who looked so frightened he was on the verge of tears. A trace of panic, which even she didn't realize, flashed through her cold eyes.
She... she seemed to have played with fire and gone too far as well.
She had only wanted to use this excuse to scare this bastard, take him down a peg, and ensure he wouldn't dare be so impudent in the future.
But she had never expected that as a Red Dust Immortal, her every word and action would be subtly aligned with the laws of the Heavenly Dao.
Her single sentence about "forming a Heavenly Marriage" had actually drawn a response from the Heavenly Dao!
Now, things had truly blown out of proportion.
Looking at the golden marriage certificate that was slowly drifting down, exuding an irresistible aura, Zhang Mingyuan felt his vision go dark.
The grand peak Mahayana Stage powerhouse, the Sacred Lord of Qingyun Heaven, after experiencing the most thrilling, absurd, and incomprehensible day of his life, finally couldn't withstand the immense mental shock.
His eyes rolled back, and he fell straight backward.
Thud.
He fainted.