Heavenly Dao Child

"To Sister Frost Flames and Brother Ryuu, may there relation be just as us Immortal."

Severing Saber shouted out with his saucer high up in the air, an action that others followed with a large smile on their faces, while the duo simply blushed as Ryuu raised his in welcoming gesture towards them.

"Never would have thought that in a couple of hours they would have arranged such a gallant celebration."

"So true Ryuu, so true, they really worked hard for us, I am glad to meet them."

"Me too, my lady, I am really glad to have met them."

Ryuu's eyes went over to the arrangement that his fellow cultivators have put up, the duo was at the centre sitting on a raised platform, with various food items arranged on a cloth-covered table and on either side were the other cultivators, each having a cup or saucer containing wine.

"The party is not lively enough, some of our most talented members I thought you would care enough to make this place a bit more alive."

"So true brother you just took the words from my mouth, would our esteemed fellow cultivators be kind enough."

Zywia felt quite a bit of her fellow cultivators eyeing her not to mention the not so subtle jab made her sigh as she spoke out loud, "Fine fine, I will begin but please do remember that others should join as well or it would not be fair."

"Of course sister, we will follow your lead."

With that, she quickly pulled out her Zither as she plucked the strings a wonderful melody soon filled the air.

Ryuu felt Frost Flame's hand over his as their fingers intertwined as a small blush formed on their faces before they were all lost in the melody.

Ryuu closed his eyes as his heart was soon filled with joy, 'What a wonderful tune Zywia is playing it fills me with so much happiness, it made me content, at peace.'

As he opened his eyes his breath hitched, gone were the blackened soil, the soot-covered rumbling and thundering sky, the scorching heat, in its place was a green meadow, the grass swayed under the gentle breeze, as he could hear the gentle chime of the stream nearby, he could not help but praise Zywia's skills with a whisper, "Amazing sister is amazing Zither player."

His whisper was rewarded with a reply from Frost Ocean who spoke with a smile, "So true, I never felt so peaceful before."

As they enjoyed her performance while basking with each other's presence as Ryuu listened to Zywia's performance his mind went back to his previous life, his beloved fiancée who died before her time, and then his wife, he shook his head off to suppress those memories, 'Why am I recalling them? This is a new life why try to remember something which is long gone.'

His eyes then fell on a slightly smiling Frost Flames which made his heart sore, 'That smile I am going to protect it no matter the cost, in my last life I failed them badly but this life I would never subject her to such misery.'

"Is something wrong?", Frost Flame's whisper brought him out of his daydream as Frost flames spoke with a frown, "Is there something wrong love? You were staring at my face for some time now."

Ryuu simply smiled back to her as he spoke, "Once a very wise man asked me, where is Heavens located? I could not answer him but today I know where it is, do you know where it is?"

As Frost flames shook her face Ryuu's smile disappeared as he spoke with a serious tone in his voice, "I found Heavens by my side in the form of a very beautiful lady with a mesmerizing smile."

Frost Flame's face was so red from Ryuu's teasing that it might have been the reddest object in all of creation.

As Zywia's performance finished a thunder of applause, as well as praises, were heard from all around, which Zywia simply replied by a small bow before her eyes fell on Ryuu and Frost Flames, she found Ryuu applauding softly with a bright smile on her face while Frost Flames was trying to hide her red embarrassed face, making Zywia stifle a giggle at the sight.

'Those two are so badly in love with each other.'

"That ends a wonderful performance by Sister Zywia, now any of our fellow brethren would be kind enough."

At the shout of the cultivator, one of the cultivators stood up as he spoke, "Fair enough, since Sister Zywia had already given such a flawless performance I will try to overthrow her."

He sent a challenging smirk towards Zywia who returned a similar smirk as a flute appeared in his hands, he placed his lips on top of it as a rather soothing tune flowed from his flute, the tune reminded him of spring, the season of renewal, and all of sudden he found himself under a cherry blossom with a sake cup in his hand, 'It feels as if I had just had a taken a dip in hot springs, it feels so great that I wish to dance.'

As the thought passed through his mind Ryuu deadpanned before he held Frost Flame's hard while pulsing his KI a bit only enough for Frost flames to notice, before whispering to her, "He is using an illusion that wants us to dance."

Frost Flame's eyes widen slightly as the sudden urge to dance disappear as she narrowed her eyes only for Ryuu to give her hand a small squeeze, "Let it go, he is trying to one-up Zywia, but he plays well and there is no rules against cheating."

Frost Flames sighed as she spoke in a resigned voice, "Fair enough, though I feel sorry for sister Zywia."

Ryuu looked towards Zywia as he stifled a grin before he spoke, "Though it seems she is currently having her hands full."

As Frost Flames looked towards her, with great difficulty she squashed her need to laugh at the poor True-Spear who was receiving a scathing glare courtesy of Zywia, making her snort as she spoke, "Poor brother was never good against illusion and it seems sister Zywia is enraged by his antics again."

Ryuu simply shook his head as he spoke, "It may be so but it is fun watching them bicker, though he should wise up to know not to argue with a woman, especially your lover, after all, you will never win."

Frost Flames narrowed her eyes as she spoke with a heated glare, "Ho and why is that?"

Ryuu flashed Frost Flames a dazzling smile as he replied to her, "Why else after all woman are called the better half which means you all are better than us, thus arguing against a better and righter person is moot."

Frost Flame's face once again gained a healthy blush before sending a playful shove before turning towards Ryuu who simply smile, while inwardly it was a different matter, 'Thank you, teacher, your advice is otherworldly watching you interact with your wives was educational for me, hmm when I return I will have to do something nice for him.'

A few minutes later Ryuu's brow twitched as he whispered back, "Damn they are like children, pushing each other while the other is too shy to even standup, are they, not million-year-old cultivators, if it goes on for another minute I will simply lose all the gratitude I felt for them for arranging it in the first place."

"So true looks like Su-Min is about to erupt."

Ryuu let out a sigh as he spoke, "It seems I will have to intervene otherwise the celebration would go down in the drain."

"So true, but how? Are you going to sing?"

Ryuu chuckled as he spoke, "My dear if I started to sing using my wonderful voice, the celebration would turn into a funeral as people would simply kill themselves to get away from the terrible chaotic noise."

Frost Flames giggled at his words as she spoke, "You are joking."

Ryuu shook his head as he spoke while puffing up his chest with pride, "No my fair lady, my mother tried to teach me how to sing or play musical instruments but I turned out to be a natural tone-deaf."

Frost Flames simply shook her head before she spoke with a frown, "So what will you do now Ryuu?"

Ryuu narrowed his eyes as he spoke, "Since they are all feeling shy on going up the stage by themselves why not make them go up in a group."

Frost Flames tilted her head as she watched curiously as Ryuu spoke out loud, "I have an idea."

His voice drew everyone's attention as he spoke, "You see when I was out adventuring I once stumble upon a village, a rather normal village but it had a rather unique flair to it that I liked a lot.", he took a breath as he watched everyone play undivided attention towards him as he continued to speak, "Whenever any of them would have any problem with anyone they would have a duel, which they called the 'Battle of Poets'."

"Battle of poets?"

As one of his fellow cultivators intoned back Ryuu spoke with a smile on his face, "Yes, 'Battle of Poets', was how they duelled each other, unlike normal duels they used to duel with songs, dance, tunes that they created, it was fun as well as enjoyable."

A murmur passed through the crowd as others discussed amongst them Ryuu's idea, the celebration had started well though somewhere down the enthusiasm dwindled down to the point it became boring making some like Su-Min enraged at the mere thought of it, and Ryuu's idea felt like a welcoming rain after a long drought.

Frozen Ocean sighed as she whispered to Su-Min low enough for only her to hear, "This is ridiculous as well as embarrassing we were the one to arrange for the celebration and yet the guest of honour themselves have to step in to save it such an embarrassment."

Su-Min frowned hard as she spoke, "So true at least sister Zywia had managed to keep her face, I wish I could stand up and sing or do something at least it would not develop into a boring and awkward situation."

Frozen Ocean nodded as she replied back with a nod, "So true but let us see what kind of idea Ryuu has in store for us."

Severing Saber took the initiative as he spoke out loud, "Young brother can you please tell us more about it."

"Certainly older brother.", with that he flashed his ever reassuring smile as he began, "The name may be 'Battle of Poets', but you can duel against each other with songs, dance, or playing some instruments, mostly this is done in between two people or two groups, one of them would begin creating something on spot, and after the person or the group has finished his opponents reply in kind and it would continue until another side admits defeat."

One of them scratched their cheeks as he spoke, "So what kind of songs, or music we should use in this duel Ryuu?"

Ryuu shrugged as he replied back to him, "How will I know? It is entirely up to you, from what I had seen it was a method to settle differences without drawing blood so how you sing is entirely up to you."

He looked at the confused look on many faces as he began with a smile, "Look I will give you an example say Mister A has a problem with Mister B's snoring so he can begin like this, 'When you hear the rumble of the thundering skies, you do not have to look no further cause I can..', well there you have it me trying to make some lines just like that, you have to be a fast thing of a proper response and reply back to your opponent whether through songs or music or dance."

A few gained a contemplative look on their faces as Zywia spoke out loud, "I think I get it but Ryuu please do not try to sing again, you are completely off-key and your lines are horrible."

Ryuu simply pouted as one of the cultivators spoke out loud, "Brother, you said something about group how to do the group function and how many are there in the group."

Ryuu scratched his chin as he spoke, "Well how many people are there in a group will depend on how many people are participating but please try to keep numbers in low as there will be many groups competing against each other, and as for how a group works it can work in various ways."

He stopped for a breath before continuing again, "The situation in this battle is ever-changing you do not know how it can change or what might happen so it can be that only one amongst you can step up to reply in a particular instance while his fellow group members will support him from sidelines, and then again in the next instance the entire group might be working together say in a group of three one of them will sing, the other dance, while the third play some music to accompany them."

Severing Saber spoke with a nod, "Then let us do this, though we have to rearrange the tables to do this."

Many nodded as Ryuu once again spoke in a serious tone, "Oh I forgot the most rule, you may start answering back while the others are performing, you may wish to dance beat by beat to defeat them but in no way you can use any abilities or skills to prevent them from performing the moment you do so, you lose."

True-Spear nodded as he spoke out loud, "That is a nice rule it would prevent cheaters from acting.", as he spoke he send a stink eye towards the flute player who did not pay any heed to him.

Estelle who was watching the discussion in silence as she spoke for the first time, "I have a question."

Her words drew everyone's attention towards her as she began, "Is there a time limit within which we will have to quickly reply back."

Ryuu nodded as he flashed Estelle a smile as he spoke, "Of course there is Sister Estelle, I forgot to mention that, of course, there is a time limit within which you will have to reply or else you will lose, the village had a rule of ten breaths, but I will let you all decide on it."