114: Chapter 114 The Ceremony of the Hundred Flowers Pact (Part 1)

A month passed by in the blink of an eye.

Outside the Golden Lotus Workshop, a female Disciple dressed in a goose-yellow ruqun playfully pinned a crystal-white rose to her hair by her temples, her smile like a blooming flower.

"Senior Sister Gu, do you think this flower matches my newly tailored Flowing Cloud Brocade?"

Her dimples appeared faintly, and the hem of her skirt swayed gently with her movements.

The woman addressed as Senior Sister Gu had a gentle temperament; she looked up with a smile and a hint of mischief in her eyes.

"It looks good, it really does. However, tomorrow is the Hundred Flowers Covenant Ceremony. If the Sect Master were to personally pin this rose on you..."

She intentionally trailed off.

"Ah! Senior Sister Gu!"

The Junior Sister in the yellow dress immediately blushed, stomping her feet in feigned annoyance. Her slender, willow-like waist appeared even more graceful, and her eyes sparkled with anticipation.

Not far away, several female Disciples gathered under a peach tree in full bloom.

A plump female Disciple spoke excitedly:

"During tomorrow's ceremony, the Sect Master will personally form Dao Companion Heart-to-Heart Covenants with many sisters in the Wanfang Garden at the foot of Tianyuan Peak! That is a supreme fortune that allows one to cultivate the Great Dao alongside a True Venerable and share in the Sect's Luck!"

"Yes, yes!"

A female Disciple in a green silken robe chimed in, her gaze dreamy,

"If I could make a Dew-Seeded Heart Pledge with the Sect Master by the jade steps outside Changming Hall... just thinking about that scene..."

"Hmph, cultivating the Great Dao?" Another female Disciple in fiery red martial attire snorted, her voice direct and charmingly naive,

"I don't care about those things! I just want to be with the Sect Master..." Before she could finish, her face turned bright red under her companions' teasing gazes.

"Be with the Sect Master and do what?"

Another female Disciple in a plain white dress, possessing a cold and elegant temperament, rarely spoke up to tease, a slight smile playing on her lips.

The red-clothed Disciple puffed out her impressive chest and glared back defiantly:

"Hmph, don't tell me you don't want to? Stop acting so aloof!"

The girls laughed and jostled each other, their blushes deepening. Their flower-like smiles were even more radiant than the peach blossoms on the branches, and their eyes shone with longing and expectation for tomorrow's grand ceremony.

...

This day was the Shangsi Festival.

As the first light of dawn appeared, golden brilliance poured down, and the Moonshadow Sect seemed to be dyed in a flowing honey-colored glow. Across the mountains and fields, the forests were saturated with color, and the purples and reds wove a magnificent tapestry.

After a night of spring breeze, a hundred flowers bloomed!

Regardless of the changing seasons, all the rare flowers and exotic plants of the entire Moonshadow Sect bloomed together!

Beneath the Star-Plucking Eave Pavilion on Tianyuan Peak, several magnolia trees were in full, proud bloom, their blossoms as large as bowls and white as snow, with a faint fragrance drifting about.

By the Jinxi Pond, thousands of water lilies competed to unfurl their petals—crimson, pink-white, pale purple, and goose-yellow—layer upon layer. Against the morning light and the shimmering ripples, they looked like Fairies bathing.

At the Sheng-Sheng Creation Spring on Xuanyin Peak, near the profound ice jade marrow surrounding the spring's eye, clusters of Ice-Soul Orchids grew. Their petals were as transparent as ice crystals, emitting a crisp, cold fragrance.

On both sides of the jade-stepped plaza of Changming Hall, wisteria flower spikes fell like waterfalls, the pale purple clusters swaying gently as their fragrance filled the air.

As the main venue for the ceremony, the Wanfang Garden by the Twin Lakes at the foot of Tianyuan Peak was a vast ocean of competing flowers!

Elegant peonies, charming herbaceous peonies, fragrant roses, graceful jasmine... countless rare flowers and plants, both named and unnamed, in various shades of purple and red, decorated the entire garden like a dreamlike wonderland. The rich floral scent almost became tangible.

Ten thousand Disciples dressed in moon-white light gauze dresses held glowing Ice Orchid Lanterns, lined up in a neat formation, and chanted in unison.

"Moon reflects a thousand rivers, shadows gather in one heart; with love as the string, together we compose a celestial melody!"

...

The clear and melodious waves of sound converged, transforming into brilliant silver light patterns that rose and entered the core of the taiyin zhoutian instrument suspended atop Haoran Tower!

Hum—!

The zhoutian instrument radiated light, like a bright moon in the sky!

In an instant, above the entire Moonshadow Sect, the sun and moon shone together!

Spiritual Qi condensed into countless pink-white petals, turning into a rain of spiritual flowers that fell from the sky in a swirling dance.

Three streaks of brilliant light descended from the top of Haoran Tower.

Ling Hao was dressed in the Sect Master's ceremonial robes, flanked by the cold-as-frost Yu Lingshuang and the mature and charming Chi Shuying. The three of them descended gracefully on a bridge of light woven from morning sun and flower petals.

Ling Hao stood on the high platform in the center of Wanfang Garden, his gaze sweeping over the sea of Disciples below. He pointed his fingers like a sword toward the shimmering Twin Lakes.

"Rise!"

The calm lake surface suddenly boiled! Two thick columns of water, like giant Dragons awakening, roared as they soared into the sky.

They wound and circled in the air, tangling and playing, finally transforming into two water Dragons with flying scales and claws!

With a tug of his fingertips, the two water Dragons flew through the air according to his will. Using water as ink, they wrote two lines of the Sect's precepts in a vigorous and elegant style amidst the rain of spiritual flowers:

No lonely shadows beneath the moon, together we sail the orchid boat through wind and rain!

Then, Ling Hao's clear voice resounded through the clouds,

"The Hundred Flowers Covenant Ceremony—"

"Begin!"

Boom!

The golden characters formed from lake water exploded, turning into countless tiny golden specks of light that merged into the falling rain of spiritual flowers.

Countless pink-white and pale gold petals landed in the Disciples' hair and on their shoulders, carrying a refreshing fragrance and warm spiritual breath, eliciting bursts of surprised cries and admiration.

Ling Hao raised his hand again. The flowers blooming in Wanfang Garden and throughout the entire Sect seemed to be drawn by an invisible force. Countless delicate flowers left their branches, like colorful butterflies swept up by a spring breeze, gathering above his palm to form a fragrant cloud of flowers.

His gaze first fell upon Yu Lingshuang at his side. This cold Deputy Sect Master also seemed like melting ice and snow amidst the rain of flowers.

Ling Hao picked an Ice-Soul Orchid, which looked as if it were carved from ice and snow, from the flower cloud and gently pinned it into her flowing black hair.

As his fingertips brushed her cool earlobe, Yu Lingshuang's long eyelashes trembled slightly. A ripple passed through her eyes, and the base of her fair ears quietly turned a faint pink.

"Shuang'er, we were brought together because of the Sheng-Sheng Creation Spring. Today, with this orchid as our witness, let us cultivate longevity together."

Ling Hao whispered, his voice audible only to the two of them.

Yu Lingshuang nodded slightly, her cold gaze like a melting ice spring in early spring, shimmering with light and tenderly reflecting Ling Hao's figure.

"...Mhm."

Ling Hao gave her a deep look before turning around, his gaze shifting toward the first row of Personal Disciples.