102 Banquet Begins

This night was a sleepless night for many people, but Li Aoz had a comfortable sleep, recharged his energy, and made all preparations.

He has made it a point to overturn the table if his plans go awry. Anyway, Sky Ring has the handle, and he is a Red Arrow citizen, so he is not afraid of being tough.

Xiajian Jing's reaction was quite surprising. This outspoken and highly aggressive terrorist has not yet shown any signs of attack. He is very cautious and dormant, which has saved Li Aoz a lot of trouble.

"Now, come and enjoy the carnival."

At the opening of Nine Dragons Gathering, the crowd density at Qiongan Capital tripled. Li Aoz was invited to avoid traveling during peak hours. A special car invited him to the home venue of the banquet - Nine Dragons Temple.

Passing through the torii gate and the mountain path with countless white lanterns flying, Li Aoz stepped into the square under the guidance of two monks. It should be said that it is not easy to see such an antique temple in this era. The senior leaders of Sky Ring and the temple abbot are delivering speeches on the stage, and then a ceremony will be conducted under the guidance of Miko and Great Onmyoji.

The whole process was blabbering, and Li Aoz was not interested. He listened to the speech for a while, but in fact his eyes scanned the crowd, and he clearly noticed a few Frostplate Citizen faces.

The other party looked serious and stereotyped, and the people traveling were all men. Basically, we could rule out that he was a wealthy official from Frostplate—that is, he was a spy of Law Enforcement Division Three.

Li Aoz has [Eye of Truth], and he took the time to glance at it. Sure enough, these Frostplate Citizen are all [Law Enforcement Division Three Auxiliary Agent].

"Frostplate Citizen seems to be causing trouble."

Li Aoz noticed that these people frequently came together with some Sky Ring strong men, exchanging something, and from time to time their eyes would turn to him. He couldn't help but sneer: Now that you've reached this point, you still want to borrow Blade Kill people? Frostplate was having trouble with the battle on the Gulant front, and being humiliated by Li Aoz in turn, he definitely couldn't hold back and wanted to get rid of himself - but using this three-legged cat method to incite strong people to deal with him is a bit unthinkable.

Li Aoz was too lazy to pay attention to these people. Then he thought about it, these people may not be useless.

"Maybe, it can be like this..."

He turned around and walked directly into the exhibition venue, admiring the weapons and weapons crafted by Sky Ring's skilled craftsmen this year.

This is Nine Dragons Gathering's way of increasing foreign exchange income - Sky Ring's weapons are world-famous, especially cold weapons and swords. Regardless of their collection value or being used by individual strong men, they are the first choice without exception.

At such an international event, it is not just an order for weapons, but also a good opportunity for craftsmen to showcase themselves. Many unknown swordsmiths, because their works are favored by others, can even become famous overnight and achieve a class leap. There are also many people who deliberately create some gorgeous and worthless weapons just to show off their skills and show off their superb skills.

Of course, in this kind of situation, it is impossible to set up a street stall and let others play with it. All weapons have complex Gene Code locks. If you like them, you must communicate with the craftsman to confirm before you can open them for trial use.

Of course, such a strict screening method is a bit unfriendly to most buyers and spectators, and there is also some opportunism and shoddy quality. No one wants to spend a lot of energy and the weapons they finally buy are just flashy parts. Therefore, the organizer of Nine Dragons Gathering most of the time assumes that both parties have reached a consensus and gives a relatively objective evaluation price.

Do it at your own risk, which is part of the joy of shopping.

Many onlookers and buyers carefully used various methods to identify them. Those who came to the party were obviously from good backgrounds and had some identification methods and instruments themselves.

But even so, Li Aoz opened [Eye of Truth] and scanned around. Out of ten people, at least five bought the product at an exaggerated price, and one person bought a fake product.

For this kind of work of identifying treasures and hunting for goods, [Eye of Truth] is simply cheating. The quality attributes of the goods are directly in front of you. You can even tell whether they are genuine by just scanning the name.

[It saves a lot of effort - players will probably thank me very much if they have the opportunity to attend this party.]

Li Aoz pretended to visit some booths, and there was a Frostplate agent secretly following him behind his back. Li Aoz didn't take it seriously. He picked up weapons to try out from time to time, and even communicated with some craftsmen.

However, soon, the effect of Frostplate Citizen's sarcastic remarks behind his back became apparent.

Li Aoz put down a Wakizashi, shook his head, and said to the craftsman, "This weapon is not suitable for my fighting style, and it is too short. However, the workmanship is still very exquisite. I hope you find a suitable buyer."

There was nothing wrong with what he said. Then, before he finished speaking, a strange voice suddenly sounded from behind, "Oh, Red Arrow People is so knowledgeable. Wakizashi, a weapon in the form of a short sword, is actually too short."

Li Aoz glanced behind him and saw a sturdy man walking over with his arms folded, not concealing his Beta-rank aura. He was wearing a large warrior robe, and he looked like Martial Artist of the Dragon Sect. There was also a poisonous snake spitting out letters tattooed on his neck.

He leisurely walked over, snatched Wakizashi from the craftsman's hand, weighed it in his hand, waved it twice, made an awe-inspiring sound in the air, and nodded:

"What? Isn't this pretty good? Blowing and breaking your hair is a no brainer."

As he spoke, he held Wakizashi in his hand, looked at Li Aoz narrowly, and changed the topic. "Hey, but there is no way - we Sky Ring are just a small country, and we inevitably lack supplies. We have never seen the world, how can we compare with the masters of the empire?"

The passers-by around seemed to know this warrior, and they whispered, "Hey, isn't that Hojo Family's retainer - Yanagimon Shinsuke?"

"Red Arrow People is unlucky. How did you get into trouble with this mad dog?"

"Yanagimon's master was defeated by Red Arrow's Swordmaster. He couldn't bear the humiliation and committed seppuku. Now this guy is an anti-Red Arrow demon."

The whispers from the surrounding guests and the attitude of watching a good show made Li Aoz quite surprised - he did not expect to encounter such a thing again.

[Law Enforcement Division Three How could he be so lucky that he specifically provoked such a person?]

But if you think about it carefully, it's normal. Law Enforcement Division Three is a professional in provoking Gonghuo. I guess they have come into contact with a lot of similar people.

The craftsman was suppressed by the warrior's momentum and was submissive. He did not dare to express his position at all. He looked helplessly at Li Aoz, hoping that he could say something.

Li Aoz glanced at the warrior and didn't want to pay attention to him at all. He turned around and was about to leave, but the warrior turned sideways and deliberately stopped in front of Li Aoz.

"In such a hurry to leave? Are you so disdainful of our Sky Ring things?"

Yanagimon's words were all teasing. It was clear that he was here to cause trouble, so there was no need to follow his wishes.

——But after hearing these words, Li Aoz felt unhappy.

Li Aoz's eyes slowly lit up Golden Halo, and just as he was about to knock this stupid idiot to the ground, another scolding sound came from not far away:

"Hey! Yanagimon, do you want to embarrass yourself internationally?!"

While he was talking, a high-spirited man in military uniform walked over with his hands in his pockets and an unkind expression. He stared at Yanagimon and said coldly:

"This is Nine Dragons Gathering, a sacred festival. Guests from all over the world gather here. Do you want Heavenly Ring People to be ridiculed?"

"Oh? This is not our Capital Security Bureau's Kim Tae-hyun, Young General Jin."

Yanagimon did not back down at all just because the other party was a senior military officer. He reminded him with a playful smile:

"Your duty is to protect Prime Minister Piao's life and safety, not to protect Heavenly Ring People's dignity - on the contrary, only samurai can protect Sky Ring's dignity."

Yanagimon Shinsuke is a retainer of the clan. In terms of class, he is much higher than a pure soldier like Kim Tae-hyun. Especially Kim Tae-hyun is just a dog that blocks bullets for the prime minister. According to the default rules, he still has to say honorifics to himself.

Kim Tae-hyun looked unkind. He originally wanted to mediate this meaningless farce, but instead he was ridiculed and humiliated, and his face immediately turned blue with anger.

He pointed at the other party and yelled, "Can't you tell who is making such nonsense? Don't think that relying on Mr. Hojo Tokimune's favor, you can walk sideways. This is Qiongan Capital! It's not your turn to act wild!"

"Oh, I'm curious, is it my turn, or is it the turn of retainers like 'us'?"

Yanagimon Shinsuke spread his hands and immediately started fighting with Kim Tae-hyun.

The conflict between the new military faction and the clan faction has been accumulating for a long time. The former has become a little arrogant with the status improvement brought by Nine Dragons Gathering, forgetting the fact that this country is controlled by clan groups.

"If you hadn't taken the initiative to stir up trouble with foreigners, why would I have come to stop your stupid behavior."

Kim Tae-hyun responded tit for tat. He pointed at Li Aoz beside him. "Everyone has seen that this foreign friend just picked up the weapon and commented, but was blocked by this idiot Yanagimon and refused to leave. What do you want? Turn us Sky Ring into an unreasonable and barbaric image in the world?"

"Only a coward cares about other people's opinions." Yanagimon didn't care. "What's more, the guy next to you is from the Red Arrow Empire, what? Are you trying to protect Heavenly Ring Nation's enemies?"

"I don't care what personal grudges you have, this is an international event!"

"Okay, since I disturbed the order, you came to arrest me, take me away, and put me in prison - what? Young General Jin, why don't you dare to do anything?"

Yanagimon laughed endlessly. He could see the weak nature of Kim Tae-hyun and was sure that this guy would not be able to capture Hojo's retainers.

The country would not dare to break up with the Hojo Family no matter what. It would be better to say that the entire Sky Ring is armed with the Hojo Family. Whenever something goes wrong with the Hojo Family, the whole country will be in turmoil.

Because of this, Hojo Family's retainer warriors are almost fearless in the country and can do whatever they want.

Even if Yanagimon really made some mistake, Kim Tae-hyun would not dare to arrest him.

Yanagimon makes no secret of his aura of Beta-rank's peak strength, which adds another level of persuasion.

Sky Ring is a place where strength is respected. In many cases, strength is a privilege, especially as he has the dual status of a Beta-rank elite + Hojo Family retainer. In terms of personal strength and power, he belongs to the "not to be messed with" echelon.

Kim Tae-hyun suppressed his blush. If he really dared to catch Yanagimon, the opponent would find his way back sooner or later. He didn't even need Hojo Family behind him to take action. The top Beta-rank warrior would be enough to make him never sleep well in the future.

Let alone arresting people, even if he was really good at beating people, he wouldn't dare to do it in such a situation. What a serious impact it would have.

Li Aoz Seeing that this man was defeated, he simply put his hands in his pockets and looked ahead expressionlessly without any reaction.

This was Heavenly Ring People's own internal power struggle, and he didn't want to get involved. However, Yanagimon had humiliated Kim Tae-hyun, and that was not enough, so he came to Li Aoz again and hooked him provocatively.

"Hey, Imperial guy." Yanagimon pointed at Li Aoz, and then pointed at the exhibition in the distance:

"I know you are not convinced, but I, Yanagimon Shinsuke, am also a person who wants to save face. Today is Nine Dragons Gathering, and I can't see blood—how about making a bet with me?"

"Not interested."

"Don't refuse in a hurry." Yanagimon said in a sinister tone, "Our country invites you to be a guest, but you are so perfunctory."

Li Aoz raised his eyebrows. "It's none of your business."

"I see that you are beautiful, and you must be from a noble family - there are countless treasures on this Nine Dragons Gathering, but everything has a distinction between high and low, and there is also a gap between treasures."

Yanagimon glanced at Li Aoz and muttered in his heart: This guy is actually a pretty girl with an upright appearance.

But, who told you to be Red Arrow People.

He spread his hands and suggested. "You and I each find 10 treasures and go to the jury to calculate the final value. If you have better eyesight, then I will admit that you did not humiliate the Sky Ring swordsmith and settle the expenses for you. But if I am more favored, you have to settle the settlement for me."

Li Aoz tilted his head:

"You are so ordinary, how can you be so confident?"

"Do you want to compare?" Yanagimon said sarcastically, "Anyway, for you Red Arrow People, each of you lives in a big villa and drives a luxury car with a V8 engine. Naturally, you look down on us Heavenly Ring People who have such a lack of resources."

"Pfft——"

This guy's inexplicable speech made Li Aoz laugh.

"Just be provocative, don't say it so high-sounding." Li Aoz waved his hand. "In that case, just wait and clear the shopping cart for me."

"Haha, blind confidence."

Yanagimon was overjoyed: He was not just deliberately provoking trouble. Red Arrow People's wealth was evident. If he could really beat Li Aoz, it would not only be able to avenge the master, but also a real benefit. Looking back, if word spreads that he can make Red Arrow People pay for himself, that would be great.

Gaining both fame and fortune, no matter how you think about it, you are the winner.

What's more, I was already prepared. Those Frostplate Citizen who communicated with me had already obtained a catalog list of famous knifemakers. As long as I picked according to their instructions, I would definitely win in terms of total value.

"I will definitely win!"

I went to the hospital for a biochemical check and took a X-ray. As expected, it turned out to be bronchitis.

I'll start paying off my debt tomorrow and get my update rhythm back.