Chapter 242: Chapter 338: Mu Huanqing's Words (Third Update)_1
As for the reason behind the existence of this welcoming ceremony, on the surface, it was because the Tiandao Sword Sect represented all traditional sects outside of Tianjiang. The strongest of the young generation coming personally from these traditional sects to participate in the competition held in Tianjiang naturally warranted some official welcoming gestures.
And of course, the people for this welcoming ceremony would not be the elders from the Tianjiang Great Family; Mu Huanqing, the strongest in Tianjiang, was the ideal candidate.
Everything seemed reasonable and logical.
However, to Bai Chaojin, these were just superficial gestures. He wanted all the excellent progeny of Tianjiang's great families to see that Mu Huanqing and Song Mobei were a match made by fate, and that others should not interfere.
Bai Chaojin's undertone was mostly directed at Fang Ren, wanting to make it clear to him that there was no one in the world who would think he and Mu Huanqing were a suitable match.
Of course, the others didn't know Bai Chaojin's ulterior motives; only Fang Ren and Mu Huanqing were fully aware. Yet knowing this, Mu Huanqing still had to perform her role in the welcoming ceremony well.
It was not about personal feelings, but about focusing on etiquette. It was just a welcoming ceremony, and if she did not show herself, wouldn't that be too embarrassing for the Tiandao Sword Sect?
Besides, Bai Chaojin's deeper intentions were, in Mu Huanqing's view, neither here nor there. There were not many in the world who supported her being with Fang Ren anyway. She didn't need their support; she just needed to use her absolute strength at a certain time to crush all prejudice against her marriage - no one would dare to oppose her.
Fang Ren didn't look up, but he could see the figures above. His own wife was still as beautiful and pure, while Song Mobei still looked like the paragon of a gentleman. What he was like, however, didn't matter to Fang Ren.
Liking my wife is futile; if you dare to pursue her, she can turn you into a pig on the spot.
Although this thought seemed somewhat reliant on his wife's power, what could he do? His wife was just that strong, and he felt quite helpless.
If all else failed, he could also draw on his credit card to awaken a bit of his youth and have Jiang Ling beat Song Mobei into a pig - that was an option.
Ahem, although this still relied on a woman, which of these two women didn't become stronger because of him?
Soft rice? How could the matters of a scholar be called living off a woman...
In the blink of an eye, twenty-two figures descended from the heavens, and the radiance emanating from Mu Huanqing still lingered in the sky, like streaks of luminescent rain, utterly mesmerizing.
Bai Qi, sitting next to Fang Ren, looked at him and said, "Your beloved has arrived, why don't you take a glance?"
"I am looking," replied Fang Ren.
"Your eyes... it seems there has been some change," Bai Qi observed his white eyes and sighed softly.
He had too many secrets, and she didn't wish to probe too much into them, for she had already experienced too many troubling enquiries into matters of the heart. She feared the more she asked, the more Fang Ren would grow to disdain her.
As Mu Huanqing and a group of female soldiers from the Nine Heavens Corps, together with the disciples of the Tiandao Sword Sect landed, all the students in the audience stood up, and some even used their True Qi to keep themselves slightly aloft, to better observe the rarely seen grandeur of Madame Xuan.
"Wow! The rumors are true! Madame Xuan is even more beautiful than what's been told! She's a true fairy!" a female student cried out excitedly.
After all, Mu Huanqing, as a woman achieving the title of world's strongest, inevitably drew extreme adoration from many women, becoming their lifelong idol.
"Absolutely stunning! Those online celebrities and influencers are nothing! Does she have some kind of natural tenfold beauty filter? It doesn't even look like she has makeup on!"
"Are you kidding me! Would Madame Xuan, a great general, wear those girly makeups?"
"My heart... suddenly aches. Who in the future will be lucky enough to marry a fairy like Madame Xuan as his wife? Envy of everyone!"
"Is there any need to ask? The one to marry Madame Xuan will certainly be Brother Song, without a doubt!"
"Brother Song truly lives up to his name. Just standing there, he gives off a soothing aura, as if the term 'handsome and refined' was made just for him alone."
"Brother Song and Madame Xuan are recognized worldwide as a couple, no one could interfere with their future marriage."
"A perfect match! Madame Xuan marrying Brother Song, I have absolutely no regrets. If it were anyone else, I would not accept it!"
...
The scene was filled with buzzing chatter, and the family heads seated in the special area did not quiet the noise. They were old and seldom witnessed such lively events; watching the young people make noise was a nostalgic pastime.
The presidents of the Alchemist Guild also smiled, most of them in their forties or fifties. Had they not also been young once? In their era, there was a beauty named Jiang Ling, hailed as a woman who could bring cities and nations to their knees, and they too adored her just the same.
In the center of the venue, amidst the Tiandao Sword Sect faction, Xia Fu Lan's heart burned with anger as she heard people say that Song Mobei and Mu Huanqing were a natural pair. These incessant talks had been grating on her ears for far too long.
Her icy gaze occasionally swept over Mu Huanqing. Why hadn't that woman died on the battlefield! Curses!
"They truly seem like a natural pair."
Listening to the clamor around her, Bai Qi looked at Sister Hui Qing, who appeared like a fairy in the center of the field, and at Brother Song, whom she once thought she had affections for, and commented with a complex expression on her face.
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Fang Ren glanced at her, smiling as he said, "Do you think so too?"
Bai Qi looked into his white eyes and opened his mouth, "Haven't you heard their voices? Although you possess an unparalleled cultivation talent, I'm afraid you're doomed not to catch up with Sister Hui Qing. She's twenty-five this year and should be getting married soon. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, it could happen at any time."
"Her marriage is still a long way off," Fang Ren chuckled.
He hadn't yet crushed the critical thoughts of those people in the Central Area; how could he be at ease enough to marry Mu Huanqing?
"What makes you so sure?" Bai Qi was stunned, feeling that Fang Ren was a bit overconfident in this regard.
"Who knows," Fang Ren didn't give a direct answer.
Bai Qi turned her head back, once again looking at Mu Huanqing and Song Mobei in the center of the venue, leading their respective parties towards the specially arranged seats at a leisurely pace.
A complex multitude of emotions, like a massive boulder, weighed heavy on her heart. She still badly wanted to speak with Fang Ren, even at the risk of annoying him.
"What I want to say is, look how good those two look together. Why can't we be together properly and be a couple that others envy as naturally matched?" Bai Qi spoke again.
Fang Ren blinked, saying, "Do you really like the appearance of a naturally matched couple?"
Bai Qi: "Why do you say it's just appearance?"
Fang Ren didn't say anything more, just hanging a subtle smile on his face.
By now, the two groups in the center of the venue had reached the specially arranged seats and were preparing to sit down. But while everyone else sat, only Mu Huanqing remained standing.
Suddenly, she casually released a wave of silver True Qi in front of her, a wave of True Qi attached to her voice to amplify it.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please stop the wrongful matchmaking."
Her voice, passing through the True Qi, expanded into a resounding volume that reverberated throughout the entire venue, crushing all the murmurs to dust beneath it.
The bustling venue went silent the moment her voice faded.
Bai Chaojin, sitting in the special seats, displayed a gradual shift from a warm smile to an indifferent demeanor, his eyes not turning towards Mu Huanqing.
As for Song Mobei, he looked at her with a hint of surprise, but it was only for a moment before he regained his composure, assuming a gentle and refined facade.
He hadn't expected that Mu Huanqing would directly speak out against the public's wrongful matchmaking at such an event, wasn't this implying that Song Mobei and Mu Huanqing were not suitable for each other?
This caused some discomfort in Song Mobei. He was used to girls fawning over him from a young age. Any girl his age would feel immensely satisfied with just a casual smile from him.
Yet Mu Huanqing, when others said she and he were a naturally matched pair, she actually refused. This made Song Mobei feel not only surprised but also intrigued.
"During these uncertain times with the Void race invading, instead of focusing on personal emotions, we should concentrate more on how to fight the foreign invasion," Mu Huanqing continued, "Furthermore, cultivation level is a weapon to protect our own kin, not a criterion to judge the suitability of marriage.
Even though my time to marry has come, I believe my marriage should be determined by myself. If one day, I fall in love with an ordinary person without cultivation, I will marry him regardless of what others say.
The standards for judging suitable marriage should never be how compatible looks are, how well temperaments match, nor how similar cultivation levels are, but rather how much that person moves your heart and whether you can throw everything else aside for them. As the saying goes on the internet now, 'marry for love'."
Upon these words, a silence fell upon the special seating area, contrasting with what everyone had in mind.
Even Mu Qing Mountain had not expected his granddaughter to make such a defiant speech before over fifty thousand people at a major venue.
Apparently, yesterday's marriage discussions by the Bai Family and Fang Family had crossed her line.
"Madame Xuan...Madame Xuan! So true! We should marry for love!"
Suddenly, from below, a girl who greatly admired Mu Huanqing shouted out.
"That's right! We girls should marry for love! I've always thought that suitability, being together, and liking each other are three different things! I didn't expect Madame Xuan's view on love to match mine exactly!"
"I want love too! I'm tired of my parents nagging me every day, telling me to marry any girl who comes along for a blind date!"
"Oh my gosh! OMG! Madame Xuan said she might marry an ordinary person without cultivation in the future! Does that mean... Does that mean I have a chance too!"
"Holy shit! Dude! You actually got into a top university!"
"Madame Xuan spoke brilliantly!"
...
At this moment, high above the venue, a hundred meters up in the corner, Jiang Ling held a cup of coconut juice, sitting beside and watching everything unfold below with the corners of his mouth revealing a slight smile.
This Mu Huanqing, she truly was just like her younger self.
Soon after, a complexity washed over Jiang Ling's face, but then it solidified with determination, "I will not let this girl follow in my footsteps!"
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