Attending the Banquet

At night, Li Mu treated them to dinner at a famous restaurant in Qing Prefecture City.

There was only a month and a half left until the Martial Examination.

In the days that followed, aside from Zhou Ming, the other four went out every day to visit friends or attend banquets hosted by the top ten on the martial rankings.

In the courtyard, Zhou Ming practiced martial techniques to wear away the restlessness in his heart.

By then, he had already entered the Sixth Rank.

On the second day after arriving in Qing Prefecture City, Jiang Jiang gave him a Sixth-Rank Cultivation Technique.

Sixth-Rank Martial Artists opened acupoints.

Yet for some reason, the Sixth-Rank cultivation technique was incomplete as well.

The human body had three hundred and sixty-five acupoints.

Even though Jiang Jiang had brought him ten cultivation techniques, they recorded only one hundred and eight acupoints between them.

Once he circulated the technique, the Blood Qi within his body broke through all one hundred and eight acupoints in mere moments.

After that, there was no cultivation technique to indicate the remaining acupoints.

Using inner sight, he found the rest one by one.

He had originally intended to force them open through brute strength, just as he had tempered his Jade Bone.

It worked, but it was far too slow.

It took him three days to open a single acupoint.

Zhou Ming could not puzzle it out no matter how hard he thought. The cultivation technique merely added a route for Blood Qi to circulate through the body, so why could it so easily open the acupoints?

Yet when he forced them open directly, it took three days.

"Jiang Jiang was right. Your talent really is extraordinary. This Winter Frost Sword can release one hundred and twelve strands of Sword Qi once it is trained to its peak."

"In just two days, you've already managed to unleash twenty percent of its Sword Qi."

"Even though you still have fewer strands of Sword Qi than I do, merely watching you train has actually given me inspiration. It's unbelievable."

Li Mu, seated in the courtyard, sighed in admiration, delight written across her face.

A few days ago, she and Jiang Jiang had attended a gathering of geniuses hosted by the eighth-ranked person on the Earth-Rank Martial Ranking, where a group of people exchanged insights on martial training.

There, she had once again heard Jiang Jiang mention Zhou Yuxi's talent.

Driven by curiosity, she gave Zhou Ming one of the martial techniques she cultivated and asked him to practice it, hoping he might be able to offer her some guidance.

Unexpectedly, simply watching Zhou Ming practice the Winter Frost Sword the next day gave her some insight.

After that, she came by from time to time to observe Zhou Ming practicing martial techniques.

This was her fifth visit, and every time, she gained fresh inspiration.

Zhou Ming dispersed the Blood Qi Manifestation sword in his hand.

"Different people bring different artistic conceptions to their practice. Perhaps it was those changes that gave you new insights after observing them," Zhou Ming said with a smile.

They had given him martial techniques, after all. He had to show them something real in return.

He had trained this martial technique to the third realm, mastery through practice, on the very first day, and reached the fourth realm, perfection, on the second.

If he had not held back his Sword Qi, he truly feared he would frighten Li Mu.

He really did fear it. Ever since he had displayed his holiness before Jiang Jiang and Lu Hao last time—

Jiang Jiang's attitude had been fine. She did not seem particularly restrained when they met.

But that buddy Lu Hao had begun speaking with a trace of reverence, and it made Zhou Ming rather uncomfortable.

They were brothers, damn it. Why put on this act?

Li Mu raised a hand to smooth the lovely hair before her forehead and said, "Perhaps. But I think your talent is still far greater than mine, so your understanding is more thorough."

Hearing this, Zhou Ming nodded. "What you say makes sense too."

Li Mu curiously looked at Zhou Yuxi, who sat opposite her.

Aside from taking him to a restaurant for a meal on the night they arrived in Qing Prefecture City, this man had never stepped out of the courtyard.

Even stranger, she had never seen him go out to eat. She had no idea how he had survived these past few days.

She asked curiously, "By the way, don't you get bored staying in the courtyard all day?"

"A little," Zhou Ming said after thinking about it.

Li Mu brightened. "Then let's go! Today's banquet is being hosted by the third-ranked person on the Earth-Rank Martial Ranking. He's a Sixth-Rank genius. If you take me with you, I can get in."

Zhou Ming froze, surprised. "What, there's a threshold for attending these gatherings?"

Li Mu rolled her eyes at him. "Of course there's a threshold. Otherwise, if every Martial Artist could attend, never mind how much the banquet would cost—how large a venue would they need?"

Zhou Ming shook his head with a smile. "I took it for granted."

Li Mu impatiently grabbed Zhou Ming's hand and pulled him outside, saying, "Let's find Jiang Jiang first and bring her along too."

Zhou Ming, being pulled along by a beautiful woman, did not shake her off.

He merely laughed to himself.

It was only a banquet. Was it really necessary?

I'm Sixth Rank too, you know!

After finding Jiang Jiang, Jiang Jiang looked strangely at their clasped hands.

Only then did Li Mu realize it. She immediately released Zhou Ming's hand, her ears turning red.

She stepped forward and whispered something softly into Jiang Jiang's ear, though no one knew what.

Zhou Ming simply watched the two of them.

A moment later, Jiang Jiang and Li Mu flanked Zhou Ming on either side and led him toward the gathering.

Jiang Jiang calmly asked, "Finished training?"

"A moment's work," Zhou Ming answered.

Jiang Jiang fell silent.

Li Mu asked curiously, "What riddle are you two speaking in?"

Zhou Ming smiled. "Nothing."

They continued onward.

Jiang Jiang remained silent, while Li Mu chattered away as she introduced the third-ranked host of this banquet to Zhou Ming.

The man was named Huang Muheng. He came from the Huang Family, a great clan in Qing Prefecture. His background was profound; among all the great clans in Qing Prefecture City, the Huang Family was the only one with a Second-Rank Celestial.

Before long, they arrived at the gathering place.

The banquet was not being held in a restaurant, but in a private estate.

Several Martial Artists of considerable strength stood outside the estate gates.

Before any of them could speak, Zhou Ming stirred his Blood Qi. An immense Blood Qi pressure instantly enveloped them, then vanished in a flash.

Without pausing in the slightest, he led the two beauties straight into the estate.

Li Mu turned back and glanced at the people by the gate. "Eh? Why didn't they stop us?"

"Perhaps they were stunned by the peerless beauty of you two," Zhou Ming said with a smile.

Jiang Jiang's lively eyes shimmered as she cast a slight glance at Zhou Yuxi beside her.

Li Mu covered her mouth and laughed. "Zhou Yuxi, I couldn't tell before, but you're quite good at pleasing women."

Zhou Ming smiled. "I merely said what I saw. Was I wrong?"

Amid laughter and cheerful voices, they entered the estate.

At that moment, the estate banquet was bustling with activity.

Some gathered in groups of three or five, drinking and chatting merrily, while others sparred and exchanged pointers on a martial stage built to one side.

Besides the geniuses who had come from all over to attend the banquet,

there were also some youthful faces, no more than fifteen or sixteen years old.

Through Li Mu's introduction, Zhou Ming learned their identities.

Some, like them, had entered through someone else's invitation.

Others were young newcomers to the martial path with outstanding talent from various places, here to broaden their horizons.

Nearly all of these newcomers had appeared in the Qing Prefecture Martial Gazette.

The three found an empty table in a corner and sat down.

Watching the people gathered at the banquet, chatting with great enjoyment,

Zhou Ming was lost in thought for a moment.

It seemed that since arriving in this world, he had not made a single true friend even now.

Before long, Li Mu began to stir restlessly.

Seeing what she was thinking, Zhou Ming smiled. "Go on. I'll sit here. If anything happens, just call me."

Li Mu then began making her way around the banquet, forging new friendships.

Seeing Li Mu quickly mingle with everyone, and noticing that no blind fool came forward to cause trouble, Zhou Ming withdrew his gaze from her.

He adjusted his sitting posture, and from where he looked, the entire banquet scene lay within his view.

It was his first time attending such a gathering, and he found it quite novel.