The imperial wedding was the grandest spectacle Hanlong City had ever witnessed.
Golden banners fluttered from every tower. Spirit beast carriages lined the streets, showering petals of glowing spirit flowers. Tens of thousands of citizens cheered as Li Qing and I walked the crimson carpet toward the Dragon Throne Hall, hand in hand.
She was breathtaking in her phoenix wedding robes — crimson and gold silk embroidered with nine dragons and phoenixes, her long black hair adorned with a golden crown that sparkled like captured stars. Her phoenix eyes shone with pure joy and fierce love as she looked at me.
I wore black-and-gold imperial robes befitting the newly titled Imperial Sword Marquis, my spirit sword at my waist, the God Rock safely hidden yet pulsing warmly against my chest.
Emperor Li Tianlong presided over the ceremony himself, his voice booming with imperial authority.
"Today, my beloved daughter Li Qing weds Ye Tianhen, the man who rose from trash to sovereign in a single month. Their union shall strengthen the Great Han Dynasty. Let the heavens bear witness!"
We exchanged vows under a shower of spirit light.
Li Qing's voice was steady and passionate: "Ye Tianhen, from this day forward I am yours alone. My flame burns only for you. In battle and in peace, in this life and across dimensions, I stand at your side as your first wife."
I cupped her face gently, thumb brushing her cheek. "Li Qing, you are my first and eternal flame. I will protect you, cherish you, and conquer the universe with you at my side. No other woman will ever take your place in my heart. This I swear on my sword and the God Rock."
We sealed the vow with a deep, lingering kiss as the entire capital erupted in cheers and fireworks of qi.
That night, the royal chambers became our private paradise.
Li Qing dismissed every servant and guard. The moment the doors closed, she pushed me onto the massive silk bed, her wedding robes sliding off her shoulders like liquid fire.
"Tonight you are mine, husband," she whispered, voice husky with desire.
We made love for hours — slow and tender at first, then fierce and passionate. She rode me with wild abandon, her perfect breasts bouncing, nails raking my chest as she cried out my name again and again. I took her from behind, gripping her hips and driving deep until she shattered around me with a scream of pure ecstasy. We lost count of how many times we reached release, bodies slick with sweat, hearts beating as one.
In the quiet moments between, I held her close, stroking her hair.
"You gave me everything," I murmured. "A home. A title. Your heart. I will give you the stars."
She smiled against my chest. "I already have the greatest treasure — you."
---
Nine months later, our first child was born — a son we named Ye Xingchen (Star Mark). He came into the world screaming with strong lungs, tiny fists clenched as if already ready to grasp a sword. His eyes carried the same sharp obsidian as mine, and faint spatial fluctuations surrounded him even as a newborn.
Li Qing held him with tears of joy, exhausted but radiant. "He will be strong like his father."
Two years after that, our daughter arrived — Ye Qinglan (Azure Flame). She inherited her mother's phoenix-like grace and fiery temperament, crying only when separated from her brother or mother. Tiny sparks of lightning danced around her cradle, a gift from the Imperial Dragon Sword Art I had passed on unconsciously through bloodline.
I spent every spare moment with them.
Mornings were for family. I would sit in the royal garden with Xingchen on my lap, teaching him basic sword forms with a wooden blade while Qinglan toddled around chasing spirit butterflies. Li Qing watched us with soft eyes, her hand resting on her stomach — already carrying our third child, though we kept that secret for now.
Evenings were for passion. After the children slept, Li Qing and I retreated to our chambers. Our lovemaking had only grown deeper with time — sometimes slow and loving, bodies rocking together as we whispered promises of eternity; sometimes raw and intense, her legs locked around me as I claimed her again and again until dawn.
She remained my only wife, my devoted flame. I never looked at another woman. My ruthlessness was reserved for enemies; with my family, I was gentle, protective, and completely committed.
But the universe never lets a sovereign rest.
On the morning of Xingchen's third birthday, a spatial ripple tore open above the capital. An ancient jade slip floated down, glowing with powerful runes. It carried a message from a higher realm:
"The Starry Sky Realm opens once every century. The boundary between continents and true star domains is thinning. Those who cross may grasp higher Grand Daos — pure Star Dao, Nebula Sword Arts, and fragments of the 3000 Grand Daos untouched by this lower world."
The Emperor summoned me immediately.
"Tianhen, the time has come. You have grown too powerful for this continent alone. The Starry Sky awaits."
I looked at Li Qing, who stood beside me holding little Qinglan while Xingchen gripped my leg with wide, excited eyes.
"My family goes where I go," I said firmly. "But the journey through the spatial rift is dangerous. The void between realms can tear apart anyone below Nascent Soul."
Li Qing stepped forward without hesitation, her voice steady. "Then make us strong enough."
I nodded. Over the next three days I used the God Rock to its fullest. I copied every high-level protective technique from the royal library — Imperial Void Shield, Dragon Soul Protection Array, and Time Anchor Talismans. Then I infused them directly into spatial bracelets I crafted for Li Qing and the children.
For Li Qing, I personally carved a bracelet that fused my mastered Space and Time Dao with her own cultivation, creating a personal protective domain that would keep her safe even if we were separated in the void. For the children, I embedded gentle stabilizing arrays that would shield their fragile bodies and even accelerate their cultivation slightly during the crossing.
On the morning of departure, I gathered everyone on the palace roof.
I activated the spatial rift with a wave of my hand, using the deepened Space and Time Dao I had fused over the years. The portal shimmered with starry light — a stable gateway large enough for all of us.
"Hold on to me," I told them.
Li Qing took my left hand, Qinglan cradled securely in her free arm. Xingchen climbed onto my back, small arms wrapped tightly around my neck. I wrapped my right arm around Li Qing's waist, pulling my family close against my body.
With the God Rock pulsing in my storage ring and the protective arrays glowing softly around us, I stepped forward.
The void rushed in — a chaotic tunnel of swirling stars, crushing spatial pressure, and howling time distortions. Normal cultivators would have been ripped apart, but my family remained safe inside the cocoon of my fused Daos and the God Rock's power.
Li Qing pressed her face against my chest, voice calm despite the storm. "We're together. That's all that matters."
Xingchen laughed excitedly as colorful nebulae flashed past. Qinglan cooed softly, protected in her mother's arms.
Minutes felt like hours, yet we emerged unscathed on the other side.
The Starry Sky Realm stretched before us — endless floating continents, massive star islands drifting in the cosmic sea, ancient sects floating on nebulae, and distant planets glowing like jewels.
I set my family down gently on a stable star island, then closed the rift behind us.
Li Qing looked around in awe, then turned to me with a radiant smile.
"We made it. All of us. Together."
I pulled her and the children into my embrace, kissing her deeply while Xingchen and Qinglan giggled between us.
The lower continent was behind us.
Ahead lay the vast Starry Sky — countless opportunities to master more Grand Daos, new royal-blooded women to claim as wives, alien invasions to crush, and an endless path to supremacy.
With my devoted first wife and our children at my side, protected by my power and the God Rock, I was ready.