Faded purple flower petals danced across new spring grass. A grove of trees covered in small purple flower blossoms were in full bloom and, with the help of a gentle breeze, creating a magnificently romantic scene. A red brick path cut through the grove, the trees bordering it were in perfectly straight lines and adorned with red silk streamers and hung with red paper lanterns with golden tassels. At the end of the path was a large banquet, with hundreds of people at tables placed between the beautiful trees and arranged in front of a rise in the ground.

A small hill in the center of the grove created an elevated area that acted like a stage for all those in the banquet while giving a breathtaking view to those on the hill. At this time, there was a single table atop that hill and a couple were seated behind it. They were both wearing very formal red clothing, and from the way that all the guest’s stood up to bow for the couple, it was only obvious that the woman’s dress was a bridal gown. Toast’s for the guests, the newly married couple, and their in-laws followed. For all observing it seemed like quite the ceremony. At least until one of the guests poured out his cup onto the ground during one of the toasts.

The guest, who had rudely refused to toast, rose to his feet and started to walk towards the newlyweds. Most of them hadn’t ever seen the man before, but upon a closer look many grew jealous while others were disgusted. A few of the women in the crowd couldn’t take their eyes off him as not only was his clothing unusual, but his appearance was even more so. At this sort of formal occasion, everyone was wearing expensive robes, dresses, and other regalia. This youth was wearing trousers and a sleeveless vest like a dock worker would. Even more unusually, while the style was common, the actual garments themselves were finely made. The vest was made from some sort of black animal scale and had a thick white fur collar. His trousers were made of many layered black silk, and covered in unusual stitched reinforcements that none here had seen before.

What really caught the eye was the face of the guest. He looked like a youth in his early twenties, but with a face so beautiful that made the women jealous. They coveted his high cheekbones, angular jaw, thin nose, and sharp gaze. His short black hair was swept backwards, with an artistic sweep that could only hold one’s attention for a short moment before his ice blue eyes stole the show. He took a few steps forward and his unusually shaped boots slammed down harder than necessary to cause a dust cloud to puff up. At the same time he pointed a finger rudely at the groom.

The guests were mostly in a state of shock, but a few of the more burly looking bearded men near the hill immediately jumped to their feet and started to form a defensive wall. Another man, middle aged with a clean face and shrewd features, sneered at the odd youth, “Do you not realize you are at the auspicious wedding of the great and powerful Qian De? The most illustrious and powerful new member of the Seven Stars. If it weren’t unlucky to commit murder during a wedding banquet your head would already be plucked from your shoulders and placed upon a pike. If you don’t kowtow and apologize immediately, even nine generations of your ancestors will be unable to save you from the pain that will follow!”

The youth laughed, “Seems I’m in the right place. Perfect. Now I only need to know one thing. Qian De! What do you think of Wu Chang?”

The group of bearded men couldn’t stand to listen to any more of this and short-hafted halberds appeared in their hands. Each of them took a step forward, releasing a battlecry and lifting their halberd into the air. Almost simultaneously, the heads of the halberds rose into the sky, their handles rapidly extending upwards. Then with thunderous fury, the axe head fell down from the sky like a dozen huge guillotines, falling towards the disrespectful youth.

The men wielding the halberds felt something was wrong and the weight in their hands suddenly changed. That was when they noticed that each of the twenty foot long blue bamboo shafts had suddenly become ten feet long, and the upper halves of their weapons were now falling from the sky without their control. The rest of the crowd on the other hand were marveling at the youth, with one swing of a black bladed saber an arc of dark light flew through the sky and cleanly severed so many weapons.

This seemed to finally get the attention of the groom, and he put down his cup. It was his marriage day and he was immaculately clean. The small beard on his chin was perfectly groomed and oiled, his long dark hair pulled up into a small bun and hidden within a golden coronet, and his eyes were full of vitality along with a dash of rage. He chose this moment to speak up, and while his words were polite, his tone was belligerent, “Honored guest, why did you refuse the toast? Are you not appreciative of my, Qian De’s hospitality? Do you not fear that I will bring the full weight of the mighty Jade Horde down upon you? Are you not wary of a Fifth Stage, Core Formation and Three Star Formation Master growing angry?”

To punctuate his point, Qian De waved his hand and one of the men in the crowd pulled out a small bamboo tube. He pointed it upward and from the end of it a flare like a ball of fire flew into the sky. In just a few seconds there was a thunderous sound, boots hitting the ground and metal clanking to metal. Through the falling purple flower petals came rows of black and emerald armored soldiers. Most of their faces were skin crawling, with a half dozen short tentacles taking the place of a mouth and with insect-like armored hands and feet. A few of the soldiers were instead fully human and they barked orders, suddenly arranged the hundreds of soldiers to surround the forest grove where the wedding was taking place.

“Just a level forty five. Stop running your mouth and just answer the question!”

Such a rude and cryptic response caused a collective gasp from the crowd. They were also terrified at suddenly being surrounded and they started to run back down the path where the soldiers had opened a gap for them to leave. They looked ready to spring into action to block the angry youth’s escape, but he didn’t even move. He still held the saber in his right hand while pointing with the other towards Qian De.

“That’s enough! You cretin! You’ve made a spectacle out of my wedding and I won’t be satisfied until we use your blood as an offering to restore the auspicious atmosphere of the day! You think you can come in here and insult the Great General Wu Chang so rudely without instantly losing your life? Finish him!”

The hundreds of troops locked shields and expanded their Horde Halberds, yelling in unison, “For the Horde!”