Ning Lingwei instinctively tightened her grip on Chen Wentan's left hand when she saw her family approaching from the sky.
"Wentan, my parents are here!"
"Don't be afraid. No one can tear us apart," Chen Wentan said firmly, his gaze unflinching as he looked toward the Ning clan members flying in above.
"Ning Lingwei! We've come today with your parents to take you home. This is outrageous—you've engaged yourself without any formal matchmaker or family consent. You've shamed the Ning clan!"
As the Ning elder spoke, he unleashed his late Foundation Establishment cultivation, causing the surrounding cultivators to feel suffocated under the pressure.
Chen Jinshu, having already been in the Foundation Establishment stage for a while and possessing strong spiritual sense and physical constitution, was able to withstand it.
Chen Qiaozhen, however, had just recently broken through and hadn't stabilized her foundation. Her lips were pale.
"Jinshu! The Ning clan came with overwhelming force. I fear your second uncle and aunt—"
"Help me stall them for a bit. I've already sent word to a senior brother stationed nearby who is in the late Foundation Establishment stage. He should be arriving any moment," Chen Jinshu whispered.
She had anticipated the Ning clan's interference and invited several senior brothers to suppress the scene, though they couldn't easily leave their posts at the shop. They would only arrive when absolutely necessary.
Ning Lingwei wasn't just any Ning clanswoman—she was a direct-line daughter, an important piece in the clan's political marriage alliances.
It was said the Ning clan, since its founding, had always had a surplus of male cultivators and very few women. In her generation, only three women were born.
Ning Lingwei was the most talented and powerful among them, making her all the more crucial to the clan. She had investigated the Ning clan beforehand. It was merely a subordinate force under a sect, with only Core Formation cultivators as its peak strength.
It was unlikely a Golden Core cultivator would personally appear, so the Ning clan had sent someone in the late Foundation Establishment stage. Strong enough to make a statement without overcommitting.
Even Golden Core clans placed strict control on their women. What about Nascent Soul or Soul Formation clans? Their marriage rules must be even harsher.
"Lingwei! Listen to your mother. Just admit your mistake. As long as you do, the Patriarch will not punish you," her mother said, looking at the plain decorations of the Chen family's wedding ceremony with disapproval.
Abandoning the heir of a Golden Core family to marry into a small family of non-Foundation Establishment cultivators? It was a disgrace to the Ning family.
"Mother, I won't go back. The resources Ning clan gave me—I'll return them once I grow stronger."
"Return them? And how do you plan to do that? You haven't even reached Foundation Establishment. Without the family's support, how will you get a Foundation Establishment Pill? You're still dreaming," the Ning Grand Elder sneered.
He then locked his spiritual sense onto her and raised a hand. An invisible force slowly lifted her off the ground.
"Is the Ning clan so arrogant?" Chen Jinshu plucked her Lüqi Zither swiftly, dispersing the force with a resonant note. The Ning elder's object-controlling technique was cut off. He staggered slightly and looked at Chen Jinshu in surprise.
"Who are you, to dare interfere with the Ning clan?"
"The Ning clan is the top vassal of Xuanyang Sect. We have three Golden Core elders. Who are you to defame us? Tired of living?" The elder's tone was laced with arrogance and disdain.
"And yet you're still just the sect's top lapdogs. What gives you the right to strut around here?"
"You court death!" The elder's eyes turned crimson at the word lapdog. He lashed out, clawing toward Chen Jinshu.
But she did not flinch. Even though his attacks struck her, she was protected by a spiritual artifact her master had given her—his damage felt like no more than a tickle.
She curled her lips into a small smirk and plucked her zither again. For a brief instant, the air in the temple seemed to pause—her melody had taken hold of reality itself.
The elder's hand froze in the air, and vines erupted from the ground, binding it tightly.
"So it's just a low-level Foundation Establishment cultivator. Pathetic tricks!" He released his powerful metal-element qi, shattering the sound waves around him.
Chen Jinshu knew she had to show real strength if the wedding was to continue. She struck thirteen finger positions, each tone descending, while pressing two vibrato keys simultaneously.
"Nineteen Melodies of Falling Sound, Sixth Form—Mirage Tower Illusion!"
A towering illusion of buildings layered behind her, each filled with grand halls. Like an unyielding wall, they stood tall and immovable. Golden sound waves radiated from the towers, warping the surrounding air.
BOOM BOOM!
Above the elder's head, a massive shadow loomed—an illusionary black tower crashing down like a sword from the heavens. The pressure grew suffocating. Many cultivators gasped for air, faces red.
The elder, though of high cultivation, struggled. The illusions around him made it difficult to distinguish reality from deception.
TANG TANG!
Chen Jinshu finished the melody with a sharp flourish. The sudden release of sonic power flung the Ning elder several feet away. His head spun.
While she couldn't defeat a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, she could certainly make them suffer. As he looked up at the gazes around him, his face flushed red in shame.
"You'll pay for that! You dared attack me—don't blame me for retaliating!"
The elder believed Chen Jinshu had depleted her spiritual energy with that attack. He vanished and reappeared, golden light wrapped around him, his golden spear lunging at her chest.
TANG TANG!
Chen Qiaozhen blocked it with her sword, but the shockwave left her arms trembling.
"You've just reached Foundation Establishment and already want to meddle? Die!"
The elder raised a blazing red palm and struck her, flinging her away.
"Attacking an inner disciple of Xuanming Sect? Does your Ning clan have a death wish?"
A thunderous voice rang out, more majestic than the elder's. A man in black robes appeared, starlight glittering on his form like a king stepping from a celestial realm.
"Junior Sister Chen, forgive me—I came late."