Engagement

On the day of the engagement ceremony, the Earl Mansion was decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, and the streets outside were bustling with traffic; the carriages alone nearly blocked off most of Fushi Road.

The carriages were one more luxurious than the next, and the noble ladies vied to outshine one another, each more eye-catching than the last.

An engagement banquet at the Earl Mansion was undoubtedly the most elite gathering among the nobility. Everyone who arrived here was a person of status; many ordinary nobles were not even qualified to receive an invitation.

This made the nobles in the imperial capital who had received invitations feel extremely proud.

His Majesty Joanne of the O'Brien Empire had arrived.

Munro Dawson, president of the Dawson Chamber of Commerce, had arrived.

Haydson, the Rock Sword Saint, had arrived.

Two Saint Realm powerhouses from the War God Sect had arrived.

The celebrities of the imperial capital were gathered here.

Jade, the Left Chancellor of the empire, had naturally received an invitation as well.

Liewen had received one too.

He had been keeping a low profile lately, but everyone in the imperial capital knew he was staying at the Daryl Family estate.

I should go. It's a good chance to get to know Linley.

Liewen set off with Laina and Kuhn.

"Lord Left Chancellor, arriving—"

"Young Master Kailan, arriving—"

"Lord Liewen, the White-Clad Light Saint, arriving—"

When the last name was called, the voice of the attendant greeting guests at the front gate rose by several octaves.

As Liewen walked into the main hall of the Earl Mansion, he could clearly feel countless gazes landing on him.

Everyone present was a noble, and they had all seen the footage from the Memory Crystal Ball.

In truth, in Chiyan City over this period, the reputation of the White-Clad Light Saint had been overshadowed by Linley and Olivier.

After all, Liewen rarely appeared in public, and not many commoners had seen that Memory Crystal Ball with their own eyes.

The battle between Linley and Olivier had taken place under the watchful eyes of eighty thousand spectators at the arena, so its influence was naturally different.

Moreover, most people did not understand the power rankings among Saint Realm experts and did not know that Liewen was stronger than the current Linley, Olivier, and Haydson, or even Useno.

"Haha, Mr. Liewen, you've come as well!"

His Majesty Joanne walked toward Liewen, and Linley also came over to greet him.

"Master Linley, Mr. Liewen, you two haven't met each other yet, have you?" Joanne was very enthusiastic, wanting to introduce Liewen and Linley.

"By a stroke of luck, I've had a brief encounter with Brother Linley before," Liewen said with a smile.

"Indeed, though I only learned Mr. Liewen's name later on," Linley recalled that fleeting glance on the Yulan River that day.

"Wharton, come here!" Linley beckoned to Wharton.

Wharton walked over quickly with Nina and greeted Liewen.

"A talented man and a beautiful woman; not bad, not bad at all," Liewen said with a laugh.

"Linley, Wharton, let me introduce two people to you as well," Liewen said, looking toward Kuhn behind him.

"This is Kuhn."

Liewen held Laina's hand: "This is Laina. They are both descendants of the Bo Lei Clan, the Tiger-Striped Warriors."

"Tiger-Striped Warriors!"

Linley and Wharton were both startled.

"Barker, you guys come over here too!" Linley called the five Barker brothers over.

The five of them were wearing handsome, matching uniforms today. Upon hearing that Kuhn and Laina were from the Bo Lei Clan, their eyes widened like copper bells.

As members of the Four Ultimate Warriors clans, all of which had once been incredibly glorious and had all experienced long periods of decline, there was a strange sense of kinship between them.

As Kuhn conversed with Linley and the others, little Laina held Liewen's hand, tilting her head and looking curiously at the people in front of her who were as massive as small mountains.

Whether it was Wharton or the five Barker brothers, they were all over two meters tall and possessed robust physiques; in Laina's eyes, they were no different from small mountains.

"You Dragonblood Warriors and Undying Warriors have risen again, but our Bo Lei Clan doesn't know when we'll see another Tiger-Striped Warrior," Kuhn sighed.

Neither he nor Laina had sufficient bloodline concentration; he had only been able to cultivate his physical body to the eighth rank by relying on family secret techniques.

The degree of decline among the Four Ultimate Warriors varied; the Dragonblood Warriors had reached the point where, in Hogg's generation, they had to sell off family assets to get by.

The Undying Warriors had even lost their ancestral battle qi manuals; if not for the fact that Caesar had obtained a copy from Amanda, the five Barker brothers would never have been able to become Undying Warriors.

The Bo Lei Clan had researched secret techniques and lived relatively better, but they hadn't seen a Tiger-Striped Warrior in a long time, nor had they passed down a method for activating their bloodline like the Drink Living Dragon Blood.

Kuhn's expression shifted, and he looked at Laina with a smile: "The future of our Bo Lei Clan might just depend on Laina."

Linley and the others couldn't help but look at Laina.

Little Laina felt a bit nervous being watched and held Liewen's hand even tighter.

Kuhn said, "Laina has excellent magical talent. Her elemental affinity for the light element is super-grade, and her spiritual energy is 65 times that of her peers. I plan to send her to the Yulan Empire to study magic."

Linley and the others were all startled upon hearing this.

"Little Laina's spiritual energy is even higher than yours was back then, big brother!" Wharton teased Linley.

"You brat!" Linley laughed and scolded.

The group chatted happily.

Haydson and the two Saint Realm experts from the War God Sect also came over to greet Liewen.

Laymen watch the spectacle, while experts watch the technique; these Saint Realm experts who had been famous for many years could see Liewen's true strength.

To be able to defeat Useno, he was definitely a second-tier Saint Realm powerhouse. In the entire Yulan Continent, there were only a dozen or so Saint Realm experts who could reach this level.

Haydson was hailed by the common people as the number one expert of the Saint Realm, but in the eyes of true Saint Realm experts, Haydson was merely a junior.

Those second-tier or even first-tier Saint Realm powerhouses rarely appeared before the public for various reasons, and they did not care about such empty titles.

Liewen also chatted with Haydson and the other two for a few moments.

The two Saint Realm experts from the War God Sect felt slightly conflicted.

They knew that the War God had once considered summoning Liewen to bring him into his fold, but after hearing that Liewen intended to go to the Yulan Empire, he had given up on the idea.

The Yulan Empire and the O'Brien Empire were rivals, and the War God and the High Priest, a God-level powerhouse of the Yulan Empire, had been battling for many years.

They had come today mainly to present a congratulatory gift on behalf of the War God and to summon Linley.

The engagement ceremony went smoothly, and not long after, Hodan arrived.

Because Linley's magical beasts, Bebe and Heilu, had both reached the Saint Realm, he had come to inform them about the Four Supreme Planes and the Seven Divine Planes.

Linley also learned from Hodan that his ancestors from the Baruch Clan had all gone to Hell in the Four Supreme Planes.

Hodan suggested that Linley should also go to the Supreme Plane of Hell like his ancestors, but Linley, Bebe, and Heilu all chose to remain on the Yulan Continent.

Glasses were raised, and both host and guests were delighted.

By evening, the engagement banquet, which had started at noon, slowly came to an end as the crowd began to disperse.

Before Liewen left, Linley came to see him off.

"Linley, I am staying at the Daryl Family mansion on Fushi Road. When you have time, come over so we can exchange cultivation insights," Liewen said with a smile.

"Very well, I shall await your visit, Mr. Liewen," Linley readily agreed.

Liewen returned to the Daryl Family mansion and focused on his cultivation as usual, though he would occasionally head to the Earl Mansion to spar and exchange pointers with Linley.

Ten days after Wharton's engagement banquet, in the courtyard where Linley resided at the Earl Mansion.

Linley's body was covered in cyan-black Dragonblood Battle Qi, which swirled like rolling clouds, guarding him.

Liewen was also in Linley's courtyard, and as he watched the cyan-black Battle Qi on Linley's body, he said with a smile.

"Brother Linley, your 'Pulse Guard' is becoming increasingly proficient. As you are now, aside from having insufficient Battle Qi, you are already no match for Haydson."