"To think such a godlike person existed in this world!"
"Who are they?"
"No wonder Li Xingchen threw such a grand banquet for them."
"Li Xingchen is among the most handsome men in the world, yet before this man, he could only serve as a foil."
"Every movement seems to reveal a perfectly natural Daoist Rhyme. How extraordinary. Just where did this man come from?"
After recovering their senses, everyone gazed at Chu Kuangren and Lan Yu in amazement.
This man and woman were both peerless beauties.
Chu Kuangren in particular possessed an extraordinary exiled immortal bearing. Even those lofty Saints could hardly surpass him.
"Let me introduce them. This is Chu Kuangren, the eldest senior brother of the Mystic Heaven Sect, and this is Miss Lan Yu," Li Xingchen said with a smile.
At his words, everyone fell into another strange silence.
Chu Kuangren!
The Chu Kuangren who had challenged the entire world upon entering it?!
Many studied him curiously, especially several Heavenly Prides from prominent families who considered themselves quite gifted. Their eyes gleamed with eagerness to try their strength against him.
"So it's him!"
"He's the one who defeated the Qingyun Crown Prince, Gu Changge!"
"So this is what he looks like."
"Come, Brother Chu, Miss Lan, please sit." Li Xingchen arranged seats for them right beside himself, the young master of the establishment.
The banquet began, and musicians and dancing girls took the stage to perform.
Everyone chatted and laughed, exchanging toasts in a harmonious atmosphere.
"Fellow Daoist Chu, here, let me offer you a toast."
A young man from a prominent family raised his wine cup to Chu Kuangren.
Chu Kuangren smiled back, raised his cup in a distant toast, and drained it. The other man laughed heartily and did the same.
Suddenly, Chu Kuangren sensed someone watching him.
He looked over and saw a young man in white robes.
Seeing that Chu Kuangren had noticed him, the white-robed young man, Ye Lei, stiffened slightly, then raised his cup with a smile before looking away.
He pondered inwardly, So it was them!
The person who took Supreme Yuanling's treasure was actually Chu Kuangren!
After returning, Ye Baifeng had someone draw a portrait of the person who had taken the treasure, and Ye Lei had seen it.
Although the portrait failed to capture even a tenth of Chu Kuangren's spirit, the features were identical. It was definitely him.
This matter was far too important for him to speak of openly. He could only pretend nothing had happened and notify his family's elders after returning home.
There's something strange about this man.
Chu Kuangren muttered inwardly, then paid him no further attention.
"Haha, rumor has it that Fellow Daoist Chu possesses a Supreme Dao Body and is one of the world's foremost Heavenly Prides. Might I have the honor of witnessing your abilities?"
A Heavenly Pride from a prominent family could no longer restrain himself and spoke up.
Everyone else also turned toward Chu Kuangren.
Clearly, they were also very curious about his strength.
But before Chu Kuangren could speak, Li Xingchen smiled and said, "I'm hosting a banquet today. Constant fighting and killing would be rather dull."
"I happen to have a rare treasure here."
With that, Li Xingchen took a golden, oval object from his storage ring. Fine seams ran across its surface, as though it consisted of layers stacked together. It resembled a flower bud.
Everyone looked at Li Xingchen, waiting for his explanation.
Li Xingchen said, "This is the Spirit-Testing Golden Lotus, a new little thing Master Feng Huzi recently put together. It can test the quality of a cultivator's spiritual power. Let's use this for our contest today."
Cultivators cultivated spiritual power, and its quality varied according to their cultivation methods, aptitude, foundations, and other factors.
Among those of the same cultivation realm, someone with higher-quality spiritual power held an enormous advantage.
"Master Feng Huzi, eh? Very well, let's do as Brother Li suggests."
Feng Huzi was White Cloud City's most renowned master weaponsmith. Every weapon he forged was a treasure countless cultivators yearned for.
It was said that even a Supreme Supreme had sought him out to forge a weapon.
"How do we use it?"
"Just send spiritual power into it," Li Xingchen said.
"Then I'll go first."
A Heavenly Pride from a prominent family was the first to act.
He raised his hand and struck the golden lotus with a palm strike.
The golden lotus trembled, then unfurled three petals.
But in less than a second, the petals closed again.
"Three petals? Is that good or bad?"
"This golden lotus has twelve petals in total. Master Feng Huzi said that spiritual power of a quality capable of opening all twelve petals is exceedingly rare throughout Firmament Star," Li Xingchen said.
The Heavenly Pride who had acted first froze. Out of twelve petals, he had opened only three? Was the quality of his spiritual power that low?
"Again!"
Unconvinced, the Heavenly Pride delivered another palm strike.
This strike was stronger, but the result remained the same.
The others burst into laughter. Then, curious themselves, they began testing it, sending streams of spiritual power into the golden lotus one after another.
"Only three petals for me too?"
"Tsk, four petals."
"Does anyone in this world really have the ability to open all twelve petals?"
"I cultivate a Supreme Law, yet I only opened five petals!"
Everyone was greatly astonished.
The golden lotus's requirements for spiritual power quality were actually this high.
Seeing this, the Heavenly Pride who had gone first felt a little better. It seemed everyone was at more or less the same level.
Just then, a streak of Sword Qi struck the golden lotus.
The golden lotus trembled and slowly opened six petals.
This was the best result so far.
The person who had released the Sword Qi was none other than Ye Lei. His brows creased slightly, and he was clearly dissatisfied with this result.
He possessed a Dao Body, cultivated a Supreme Supreme Law, and had consumed all manner of natural treasures over the years. The quality of his spiritual power was extremely high.
In his view, he should have been able to open at least seven petals.
He had not expected to open only six.
"Let me try too," Li Xingchen said. He sent a stream of spiritual power resembling starlight onto the golden lotus.
The golden lotus trembled and likewise opened six petals.
"As expected, still six." Li Xingchen shook his head with a smile.
Since this item belonged to him, he had naturally tested it beforehand.
"Tsk, Brother Li possesses an Astral Dao Body, yet even he only opened six petals. This golden lotus's requirements are truly high."
"It seems no one in the world can make all twelve petals open."
"I wonder how many petals Fellow Daoist Chu and his companion can open?"
Everyone turned their attention to Chu Kuangren and Lan Yu, who had yet to act. Lan Yu went first, unleashing a burst of Light Fist power.
In an instant, the golden lotus trembled, and nine petals bloomed!
The sight stunned everyone.
Ye Lei's and Li Xingchen's pupils also contracted slightly.
The two of them possessed Dao Bodies, yet had only opened six petals.
But Lan Yu had opened nine!
The quality of her spiritual power far exceeded theirs.
The golden lotus closed, and Chu Kuangren followed her by releasing a streak of Sword Qi.
In an instant, dazzling golden light burst forth!
The golden lotus's petals opened one after another.
All twelve petals were exquisitely beautiful.
After the golden lotus opened completely, waves of unusual fragrance drifted through the air.
"They've all opened!"
"What quality of spiritual power is this?!"
"Heavens, someone in this world really can open this golden lotus completely! Fellow Daoist Chu truly lives up to his Supreme Dao Body!"
Everyone gazed at Chu Kuangren in endless amazement.
Some also felt defeated.
They could only open three or four petals, yet Chu Kuangren could make the golden lotus bloom completely. The gulf was simply too vast!
The gap between him and me is actually this great!! Ye Lei gripped his wine cup hard, his knuckles turning white as a trace of jealous hatred flashed through his eyes.
With a crack, the wine cup shattered, spilling wine all over the floor.
But everyone was captivated by the golden lotus's wondrous manifestation and did not notice him.
Before you continue