Third Star city was bustling beyond belief, there were people no matter where you looked and countless people had taken this chance to open small stalls to sell whatever they could get their hands on or think of. But perhaps that was only to be expected, this was after all where the Wolf Queen was holding her groom selection, attracting people from all corners of this universe, and beyond even.
On her own, the Wolf Queen was already rather spectacular. She could be counted amongst the youngest Sovereign Gods and had grasped the exalted law of space, people were speculating that she would reach the King or Emperor rankings in the Bloodwind List if she were to absorb a Bloodwind Code. But in the end, the entity behind her overshadowed all of that, becoming the true driving force for this liveliness.
Nine Star Demon God, the true ruler of this universe. The Star God that the Wolf Queen had taken as her teacher was a direct subordinate of that ruler, a single word of his could decide the fates of all the organizations in the universe. And rumour had it that this ruler was... fiercely loyal to his wife to say the least, so it was practically a once-in-a-lifetime event for him to approve of a groom selection like this.
To accommodate the selection, the city lord had activated one of his final defensive trump cards, the Myriad Realms Fortress. All the buildings closer to the centre of the city had merged together into a single homogenous structure that the lord could move at will, creating a constantly changing maze. Of course, at the centre of this maze was the Wolf Queen, only those who managed to reach the central chamber would be worthy of becoming possible grooms.
The central chamber itself was... honestly too simple to host something like a groom selection. It was a defensive trump card after all so they didn't really focus on decorating it or making it extravagant. Normally it would serve as a control centre from which the city lord would direct the outside battles, but now it was cleared out to create a mostly open space where makeshift courtyards had been built.
The courtyards lined part of the edges of the circular hall, forming a half-circle that stood opposite the single elevated courtyard that was built on the other end of the hall. That was the dwelling of the Wolf Queen, from there she could see everything that happened within the central chamber, from there she could judge all the potential grooms and decide when to start the final step of the selection.
"Three years... It's not exactly a long time per se, but once things get dull it sure stretches out the sensation of time, doesn't it?"
Sitting and mumbling in one of the courtyards was Zhongzhi, a string attached to a gourd pressed between his fingers as he rolled it around. At times he cast his amber eyes towards the elevated courtyard, other times he cast his gaze towards the one sharing his table, eyes as black as the night and hair the same shade as the glittering ocean serving as his defining traits.
"That's got a fairly simple solution, no? Just don't let things get dull."
Arie Ryung Agnis kept his gaze lowered as he answered, the pencil he was holding slowly moving across the paper he held against the table. Parts of a mountainous forest started to form on the paper, but to call it good would be an exaggeration, he was clearly still an amateur. His pencil slid shortly after he spoke, accidentally ruining the picture. Zhongzhi swigged his gourd somewhat bitterly as Arie crumpled up the paper to start anew.
"That's easy for you to say, you've got a cushy position so you're used to having plenty of free time. All I know is cultivating, but I can't even do that because we've got no clue when she'll start the final selection. Gods, can you imagine fighting to get to this point only to miss the final step because you're cultivating? I'd become the joke of the century."
Zhongzhi lowered the gourd and continued to roll the string between his fingers, he really was bitter about it all. He was among the first to reach this central chamber, hurrying along because he didn't want to miss the chance to at least take part in an event as grand as this. But if he had known that he would have to wait at least three years in the central chamber afterwards then he would have waited a bit longer before he made his move.
"What's wrong with being part of a good joke? Imagine the stories you'd be able to share whenever you stop by a new city?"
Arie commented with a light chuckle, the slight motion throwing his pencil off-course again, ruining another one of his amateurish paintings. He crumpled the paper with a slight click of his tongue and pulled out a new one, he'd get it right eventually. Zhongzhi maintained his slightly bitter demeanour, members of stronger sects or clans really didn't know what sort of things wandering cultivators like him valued.
"Ah, rich kids, painfully unaware of the common man's struggles."
Zhongzhi stopped twirling the thread and raised the gourd again, but his hand stopped before he could take a swig. A very faint sound had reached his ears. And judging from Arie's raised head, he too had heard the same sound. The two turned their gazes towards the sole entrance to this central chamber, an arched hallway just wide enough to fit two people standing shoulder to shoulder.
Their eyes narrowed quietly as they focused on the hallway, on the sounds. Subdued screams, faint sizzling, the quiet laugh of a child, and soft footsteps that somehow seemed to be louder than everything else.
"Something big is coming."
Arie licked his lips as he spoke, but judging by the slightly raised hairs on his neck and his somewhat dry lips, Zhongzhi guessed that it definitely wasn't due to excitement. And then he felt it too. It was as if thousands of centipedes had suddenly appeared both on and in his body, crawling through and across him in a writhing mass. Formication, that was what he believed the word for it was.
The unpleasant sensation didn't arrive alone, the air also felt like it changed slightly. In his throat, the air felt sticky and viscous, almost thick with blood. But once it reached his lungs it felt hot, scorching even, as if it wanted to light a fire within him.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The sound of footsteps, still so soft yet so loud. Yes, something big was coming, Zhongzhi agreed with that. For three years they had waited, and now it seemed like one of the big competitors for the groom position had arrived. The two watched and waited, and they were confident that the others were doing the same from their courtyards. An arrival like this was not one to miss, especially since the new arrival most likely also had quite the strong backing.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The sound of footsteps slowly got louder, closer. The new competitor wasn't in a rush, their steps were calm and composed. But in the end, they had to step into the light, they had to walk through the end of that arched hallway and reveal themselves. And as they stepped into the central chamber, the crawling sensation that covered Arie and Zhongzhi faded away, the air returning to normal as it seemed like the arriving party had pulled back their energy.
"Aiyah, look at those robes, that's definitely another rich kid sent here by their organization. But to bring a kid with him... he's got guts, I'll give him that."
Zhongzhi shook his head as he observed the new arrival, a young man. He looked as if he had barely reached his twenties, but everyone here was far older than they looked so he wasn't stupid enough to actually judge him based on that. He did, however, not mind judging him slightly based on the clothes that he wore.
Dark golden robes embroidered with violet and emerald threads that gathered together to form a wind-like pattern, it was definitely something that looked far too complex and extravagant to belong on a wandering cultivator. And then there was the child he had brought along. It was just an infant, a few tufts of black hair jutting out on its head while its green eyes curiously swept the area. It was probably this child that had been the source of the faint laughter they had heard earlier.
Zhongzhi and Arie continued to observe the youth as he raised his other arm and brushed aside the strands of silvery-grey hair that had fallen down to cover his face. His hair hung to just past his shoulders, but judging by the way he was fiddling with it he was probably used to having it shorter. The youth's golden pupils calmly slid across the entire central chamber, eventually settling on the lone elevated courtyard as he finally spoke up, seemingly muttering to himself.
"I hope you've prepared yourself for a few slaps, that's the least you deserve for what you did to Yumao..."