I Shall Seal the Heavens

[/expand]

To hold a wedding ceremony in the middle of a battle was something that had never happened in the Southern Domain. As the Southern Domain cultivators roared with grief and rage, Pill Demon hovered in midair, looking at Meng Hao and the white-haired Xu Qing. Pill Demon’s heart trembled.

“I… will absolutely continue to bear witness for you and Xu Qing!” he said, his voice ancient and his heart filled with grief.

His voice echoed out across the battlefield, prompting a roar of response from the Southern Domain cultivators.

The hundreds of thousands of Northern Reaches cultivators were shocked by the scene that was playing out in front of them. As for their seven peak Dao Seeking experts, their eyes flickered with killing intent.

“The first half was a Red Wedding. Therefore… let’s make the last half even more red with blood!”

“Northern Reaches cultivators! Eradicate all of the Southern Domain cultivators! Stain the ground red with blood! Fill the place with discarnate souls! Soak this Red Wedding… with blood! CHARGE!!”

In response to the words of the peak Dao Seeking experts, the hundreds of thousands of Northern Reaches cultivators’ killing intent rocketed up. Roaring, they charged forward.

“KILL THEM!!”

The carnage once again continued. The ground shook and the air rippled with distortions. The battle between the Southern Domain and the Northern Reaches was like an enormous grindstone. Every time the two sides clashed, miserable screams would ring out. Every time they slammed into each other, blood and gore would spray in the air and discarnate souls would cry out in misery.

The Southern Domain cultivators had gone mad, and their hearts surged with righteous ardor.

“We’ve come this far, now the time has come to die in battle! FIGHT!!”

“The Southern Domain is my home while I live, and the Southern Domain shall be my haunt when I die!”

“The wedding will blossom like a flower in the heart of bloody battle! How grand! Present the blood and heads of the Northern Reaches cultivators as wedding gifts! KILL THEM!”

Deadly combat filled the battlefield. For the Blood Demon Sect disciples, the mountains were the wedding candles and the land below was the wedding veil. With the wave of a few hands, a palace rose up, beautiful and grand, with lanterns and streamers. The palace appeared to display the facade of a happy wedding. Everyone was smiling, except within their smiles could be seen deep grief.

Meng Hao held Xu Qing, and she rested her head against his chest to look out at the scene. She could hear his heart beating, and could feel her own connection to the world.

She looked up at Meng Hao as if she were trying to burn his image into her very soul in such a way that reincarnation would be incapable of wiping it away, the River of Forgetfulness would be incapable of washing it clean, and not even the tea of old lady Meng could make her forget.

Popping sounds could be heard as magical techniques and divine abilities were employed to create what looked like fireworks. Beautiful colors filled the land and sky; the sight was beautiful to behold.

The new bride and groom were a huge contrast to the battle around them!

Meng Hao’s white hair floated around him as he held Xu Qing in his arms and poured life force into her. Xu Qing’s hair was also white, and her face was covered with wrinkles. However, it also seemed to glow with a certain purity and holiness.

Even as an old woman, she could continue to smile despite the fact that her beauty had faded away!

Meng Hao was also smiling, and yet, the grief in his heart continued to grow more and more profound. As of now, the only thing he could do was look deeply into her eyes. He knew that if he loosened his hand, she would fade away.

She would part from the world of the living and find her way to reincarnation.

“KILL THEM!” roared the seven peak Dao Seeking experts as they charged down from above. Patriarch Song’s expression was one of grief as he roared and shot to meet them. Sun Tao’s Nascent Soul and Patriarch Golden Frost joined him, along with Meng Hao’s second true self.

Booms echoed out as four people completely blocked the way of seven!

Bitter fighting continued all around; roars filled the air along with bloodcurdling screams. Both Northern Reaches cultivators and Southern Domain cultivators were fighting with madness, killing everything that moved.

The ground trembled as the fighting raged like wildfire.

Nearby, it was visible to everyone that… the wedding ceremony was officially commencing.

Pill Demon flew into the air to hover in front of Meng Hao and Xu Qing. He looked at Meng Hao, and he looked at Xu Qing, whom he held in his arms. Despite the fact that Pill Demon’s heart felt like it was being ripped apart, his lips couldn’t help curving into a gentle smile.

Meng Hao held Xu Qing as he looked at Pill Demon.

“Master, make the declaration, okay?” he said.

The ground was trembling, but there was still a significant number of cultivators in the area who dropped to their knees to kowtow. It was a spontaneous action on their part, their way of thanking Meng Hao for absorbing the curse and saving their lives.

Such kowtows were kowtows that came directly from the heart.

From far up above the battlefield, it could clearly be seen that, shockingly, the entire place had been split into two areas. In one area, the wedding ceremony was being carried out. In the other, it was complete carnage!

Those present who had attended the first half of Meng Hao’s wedding ceremony were now participating in the second half, and they would by no means retreat!

It didn’t matter if the wedding was stained blood red or turned ash-gray. It would be finished! This was Meng Hao’s choice, and also the way for the Southern Domain cultivators to repay him. Meng Hao and Xu Qing’s wedding… would not be a wedding of regret!

The kowtowing cultivators were spattered with blood. Some was the blood of enemies, some was their own blood. As for their exhaustion, they hid it inside. As for their grief, they bottled it up in their hearts. The only thing that could be seen… were the smiles on their faces.

These smiles were like brilliant sunlight that caused the entire battlefield to be shaken.

Pill Demon’s heart was trembling as his ancient voice once again rang out to cover the entire battlefield.

“I declare… that henceforth….”

The seven peak Dao Seeking cultivators from the Northern Reaches fought with increasing ferocity. The hundreds of thousands of Northern Reaches cultivators down below bellowed with rage as they charged in wave after wave of attack.

“Henceforth… Meng Hao and Xu Qing are bonded cultivators. Their hands are bound by destiny for all time. Whether they live or die, that connection will never be broken!” His voice echoed from one end of the battlefield to the other.

Xu Qing, nestled in Meng Hao’s arms, heard the words, and her face flushed. She smiled shyly. A wedding is the most important day in a person’s life, and to a woman, it is a day when dreams come true.

She and Meng Hao were now husband and wife. Heaven and Earth bore witness, as did the hundreds of thousands of cultivators from both the Southern Domain and the Northern Reaches. Pill Demon officiated, and the ceremony was held under the vast canopy of the sky. Discarnate souls were present to bear witness, and the entire scene was as red as blood.

Together, all bore witness to the fact that… they were married!!

“Our hands are bound by destiny for all time,” murmured Xu Qing, gazing at Meng Hao. “Whether we live or die, that connection will never be broken….” Tears poured out of her eyes to disappear in the wrinkles that covered her cheeks.

“Our hands are bound by destiny for all time,” repeated Meng Hao, looking into her eyes. “Whether we live or die, that connection will never be broken….”

The ground shook, and the kowtowing cultivators in the area looked up. Then they joined their voices together in a cry that sent out shocking soundwaves. “Meng Hao and Xu Qing! Their hands are bound by destiny for all time! Whether they live or die, that connection will never be broken!”

The sound echoed across a battlefield that reeked of blood and gore. Amidst the carnage, a Southern Domain cultivator dashed forward, grabbed the severed head of a Northern Reaches cultivator and held it high into the air.

In the blink of an eye, chaotic fighting erupted out as the Southern Domain cultivators let out unprecedented roars of rage and went berserk. They seemed to be trying to outdo each other as they offered up one wedding gift after another.

“Fellow Daoist Meng, this is my wedding gift to you!”

“Exalted Meng Hao, this is my wedding gift!”

“This is mine!”

“Hahaha! Who dares to fight me over this severed head! This is my wedding gift for the Blood Prince!”

The sudden counteroffensive caused the hundreds of thousands of Northern Reaches cultivators to tremble in their hearts. For the first time… they actually fell back under the attack.

“They’ve gone crazy! It’s just some wedding, but it’s pushed them into insanity!”

“Insane! Completely insane! Wedding gifts?!?!”

“Dammit, they’re turning us Northern Reaches cultivators into wedding gifts!!”

As such comments echoed across the battlefield, Meng Hao stood in the temple, holding Xu Qing. He didn’t want the grief he felt to show on his face. However, by this point, the grief had completely inundated his heart. It was reaching the point where suppressing the Devil in his heart was virtually impossible.

He held tight to Xu Qing, unwilling to release his grip on her.

Xu Qing smiled, and to Meng Hao, it was the most beautiful smile to ever exist in the world. When he saw her smile, what he saw was not her age and her white hair. He didn’t care about any of that. All he cared about… was Xu Qing herself.

“Take me… to enter the cycle of reincarnation….” she said softly. “Now that we are husband and wife, I have no regrets…. Let me go…. Let me… leave. Please.”

Meng Hao’s eyes were shot with blood.

Xu Qing’s hand trembled as she reached up to stroke his cheek. As she murmured these things to Meng Hao, her eyes suddenly flashed with a final, brilliant radiance like that of a sunset. She had severed her own arteries!

She did not wish to see Meng Hao continue to deliver his life force to her, to give her a little bit of extra time at the cost of his own vitality. It pained her, and she did not want him to receive injury. She did not want to see any more white hairs on his head because of her.

“Qing’er!”

A tremor ran through Meng Hao.

Xu Qing looked at him one final time. A smile appeared on her lips, and it was the same smile that had appeared when she saw him for the first time, leaning out over the cliff on Mount Daqing. Of course, Meng Hao had never seen that smile.

A final tear rolled out of the corner of her eye.

In that exact moment, her body dissipated, transformed into motes of glittering light. There was no body for the teardrop to fall onto, so… it fell down onto the ground.

“You’re my wife….” murmured Meng Hao. “The Heavens. The Earth. None of it matters. No matter how long it takes, let the cycle of reincarnation bear witness. No one will take you away from me. When you are born again, I will find you!” He tried to keep ahold of her, but the only thing that remained was motes of light. Inside of him, the pressure weighing down on his heart transformed into a roar.

The battlefield suddenly went silent. In that moment, all gazes fell upon Meng Hao, whether they were from the Southern Domain or the Northern Reaches. They saw Xu Qing transform into motes of light that turned into a river which flowed up into the sky.

-----

Chapter 773: Xu Qing Enters Reincarnation

This chapter was sponsored by Rameet Bhatti, Roderick Sinnamon, Joris Middendorp, and Daniel Raggl