Chapter 192: Gifts.
Chapter 192: Gifts.
Hao Ren watched his wife carrying a small box with a red ribbon tied on it. The young man nodded and Han Lingshi opened the box before him slowly. From inside the box, Hao Ren found a jade knife. It was one of those ceremonial weapons that was used by the ones in authority.
Han Lingshi smiled and said, "When I was researching about the history of the lost kingdom, Grandma told me about this. My great great-grandfather was the general in the lost kingdom army, and he held a blood jade dagger which represented his authority. A tiger head was carved at the tip of the hilt."
She passed the dagger to Hao Ren, who admired its beauty and then asked, "Huh? This one has a dragon head."
Han Lingshi nodded and said, "Stupid, dragon represents the Emperor. If I am going to be the Phoenix, you will become the Emperor, and also a general."
Hao Ren was surprised and replied in a soft voice, "I did not expect you to have thought so far ahead."
Han Lingshi smiled at him and held his face in her hands as she kissed his lips. Hao Ren reciprocated it and then Han Lingshi sat down next to him. Hao Ren thought of something and said, "I have two gifts for you."
Han Lingshi raised her eyes to look at him and asked, "What are they?"
Hao Ren took out a delicate jade ring from his space ring. It was a pair of rings, both looked the same. He smiled and said, "This is the wedding ring I made for you. It is made from Blood Jade."
The ring was very slim and Hao Ren had carved a dragon and a phoenix on it. The technique used on this was very intricate and while the ring appeared to be super minimalist, but once someone paid attention they would find that the craftsmanship had exceeded the level of human capabilities. Hao Ren had used his outmost control to design these rings.
In a Han Country wedding, exchanging the rings was the most overlooked thing.
Even in his own wedding, this step was overlooked as the world knew they were already married lawfully. Han Lingshi was in awe when she held the ring in her hand and said, "Ren, you are so versatile."
The young man smiled and said, "Shall I put it on your finger?"
Han Lingshi nodded and raised her chin as she placed her hand in his hand. The young man smiled and replaced her space ring with the wedding ring. Then Han Lingshi did the same for him. She said, "Let me click a picture of these rings. Xiao Mei, you are responsible for the captions."
They both wore the space rings in a different finger, and held hands before clicking a nice picture and Xiao Mei posted it on their social media accounts with a nice caption, "Forever and more with you."
Hao Ren had not allowed Xiao Mei the authority to post things without confirming with them first. The young man did not believe much in the allegiance of the AI. This whole scenario reminded him of one more thing, that was to introduce Xiao Mei to someone he could trust completely when he ventures in the Spirit Shimmer Continent so that Xiao Mei does not run wild.
The post was acknowledged by a lot of people and many of them asked where the rings came from. Xiao Mei asked the couple if she could reply and stop the repetitive actions of the rat population outside.
Humans who followed each other were called Rats by her. This was why Hao Ren was dicey about Xiao Mei even though it was a joke.
Then Han Lingshi asked, "What about the second gift?"
Hao Ren took out the heart and soul chain and pendants. There were two hearts fitted together like a piece of puzzle. Hao Ren separated them and said, "Drip your blood on it, and form a contract."
Han Lingshi followed his instructions and bit her fingertip. The blood stained the pendant, and then Hao Ren put it around her neck. He put one around his neck as well and thought, 'Lingshi, can you hear me?'
Han Lingshi was surprised and the young man explained to her briefly. This was a perfect artifact for them to contact each other. They spend the night frolicking around and talking to each other about various things.
Finally, Han Lingshi asked, "Where do you think we should go for honeymoon?"
Hao Ren replied, "I plan to take a tour to some of the uninhabited islands. We can build a shack to stay there and practice in seclusion. At the same time, I plan to survey these locations to see if they would serve as a good front as a residing place."
Han Lingshi was surprised and asked, "What do you mean?"
Hao Ren replied, "The impact we have made on the world, we can never truly get away from the attention. So, that island will serve to be a cover for us residing in seclusion when we go to the spirit shimmer continent."
The young lady nodded and said, "You do make a point, I agree. Let's do this. Shall I check if we can buy one?"
Hao Ren replied, "The island cluster that I have my eyes on is controlled by the government so in the morning I will go to the consulate and try to get an appointment with the related officials. They should be willing to lease it to us even if they do not want us to buy it off there hands."
Han Lingshi nodded and the two of them discussed the issue till the sun came up on the horizon. After a few minutes, they got off the bed and went about their daily routine to practice and make breakfast together. Han Lingshi said, "We need to show face to the elders."
Hao Ren nodded and then dressed up in a casual beige shirt and black pants with a pair of beige loafers. Han Lingshi matched him with a beige top and a black skirt that reached till her knees as she wore a pair of beige bellies.
Their outfits were not pre-decided but they turned out to look like couple outfits. Holding hands the two of them left the house. Hao Ren took out his sports car and left the guards at home. They had worked hard yesterday so he made them take a leave. Then he drove out of the community where the media people were waiting.
Han Lingshi sighed and said, "I feel bad for them. They must have been waiting for the entire night."
Hao Ren parked the car on the side and said, "Why not let them have a glimpse of us then?"
Han Lingshi nodded and the two people stepped out of the vehicle. The cameras came to life and began to flash every few minutes. Hao Ren and Han Lingshi posed for the paparazzi and then waved to leave after telling them to go home and rest.
...
The couple arrived at the Han Mansion, and found the elders having tea. They seemed to have just woken up, and Gao Yue beckoned Hao Ren to sit next to her, while Han Lingshi sat down next to Tang Zen.
Gao Yue looked at Hao Ren and asked, "Show us the purity of your spiritual energy. Your deadline of upgrading to the core formation realm is close."
The couple nodded and waved their hand, which gave a shock to the family. Han Lingshi said, "Actually, we have something else up our sleeves too, but we will keep it a secret."
Tang Zen nodded and said, "Never reveal your full strength unless it is a do or die situation. We have a gift for you both."
The two looked at her and Tang Zen said, "Agni has a rare Dao Physique."
The couple was perplexed and the old lady said, "Agni is blessed by the heavens. If she cultivates, she will be able to master both the Yin and the Yang elements of the cultivation on her own. Although the progress will be slow, but once she grows up, she will be a genius. We found it last night when she could detect some subtle traces of spirit energy."
Hao Ren asked, "It is good, but how is she a gift to us?"
Gao Yue said, "As a cultivator grows stronger it becomes difficult to have children. Even if you have one, it is not sure if the mother would survive. This is why I only had one child. Your grandparents had one child as well. In the future we do not know how lives will turn out but one thing is set in stone.
You two are destined to make a lot of enemies. If you have a child early, you will be safe, but the child will suffer if your enemies give up on morals which they would. After all, only the strong have the right to preach in that world. Thus, we thought it would be nice if you adopt Agni as your child.
She will stay here with us, but learn all that she should and when the time comes, you can pass everything to her. No?"
Han Lingshi looked at Hao Ren who nodded to her, and said, "It depends on Agni. She is too young to understand any of this so let us give her some time, and when she is ten, we can decide about this matter. Okay?"
The people nodded after all seven years in the life of a cultivator was just a blink. They all were sitting around chatting when Hao Xinyuan came over and said, "Ren, let's spar, I want to see how strong you are."
Everyone was surprised at this moment. However, Hao Ren stood up and said, "Old Boy, go easy on your bones, don't blame me if you break a few of them."