Amid the buzz of discussion, Lily Bai finished drawing her talisman.
The gods all had some ability to judge talismans.
She personally handed the talisman to the Phoenix Clan Elder, letting them activate it and sense its effects.
After the Phoenix Clan Elder activated it, they found its effects matched exactly what Lily Bai had described.
"Well?" Tanya Quinn asked.
The Phoenix Clan Elder nodded thoughtfully. "She really did fuse medicine and talisman together! And... there are two kinds of medicine!"
Lily Bai said, "If the Divine Lord's child shows a bad omen in the divination, this talisman will release an abortifacient. If the omen is good, it will release a nourishing fetal-protection elixir that's good for both Divine Lord and child. Oh, and I've added an invisibility talisman on top—so even if the Divine Lord wants to remove it, she can't! Everyone can rest assured!"
The elder nodded and passed the talisman to the other elders for inspection.
In the end, after all their back-and-forth, they couldn’t find any real fault with it.
Still, something about it just felt off.
After all, Noctis is still the Demon King!
So they all turned to the elder who'd threatened to kill himself and asked, "Great Elder, what do you think?"
That elder was, in fact, the Phoenix Clan's Great Elder.
He couldn't find any fault with the talisman, so he switched tactics and started nitpicking elsewhere. "Then what about Lord Noctis's massacre of a city?" he pressed.
Noctis replied coolly, "Honestly, there's not much to say! That day, Leo Li came to see me. Tanya happened to catch us and got furious at me, so out of spite, I agreed to Leo Li's request!"
He paused, then added, "If First Prince Brandon Xiao wants to pursue it, he should go after Leo Li! At most, I'm just an accessory to the crime. However many lightning strikes I deserve, I'll take them without blinking."
Brandon Xiao frowned slightly but said nothing.
Tanya Quinn's lips curled up in a smile. "Well, since everyone's here and the gifts are given, let's just proceed with the wedding as planned! No need for anyone to make a wasted trip!"
The Phoenix Clan elders glanced at each other, then looked back at the Great Elder.
The Great Elder opened his mouth, about to speak, when he suddenly heard Noctis's voice in his head: "If you dare utter one more word, I guarantee you won't see tomorrow's sun."
The elder glanced at Noctis, then at Divine Lord Tanya Quinn, and finally chickened out—he said nothing at all.
And so, the ceremonial music started up again, and the wedding went ahead—with a new groom.
Lily Bai finally let out a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from her brow, and bounced out in high spirits.
She found a quiet spot, then connected with Sean Shaw. "Sean, Sean!" she called.
Sean's voice was still sleepy. "Mm?"
"Seriously? You still haven't gotten up?"
"Don't want to." Sean said, "The bed still smells like you."
Lily Bai quickly glanced around, then whispered, "Shut up! Listen, Divine Lord Tanya Quinn just married Lord Noctis!"
Sean asked, "What about Liam Leshan?"
"He got away! He'd already set up a teleport escape..." Lily Bai told Sean everything Liam confessed.
Sean's voice was still lazy, but suddenly a bit dangerous: "Can you draw a Hellfire Talisman?"
Lily Bai thought for a moment. "I can."
"Draw one for me."
"What for?"
"What do you think? I want Liam Leshan to get a taste of Hellfire!"
Lily Bai: "Uh... Let's talk when I get back."
"When are you coming back?"
"I'll be back this afternoon!"
"Hurry back."
"Got it!" Lily Bai couldn't help but laugh.
...