"A star?!"
Everyone froze for a moment.
There was actually a star falling from the sky rapidly. Even though it was daytime, they could still sense its dazzling radiance.
"He's back!"
"He really came back?!"
"He successfully stopped the Cosmic Disaster by himself and came back?!"
They were shocked, excited, and a little skeptical.
However, it was true that Fang Zhengzhi came back. He descended from the sky like a star and eventually landed softly in front of Chi Guyan, Yun Qingwu, and the rest.
"Are all of you waiting for me to come back before you start eating?" Fang Zhengzhi smiled brightly and dusted his clothes.
"…"
There was a moment of silence.
Then, there was a thundering cheer.
Fang Zhengzhi glanced around him while everyone was cheering, and he eventually looked towards Xuanyuan Five, who was sitting on the ground, and said condescendingly, "Eh? Who is that ugly bastard? Why haven't I seen him before?"
"Damn brat, I'm going to kill you!"
"…"
…
One month later.
There were lanterns hanging all around Northern Mountain Village, and every corner of the village was filled with red silk cloth. Fang family's tiny courtyard had already been renovated into a massive mansion.
Its red gates were embedded with gold and jade, and the two lions carved out of black jade standing by the gates were extremely lifelike.
This was a mansion that could rival even the royal palace.
Fang Zhengzhi didn't mind the bourgeois appearance because he was an uncultured man to begin with. Therefore, he wanted his mansion to be as extravagant and luxurious as possible. He was extremely close to carving all of the toilet bowls out of jade.
Qin Xuelian and Fang Houde were actually a little worried.
However, when they saw the new emperor, Lin Yun, smiling so brightly, the butterflies in their stomachs disappeared.
"Brat, is it really ok to be so high-profile?" Xuanyuan Five glanced at the mansion gates that were even taller than castle walls and felt a little speechless.
"You want me to keep a low-profile? That's impossible. By the way, didn't Lin Yun say that he would send me 3000 night pearls? Why aren't they here yet? Is he going back on his words?" Fang Zhengzhi pursed his lips. He turned around and was about to charge towards Lin Yun's place to question him about it.
"Low… Class!" Xuanyuan Five shook his head. Then, he seemed to have suddenly remembered something and uttered, "Hey, brat, can you give me 300 of those night pearls?"
"Scram!"
"…"
Fang Zhengzhi gave Xuanyuan Five the finger without a second thought.
However, when he was heading towards Lin Yun's room, he suddenly saw two people standing shoulder to shoulder at the doorway.
It was a man and a woman.
Both of them looked fairly calm.
However, they were holding hands and standing at an obvious spot by the door as if they were waiting for someone.
They were Yan Xiu and Qing Yi.
"…" Fang Zhengzhi's expression changed a little. He looked at them and coughed softly when he ultimately failed to keep quiet.
The two of them turned back at the same moment.
Qing Yi's expression obviously changed and she intuitively withdrew her hand.
However, instead of letting go of her hand, Yan Xiu pulled Qing Yi into his arms and walked towards Fang Zhengzhi.
"I've to return to Western Liang in two days." Said Yan Xiu.
"So urgent?"
"Yup, I've already notified them, and they are preparing for it."
"Preparing for what?"
"I gave you 10,000 Western Liang war horses as a wedding gift. Since you don't have any use for them, why don't them give them back to me in a few days?" Yan Xiu smiled and said.
"So, I have to return 10,000 Western Liang war horses after they ate at my place for half a month? Moreover, I've to gift you a Sword Attendant who's at Sage State? Oh, that's right, I have to call her sister-in-law now. Tell me honestly, when did the two of you start going out?" Fang Zhengzhi was stunned.
"I'm older than you, so you have to call Qing Yi 'big sister'." Yan Xiu corrected him.
"No matter what, I feel like I drew the short straw."
Rumble!
"…"
At this moment, they heard the thundering sound of galloping hooves coming from beyond the village.
Then, five long lines of people in bright red clothing rushed into the village. They were extremely rowdy, and a festive mood permeated the air.
"The brides and their parties are finally here!"
"Hurry up and check out the brides!"
"Hahaha, Zhengzhi is such a lucky man."
The villagers rushed out immediately, and all of them were smiling brightly.
"Lucky? The five of them aren't easy ones to please…" Fang Zhengzhi watched the parties that entered the village one by one, and a bittered look gradually appeared on his face.
The first one that came in was naturally the Northern Lands Divine Constabulary that was escorted by the Iron Feather Guards. Northern Lands' Marquis Chi was standing at the front of the party, and his smile looked like a blooming peony.
His aura was telling people that he was at the top of the world.
There were four long and parallel lines following close behind.
The party of Great Xia Dynasty's emperor, Lin Mubai.
The party of Shadow Sect.
The party of Southern Region.
Then, there was the most ridiculous-looking party.
Nine gigantic beasts of different colors, each exuding a dazzling radiance, were flapping their wings and pulling a massive golden carriage in the sky.
There were many enormous figures following behind the golden carriage.
Monster Emperor Baizhi, wearing a snow-white fur dress that highlighted her curves, was standing on the back of a Godly Beast. She glanced around and eventually looked towards Fang Zhengzhi.
"Fang Zhengzhi, I only have one request. The first door you enter tonight must be the door of Qingwu's room!" Monster Emperor Baizhi said that with a cold expression.
"Why does he have to pick your daughter? Do you really think Ling Yun Tower is for show?" Qian Yu replied unhappily before Fang Zhengzhi managed to say a word.
She rushed out from the bride's party straightaway.
Her silver dress swayed in the wind, and she looked extremely majestic.
"Can you beat me?" Monster Emperor Baizhi replied in a condescending tone.
"I can." A voice came out of the carriage at the front. Although it wasn't loud, it suppressed all the other voices in the area.
It was Chi Guyan.
She didn't walk out of her carriage.
However, she shut everyone's mouth with a single sentence.
Northern Lands's Marquis Chi intuitively extended his neck out and glanced around, thinking, 'You guys think you're good? Great Xia Dynasty's princess, Young Lord of the Demon Race, Leader of Shadow Sect, and Southern Region's king. So what? I only have one daughter, yet all of you have to stay behind me!"
Of course, he didn't dare to say it out loud.
There was nothing but silence.
It was a little awkward.
Fang Zhengzhi's expression turned even more bitter. It was extremely troublesome to marry five women at once.
Marrying Chi Guyan was a must. Ping Yang wanted to marry him no matter what, so he didn't have a choice. Wu Yuer, on the other hand, kept bothering him. She was going to cry if he didn't marry her, so he had to.
As for Yun Qingwu and King of the Southern Region, Shan Yu, the circumstances were kind of bizarre.
Marrying Yun Qingwu wasn't an unreasonable choice, after all, it was for the sake of world peace. He had to care about Monster Race's and Demon Race's standing in the world, so he didn't mind.
Shan Yu was a different story.
While they were fighting at Changyang Mountain, Shan Yu actually stayed in Northern Mountain Village and treated Qin Xuelian so well that she got used to calling her 'daughter-in-law'.
When he returned to Northern Mountain Village…
The matter was already out of his control.
'Five of them…'
'One too many for Mahjong, and two too many for Fight the Landlord. How am I going to play games in the future?'
'Is there a game for five people?'
Fang Zhengzhi actually missed his previous world sometimes as it had everything. Even though this place was luxurious and lavish, it wasn't enough to fill the void in his heart.
…
It was nighttime, and lights filled the village.
The grand wedding finally began.
Qin Xuelian and Fang Houde were sitting on the place of honor, their faces were bright red because they couldn't stop smiling while looking at their five daughters-in-law, who were kneeling on the ground.
"Come on, Yan'er, Yang'er, Yu'er, Qingwu, and Yu'er, get up."
"Yup, you can get up." Fang Houde was also smiling.
"Thank you, father! Thank you, mother!" The five of them stood up simultaneously. Then, they turned towards Fang Zhengzhi and said, "Greetings, hubby!"
"Greetings, my brides…" Fang Zhengzhi bowed.
The music started.
The ceremony was completed.
This wedding lasted a long time. There were guests from all around the world, filling the entire Fang family's residence with laughter and joy.
Finally, night fell.
It was time for a difficult decision.
Fang Zhengzhi came to a road with five different paths. He was conflicted, lost, and full of hesitation. At this moment, he felt like this was more painful than fighting Chi You back then.
Fighting Chi You was a temporary pain.
However, if he made the wrong choice tonight, god knows if he would suffer every night from now on.
"Yan'er is great. Qingwu works too. Ping Yang… She's fine. Yu'er definitely knows how to please me. Shan Yu… Her body is fantastic. So, who should I pick?"
Confliction!
More confliction!
Neverending confliction!
"…"
After feeling conflicted for a full 15 minutes…
He suddenly realized that… He actually never had a choice.
He realized that it was an illusion.
He thought that he had a choice, but as it turned out, he actually didn't.
"Alright, since I don't have a choice, I don't have to be conflicted about this." Fang Zhengzhi followed the path at the center and soon arrived at a room.
There were red candles burning inside the room.
The candles' radiance even decorated the moonlight with a joyous mood.
"Yan'er, I…" Fang Zhengzhi opened the door softly and walked into the room. However, his eyes became wide open before he even finished his sentence.
That was because there were actually five people in Chi Guyan's room.
They were sitting in a row.
Their heads were all covered with red veils.
"I knew it. Sister Yan, you're great. You easily guessed that the shameless brat would be coming to your room." Ping Yang uttered.
"Yup, sister Yan is great!" Wu Yuer immediately nodded.
"Sister Yan shall be our head!" Shan Yu also joined in.
Yun Qingwu didn't say anything, but she nodded and gave her silent approval.
"He won't dare to go anywhere else!" Chi Guyan raised the veil on her head at this moment and stared at Fang Zhengzhi with her dazzling eyes.
"Haha…" Fang Zhengzhi smiled as brightly as the sun and said, "Are the five of you going to… Do it… Do it together?"
"Why? Can't you handle us?"
"I can. I definitely can!"
"Then what are we waiting for?"
"Hahaha… My wives, I'm coming!" Fang Zhengzhi was overjoyed. He finally understood that all the confliction and choices weren't important.
As long as Chi Guyan was here, she would arrange everything for him accordingly.
"Knock knock knock!" Just as he was about to pounce onto them, someone suddenly knocked on the door urgently. The impact almost broke the door.
"Who's there?!" Fang Zhengzhi was pissed off.
'It's ok to disturb us playfully!'
'But you can't tear the door down!'
"My lord, there's a big problem! An intruder barged in and we couldn't stop him!" It was obviously a Divine Constabulary's soldier that was in charge of maintaining safety at the wedding.
"Couldn't stop him? There's someone that can forcefully barge into my mansion?" Fang Zhengzhi was actually a little astonished.
At this moment, there were close to a hundred Godly Beasts and Gods of the Demon Race in his mansion. Qian Yu, Monster Emperor Baizhi, and the others also hadn't made their leave yet.
Who could possibly intrude the mansion?!
"Yes. That man is really powerful. He immobilized Divine Lord just by raising his hand. It happened to Lord Qian Yu and the Monster Emperor too… All of them were…"
"What the hell? Did another bastard come back to life again?" Although Fang Zhengzhi was pissed off, he wasn't going to look down on that man.
'Even Monster Emperor Baizhi couldn't stop him…'
'Who could it possibly be?'
Boom! At this moment, he heard a bang outside his room.
Fang Zhengzhi didn't hesitate anymore.
"Ladies, wait for me. I'm leaving for a while, but I'll be right back." Fang Zhengzhi opened the door and exited the room right after he said that.
'A single second on the night of a wedding is worth a thousand dollars.'
'How dare you disturb me tonight…'
'I'm going to kill you!'
As soon as he walked out of the room, Fang Zhengzhi saw a man in a turquoise long robe bathing in the moonlight. He was slim and tall.
It was a young man.
He was about 20 years old, and his lips curled into a faint smile.
"I calculated the time and figured that you would be in the midst of enjoying your wedding night, so here I am. You won't mind, would you?" The young man said that with a smile.
"Interesting." Fang Zhengzhi smiled.
'Bastard, you are clearly here for trouble, aren't you?'
"Are you a little pissed off?" The young man continued.
"Yup." Fang Zhengzhi clenched his fists.
"Do you want a fight?" He nodded as if he was oblivious to Fang Zhengzhi's anger.
"Sure, but I don't want to destroy the plants in my mansion. Can you fly to the sky?" This was the first time Fang Zhengzhi met such a cocky fellow.
"The sky? Of course, that's where I live, " the young man nodded, and he mumbled to himself, "When did the moon appear? I toast to heaven and asked, wondering what date is it in the palace above the sky. Song Dynasty, Su Shi*. Oh, that's right, this poem made into a song before. Do you like Wang Fei**?"
"…" Fang Zhengzhi froze.
'Song Dynasty, Su Shi!'
'Wang Fei!'
'Such familiar names!'
This was the second time he heard something like this. The first time was when Xuan Nv of the Nine Heavens talked to him, but he didn't get an answer back then.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Lin Yi." The young man didn't lie.
"Where did you…"
"You can stop guessing. I came from the same place as you, and I can tell you that I am the one who created this world."
"You created it?" Fang Zhengzhi would never believe bullshit like this two months ago. However, at this moment, he was convinced.
'A person that came from the same place as me.'
'Created this world!'
'That's why this world contains the Four Books and Five Classics, as well as all sorts of famous ancient sayings…'
'However, all of them were summed up into one.'
'The "Law of Dao"!'
"Do you want to follow my lead, create a world, rise above the Six Rebirth Dao, and attain eternal life?" Lin Yi found a place and sat down. Then, he created a stone table, two cups, and a white-jade bottle that was full of delicious alcohol just by sticking his hand out.
"I can attain eternal life just by creating a world?" Fang Zhengzhi's eyes lit up. Then, he sat down and grabbed one of the cups.
Lin Yi didn't stop him.
After Fang Zhengzhi finished his drink, Lin Yi refilled his cup.
"But I don't want to be like you." After finishing another cup, Fang Zhengzhi paused for a moment and shook his head slowly.
"Oh? Don't you want eternal life? With your current power, it isn't very difficult to create a world. You understand the essence of the formation of a world, and you possess the ability to create all matters. Given tens of millions of years, you'd definitely be able to create a world that belongs to you." Lin Yi was a little surprised.
"It's too troublesome." Fang Zhengzhi shook his head again.
"Troublesome?"
"Yeah, don't you think that it's troublesome? It takes time for a rock to turn into a mountain and a tree into a forest. Why would I waste my time on something so boring and troublesome? Moreover, I might end up just like you, creating a world that is incomplete and wasting all of my time in the process."
"It seems like you have a deep understanding of this. However, you can't live forever without your own world."
"Well… You don't have to create one."
"Oh? What are you thinking of?" Lin Yi wasn't surprised to hear him this time. Instead, he was looking at Fang Zhengzhi with a smile and an interested expression.
"I could rob one." Fang Zhengzhi's answer was simple and straightforward.
"Hahaha.." Lin Yi laughed unrestrainedly. Then, he grabbed the cup in front of him, emptied the drink in one breath, and asked, "Which one?"
"Is there another possible option?"
"It won't be easy to rob that world."
"How difficult is it?"
"I will tell you that I've thought of the same idea before, but Tai Bai wouldn't agree to it no matter what. He said something along the lines of 'Why do we have to torment each other even though we share the same roots'. After that, I tried it once personally and it ended… Er, that's roughly what had happened." Lin Yi smiled and didn't continue his story.
"Who's Tai Bai?"
"A senior." Lin Yi explained.
"Oh. What if the two of us work together?" Fang Zhengzhi didn't ask another question.
"Hehe…" Lin Yi rubbed his hands together, and his eyes lit up as he said, "We'll have to be well-prepared in that case. When do you plan to do it? I can lead the way. Actually, we could do it now since I have already made the necessary preparations before I came here."
"The tenth of July."
"Why must it be on the tenth of July?"
"Because that day's weather is good." Fang Zhengzhi didn't explain further. He simply glanced at the moon in the sky and uttered, "Earth, huh? Hehe… I'm coming!"
*Su Shi was an actual poet in Song Dynasty.
** Wang Fei is a Chinese singer who is currently still alive.