Attending the Banquet

After the Song family meeting, Song Tianqing was left somewhat confused.

He had been an outsider in the Song family before, and only now, as the young master, did he have the right to enter the family's power core.

So when it came to family secrets, he knew almost nothing.

Leaving the Council Hall, Song Tianqing followed behind Song Kangyuan and asked, "Father, what did the Ancestor mean by what he said?"

Gao Kaiyuan was actually one of our Song family people? And we've had dealings with demons?"

Song Kangyuan looked at Song Tianqing with a hint of disgust in his eyes.

Although he was his own son, the one he had crippled was the true heir Song Kangyuan cherished most.

But the Ancestor had personally declared Song Tianqing the family's successor, so Song Kangyuan had to grit his teeth and accept it.

At least the heir was still his son, not taken by another branch.

Though Song Kangyuan didn't want to deal with Song Tianqing now, he would have to know these things sooner or later anyway.

"Follow me to the study. I'll tell you in detail about our Song family's origins."

Tossing out that one sentence, Song Kangyuan turned and headed straight for the study.

Behind him, a flash of hatred appeared in Song Tianqing's eyes.

Those wastes—how could they compare to him?

He was already the most outstanding disciple of the younger generation in the Song family, already recognized by the Ancestor—so why did Song Kangyuan still treat him like this?

One day, he would make every member of the Song family look up to him!

Han Zheng had been training honestly in the martial arts hall for the past few days.

He felt like his cultivation had hit another bottleneck.

To be precise, it wasn't a bottleneck—it was more like he felt no progress at all, as if he was just wasting time.

At least in the Houtian Realm, you could see progress—how many acupoints you'd opened, how many meridians you'd cleared.

But cultivation in the Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm was unbearably slow; a few days showed almost no advancement at all.

Han Zheng stroked his chin. He was starting to miss the feeling after killing Gao Kaiyuan, when he had a flood of Satiety to sacrifice and squander.

And in the Gluttonous Crucible, time stood still, letting him throw himself entirely into cultivation and reach a state of self-forgetfulness, so it never felt boring.

He touched the Wild Goose Feather Saber at his side. Suddenly, Han Zheng felt an urge to charge into the Song family and slaughter them all.

If he wiped out the Song family, especially killing the Song Family Ancestor, how much Vitality Essence would he gain?

But reason told him that was suicide.

Killing Gao Kaiyuan had been striking while the iron was hot. With his current cultivation, Han Zheng wasn't confident against a full-strength late-stage Innate Realm martial artist, let alone the Song Family Ancestor, who had forged the Water-Fire Immortal Robe.

"Han Zheng, don't go home tonight. Come with me to the Moon Drinking Pavilion for a banquet."

As class was about to end, Li Jingzhong suddenly stopped Han Zheng.

"A banquet?"

Li Jingzhong said, "Lin Qing was selected as a disciple by the Cangshan Sword Sect. Last time, it was just an outer sect steward who came—he only did a rough check of Lin Qing's talent and bone structure, and he passed.

This time, a Transmission Elder from the Cangshan Sword Sect has come, and it's been confirmed that Lin Qing can not only join the sect but even enter the Inner Sect directly.

And somehow, Song Tianqing also managed to connect with the Cangshan Sword Sect. After the Transmission Elder examined him, he was accepted into the Inner Sect as well.

For a small county like Black Stone County to produce two disciples entering the Cangshan Sword Sect's Inner Sect is no small feat—it's practically a tale of honor.

So the Song family is hosting the banquet. The three major gangs of Black Stone County, County Magistrate Lin Wenzheng, Shopkeeper Chen from Shenghe Hall—all the notable figures in Black Stone County will attend, including me.

Han Zheng, your talent and bone structure may be average, but your insight is outstanding, especially in martial arts comprehension—you're no worse than disciples from the top sects.

Come with me this time. If you happen to catch the eye of that Cangshan Sword Sect Transmission Elder and get accepted into the sect, your future will be boundless."

"Thank you, Teacher."

Li Jingzhong had been an excellent teacher, even to the point of finding his disciple a better path.

He had already taught Han Zheng all he could in the Innate Realm, let alone the subsequent Profound Gang Realm.

Only by joining a major sect could Han Zheng obtain more powerful techniques, more resources, and better guidance.

He couldn't bear to see Han Zheng, so clearly talented, waste away in a small county.

That evening, Li Jingzhong brought Han Zheng to the Moon Drinking Pavilion.

This restaurant was the largest in Black Stone County, and its backer was the East City Song Family.

The building had five floors, lavishly decorated, with lights burning all night.

Li Jingzhong arrived relatively early. Chen Baiqing was already there and came over to greet Li Jingzhong and Han Zheng.

At the same time, Li Jingzhong introduced Han Zheng to some of the notable figures in Black Stone County who were present.

There was Lin Qing's father, Chief Clerk Lin, and Guo Mingyuan's father, Guo Kai, now the richest man in Black Stone County.

Guo Mingyuan had come with his father, likely with the same idea as Li Jingzhong—to try and sell his son to the Cangshan Sword Sect elder.

Guo Kai even came over smiling to greet Li Jingzhong, but Guo Mingyuan didn't even bother to approach, not even calling out a word of acknowledgment to the hall master.

The look he shot Han Zheng was also laced with resentment.

After all, within the martial hall, he had only ever been defeated by Han Zheng.

Before the match, Guo Mingyuan had been brimming with confidence, only to be crushed utterly—that humiliation was no ordinary thing.

After a moment, the big shots truly began to file in one by one, and Li Jingzhong quietly introduced each of them to Han Zheng as they arrived.

From the Three Harmonies Gang came Jiang Tai, naturally. Now that he was the actual gang leader, he carried himself with much more authority.

After greeting the crowd, Jiang Tai gave Han Zheng a couple of extra glances.

He kept feeling that this disciple of Li Jingzhong's looked familiar, like he'd seen him somewhere before.

After Jiang Tai came Qiu Tianying, the leader of the Sky Eagle Gang. In his forties, tall and lean, sharp and capable, his hands were gnarled and long, knuckles thick like twisted tree roots.

Next was Pang Heihu, the leader of the Black Tiger Gang. Already past sixty, he had a rough and unrestrained appearance, and he brought along a young woman in her early twenties.

That young woman was Pang Heihu's only daughter, Pang Feiyan. She was tall, with decent looks, but her brows and eyes were a bit sharp, giving her a willful, troublesome air.

Still, Pang Heihu was built like a bear, as if Li Kui had been reincarnated, so it was already quite an achievement that his daughter turned out like this.

Besides, he'd had her late in life and doted on her immensely.

He tried to get Pang Feiyan to greet some of the elders present, but she barely responded. He didn't scold her, just gave a helpless smile.

After another wait, the Song and Shen families arrived together.

From the Song family came the patriarch Song Kangyuan and Song Tianqing; the Song Family Ancestor, Song Xingfeng, did not come.

Song Xingfeng kept a low profile and rarely appeared in public, so everyone was used to it.

When Song Tianqing arrived, he shot Han Zheng a venomous glare, but then a sneer of disdain curled on his lips.

A dragon does not dwell with snakes. He was about to join the Inner Sect of the Cangshan Sword Sect—why bother locking horns with a mere martial hall disciple?

In the Houtian Realm, everyone had access to roughly the same resources, so losing to Han Zheng once was nothing unusual.

But once they reached the Innate Realm, the resources available to them would be worlds apart, and their status would be just as incomparable.

By then, he wouldn't even need to lift a finger—a single word would be enough to crush Han Zheng.

Han Zheng had no idea what Song Tianqing was thinking. He just felt like these people all had some kind of screw loose.

Just because he'd beaten them, did they have to glare at him like he'd stolen their woman or something?

From the Shen family came the Shen Family Ancestor, Shen Chengshan, along with the direct-line disciple Shen Conghai.

Shen Conghai wasn't particularly famous, but his elder brother, Shen Congyun, was the pride of the Shen family.

As a youth, he had joined the great Tiangang Sect in Shannan Dao, rising from Outer Sect Disciple to Inner Sect Disciple, then to the sect leader's personal disciple, and was now even hailed as the foremost of the Tiangang Sect's younger generation.

Arriving with the two families was an old man with white hair and beard, looking to be in his seventies or eighties.

Despite his age, Han Zheng could still sense an extremely powerful aura of blood and qi from him.

That aura felt just like Yuan Longshan's when Han Zheng had first met him. This Transmission Elder, at his peak, must have also been at the Profound Gang Realm.

For martial artists whose cultivation had stalled but who held great seniority, the major sects almost always arranged an elder position for them.

Li Jingzhong had mentioned earlier that the Cangshan Sword Sect's true Transmission Elder wouldn't personally descend the mountain to take disciples.

Besides, that position wasn't called Transmission Elder—it was the Head of the Transmission Hall.

So the man who came was likely just someone from the Transmission Hall, given the elder title because of his seniority.

Still, the people of Black Stone County always addressed him as Transmission Elder out of respect.

Even so, his status and his peak strength were far beyond what anyone in a small county like Black Stone could match.

When the old man entered, everyone present quickly rose to their feet.

Song Kangyuan introduced him with a smile: "This is the Cangshan Sword Sect's Transmission Elder, Qian Songyuan, Elder Qian. It's been a long time since someone of Elder Qian's caliber has graced Black Stone County."

Everyone cupped their hands and bowed respectfully to Qian Songyuan.

Qian Songyuan waved his hand amiably. "You're all too kind. I originally planned to take on a disciple and return to the Cangshan Sword Sect, but Patriarch Song was so insistent, I thought I'd impose on the good people of Black Stone County."

"No imposition at all!"

"Meeting Elder Qian is the honor of a lifetime!"

The crowd all flattered him.

Just then, two more people came up the stairs. One was Zhang Tianyang, wearing a black-and-red constable's uniform with a waist knife at his side.

The other was a middle-aged man in his forties, dressed in a green scholar's robe—Lin Wenzheng, the County Magistrate of Black Stone County.

This was Han Zheng's first time seeing the County Magistrate of Black Stone County.

The man had a rather poor reputation—a typical incompetent, lazy, and corrupt official, a good-for-nothing.

But his appearance was quite decent, dignified and scholarly, like a talented man of letters.

Right now, though, he reeked of alcohol, his eyes a bit glazed—clearly, he'd come after drinking.

The Song family had surely notified him in advance about the evening banquet, yet Lin Wenzheng still showed up drunk. This County Magistrate was something else.

Thanks to the Alliance Leader Zui Xuan Ren Sheng Meng for the 10,000 Qidian coins tip (^ω^)