"Junior Brother, you're talking nonsense again. How can one ask for a wedding gift? Her being able to stay for the ceremony is already wonderful. However... she did actually give me something!"
Gong Chenying said with a playful reproach. After a slight pause, she said something that surprised Li Yan.
"Oh? I was just saying. She really gave a gift?"
Li Yan was truly surprised. He didn't need to be told that for this kind of ceremony, all guests would present a decent gift.
But they were usually presented on the day of the wedding itself. Firstly, to enhance the lively atmosphere; secondly, to publicly express their congratulations.
To give a gift privately like this beforehand either meant the two parties were very close, or the gift was extraordinary and not meant for others to know about.
"Yes, this is it. A magical treasure that can heal injuries quickly. It has a set of extremely exquisite small formations inscribed within it."
"The formations can automatically absorb the wood spiritual energy between heaven and earth. According to her, as long as the divine soul, Golden Core, or Nascent Soul is not damaged, it has an excellent healing effect on all other injuries!"
As Gong Chenying spoke, she patted her storage pouch. After a flash of light, a crystal-clear bracelet appeared in the air. It looked as if it were refined from some unknown type of jade, transparent and very beautiful.
"A magical treasure that can gather wood spiritual energy and heal?"
Li Yan was shocked. Defensive magical treasures and healing-type medicinal pills were already precious.
But this bracelet was different. The formation inscribed in it to gather wood spiritual energy was, in comparison, not that surprising. It was not much different from him gathering spiritual power himself.
Rather, it was the bracelet's ability to gather this wood spiritual energy and initiate automatic healing. This meant that within this small bracelet, there was at least another secret formation similar to the Buddhist "Brightness Art."
Only with the existence of this special formation could the wood-attribute spiritual energy have a similar life-restoring effect.
"Such a valuable gift?"
A solemn expression instantly appeared on Li Yan's face. This gift was too valuable. Such magical treasures were difficult to buy with spirit stones in the market. Mainly because as soon as they appeared, they would be snatched up at an extremely high price.
To refine such a magical treasure, the artifact refiner had to be at the level of a great grandmaster of formations. And not just an ordinary great grandmaster; they had to have a certain understanding of the laws of life.
"I kept refusing, but she insisted on giving it several times. Today she said that if I didn't accept, she would leave. I... had no choice."
"Junior Sister Su and I have only met a few times in the past, but within this magical treasure, I can see that it is composed of at least four types of formations, all interlinked, and the balance between the formations is very delicate."
"With my current divine sense and attainments in formations, I dare not rashly touch too many things. Can you see if there is any problem?"
Gong Chenying herself hadn't expected Su Hong to produce such a priceless gift. After learning of the magical treasure's function, she had immediately refused.
But every time Su Hong talked with her, she still offered to give it. Today, she had gotten a little angry, saying that if she didn't accept, she would leave.
Gong Chenying felt that her relationship with Su Hong was not close enough to warrant such a heavy gift. But since the other party had put it that way, she could only accept it. However, she did not wear it immediately but put it away.
One of the reasons she had come to Li Yan was because of this treasure. It was rare for a cultivator to truly trust others. Moreover, this item itself was a rare and valuable treasure, so Gong Chenying couldn't help but have her doubts.
An ordinary cultivator would always act with caution first, before possibly acting with trust.
Li Yan beckoned with his hand, and the string of crystal-clear bracelets was drawn into his hand.
Gong Chenying's attainments in formations were higher than his own. For her to ask him to look at it was to see if a third person's observation, along with Li Yan's powerful divine sense and experience, could uncover any problems.
Li Yan first carefully observed the surface of the bracelet, constantly turning it over in his palm. After a long while, he finally sent his divine sense into the bracelet...
For a moment, one could hear a pin drop in the pavilion. Gong Chenying also stopped talking and quietly watched Li Yan.
It was not until a tea's time had passed that Li Yan withdrew his divine sense.
After a moment's thought, he extended his left hand, withdrew the magical power from his left arm, and then, concentrating his magical power in his right index finger, fiercely poked his left arm.
"Thump!"
With a soft sound, the muscle on Li Yan's left arm first dented, then immediately showed signs of bouncing back. Li Yan had to infuse his right index finger with magical power again.
This time, a bloody hole finally appeared in his left arm. But as Li Yan's finger withdrew, the bloody hole actually began to close rapidly.
Li Yan had to use his cultivation to control the muscles there to stop the wound from healing. Now, his physical body was becoming more and more formidable; it was very difficult for him to even harm himself.
For this magical treasure, he could have used demonic beasts to test it. But that way, he could only observe the other party's reaction through his divine sense and could not experience it deeply.
After some thought, Li Yan considered that even if there was a problem with this magical treasure, it would not be so obvious. But he actually already felt that there was no problem with this magical treasure.
This treasure would be used by Gong Chenying in the future, so he had to be absolutely sure. So he still decided to test it on himself.
If Su Hong knew what these two were doing, she would probably be so angry that her beautiful face would turn pale. But this just showed how precious the thing she had taken out was, making Li Yan and the others unwilling to just set it aside.
Li Yan's and Gong Chenying's characters were such that they had to distinguish between close and distant when trusting others. This could only mean that the thing Su Hong had taken out this time was, in her eyes, a decent item, but to Li Yan and the others, it was already a very precious treasure.
Li Yan immediately used his magical power to activate the string of bracelets. Then, a green light flashed from the crystal-clear bracelets and quickly fell onto the bloody hole in his left arm.
A comfortable feeling, so cool that Li Yan wanted to groan, spread from the wound and went deep inside. The wound, which had been a little painful just now, was instantly left with only a coolness.
Li Yan quickly focused his mind. His divine sense followed that coolness into his body. At the same time, he mobilized all kinds of fragmented potent poisons in his body and surrounded that coolness.
At the same time, the wound had begun to heal slowly. After controlling his muscles just now, Li Yan knew that this was definitely not his body's automatic healing, but was caused by the green light that had fallen into it.
And the various fragmented potent poisons in his body, after circling around that coolness for a while, seemed to have lost all interest and returned to his chest and abdomen...
"There is no problem with this magical treasure. It is truly a treasure with a unique healing effect!"
Li Yan returned the bracelet to Gong Chenying. His divine sense had just circled inside the bracelet several more times and had not found anything else like something that could infiltrate the soul, or any positioning and monitoring function.
"It's just... Junior Sister Su's gift is too heavy!"
Gong Chenying held the bracelet, a look of embarrassment on her face. Her skin was, after all, thinner than Li Yan's.
But she still couldn't figure out why Su Hong would give such a valuable gift. And by this calculation, they had actually lost out a bit after delivering the Nascent Soul physical body this time.
"Perhaps to her, this is just a decent gift? After all, 'Gui Qu Lai Xi' has a huge background!"
Li Yan said so. He felt that only this explanation was reasonable. It seemed he had been thinking like a petty person, but he had always been like this and didn't feel too ashamed.
Gong Chenying of course believed Li Yan. After putting the bracelet on her fair wrist, when she spoke again, her voice had lost its usual coldness and had a different kind of shyness.
She told Li Yan that once the wedding date was set, she would not be able to come over for the next ten days until the wedding day itself. They were not allowed to see each other.
This was a custom of the Tianli Clan. And on Li Yan's side, the Third Elder and the others would also make arrangements for some preparatory matters for the celebration process. To put it bluntly, it was to familiarize Li Yan with the wedding etiquette of the Tianli Clan.
When Li Yan heard this, his head immediately began to ache. To have him familiarize himself with those procedures was what he feared the most. Just thinking about it gave him a headache.
But this was not something he could decide. In the Malevolent Spirit Sect, it was the rule set by Wei Zhongran. Here, he could only obey others.
Afterward, the two talked for a few more sentences before Gong Chenying stood up. Before leaving, she quickly pecked Li Yan's forehead like a dragonfly touching water, a fleeting touch before she left, her face flushed with shame...
The next day, the Third Elder indeed brought a large group of people over. Among them, the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Elders were to stay by Li Yan's side. The Third Elder arranged for them to help Li Yan familiarize himself with the procedures and said with a charming smile.
"When A Ying gets married, she will be leaving from her maternal home's side, so the Clan Leader and the First Elder will not come over at the beginning. Only after you have brought A Ying into your home will her maternal family send people over to participate in the bonfire feast."
"At that time, the Clan Leader and the First Elder will come over together. And Fellow Daoist Li has no clan here, so your 'Qing A Wang' Manor is built in the branch lineage of the Second Elder. For this, the Fifth Elder was quite dissatisfied!"
As she said this, the Third Elder giggled.
Now, the clan members of the Second and Fifth Elders' branch lineages were particularly friendly towards Li Yan. They all believed that this generation's "Qing A Wang" Manor should be built in their branch lineage.
In the end, the First Elder considered that the Miao clan members on that side no longer had the Second Elder. With strong experts from all the branch lineages being sent out to participate in the "Qing A Wang" Manor opening ceremony, they would surely feel a sense of loss.
The glory of the past had now been reduced to only the participation of the junior Golden Core members. It was inevitable that they would feel a sense of loss. Therefore, it was still decided to establish this generation's "Qing A Wang" in the lineage of the Second Elder.
This move indeed brought a long-lost smile to the faces of everyone in the Miao clan, from top to bottom.
"There, we are family now. The Third Elder is from A Ying's maternal family. From now on, you can't live here anymore. You have to go with us to the completed 'Qing A Wang' Manor."
"You don't have to worry about all the following matters. My sixth brother and I will handle them. We guarantee that her maternal family will be satisfied. And you have to listen to my fourth brother's arrangements and learn the etiquette well!"
A smile appeared in the Fifth Elder's eyes, but when he mentioned the "Qing A Wang" Manor, a flash of guilt crossed the depths of his eyes. That was the clan where his "second brother" was.
And his second brother had already perished, and could no longer see the current Tianli Clan. And all of this was related to him.
Li Yan was very smart. He could see that the Third Elder had personally brought these three people over mainly to introduce their roles in this ceremony, as the role of the groom's family.
And among these three, two had been at odds with him before. She was afraid he would have objections, so she had arranged for the Sixth Elder to be here, and she herself had made a special trip.
He also saw the thoughts of the Fifth Elder. Li Yan laughed out loud.
"If it weren't for the fact that the ancestral teachings cannot be changed, I think I could even be called 'Miao Yan,' hahaha..."
After hearing this, the few of them immediately revealed understanding smiles. The Fourth Elder chuckled.
"You are about to become the 'Qing A Wang.' It is indeed inappropriate to call you Fellow Daoist Li. To call you 'King Yan,' I'm afraid I'll get it wrong, hahaha. Actually, I think among us, it is more appropriate to call you 'A Yan'!"
"'Yan Wang'... Yama King, giggle giggle..." (TN: The pronunciation of "King Yan" and "Yama King" are the same in Chinese.)
The Third Elder muttered this once, then covered her ruby lips with a snow-white jade hand and couldn't help but giggle, her body swaying like a flower branch, her chest heaving.
"It's just a title, anything is fine!"
Li Yan let out a wry smile, then waved his hand helplessly. For a moment, the atmosphere in the pavilion became even more harmonious.