When Dan Feng arrived at the table, the host on stage was warming up the crowd for the upcoming raffle.
Other newlyweds were busy all day during their wedding, sometimes not even having time to eat.
To leave time for Zero and Jingliu to have their meal, Daiyang and the others had specially added a raffle segment after the ceremony.
Guests whose number was called would receive a prize.
But no one at their table paid attention to the host. They were all chatting among themselves.
Baiheng was enthusiastically talking with Daiyang. When she saw Dan Feng, she slapped her forehead in annoyance.
"Oh no, I forgot Lord High Elder!"
The High Elder had lowered himself and personally played music for this wedding.
Yet she had forgotten to take photos.
Daiyang held quite a grudge against Dan Feng, so she immediately grabbed Baiheng's hand and continued explaining various matters to the Empress's family.
"The bride price and dowry were prepared long ago."
To make herself more convincing, Daiyang even took out her jade abacus.
"It's just that time was limited, so it's inconvenient to show them publicly."
Baiheng leaned over too.
After skimming a few lines, she immediately understood why they couldn't be shown publicly.
If this got posted on the Starnet, people would curse them to death.
Dan Feng shifted his gaze toward Yingxing and Jing Yuan.
The guests at this wedding all had backgrounds greater than the last.
Because of that, Yingxing, with dragon horns on his head, didn't stand out as much.
Chanzhen asked with interest, "You're Huaiyan's disciple?"
Yingxing immediately straightened his back and nodded.
He didn't know who the other person was, but anyone who could sit at this table... Had to be from a generation above even his master.
Chanzhen asked a few questions about Huaiyan's recent situation. Then, thoughtfully, he brought up his own experiences as a "Galaxy Ranger" and even pulled Jing Yuan into their conversation.
At that moment, a mournful cry reached Dan Feng's ears.
Following the sound, he saw the red-haired youth who had gone to Scalegorge Waterscape with Zero.
Dan Feng guessed that the youth was very likely the "Elation Aeon."
The other party's large wavy hair was extremely eye-catching, and paired with that androgynous face, he looked like a girl at first glance.
Under the unfriendly gaze of the current Marshal, the youth blinked repeatedly, as though trying to squeeze out a few tears.
After blinking for a long time without producing any, He gave up, raised a tissue, and pretended to wipe the corners of His eyes.
"This time... did you prepare a gift?"
The blue-haired man suspected to be the Reignbow Arbiter said nothing.
The youth continued, "I prepared 9.9 billion credits for him."
Hua finally couldn't take it anymore.
He had taken one hundred billion patrol tokens from her and returned ninety-nine hundred million credits to Father.
Quite clever, wasn't He?
Grinding her teeth, she said, "So you're here to profit from the exchange rate difference."
After saying that, Hua met Dan Feng's eyes.
She smiled and gestured to the High Elder.
Dan Feng walked over obediently and bent down slightly.
Hua quietly told him a time.
Dan Feng understood immediately.
Tomorrow, the Marshal would leave the Luofu and return to Xuling.
After the wedding, she would use "Feather of Passing Dust" to erase part of his memories.
Dan Feng nodded slightly and accepted the order.
When he straightened up, Zero and Jingliu arrived.
Zero wore a smile, but there wasn't a trace of warmth in his eyes.
His gaze lingered between Dan Feng and Hua.
Dan Feng's heart tightened.
If he caused a rift between the two of them, that would truly be a great sin.
Dan Feng coughed lightly and said, "The sound of the zither was too soft. After some time, I'll play for you again."
Zero remembered his promise with Yubie, and his eyes warmed slightly.
He teased, "I'm truly flattered. Lord High Elder is personally going to play the zither for me."
Dan Feng smiled lightly, "If you come to my residence, naturally I'll treat you properly."
Zero gestured behind him.
Guan Liang stepped forward and handed him a bag.
Zero took out a red envelope and stuffed it into Dan Feng's hand.
"Sorry for troubling you."
Dan Feng didn't refuse and tucked it into his sleeve.
Hua fell into thought.
How should she gloss over this matter? Hide the truth from Father?
Father only believed the conclusions he reached himself.
No matter how she argued, it would be useless.
First the bouquet, then Dan Feng.
In that case...
Hua smiled and said, "I think he's handsome, so I wanted to chat with him a bit more. What? Is that not allowed?"
Dan Feng froze.
This wasn't lifting the roof. This was turning over the ground.
But the one who reacted the most was Daiyang.
Her eyes widened and she said with disappointment, "Your Highness, please have better taste. I can introduce you..."
She suddenly realized something. Her voice became softer and softer, and she looked everywhere except at Zero.
Zero gently pressed Jingliu's shoulder.
His lover sat down following his movement.
He picked out several delicate pastries for her.
Then, putting down his chopsticks, Zero walked to Daiyang's side and asked in an extremely gentle voice, "What food?"
Daiyang laughed awkwardly, "Of course the island's specialty dishes."
"Father, which star system are you planning to spend your honeymoon in?"
She took out her jade abacus, acting as though she was going to plan the trip for him.
Zero didn't pursue the matter and followed the topic she had thrown out.
"We plan to vacation on an island first, then watch animal migration, and finally the aurora."
Daiyang tapped her screen a few times and smiled.
"I'll help you arrange the itinerary..."
A very enthusiastic female voice came from the other side.
"Same as usual? We recently got several new..."
Daiyang immediately hung up.
Zero was confused.
'Several what? Chefs? What was wrong with chefs?'
Daiyang forced a smile.
"...Father, it's not what you're thinking. My standards are very high."
Hearing that, Zero immediately understood.
Not chefs.
Otherwise, Daiyang wouldn't be explaining so frantically.
Zero's expression became complicated. Countless words turned into a sigh.
His bottom line had retreated again and again.
Forget dating eight people...
Patting Daiyang's shoulder, Zero spoke earnestly.
"As long as you don't break the law."
Daiyang, "..."
'Wait, so you didn't understand at first?'
'Then why did I explain?'
'Wasn't that just drawing attention to it?!'
'Please don't misunderstand! My standards are really high!'
Chanzhen, "..."
'Father really...'
'I'm going to cry.'
He clearly knew it was an island.
Islands naturally meant yachts.
And once yachts reached international waters, everything became different.
Father knew that and still told Daiyang that she just shouldn't break the law.
'You spoil Daiyang too much!'
Zero looked at the most eye-catching red-haired youth and opened His panel.
[Aeon of "Elation"]
[He believes joy is the exclusive right of intelligent life]
Zero's eyes moved slightly.
It was the Aeon's true body.
A smile slowly rose on his lips. Instead of approaching the Aeon directly, he stopped beside Jing Yuan halfway there.
Jing Yuan, "..."
Zero smiled.
"What should you call me now?"
Jing Yuan had excellent eyesight and immediately saw the red envelopes in the bag.
"...You didn't even give me one!"
Zero casually took out a stack of red envelopes and waved them.
"Don't worry, there are plenty."
Jing Yuan fell silent. Then he squeezed two words through his teeth.
"...Grandmaster."
Dan Feng immediately burst out laughing and added fuel to the fire.
"Zero doesn't lack patrol tokens. Say it a few more times."
Jing Yuan thought that the ancients really did have a point.
As the saying went, the hardest part was getting started.
After actually saying "Grandmaster," the awkwardness in his heart disappeared. He smiled brightly and proactively held out both hands.
"Thank you, Grandmaster. Grandmaster is the best. Grandmaster, do you have any more red envelopes?"
Zero laughed and took out four more red envelopes. Then he added two more on the spot to make the number auspicious and placed them in Jing Yuan's outstretched hands.
Jing Yuan hesitated.
'Isn't six red envelopes too many?'
As though seeing through his concerns, Zero said, "There's not much money in them. Just take them and have fun."
Feeling the weight in his hands, Jing Yuan relaxed.
They were very light. It didn't seem like much money had been put inside.
He immediately praised Zero enthusiastically.
"Grandmaster is so generous..."
Zero took out more red envelopes and was about to hand them over, but paused.
Looking at the number tag in front of Jing Yuan, he said, "Jing Yuan, you won."
Still confused, Jing Yuan walked onto the stage. As soon as he stood there, he received a sign with the prize name written on it.
Soon, the host called another number.
Jing Yuan stepped down from the stage in confusion.
Yingxing was the first to see the prize written on the sign.
His eyes became blank as he muttered, "What... is this?"
After returning to his seat, Jing Yuan turned over the sign.
Finally seeing his prize clearly, he asked the same question as Yingxing.
"What is this?"
Chanzhen glanced at it and naturally replied, "A planet."
Yingxing, "..."
Was this the Xianzhou Alliance of humanity's strongest people?
Giving away planets as casually as eggs.
Jing Yuan, "..."
He was a Xianzhou native. Of course he could read the words.
Wait, if planets could be wedding prizes, then the red envelopes he received...
'Weren't there originally six? Why were there two more now?!'
Seeing his hesitation, Chanzhen naturally acted spoiled toward Zero.
"Daddy, can Your daughter have a red envelope too?"
Zero didn't hesitate and casually handed one over.
After receiving it, Chanzhen blinked and continued, "When you come back, can you bring me a little gift?"
The request wasn't excessive.
Just as she expected, Father agreed.
Chanzhen sensibly said, "Anything is fine."
Zero frowned slightly.
"What if you don't like it?"
Guan Liang saw through Chanzhen's intentions.
In a sense, Zero and the Xianzhou people really were two sides running toward each other.
Zero's possessiveness was extremely strong. He couldn't tolerate his people suffering.
Likewise, the people under his protection were like pets with separation anxiety, unable to leave their owner.
Chanzhen wanted to grasp Zero's whereabouts.
So she advanced step by step, carefully testing.
First asking for a gift, then naturally guiding Zero into taking photos.
Chanzhen wore an innocent expression.
"Hmm... then could you just take a random photo and let me choose?"
Perhaps Zero thought it was a trivial matter.
Or perhaps he simply didn't care if Chanzhen knew his whereabouts.
He said, "Okay."
Chanzhen smiled proudly.
She hadn't forgotten Jing Yuan's earlier confusion. In front of Zero, she opened the red envelope and looked inside before comforting Jing Yuan.
"One hundred."
"It's really not much."
Jing Yuan, "..."
One million patrol tokens?
He had called him Grandmaster four times at first, and Zero thought four wasn't auspicious enough, so he added two envelopes.
Before going on stage, he had called him Grandmaster once more.
'What? Did he insist on making it eight?!'
'Eight envelopes total.'
'Which meant...'
'Eight million?!'
Not yet twenty years old, Jing Yuan had seen the world of people like Dan Feng for the first time.
He was deeply shaken.
Why become a Cloud Knight? Why become a Galaxy Ranger?
He might as well live off Grandmaster.
Sitting there, Jing Yuan struggled to organize his thoughts.
How could he possibly have such good luck?
His eyes flickered as a guess appeared in his mind.
He stood up and walked to Hua.
"Marshal, please take this gift back."
Hua wasn't surprised.
She thought highly of Jing Yuan and regarded him as her successor.
"It's only a planet. Accept it."
Jing Yuan took a deep breath.
"Marshal, this gift... is too valuable."
Hua smiled.
"The first birthday gift I received was a manor covering over a hundred thousand square meters."
Jing Yuan, "..."
She gently swirled the wine in her glass.
"That day, I also received a cruise ship."
"Oh, I almost forgot. There was also a vacation planet."
Jing Yuan, "..."
Was it the planet he had just received?
Hua set down her wine glass.
"You're right. This planet was one of the gifts I received when I was ten."
"I don't think it's particularly valuable."
Jing Yuan thought, 'How was it not valuable?'
This was a gift Zero had given the Marshal.
And now... after passing through the Marshal's hands, it had ended up with him.
The Marshal's intentions spoke for themselves.
Hua sighed softly.
The spirit of youth was the most precious thing.
A person could rely on loyalty and passion to accomplish earth-shaking feats.
Right or wrong didn't matter. That courage alone was rare.
But Jing Yuan was too young and too smart.
Those were strengths, but also weaknesses.
Judging from his family background and over ten years of life experience, he was a loyal child with a strong sense of responsibility.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have helped Father when Father was being "bullied at school."
From the smallest clues, he could discover enemies hidden within the fleet.
But after leaving the Xianzhou and the utopia among the stars, what would Jing Yuan think when he arrived on other planets?
He could foresee flaws in systems and see the suffering about to descend upon foreign races.
Young Jing Yuan, whose youthful spirit had yet to fade, what choice would he make?
Would he believe that only by obtaining power and reaching the highest positions could he change everything?
Hua sighed, "Jing Yuan, I respect your choice."
"You can leave the Xianzhou at any time."
"However, your temperament hasn't settled yet. It's best if you remain in the Xianzhou."
Hearing the words "temperament hasn't settled," Jing Yuan frowned almost imperceptibly.
Hua couldn't help sighing inwardly.
It seemed Jing Yuan was destined to become her successor.
She reached out her hand, and the youth obediently lowered his head.
Rubbing his hair, she said softly, "It won't be too late to decide after a hundred years."
"Back then, we had no choice."
Neither she nor Father had any room to choose.
"But now, shouldn't someone have what we didn't and go see this universe?"
Jing Yuan was moved.
"Mm."
He no longer refused and accepted this special gift.
Hua watched him return to his seat.
She felt she had already said everything she could, but Jing Yuan clearly hadn't listened.
If he refused advice, there was nothing she could do.
At that moment, Aha stood up.
Smiling, Zero came to the Aeon's side. Without giving Him any choice, he wrapped an arm around His shoulder and pushed Him back into the seat.
In an intimate tone, he said, "My dear friend, the wedding isn't over yet. How can you leave early?"
Aha clearly felt that hand move to the back of His neck.
He returned a brilliant smile.
"My dear friend, on such a joyous day..."
Zero kindly said, "You are my dear friend."
"How could I attack your true body?"
Aha let out a short laugh.
Understood.
His dear friend wanted to kill His avatar.