As the main force set off on their return journey to Qingyuan Mountain, Zhu Zhuxia took his own life within the prison cells shortly after their departure.
With Zhu Zhuxia dead and Hanzhou’s deep grievance thoroughly avenged, the dream realm still stubbornly refused to dissipate.
Hanzhou pondered inwardly: “As expected, the illusion will only clear once the mutual affections of Immortal Yunling and myself culminate in a true union.”
Consequently, after returning to Qingyuan Mountain, Hanzhou haunted the Myriad Swords Peak to await Pei Huai’s verdict, making the pilgrimage three times daily morning, noon, and night.
In the morning:
Hanzhou: “I request an audience with the Sect Master.”
Manager: “The Sect Master is currently occupied with sect affairs and has no time to see you.”
At noon:
Hanzhou: “I request an audience with the Sect Master.”
Manager: “The Sect Master is resting. Return after he wakes up.”
In the evening:
Hanzhou: “I request an audience with the Sect Master.”
Manager: “Canglang Immortal has arrived, so the Sect Master is unavailable. Look, a barrier has already been erected.”
Hanzhou: “…”
Following a grueling month of patient waiting, Hanzhou finally received summons for an audience from Pei Huai.
Inside the Myriad Fathoms Palace atop Myriad Swords Peak, Hanzhou and Yan Mingqiu stood side by side before Pei Huai.
Pei Huai looked toward Yan Mingqiu. “Mingqiu, are you truly certain you wish to tie yourself to him?”
Yan Mingqiu nodded. “I am.”
Pei Huai: “Very well. I have only one condition: Hanzhou must marry into our sect, because the Heavenly Sword Sect’s Yunling Peak cannot afford to lose Immortal Yunling.”
Hanzhou raised no objections. After all, it was merely a dream construct, not reality. Marrying into the sect was a minor detail the moment the wedding concluded and the bridal chamber door closed, the dream would undoubtedly shatter.
Pounding his chest with absolute confidence, Hanzhou declared, “No problem! I shall return to the Eastern Sea this very day to prepare my dowry.” Turning his gaze toward Yan Mingqiu, he added, “Wait for me, Master. I shall return with a procession stretching ten miles red to wed you.”
Yan Mingqiu: “…” Never mind the talk of marrying out or marrying in at least I’ll be the one on the receiving end.
Beaming with radiant euphoria, Hanzhou rushed back to the Eastern Sea to assemble his dowry.
However, upon announcing his impending marriage to the Eastern Sea Dragon King, absolute fury erupted.
“Absurd! Our Eastern Sea horned dragon clan has survived through single heirs for generations, and you are destined to inherit the throne of the Eastern Sea. How can you possibly marry into the Heavenly Sword Sect as a bride?”
Refusing to back down, Hanzhou was determined not to let his hard-won approval from the gatekeepers of Qingyuan Mountain crumble due to familial opposition.
After a brief pause, he ventured a cautious probe: “Father, horned dragons enjoy exceptionally long lifespans, and you are currently in your absolute prime. Would you and Mother consider working hard to produce a younger brother for me?”
“You still have the nerve to bring up your mother?! Your mother was peacefully deep in secluded cultivation within the Azure Sea Divine Grotto why on earth did you have to disturb her?”
“Because your child is getting married a once-in-a-lifetime milestone. Mother would surely not wish to be absent.”
“No, I refuse! For the Crown Prince of the Eastern Sea to marry into the Heavenly Sword Sect and act as someone’s wife if word leaks out, where on earth am I supposed to put my old face?”
“Father, can you please stop throwing a tantrum?”
Slamming his palm against the table, the Dragon King roared in incandescent rage, “A tantrum? Who on earth is throwing a tantrum here?!”
“My king, calm your anger,” a soft, melodious voice drifted gently from the distance.
Following the sound, the Dragon Queen strolled gracefully into the grand hall, resembling the softest, most soothing spring breeze that instantly pacified any restless heart.
Dropping into a crouch, Hanzhou saluted, “Mother, you’ve emerged from seclusion.”
“My boy, you truly grow more sensible by the day.” The Dragon Queen reached down to lift Hanzhou to his feet.
Suppressing his boiling agitation, the Dragon King gritted his teeth. “Sensible? Call that sensible? He claims he wants to marry into the Heavenly Sword Sect to serve as Immortal Yunling’s wife!”
Stepping beside the Dragon King, the Dragon Queen gently stroked his back. “My king, do you recall the expectations you held for our boy’s future when he was first born? You stated that as long as he grew up healthy and happy, nothing else mattered. My king, have you forgotten your original intention?”
The Dragon Queen’s voice flowed like a bubbling mountain stream or the melodious chirping of birds in a quiet forest; even the most mundane words, spoken in her cadence, seemed imbued with a hypnotic, persuasive magic.
“I… sigh…” The Dragon King lowered his head in a long, defeatist sigh.
Recognizing the gesture of surrender, the Dragon Queen turned back to Hanzhou. “My boy, go with Chief Steward Turtle to the treasury and inspect the dowry. Those treasures were originally assembled as betrothal gifts for your future bride, but circumstances have transformed them into your personal dowry instead. Since the Heavenly Sword Sect isn’t exceptionally wealthy, bring plenty of dowry items to secure your standing. If anyone dares bully you, make sure to inform your father and me we will go down there ourselves to back you up.”
Hanzhou: “…” Why is there a sudden urge to cry? Am I getting a bit too deeply immersed in this drama?
Throwing himself into the task with boundless enthusiasm, Hanzhou spent three frantic days and nights meticulously compiling the comprehensive dowry manifest.
Utterly exhausted after seventy-two continuous hours without sleep, he finally folded the finalized manifest with utmost care, tucked it securely inside a jade box, and experienced a wave of profound relaxation.
Just as he collapsed onto his bed, desperate for a long-overdue rest, the Dragon King strode into the bedchamber.
Entering the room, the Dragon King waved a hand to instruct the servants to seal the heavy doors behind them.
Drowsy to the point where his eyelids refused to stay open, Hanzhou muttered, “Who’s there?”
“Your father, that’s who.”
Rolling over lazily, Hanzhou groaned, “Father, can this wait until tomorrow? I need to sleep.”
Stepping right up to the bedside, the Dragon King forcefully spun Hanzhou back around, gripping his arms tightly and shaking him in a desperate attempt to jolt him awake. “Wait, don’t close your eyes just yet—your father has only one question to ask you.”
Blinking his eyes open with agonizing effort, Hanzhou forced a single slit of vision. “What question?”
“Are you the one on top, or the one on the bottom? Why are you the one marrying into their family instead of him coming to marry into ours?”
Hanzhou answered with complete honesty, “The one on top.”
Releasing his grip, the Dragon King beamed with restored pride. “Good, excellent. Our horned dragon clan never humbles itself to bow beneath others.”
Assuaged by the comforting knowledge that his prized cabbage wasn’t the one being consumed, the Dragon King relaxed considerably. Nevertheless, he refused to sanction a grand, elaborate wedding ceremony, insisting that attendance be restricted to immediate family and close relatives, with all superfluous rituals streamlined.
When the wedding day finally arrived, Yan Mingqiu donned formal ceremonial robes, accompanied by Pei Huai and Fang Huai, traveling personally to the Eastern Sea to welcome the bride.
Following an entire day and night of exuberant festivities, the most critical ceremony finally arrived.
Holding the ceremonial weighing scale in both hands, the groom, Yan Mingqiu, lifted the red bridal veil to reveal his bride, prompting mutual smiles of profound affection.
The matchmaker stepped forward bearing the nuptial wine cups, and the couple drank the intertwined wedding toast arm in arm.
At that exact instant, a blinding flash of pure, pearlescent white light erupted with such dazzling intensity that it forced both men to shut their eyes tightly in unison.
When they fluttered their eyelids open once more, they discovered they had been instantly transported back out of the illusion, returning directly to their physical bodies deep within the karst cavern of the Myriad Laws Secret Realm.
With the horned dragon Hanzhou having successfully united in matrimony with his master, the dream realm was finally broken.
Time flowed differently within illusions; whereas two full months had elapsed inside the dream, merely a single hour had passed in the waking world.
While both men stood there in a daze, the colossal horned dragon sculpture residing within the cavern dissolved into a radiant beam of light, darting straight into Hanzhou’s physical body.
As that torrent of blinding energy surged directly into his sea of consciousness, Hanzhou felt as though his entire frame had been encased in thousands of ancient glaciers. The agonizing chill vied with an unprecedented surge of vital life force exploding wildly within his veins.
Driven by the continuous fusion of primal energies, his native water spiritual root underwent a miraculous mutation: the previously fluid, flowing water elements rapidly condensed, solidifying into hard, crystalline ice. In that singular moment, his water spiritual root mutated into the far rarer, infinitely more formidable Ice Spiritual Root!
When the tempest finally subsided into tranquil harmony, Hanzhou discovered he could now manipulate frost and ice entirely at will retaining all the fluid adaptability of his original water root while acquiring the indestructible hardness and sub-zero lethality of absolute ice.
His overall cultivation level surged forward in a runaway breakthrough, vaulting straight up to the late Core Formation stage.
As the phantom of the horned dragon completely dissipated into thin air, an immaculate white jade coffin materialized before their eyes.