The God of Justice whose original task was suddenly taken over used the opportunity to glance at the Supreme Sovereign and then silently withdrew from the stage. His heart was still beating badly though. He wasn’t scared by meeting Tian. No, he didn’t care about that. But when that portal suddenly appeared, for just a moment he believed that maybe this was Leng Lu causing trouble again and he thought everything he had fought so hard for to have would disappear at once.

He retreated to Qiang Yan’s side and hung his head, even closing his eyes. Thankfully, he had been wrong. Thankfully, it hadn’t been his lover but someone else instead. Thankfully, this clandestine affair of theirs was still a secret and their family wasn’t in danger.

Qiang Yan turned to look at him and reached over, patting his shoulder. Contrary to everyone else, they both knew that Jing He and Qiu Ling had met Tian before and that the Supreme Sovereign wasn’t actually as hostile as one might expect. Still, the shock of suddenly standing in front of him shouldn’t be small. Even he felt it and he had been down here. No wonder Li Yin looked as if the sky had almost collapsed.

Li Yin opened his eyes and looked at him but kept quiet. Even Qiang Yan knew nothing of his relationship with a fallen god so … he couldn’t share this worry. He simply shook his head and turned to look at the couple on stage again.

Needless to say, if the Supreme Sovereign offered to preside over your wedding ceremony, then that was what would happen. Your feelings on the topic actually mattered little by that point. Who would dare to tell that man ‘no’, after all?

In the case of Jing He and Qiu Ling, their feelings about Tian were complicated but, of course, they were still happy at this moment. There was nothing that gave your marriage more legitimacy than having the Supreme Sovereign himself preside over the ceremony. Naturally, they wouldn’t refuse this. Not to mention … while Tian speaking of giving a ‘blessing’ sounded a bit concerning, he might be genuine with it in Jing He’s case. It was something to be hopeful about.

Both of them exchanged a glance and then inclined their heads. “Thank you for doing us the honor.”

Tian didn’t even acknowledge their words and simply focused on the wedding ceremony. Once upon a time, he had also held a wedding with Xing. It hadn’t been nearly as grand. In fact, apart from Xing’s mother and one official from the Court of Justice he asked for the favor, no one was in attendance. Not even Xing’s father bothered to make an appearance. It was one of the many things he had resented the man for.

Now, in this generation, things clearly hadn’t become much better. These two had needed to prepare this wedding in secret, sneaking around to do the rituals in the days leading up to today’s ceremony, making sure that the incumbent Heavenly Emperor wouldn’t find out about this any step of the way. That wasn’t how things should be. Just like him and Xing back then, these two also deserved a better wedding experience now. One with all the customs being observed and all people in attendance, without someone to disturb the peace. And while he didn’t care about them personally, these were the people who would bring his child back to life. Even if it was just for that, he would ensure that they indeed got what they deserved.

His gaze rested on the couple in front of him and then brushed over everyone else in attendance. “Then let us begin.”

The first part of the wedding was a guided meditation. It was supposed to be a short part, only meant to calm down the two people getting married who might be nervous when the ceremony actually began. At this moment, neither Jing He nor Qiu Ling looked as if they were all that worried but the audience sure looked as if they were in dire need of a few calming moments.

Tian brushed back his robe and sat down, his gaze focused on the couple in front. “Close your eyes and remember the path you took over the years to finally step onto this stage.”

When you ignored his identity and his perpetually frozen expression, then what remained was a sonorous voice that filled even such a big square full of people with ease. It had a certain majesty to it, the kind that inevitably made you obey the commands he gave and also made you feel calm and collected as if no matter what he said, it was certain that the outcome would be well.

Jing He and Qiu Ling followed his words at once, still holding onto each other’s hand as they focused their minds on what had happened in the past.

“Think of the time you first met: The temperature the breeze carried, the way the light illuminated everything around you, the sounds that filled the air …”

As the couple followed his words, thinking back to their first meeting, the people attending the ceremony also calmed down slowly. Yes, it might be shocking to see the Supreme Sovereign, but just look at the Son of Heaven and the dragon king in front of them: Did they seem worried at all? Obviously not. So why should they who were several steps away be more worried than the actual couple in front of him?

At the front of the group from the dragon realm, Jinde finally pulled down the veiled hat and smiled to himself. Everyone’s attention was focused on the stage and even if it wasn’t … he somehow felt that his return from the dead was a lot less shocking than the Supreme Sovereign’s sudden appearance. Since that was the case, why would he bother? No, he should take the chance and watch his child get married without his view obstructed.

Anyway, looking at him right now, Qiu Ling was finally at peace and the happiness radiating off his body was almost palpable. How could he ever miss this?