Chapter 565: Seventh Day of Next Month

Chapter 565: Seventh Day of Next Month

Zhang Ruochen's mansion occupied a vast expanse of land, complete with pavilions, towers, terraces, a lake, rockeries, a martial arts training ground, a beast garden, a medicinal herb garden... and so on, everything one could need.
Beyond that, numerous formations were arranged within the mansion. Aside from the defensive grand formation, there were also spirit-gathering formations and attack formations. Even a Half-Saint would have to pay a great price to try and break in.
Such a mansion was in no way inferior to the ancestral estate of a Half-Saint clan.

At this moment, Huang Yanchen and Qianshui Commandery Prince were in the main hall of the inner courtyard.
Qianshui Commandery Prince appeared to be around forty years old, spirited and vigorous, his gaze sharp as lightning, with two neatly trimmed mustaches above his lips. Even though he had deliberately suppressed his aura, he still exuded a powerful presence befitting a superior.
Lin Fei sat to the left of Qianshui Commandery Prince, appearing quite calm, dignified in manner, composed and at ease, without the slightest hint of nervousness.

Zhang Ruochen walked in from outside and immediately bowed respectfully. "Greetings, Mother. Greetings, Commandery Prince."

A faint, knowing smile appeared on Qianshui Commandery Prince's face. "Commandery Prince... Hmph. Zhang Ruochen, shouldn't you change how you address me?"

Zhang Ruochen smiled and bowed again. "Greetings, Uncle."

Knowing that Zhang Ruochen would find it hard to change his address immediately, Qianshui Commandery Prince did not press him and got straight to the point. "Zhang Ruochen, are you aware of the marriage agreement from four years ago?"

Zhang Ruochen said, "Marriage is a major event in life; this junior would not dare to forget it."

Qianshui Commandery Prince nodded. "I came to the Eastern Domain Sacred City this time precisely for this major life event between you and Yanchen. Your marriage has already been postponed for a year. I have discussed it with your mother, and we believe you should be wed as soon as possible. What do you think?"

Zhang Ruochen glanced at Huang Yanchen, who was seated at Qianshui Commandery Prince's lower side. "This junior has no objections. Everything will be arranged according to Uncle's and Mother's wishes."

Qianshui Commandery Prince nodded in satisfaction. He was quite pleased with this future son-in-law, and it would naturally be best to finalize the marriage as soon as possible.
Back then, when Zhang Ruochen was merely a prince of a lower commandery, Qianshui Commandery Prince had already thought highly of him, believing that this young man would surely achieve great things in the future.
Now, just a few years later, Zhang Ruochen's fame had spread across the land.
Not only had he become a disciple of Xuanji Sword Saint, but he had also become the foremost among the six kings of the new generation in the Eastern Domain. Recently, he had even claimed the top spot on the Heavenly Ranking, reaching the Supreme Extreme Realm.
With such an outstanding talent, countless major powers wished to recruit him under their banner, and countless proud daughters of heaven regarded him as their dream lover.
Fortunately, his daughter had already been betrothed to Zhang Ruochen. Otherwise, with her talent and background, how could she possibly compete with those proud daughters of heaven from the main lineages of saintly clans?
After all, the Huang family of Qianshui Commandery was merely an external clan of the Chen Clan, not even a branch lineage, and their status within the Chen Clan was still very low.

The Chen Clan was a medieval aristocratic clan with a vast family and numerous members spread across the entire Eastern Domain. Internally, it was like an empire, with strict hierarchies and clear regulations.
Among them, the main lineage members held the highest status within the clan.
They possessed the purest Chen Clan bloodline and were the absolute rulers of the Chen Clan, with noble bloodlines and control over the vast majority of the clan's decision-making power.
Below the main lineage were the branch lineage members.
The branch lineage members also bore the surname "Chen," but their bloodline was more distant. In fact, some branch families were founded by descendants of Chen Clan members who later returned to the clan to be recognized as a branch.
Due to their large numbers, branch lineage members also had a certain say within the Chen Clan. Some powerful branch lineage members could even enter the clan's upper echelons.
Below the branch lineage were the external clans.
The Huang family of Qianshui Commandery was one of the external clans attached to the Chen Clan.

The Chen Clan, also known as the "Eastern Domain Saint Prince Mansion," controlled the entire imperial court system of the Eastern Domain, including over twelve thousand commanderies and the thirty-six prefectures of the Eastern Domain Sacred Land. Its power was immense, earning it the title of the uncrowned king of the Eastern Domain.
It was precisely because of the Chen Clan's influence in the Eastern Domain that many families, sects, and commanderies formed marriage alliances with them, becoming their external clans.
These external clans were essentially peripheral forces attached to the Chen Clan.
The status of external clans was not much different from that of the Chen Clan's household generals and servants. In fact, some household generals and servants held even higher status than the external clans.
Fortunately, Huang Yanchen's mother had reached the Half-Saint realm, significantly elevating the Huang family's status within the Chen Clan and allowing them to enter the clan's upper echelons. Thus, Huang Yanchen was qualified to return to the Eastern Domain Sacred City for cultivation.
But in the final analysis, Huang Yanchen and Qianshui Commandery were still just an external clan of the Chen Clan, their identity and status quite awkward.

Now, however, things were different. Their status was likely to undergo an unprecedented change.
Because Huang Yanchen and Zhang Ruochen were about to be married.
Zhang Ruochen was a disciple of Xuanji Sword Saint and also the foremost heavenly pride of the new generation in the Eastern Domain. His future achievements were bound to be limitless.
No matter how much the Chen Clan's upper echelons looked down on external clans, they now had to do their utmost to win over Qianshui Commandery Prince and Huang Yanchen, showing the clan's importance to the Huang family.
After all, who else had a son-in-law with such unparalleled talent?
Therefore, during this visit to the Eastern Domain Sacred City, the Chen Clan's attitude towards Qianshui Commandery Prince had undergone a noticeable change.

Qianshui Commandery Prince naturally understood that the Chen Clan's proactive goodwill towards him was not only because Huang Yanchen's mother had reached the Half-Saint realm.
It was also because Huang Yanchen's fiancé was Zhang Ruochen, the disciple of Xuanji Sword Saint.

Qianshui Commandery Prince looked at Zhang Ruochen and said, "The seventh day of next month is an extremely auspicious day. I have discussed it with your mother, and the wedding date is set for that day."

Zhang Ruochen said, "I have no objections whatsoever."

Qianshui Commandery Prince laughed. "In that case, you must remember to choose a time to come and present the betrothal gifts. It's late tonight, so I won't disturb you any further. I'll take my leave now."

Zhang Ruochen escorted Qianshui Commandery Prince and Huang Yanchen all the way to the mansion's entrance before returning to the inner courtyard.
As he passed by the main hall, he noticed the lamps and candles were still lit inside, so he walked in and saw Lin Fei sitting alone in the hall.

Zhang Ruochen asked, "Mother, haven't you retired for the night?"

Lin Fei sat at the head of the hall, carefully studying Zhang Ruochen. "Chen'er, are you dissatisfied with this marriage?"

Zhang Ruochen was momentarily stunned, then smiled. "Mother, you're overthinking things. Your son has always had an excellent relationship with Senior Sister Yanchen. How could I be dissatisfied?"

Lin Fei shook her head. "Then why don't you seem particularly happy?"

Zhang Ruochen murmured to himself, as if talking to himself, "Was I not happy enough just now?"

Lin Fei said, "Chen'er, your mother knows that your abilities are now great, and many women admire you. You could have better choices. But you must never betray your promises. Back then, if not for the help of Qianshui Commandery Prince and Princess Yanchen, our Yunwu Commandery would have long been destroyed as a nation, and you and I would not be alive today. Do you understand?"

Zhang Ruochen walked over to Lin Fei's side. "Mother, I am truly happy to be marrying Senior Sister Yanchen. In a few days, I will personally deliver a grand betrothal gift. Are you reassured now?"

A smile finally appeared on Lin Fei's face.
She reached out with both hands, tightly grasping Zhang Ruochen's hand, and a single tear rolled down from the corner of her eye. For the first time, she felt that Zhang Ruochen had truly grown up.

Zhang Ruochen stayed with Lin Fei, chatting with her. He also took out the Spiritual Crane Pear and watched as Lin Fei ate it.
It was not until late into the night that Zhang Ruochen left.

Returning to his room, Zhang Ruochen's mind was filled with thoughts of the wedding on the seventh day of next month, making it impossible for him to calm down and comprehend the "Sword One."
So, Zhang Ruochen took out the Cosmic Divine Wood Map, unrolled it, and laid it flat on the table.
Then, he opened the space gate and entered the Scroll World.

Unable to comprehend the "Sword One," he could still do other things.

Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged beneath the Cosmic Divine Wood Map. First, he spent a day refining ten Wish-Fulfilling Vases.
Then, he went beneath the corpses of the Black Bone Flood Dragon King and the Azure Fire Black Tortoise, lining up the ten Wish-Fulfilling Vases in a row to begin collecting flood dragon blood, Black Tortoise sacred blood, and Black Tortoise Qi.

Collecting the flood dragon blood and Black Tortoise Qi was naturally easy.
However, collecting the Black Tortoise sacred blood was somewhat troublesome.
The blood Qi of the Azure Fire Black Tortoise was extremely vigorous; each drop of blood contained immense power.
If a drop of sacred blood were dripped onto a stone, it would be enough to pierce through a boulder weighing ten thousand jin.
Moreover, the Black Tortoise sacred blood had been corroded by the evil Qi of the Sin Sea Pillar, so it had to be purified drop by drop before it could be stored in the Wish-Fulfilling Vases.

Zhang Ruochen spent a full three days, exhausting himself to the point of collapse, yet he only managed to purify thirty drops of Black Tortoise sacred blood.

"The power contained in the Black Tortoise sacred blood is too great. With my current cultivation, I can only purify ten drops a day. Too slow, and too much of a waste of time."
Zhang Ruochen stopped purifying the Black Tortoise sacred blood, planning to wait until his cultivation was higher before tackling this task.

"One bottle of Half-Saint flood dragon blood, eight bottles of Black Tortoise Qi, and thirty drops of Black Tortoise sacred blood should be enough for a long time."

The corpse of the Azure Fire Black Tortoise was like a massive treasure mine.
Zhang Ruochen had only collected one-tenth of the Black Tortoise Qi, yet it had already filled eight entire Wish-Fulfilling Vases.
Each Wish-Fulfilling Vase had a vast internal space.
Back then, Huang Yanchen had only refined a small amount of Black Tortoise Qi to break through from the Heavenly Extreme Middle Position to the Fish-Dragon Second Transformation.
Now, the amount of Black Tortoise Qi in each of the eight Wish-Fulfilling Vases in Zhang Ruochen's hands was three thousand times greater than what she had refined back then.
Of course, the higher one's realm, the more Black Tortoise Qi would be consumed to break through to the next realm.
Even one bottle of Black Tortoise Qi might not be enough to support a cultivator at the Fish-Dragon First Transformation all the way to the Fish-Dragon Ninth Transformation.
Furthermore, each minor realm within the Fish-Dragon Nine Transformations was a bottleneck; not everyone could transform from a fish into a dragon.

"Eight bottles of Black Tortoise Qi: one bottle for Senior Sister Yanchen, one for Senior Sister Duanmu, one for Senior Brother Chang, one for Senior Brother, one for Master, one for Hanxue, one for Kong Xuan. And one bottle left... I'll keep it for now."
Zhang Ruochen held the eight bottles of Black Tortoise Qi, a satisfied smile curling at the corner of his mouth.