I Don't Need Your Approval

"Everyone." Luo Feng suddenly rose to his feet and spoke. His gaze then swept over the Ancestors seated around the round table, and everyone's eyes inevitably turned toward Luo Feng. This banquet was finally about to begin.

"Today is the day I, Luo Feng, announce that I am becoming the lord of this territory. I will remember the respect each of you has shown me, Luo Feng. Come, following the customs of my homeland, raise the cup before you. I offer a toast to you all and welcome you to my territorial expansion banquet."

Luo Feng's voice was impassioned and crisp. At the same time, he raised his own wine cup level before him.

Seeing this, Bai Ye and Nether God Star were the first to stand. A few other Ancestors also chose to rise with them, but quite a large number still showed no intention of standing.

Clearly, this was their purpose in coming here. They had not come to support Luo Feng's banquet, but to wreck it.

"Everyone, is my, Luo Feng's, reputation not enough?" Luo Feng smiled, though his expression remained unchanged.

Because everything was within his expectations.

The gazes of the many Ancestors below had long since shifted away from Luo Feng, and they resumed their separate conversations. To put it plainly, they were not showing him any respect.

The more Ancestor-Level beings present, the more confident some of them became.

Luo Feng was not angry. He simply waited with a smile. Then, surprise flickered in his eyes as he saw Gu Yan of the Fifth Sequence, one of his sworn enemies, rise to his feet. Gu Yan grinned. "Naturally, I, Gu Yan, will show Blade Wielder Luo Feng this respect."

At the same time, Gu Yan looked toward the two Ancestors of the Tan Yuan Race. The two immediately stood as well. Since the First Ancestor had shown respect, they naturally did not dare refuse.

"I, Que Qian, will naturally show Lord Luo this respect as well." Following Gu Yan, Que Qian Ancestor immediately rose to her feet.

A ripple emanated from Soul Eater's nearly illusory body, and his figure became somewhat clearer in the void. He too appeared to rise, lifting his wine cup. "Lord Luo has hosted a banquet today, and we are guests. How could we fail to show the host respect? Lord Luo, I, Soul Eater, toast you."

At this point, five out of the seven Sequences had shown him respect. The weaker Primordial Chaos Race Ancestors seemed to realize that something was not quite right. Some had been urged here by several other races to "help." On their own, they naturally would not have dared deny Luo Feng respect. Now that five of the seven Sequences had stood, they too rose one after another. These small races without backing also stood up.

Around the round table, apart from the Ancestors of a few Innate Primordial Chaos Races such as the Nether Profound Ancient Race, Infinite Serpent Race, Starsea Sacred Lion Race, Source Heaven God Race, and Flamefire Race, as well as several Special Primordial Chaos Ancestors, everyone else had risen and raised their cups.

"Hmph!" Infinite Great Serpent snorted, his voice even carrying across the hall.

He did not care much about Que Qian Ancestor, since they were not particularly familiar with each other. But Gu Yan and Soul Eater truly surprised him.

His gaze fell on Gu Yan and Soul Eater. These two had usually been on his side, especially Soul Eater, who had almost always stood in the same camp as him in the past. He had not expected them to give Luo Feng face this time, and it left him feeling rather embarrassed.

"Infinite, Gu Yan is a very shrewd fellow. If he acted this way, he must have his reasons. Don't forget, he was the one who persuaded you to come deal with Luo Feng in the first place." Lion Ancestor's voice entered Infinite's mind. Among the seven Sequences, only he and Infinite had not stood.

Of the seventy-eight Ancestors present, nearly half had now risen.

Luo Feng looked at the large group that had stood. Though he knew many among them still had their own agendas, this many standing had already exceeded his expectations.

In particular, even Gu Yan and Soul Eater had stood. He had not expected that at all.

Later, when he announced the map of his territory, perhaps more than half of those now standing would leap up to oppose him. Thus, he did not care how many had risen to give him face. What he cared about more was how many among them would remain neutral when he announced his territorial boundaries.

"Come, I, Luo Feng, toast you all with this cup." Luo Feng smiled faintly and drained his wine in one gulp.

Those who had risen also immediately emptied their cups.

Then they sat back down one after another.

"Hmph!" At that moment, one Ancestor from the Infinite Serpent Race snorted and even crushed his wine cup outright. Everyone's eyes turned toward him.

There was no way they could let their First Ancestor do something like this personally. Therefore, the Fourth Ancestor of the Infinite Serpent Race became the one to take the lead, pushing the atmosphere into a slightly tense state.

Luo Feng looked at the Fourth Ancestor of the Infinite Serpent Race and frowned slightly. If he made a move now, this banquet definitely could not continue. Then, not only would the banquet fail to provide these fellows with enough information, it would all have been for nothing.

With that thought, Luo Feng's brows relaxed, and he smiled faintly. "Infinite, today is my, Luo Feng's, territorial expansion banquet. It seems the Fourth Ancestor under you has some objection? Why not let him speak? If I can resolve it, we will settle it here. If I cannot, we can resolve it privately after the banquet."

"Infinite, it isn't time yet. Why are you in such a hurry?" Lion Ancestor's voice sounded in Infinite's mind.

Infinite Great Serpent glanced at Lion Ancestor before looking at Luo Feng again. He said indifferently, "My fourth brother was careless just now. If he disturbed anyone, I apologize."

Luo Feng shook his head inwardly. This Infinite Serpent Race had clearly set its heart on being cold toward the Primordial Chaos Lords. Whatever they did was only natural.

In order to announce the matter of his territory, Luo Feng no longer hesitated.

"Everyone, I believe you already know my intentions, so I will not waste words. I, Luo Feng, intend to occupy this stretch of the Primordial Chaos Void and become its lord."

"Today is my, Luo Feng's, territorial expansion banquet. I hope you will all bear witness for me."

As he spoke, Luo Feng waved a hand. Above the banquet table, an enormous star map suddenly appeared. It was a detailed map of the Flowing Fire Sky Region and several surrounding regions. Numerous golden planets dotted it, each one a Source World. In addition to the Source Worlds, large meteorites were marked, along with several dangerous locations.

Then, under the markings of divine power, lines of divine power slowly connected within a certain region, carving out an enormous area of void from the star map.

"Now, I formally announce... the territory I, Luo Feng, intend to occupy is the region I have marked, especially the Source Worlds within it. All of them will fall under my jurisdiction!" Luo Feng's voice rang out with force, echoing loudly throughout the banquet plaza.

Hearing Luo Feng's words, all the Ancestors looked over. Based on various landmarks, they could clearly identify the location of the entire star map. When they saw the circled portion, every Ancestor was stunned. Infinite, Lion Ancestor of the Starsea Sacred Lion Race, and several others, however, were overjoyed. Luo Feng was simply courting death. Claiming such an enormous area—was he not placing himself in opposition to all these Primordial Chaos Ancestors?

A single Primordial Chaos Lord wanted to occupy such a vast territory?

In the past, only a small portion of this region had been influenced by Yuan of the cultivators, yet even Yuan had not dared claim such a large area. It was less than two percent of this place. Yet Luo Feng actually dared declare such a massive region as his territory.

Upon seeing this star map, even Bai Ye and Nether God Star looked toward Luo Feng. Such a huge region contained at least over a hundred Source Worlds by any estimate. For one Primordial Chaos Lord to monopolize such a vast territory alone, and publicly announce it at that, was simply asking for trouble.

Moreover, within these Source Worlds, the two great worlds of Primordial Beginning and Primordial Origin contained many places frequented by Primordial Chaos lifeforms. If he drove away all those Primordial Chaos lifeforms, would he not offend every race within those two great worlds?

"Luo Feng, this..." Bai Ye could not help sending a voice transmission. He did not even dare say it aloud, afraid it would trigger a chain reaction.

Yet even before Bai Ye could say anything further, Infinite Great Serpent burst into laughter. "Luo Feng, as a Primordial Chaos Lord, you should have belonged to the same world as us Primordial Chaos Ancestors. We could have coexisted amicably. Yet I never expected you to be so greedy, wanting to designate such a vast area as your territory. Do you think your current strength is enough to swallow it?"

As he spoke, Infinite Great Serpent's tone gradually turned cold. Once again, the many gazes present gathered on Luo Feng, filled only with dissatisfaction and indifference.

A snake swallowing an elephant out of greed—was that not precisely this human?

"Luo Feng, are you certain you want to monopolize this region?" Lion Ancestor of the Starsea Sacred Lion Race looked at Luo Feng. The meaning in his eyes was already obvious; he sounded as though he were interrogating him.

"A Primordial Chaos Lord declaring before so many Ancestors that he wants to occupy such a vast region. Interesting, very interesting." Even Gu Yan laughed.

"Luo Feng, you want to occupy such a huge territory and announce it before so many Ancestors. I'm afraid you must give an explanation today." Que Qian Ancestor also looked at Luo Feng. Being born in a female body represented her inherently compassionate nature, and there was a note of persuasion in her voice.

"Luo Feng, this vast region contains one hundred and thirty-one Source Worlds. Though that is nothing compared to the boundless Primordial Chaos Space, I personally have no objection. But these Innate Primordial Chaos Races will likely disagree. Are you sure you want to designate such a huge region as your territory?" Nether God Star frowned as he spoke, clearly hoping Luo Feng would be more rational.

More than half of those present were Ancestors of Innate Primordial Chaos Races. If they started fighting, no matter how powerful Luo Feng was with the Eternal Leaf, he would still be suppressed.

He had gathered so many Ancestors at once and then proactively provoked them. At this point, they all wondered whether Luo Feng had become somewhat arrogant. They had originally thought they could support him and gain some goodwill, but now it seemed Luo Feng truly had a death wish.

"Luo Feng, you..." Bai Ye hesitated, unable to finish. He was the one most eager to befriend Luo Feng. Especially after sensing the aura of destruction around Luo Feng, he knew it was not impossible for Luo Feng to grasp the essence of the power of destruction in the future. If he could help Luo Feng early on and earn a favor, perhaps it would also help him grasp the essence of the power of destruction. That was why he wanted to invest in Luo Feng.

"A snake swallowing an elephant out of greed. Luo Feng, I never expected you to be so reckless." Waves of dissatisfaction also spread from Soul Eater's body.

All seven Sequences spoke up. Some stated it outright, while others merely implied it, but all believed Luo Feng had become excessively arrogant. This would bring Luo Feng no benefit whatsoever and had already far exceeded what he could control.

"Luo Feng, we do not agree to your making this region your territory!" Infinite Great Serpent added coldly, killing intent already present in his eyes.

"That's right, we do not agree."

"We all disagree."

One Ancestor after another looked at Luo Feng. Even those who had given Luo Feng face earlier could not help feeling mocking contempt. As Ancestors of Innate Primordial Chaos Races, they could never agree to this. Though only a portion of the Source Worlds would be restricted, this enormous region was also part of their range of activity.

Luo Feng swept his gaze around. He could sense that every Primordial Chaos Ancestor rejected this matter, especially those on the side of the Innate Primordial Chaos Races.

However, all of this was within his expectations. What he wanted was not these fellows' agreement, only for them to know.

Therefore, facing their cold expressions, Luo Feng's expression instantly turned cold as well. "Everyone, I think you have misunderstood something. I invited you here today not to seek your opinions, but merely to announce this matter. Whether you agree or not has nothing to do with whether I will occupy this territory. I now formally declare that this region is my, Luo Feng's, territory. I do not need the approval of anyone present. As for the Source Worlds within it, feel free to try. If anyone dares touch them, I, Luo Feng, will pursue them to the bitter end!"

Luo Feng's voice was loud and clear. He had no need to lower his head and explain himself to these fellows.

As soon as he spoke, the expressions of the Primordial Chaos Ancestors changed slightly.

"Luo Feng, the Primordial Chaos Space is a public resource. You are claiming it as your territory—you are courting death!" Prado of the Nether Profound Ancient Race stood up, anger in his eyes.

The few on Infinite Great Serpent's side laughed even more.

"What a bold tone. I was originally trying to find some excuse to kill you, but I never expected you to hand us the best possible reason. Setting aside whether the three of you Primordial Chaos Lords can occupy such a vast region together—oh, now there are four—even you alone want to claim this region? I think you, Luo Feng, simply do not take our Primordial Chaos Races seriously. Today, I will be the one to flip the table."

Infinite Great Serpent spoke with his triangular eyes growing colder and colder. Suddenly, his tail coiled upon the chair slammed violently into the table, instantly smashing the entire banquet table apart.

At the same instant, the Primordial Chaos Ancestors all rose in anger. In the blink of an eye, the tables before them shattered completely.

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