Alliance

"Father."

Zhang Zhi hurried over.

"Mm." Zhang Yao gave a slight nod. His gaze lingered on his daughter's face for a moment, and seeing that her complexion had returned to normal, he asked no further questions.

Zhang Zhi said nothing more either, quietly taking her place at her father's side.

The surrounding guests cast furtive glances at the father and daughter, lowering their voices as they began to whisper.

"Zhang Yao of Blackstone Martial Hall actually came in person."

"So the rumors outside were true. The Qin Household has deep ties with Blackstone Martial Hall."

"Tonight's banquet probably won't be so simple."

Zhang Yao ignored the discussions and went straight to sit at a table near a corner.

Zhang Zhi quietly followed beside him. Her gaze swept through the crowd as though she were looking for someone, but in the end, she merely lowered her eyes and looked no further.

The guests gradually took their seats, and the courtyard slowly filled.

In an unnoticed corner, an old man wearing a Cracked Mask also sat down. He raised a teacup and calmly surveyed the entire gathering.

The face behind that mask was Lu Fan's.

Of course, he was currently using Chen Liu's identity.

With the invitation Qin Yaxin had given him before, he entered without issue even while wearing the mask.

There were six or seven Dark Force martial artists present. Most sat in conspicuous places, openly releasing the vigor of their blood and qi, as though they had turned the banquet into a stage to display their strength.

Lu Fan's gaze swept over several of them. They were basically all Early Dark Force, their auras unsteady and their force loose. None were worth his attention.

In the end, his gaze settled on only one person.

Zhang Yao.

The only Late Dark Force expert in the entire banquet hall sat alone in a corner, utterly out of place amid the surrounding bustle.

Lu Fan withdrew his gaze and took a sip of tea.

Before he could observe for long, Qin Yuan, head of the Qin Household, strode onto the raised platform in the center of the courtyard.

"Thank you all for honoring me with your presence. Qin offers his thanks first."

Qin Yuan looked around the gathering, his voice loud yet steady. "I will spare you the tedious pleasantries. Tonight, aside from celebrating my daughter's entry into Bright Force, there is another joyous matter to announce—"

He paused, his gaze falling on Zhang Yao in the distance.

Meeting that gaze, Zhang Yao slowly rose to his feet.

The aura of Late Dark Force was no longer concealed. A pressure, heavy and still as a mountain, abruptly spread through the courtyard.

The nearby guests caught their breath, instinctively leaning back.

The whispers filling the courtyard came to an abrupt halt.

Qin Yuan's voice fell steadily.

"From this day onward, the Qin Household and Blackstone Martial Hall officially form an alliance."

The moment his words fell, the entire hall erupted.

The Qin Household possessed abundant wealth, with shops spread throughout Chi City. Blackstone Martial Hall was one of only two martial halls in Chi City, and Zhang Yao himself was a Late Dark Force expert.

With the two joining hands, they were like a tiger given wings. Even the Feng Household, Chi City's foremost family, would likely have to fear them by three parts.

For a time, the clever ones had already raised their cups and risen, gathering around Qin Yuan. Others crowded around Zhang Yao, probing indirectly to see whether there was room for outsiders to join after the alliance.

The banquet, orderly just moments ago, became lively in an instant.

Lu Fan did not move.

He remained seated in the corner, leisurely drinking his tea.

He had already guessed seven or eight parts of this alliance from Zhang Yao's reactions over the past few days. Gu De's simultaneous attacks on Zhang Zhi and Qin Yaxin had been tantamount to forcing the two sides onto the same boat.

Now, Qin Yuan had merely laid that relationship bare.

He set down his teacup and looked through the noisy crowd toward a table not far across from him.

Shen Yuniang sat there.

She was not seated with Zhang Yao. Beside her sat a white-haired old woman.

The old woman was around sixty. Her graying hair was combed impeccably, while the deep wrinkles on her face resembled knife marks. When her slightly drooping triangular eyes swept over the people in the hall, they carried the coldness of someone appraising merchandise.

She sat there without the slightest trace of a martial artist's blood and qi, yet she possessed an oppressive air that kept people from approaching. It was the scent of power.

That woman was the Shen Household's current authority, Old Madam Shen.

Lu Fan's gaze lingered on Shen Yuniang for an extra moment.

She held a wine cup, a proper smile on her face, yet she never took a single sip.

Old Madam Shen turned her head and said something to her. Shen Yuniang gave a slight nod, her smile unchanged, but the fingers holding her cup tightened.

As though sensing something, Shen Yuniang suddenly raised her head. Across the crowd, her gaze met his directly.

She was startled at first, then recognized the Cracked Mask. A flicker of surprise crossed her face.

A moment later, she gently nodded in greeting.

Lu Fan also gave a slight nod before looking away.

As he withdrew his gaze, a trace of understanding rose in his heart.

From the looks of it, Shen Yuniang had come tonight with members of the Shen Household.

When Zhang Yao had come alone to Chi City years ago and married Shen Yuniang, who came from a branch of the Shen Household, he had intended to borrow the Shen Household's influence to gain a firm foothold.

Now that the Qin Household and Blackstone Martial Hall had formed an alliance, the Shen Household, as one of Chi City's three great families, naturally had to be present. Yet the Shen Household's attitude was worth pondering.

Old Madam Shen had personally come to oversee things, yet she sat separately from Zhang Yao.

The banquet gradually neared its end.

The people surrounding Qin Yuan and Zhang Yao slowly dispersed and returned to their places. Yet the atmosphere no longer held the warmth of the opening; it had gained a few layers of contemplative silence.

Just as Lu Fan began calculating when to leave, a clear voice rang out by his ear.

"Old Chen!"

He turned around. Qin Yaxin stood behind him, her heroic face full of delighted surprise.

Zhang Zhi followed close behind. She still wore that cool expression, but when she looked at him, there was an added note of solemn respect in her eyes.

"Old Chen, I had wanted to find a chance to deliver an invitation to you before, but I truly had no idea where you lived. I'm so happy you came!" Qin Yaxin did not conceal her joy in the slightest. Her brows and eyes curved with a smile, and her tone brimmed with familiarity.

"Thank you for what happened last time." Zhang Zhi did not have as much to say as Qin Yaxin. She merely bowed deeply and offered her thanks with great solemnity.

Because of this, a small patch of the fair skin beneath her collar was revealed.

Lu Fan glanced at it. His blood and qi stirred slightly, and he hastily suppressed it, shifting his gaze aside.

Does this girl have no guard up at all? But... ahem.

"It was nothing." He deliberately lowered his voice and answered briefly.

"By the way, Old Chen, will you be free after the banquet?" Qin Yaxin quickly continued, her eyes full of anticipation. "Last time was too rushed. I still haven't properly repaid you for saving my life. If it is convenient for you—"

Lu Fan pondered for a moment, then nodded. "All right."

He had already refined all the Qi-Replenishing Pills. If he wanted to break through to a higher realm, he could not let his supply of pills run dry.

The Qin Household was Chi City's largest pill merchant. Meeting Qin Yaxin once more might open up a stable channel for obtaining pills.

The smile on Qin Yaxin's face deepened. She pulled Zhang Zhi along and chattered for quite a while longer.

Lu Fan responded intermittently, but his gaze never left the direction of the courtyard entrance.

Just then, a set of steady footsteps sounded from the courtyard gate.

The footsteps were not fast, yet each one seemed to land upon the rhythm of everyone's heartbeat.

The noise throughout the courtyard fell silent at once, and everyone instinctively turned to look toward the entrance.

A vast aura surged in from beyond the courtyard gate like a collapsing mountain range. Bright Force martial artists could not catch their breath, Early Dark Force martial artists turned pale, and even Zhang Yao, who had remained silent in the corner, changed expression the instant he sensed that aura.

Lu Fan set down his teacup.

As expected, he had still come.