"Uh..." Yang Kai rubbed his nose. "Now that I think about it carefully, I should be on the groom's side. I ought to go to Palace Master Wen." As he spoke, he turned to leave.
Yu Rumeng slapped him on the shoulder. "You can leave, but the wedding gift stays."
Yang Kai whipped his head around. "Whose side are you on?"
Yu Rumeng sneered. "Today, we sisters are all on the bride's side!"
Yang Kai was rendered speechless. He could only leave behind the wedding gift he had prepared long ago before he was finally allowed to slip away.
Having failed to see the bride, he had no choice but to go see the groom. The groom was on another spirit peak—not far away—and Yang Kai arrived in just a few steps.
Xia Sheng, Xiao Baiyi, and the other Divine Palace disciples waited outside the door, while inside the room was Wen Zishan alone.
The group moved to bow, but Yang Kai raised a hand to stop them and pushed the door open. He found Wen Zishan sitting upright inside, dressed in festive red robes with a large red rosette pinned to his chest, his face full of worry, sighing repeatedly, his expression brimming with anxiety and nervousness.
He looked up, saw Yang Kai, and hurriedly rose to his feet. "Lord Void has arrived."
Yang Kai walked up to him, pressed him back down, sat beside him, and studied him with great interest. "Palace Master Wen, aren't you happy?"
Wen Zishan furrowed his brow, his expression somewhat peculiar. "Quite happy, actually."
"Then you're not?" Yang Kai pressed.
Wen Zishan shook his head. "After all these years together, how could I possibly not like her?"
"Then if you're both happy and fond of her, why are you so worried and anxious, Palace Master?"
"Sigh." Wen Zishan sighed, his aged face flushing slightly. "After all, I raised her with my own hands. I just don't know whether this is a good thing for her or a bad thing."
Yang Kai chuckled. "I just came from Purple Bamboo Peak."
Wen Zishan looked at him anxiously. "How are things over there?"
Yang Kai rubbed his nose. "I didn't get to see Senior Sister Gao. My wives blocked me, saying the bride isn't to meet male guests before the wedding ceremony."
"Hahaha!" Wen Zishan burst into laughter, almost able to picture the scene.
Yang Kai continued, "Even though I couldn't see Senior Sister Gao, I could sense that she was extremely excited and overjoyed. So you really shouldn't be walking around with such a long face, Palace Master. If she saw you like this, it would break her heart."
Wen Zishan said, "But I'm worried. Getting along day to day isn't the same as living together as husband and wife. What if she discovers later on that I, Wen, have all sorts of flaws and starts to resent me?"
A flash of understanding passed through Yang Kai's eyes. "So the Palace Master is worried about ruining her life, not about losing his own freedom." He chuckled softly. "After all these years together, she knows your strengths and your flaws better than anyone. If she were going to resent you, she would have done so long ago. Why would she be so overjoyed today?"
"That's true enough..." Wen Zishan nodded, though he still couldn't quite shake his anxiety.
"Besides, if Mo Sheng's plan had succeeded before, would the Star Boundary even exist anymore? The two of us would probably be dead. Crises always arrive without warning. The Star Boundary may be relatively stable now, but who knows what the future holds? Another catastrophe could strike at any moment. And when it does, the things left undone will only bring more regrets."
Wen Zishan smiled. "Are you saying one should seize the day while one can?"
Yang Kai shrugged. "Why not?"
Wen Zishan let out a long breath. "As long as she doesn't resent me, that's all that matters."
Just then, Xia Sheng's voice came from outside the door. "Palace Master, the time has come. It's time to go welcome the bride."
"I know." Wen Zishan replied.
Yang Kai reached for a pot of wine on the nearby table, poured two cups, kept one for himself, and handed the other to Wen Zishan. "Palace Master, I'm afraid I won't be able to make it to the banquet later. Let me toast you both here first—I wish you a lifetime of mutual respect, love, and harmony."
His status was different now, after all. He very much wanted to join the festivities, but if he actually showed up, the joyous occasion would likely become stiff and formal. Better to skip it altogether. He had already delivered the wedding gift to Gao Xueting's side and had met with Wen Zishan here. That was enough.
Wen Zishan drained his cup and set it down with a heavy thud. "I'm going!"
He turned around—an army of ten thousand could not have stopped him!
The wedding procession was grand and boisterous, music and fanfare filling the air as it wound its way toward Purple Bamboo Peak.
Yang Kai flew up into the void. Duan Hongchen, Zhan Wuhen, Mo Huang, and Hua Linglong were concealed there, watching the scene below. Yang Kai glanced around and asked, "Where are the others?"
"They're all recovering from their injuries," Duan Hongchen replied. The battle against the Great Demon God had been won in the end, but nearly every powerhouse on the Star Boundary's side had been gravely wounded. After the battle, they had been busy stabilizing the Star Boundary and handling various matters, and it was only recently that they had finally returned to their respective residences to enter seclusion and heal.
How long this recovery would take—no one could say.
Duan Hongchen and the others were also injured. After today's celebration, they too would be entering seclusion. It was easy to imagine that for the next several hundred years—perhaps even a thousand—the Star Boundary would be without its Great Emperors.
Though those Great Emperors had not come in person, their wedding gifts had been sent without missing a single one. Wen Zishan might not have had enough clout for that, but Duan Hongchen certainly did.
Gao Xueting had been raised by Wen Zishan with his own hands, and Wen Zishan had in turn been raised by Duan Hongchen. Their relationship was like that of father and son.
Zhan Wuhen spoke up. "Yang Kai, after today, I'm afraid the Star Boundary will be left in your care."
Among all the Great Emperor-level powers, Yang Kai was the only one completely unscathed. There was no helping it—after refining the Ageless Tree, even though he had been severely injured in his battle against the Great Demon God, the restorative power of the Ageless Tree's essence was simply too potent. After several months, he had long since made a full recovery.
However, Yang Kai could clearly sense that even though he had refined the Ageless Tree, he had not truly achieved some kind of immortal and indestructible body. The legends surrounding the Ageless Tree had been somewhat exaggerated.