Chapter 93: Four Days of Happiness and Painting the Sky Just For Her ( BONUS GT - )

Chapter 93: Four Days of Happiness and Painting the Sky Just For Her ( BONUS GT Chapter )

The four days passed like a single, gentle breath.

On the first day they visited the Jade Pavilion Theater, the most exclusive stage in the city. Yu Liang paid for the entire private balcony without blinking an eye, three hundred thousand mid grade spiritual stones for one evening. They watched a renowned Sword Dance troupe perform, their blades work traced silver arcs through the air, It was truly a breathtaking sight.

Meihua leaned against his shoulder the whole time, whispering how the lead dancer reminded her of Yan Ruo’s grace. Afterward he bought her the exact hairpin the dancer had worn, the one carved from Moonlight Stone. She wore it immediately.

The second day they spent at the Floating Lotus Teahouse, built on a platform that hovered ten meters above a private lake. He reserved the entire upper floor. They drank spiritual wines that cost fifty thousand mid grade spiritual stones per jar and tasted like summer rain. Meihua laughed when he tried and failed to guess the age of the wine, and he simply ordered another jar because her laugh was worth the price.

On the third day they wandered the Crystal Play Area, a high end district where only Core Formation cultivators and wealthy merchants usually shopped. Yu Liang bought her a set of seven robes in different shades of blue, each one embroidered with tiny formation threads that made the fabric shimmer like water under moonlight. He paid the absurd amount in full on the spot, ignoring the stunned looks from the shopkeepers. She tried them on in the private fitting room while he waited outside, and when she stepped out in the deepest midnight blue, he forgot how to speak for a full ten seconds. She teased him about it on their entire walk home.

The fourth day was a little different. He had planned something no one in Jade City had seen in living memory.

They stood on the rooftop garden of Heaven’s Table as evening fell. The city lights spread below them like scattered stars. Meihua thought they were simply watching the sunset one last time before his departure tomorrow.

It was then the first bloom of light exploded across the sky.

Not real the fireworks as those were forbidden.

Jade City was a cultivation city, so fireworks weren’t something people saw every other night like they might in a mortal town. Real fireworks required spiritual ignition powders and volatile substances, and mishandling them could cause far more trouble than a few pretty sparks were worth. A careless cultivator could set off a chain reaction, damage nearby defensive formations, or even attract the attention of spirit beasts lurking in the higher layers of the forest. After enough incidents, the city’s formation masters had banned them centuries ago.

Since then, celebrations in the city had mostly relied on lanterns, music, and other safer ways to mark the occasion.

Mortals, of course, still loved fireworks. A few bright moments were enough to make an evening memorable.

Cultivators had a different view of them. With a much longer road ahead of them, most saw little reason to waste spiritual energy on something that disappears after a few seconds. That energy was better spent on cultivation.

But Yu Liang had never cared much for what cultivators considered wasteful.

Instead of fireworks, he had searched for something better.

After several quiet inquiries, he finally found them, an illusionist troupe from the southern border. A wandering group famous in remote provinces for performances so vivid that spectators swore they had touched dragons made of light and walked through forests that existed only in legend.

Illusionists were a strange breed of cultivator. Their techniques were useless in battle against stronger opponents, but when it came to manipulating sight, sound, and spiritual perception, few could rival them.

Yu Liang paid them twenty million mid grade spiritual spirit stones up front.

Enough money to fund the entire troupe’s cultivation for quite sometime.

For that price, they did not ask questions.

Over the course of a single afternoon, the troupe quickly spread across the district, climbing three separate rooftops overlooking the street. Formation flags were buried between roof tiles, some unknown anchors were hidden inside drainage channels, and faintly glowing array lines were etched so delicately that even nearby cultivators failed to notice.

Three illusion arrays. Which were carefully layered and interlocked.

When activated together, they would not merely create fireworks.

They would paint the sky.

Yu Liang had only given them one instruction.

Make it unforgettable.

The sky ignited.

Golden lotuses unfolded, silver dragons coiled and roared to the heavens, crimson phoenixes spread wings of pure light. Colors cascaded in waves of sapphire, emerald, gold, red, blue and white with each burst more beautiful than the last.

The entire district seemed to hit pause button. People stepped out of shops and buildings, conversations died away as they looked toward the sky. One by one, more faces turned upward, all staring at the sight above them. No one seemed to know what to say about it as they had never seen anything like it before.

Meihua’s hand tightened around his. "Yu Liang... this... how?"

He smiled at her question, but for one moment she saw something else in his eyes, happiness, yes, but also a trace of sadness that hadn’t been there before. Like he was already going to miss this time with her.

"Watch," he said softly, squeezing her hand. "The last one is for you."

The final burst bloomed directly above them. A perfect replica of Heaven’s Table appeared in the sky with every window glowing, lanterns around it, two tiny figures standing on the rooftop holding hands. The illusion lingered for a long moment, then slowly dissolved into a shower of golden sparks that drifted down like warm snow.

Meihua turned to him, her eyes shining. "For me?"

"Only for you," he answered, and kissed her under the falling light.

.

.

.

The next morning came too quickly.

They reached the eastern docks at dawn, where the Cloud Piercer was already waiting for them.

Meihua’s fingers felt cold in his, and tears were already running down her cheeks.

"I hate this part," she whispered.

"I know." He brushed the tears away with his thumb. "But I’ll be back. These months will pass before you know it, remember my promise?"

She nodded, but the tears kept coming.

Yu Liang looked past her to the four Nascent Soul cultivators standing and one burly figure at a respectful distance. They had also arrived with them.

He said. "Five of you will remain here. Patrol the restaurant, the compound, the entire street if needed. Protect Meihua, the staff, the children, I mean everyone. Nothing touches what’s mine while I’m gone. Understood?"

Five heads bowed at once. "Yes, Young Master."

The remaining patrol members were already in position across the district, disguised. He didn’t need to call them; they already knew their orders.

Meihua stepped closer, resting her forehead against his chest. "Try to come back quickly okay?"

"I will." He kissed the top of her head, then her lips, one last time. "I love you, Lin Meihua."

"I love you more."

The He boarded the Cloud Piercer and arrays brightened. Sails unfurled with a soft snap. The ship lifted smoothly from the water, rising into the pale morning sky.

Meihua stood on the dock, tears falling freely now, one hand raised in a wave she couldn’t quite finish. The five Nascent Souls remained behind her in formation. The ship grew smaller and smaller, a sleek silhouette against the clouds, until it vanished into the horizon.

She stayed there for quite some time, long after the others had withdrawn.