Ye Xi steeled herself and stepped forward to smooth things over, afraid that a perfectly good birthday banquet would turn into a battlefield.
Dugu Bo cast Ge Long a sidelong glance without saying a word, ignored him outright, and greeted Ye Xi instead.
He showed none of a Titled Douluo's airs.
"Madam Ye, as the saying goes, a graceful maiden is a gentleman's worthy pursuit."
"This boy of mine has feelings for your daughter, too..."
Dugu Bo reached out and patted Chen Zhuo's shoulder, seemingly encouraging him to be bolder.
His words startled the guests on both sides.
What did he mean?
Was the Poison Douluo deliberately trying to humiliate Marshal Ge Long, or was he genuinely considering a marriage alliance?
Quite a few people stole glances at Chen Zhuo as well.
The young master of Dugu Manor never participated in their social circles.
For many, this was their first time seeing Chen Zhuo in person.
What a handsome, distinguished young gentleman.
Some noble young ladies murmured inwardly, their lovely eyes lingering on Chen Zhuo.
Chen Zhuo also presented a congratulatory gift.
Unlike Marshal Ge Long, who had brought a mountain of gifts, Chen Zhuo offered the king of immortal herbs, aromatic silk beauty.
The others knew nothing of this immortal herb's origins and took it for some exotic flower.
It hardly seemed to have any practical value, and naturally could not compare with Marshal Ge Long's lavish gifts.
Yet, to the guests' surprise, the young lady of the Ye Residence chose the exotic flower Chen Zhuo had given her.
"Uncle Ge Long, please take the Soul Bone back. This gift is too precious for me to accept."
As the star of today's birthday banquet, Ye Lingling stepped naturally to Chen Zhuo's side.
"Besides, I've always regarded you as an elder. I've never had any romantic feelings for you."
Looking at Ge Long, Ye Lingling took Chen Zhuo's hand to make her feelings clear.
Chen Zhuo tenderly brushed a lock of hair from Ye Lingling's forehead and smoothed it into place.
"Lingling and I love each other."
"My grandfather and I came today both to celebrate her birthday and to ask that Dugu Manor and the Ye Residence forge an everlasting marriage bond."
An uproar swept through the gathering.
Ye Xi felt a headache coming on. Instinctively, she wanted to press a hand to her forehead to hide her embarrassment, along with a certain pleasure she could not quite put into words.
Young people these days... really were much braver than her generation.
"Fine! Very fine indeed!"
"So now I'm the one in the wrong!"
Marshal Ge Long laughed in fury. He stared at the shameless pair before him, swept a piercing gaze over Ye Xi and Dugu Bo, then flicked his sleeves and stormed away.
After that commotion, many guests made excuses and took their leave, unwilling to wade into these muddy waters.
Before long, the banquet returned to a scene of warmth and harmony, with laughter among the delighted guests.
During this time, more people sought an opportunity to befriend Chen Zhuo than to approach Ye Lingling.
Anyone who did not know better might have thought it was Chen Zhuo's birthday.
Naturally, this was not because Chen Zhuo himself was so charismatic at present. Most were paying their respects to Dugu Bo.
Some women kept casting flirtatious glances at Chen Zhuo, leaving Dugu Yan so speechless she wanted to hit someone.
Some young ladies from noble families truly had no bottom line when it came to morals and values.
By evening, most of the guests had left.
Chen Zhuo and Dugu Yan stayed, and Ye Xi had guest rooms prepared for them.
It was mid-autumn, with a bright moon and sparse stars.
Standing in the courtyard, Chen Zhuo gazed for a long time at the eternally unchanging moon in the heavens.
Chen Zhuo sighed over the fair hour and beautiful scenery beneath an indifferent sky.
Only when light footsteps sounded from the covered bridge did he come back to himself.
"You mustn't swallow aromatic silk beauty whole. Gently draw from its stamens and slowly absorb the essence into your body."
This was the immortal herb Chen Zhuo had chosen for Ye Lingling.
As the king of immortal herbs, aromatic silk beauty, once consumed, could suppress every plant-type Beast Martial Soul and Soul Beast under heaven.
As long as they were not divine-level beings, their combat strength would be halved before aromatic silk beauty.
Furthermore, a Soul Master who consumed aromatic silk beauty had a strong chance of experiencing a Martial Soul mutation.
After Ye Lingling consumed aromatic silk beauty, even if she could not escape the curse limiting the nine heart begonia lineage to a single successor, her Martial Soul would still have a strong chance of rising an entire tier.
It would transform from a top-tier Martial Soul into a super Martial Soul.
In the pavilion, Ye Lingling began absorbing aromatic silk beauty according to Chen Zhuo's instructions.
Meanwhile, at the Marshal's Estate.
Marshal Ge Long swept all the wine, fruit platters, and pastries from the table onto the floor.
"That little slut, Ye Lingling!"
"I'll slaughter those two shameless bastards!"
Marshal Ge Long roared. After returning home, he could finally unleash all the fury bottled up inside him.
He looked at the servants kneeling below him.
Marshal Ge Long's anger flared even higher, and he kicked several of them to death.
"All of you, get out!"
His family members and servants, kneeling on the floor and trembling like chaff in a sieve, scrambled away as though granted a pardon, dragging the dead servants out with them.
Just as Marshal Ge Long was considering how to take revenge on Dugu Bo and the nine heart begonia lineage, something happened.
Everything in the room abruptly fell into an eerie state of stillness.
Crack!
Blood-red arcs of lightning erupted from Marshal Ge Long's back, shattering the invisible barrier that had imprisoned this space and time.
"What skulking rat dares ambush me!" Ge Long's eyes nearly split with rage.
With a thought, he summoned his Yazi Martial Soul for Martial Soul Possession, and was just about to unleash Yazi True Form to counterattack.
Another wave of vast Soul Power bore down on him, freezing his movements.
In that interval of less than a second, it happened.
Thud!
Marshal Ge Long fell to his knees, his head and the spinal column attached to it gone from his body.
The empire's foremost marshal, known as the Nine-Life Divine Dragon, died in his own home.
His death was gruesome.
"How do you feel?"
Seeing Ye Lingling awaken from meditation, Chen Zhuo, who had been watching over her, asked.
"I..."
Ye Lingling began to cry before she could speak.
Her Martial Soul had mutated from nine heart begonia-or rather, evolved-into "saint heart begonia."
The curse that had shackled their Ye Family lineage for generations had ended with her.
Compared with that, the six-level increase in her Soul Power, from level 33 to level 40, seemed insignificant.
Dugu Yan arrived in time to witness this moment.
She was happy for her friend, but felt even more pressure.
Ye Lingling was level 40 at sixteen. Such talent already surpassed hers and Meng Yiran's, second only to an inhuman prodigy like Chen Zhuo.
Ye Xi was stunned as well.
How had her daughter become a Quasi-Soul Ancestor in a single night?
So much so that, for a moment, she forgot to tell them a piece of explosive news.
"Aunt Ye, we'll head back now."
Looking at the fish-belly white of the dawn sky, Chen Zhuo yawned.
He had watched over Ye Lingling all night.
Ye Lingling threw herself into Ye Xi's arms and began telling her mother about her newly reborn Martial Soul.
As soon as they stepped through the gates of the Ye Residence, a squad of Imperial Guards surrounded them.
The captain leading them greeted Chen Zhuo and Dugu Yan politely.
"Young master, young lady, please come with me."
"Someone has also gone to invite His Eminence Dugu Bo."
Marshal Ge Long, a pillar of the empire, had died in his residence the previous night.
The moment the news spread, it struck like a thunderbolt that split stone and shook the heavens.
Now, the entire Imperial Capital heard danger in every whisper of wind and cry of a crane, and all the great families were gripped by unease.
Xue Ye flew into a rage upon learning of it.
And Chen Zhuo and the others, who had been in close contact with Marshal Ge Long before his death, naturally could not avoid being summoned for questioning.
Before you continue