For the next three days, Lu Ming stayed in the Golden Bell Mystic Gang Hall and did not go out. He devoted all his energy and time to cultivating the " Great Golden Bell " Upper Divine Ability.
With his dedicated and diligent practice, the Great Golden Bell was mastered in just three days.
This cultivation speed left Zhong Taiyue stunned. It was probably the fastest entry into the Great Golden Bell realm since the establishment of their Golden Bell Mystic Gang Hall.
This left Zhong Taiyue with mixed feelings of joy and worry.
What's pleasing is that their grandson seems to have extraordinary talent and unlimited potential. What's worrying is that, at Lu Ming's current learning speed, let alone a month, he'll probably master the three Upper Divine Ability abilities of the Golden Bell Mystic Gang Hall in half a month.
So this bet, barely begun, was already on the verge of bankruptcy.
Helpless, Zhong Taiyue had no choice but to abandon this plan and instead began to arrange for Lu Ming to meet with noble ladies from other families in Fengyang Prefecture at his birthday banquet, hoping to use this method to get his grandson into the Golden Bell Mystic Gang Hall.
Soon, as time passed, the Golden Bell Mystic Gang Hall celebrated Zhong Taiyue's birthday.
Today, the Golden Bell Mystic Gang Hall is brightly decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, and is filled with auspicious characters, creating a lively and festive atmosphere.
As the pillar of the Golden Bell Mystic Gang Hall and one of the top experts in Fengyang Prefecture, Zhong Taiyue's birthday celebration was naturally a major event in the prefecture. Various powerful families and Divine Ability Hall would personally come to offer their congratulations and give him ample face.
Zhong Quan arrived at Lu Ming's courtyard early in the morning and personally delivered a magnificent brocade robe tailored for Lu Ming.
"Cousin Lu Ming, hurry up and change. This is a special instruction from Grandpa. Today, all the important people in the city will be coming to the hall. Of course, most importantly, there are quite a few noble ladies. Don't be embarrassed." Zhong Quan urged Lu Ming as soon as he saw him.
He then winked and said, "I heard that Grandpa arranged for you to meet a noble lady from the Zhao Clan. The Zhao Clan is an old and renowned family of supernatural powers in Fengyang Prefecture. I've met that noble lady before; her name is Zhao Qian. She's not much older than you and is incredibly beautiful."
Upon hearing this, Lu Ming felt a headache coming on. His grandfather had actually made arrangements?
He couldn't help but cast a pleading look at Zhong Ying beside him, but instead of offering any help, she said with great interest, " A-Ming, it would be good for you to go and see these powerful and noble ladies from the city, broaden your horizons."
Instead, Lu Mengmeng spoke up for justice, "Big cousin, my brother already has Sister Jingyi and Sister Fuling. They are both incredibly beautiful. You shouldn't humiliate yourselves."
Lu Ming, both amused and exasperated, ruffled Lu Mengmeng's hair and said, "Don't misuse idioms."
"Sister Jingyi? Sister Fuling? Are these my cousin's two little sweethearts? Hehe, I didn't expect my cousin to be such a womanizer. Haha, it's alright, there are only two, it won't matter." Zhong Quan laughed.
However, he dismissed Lu Mengmeng's comments about her being "a beauty of unparalleled grace" and "bringing shame upon herself" as the work of a child with no aesthetic sense, and didn't pay much attention to them. After all, Qingyuan Market was a small place, and how could the girls there compare to the noble ladies of the aristocratic families in the prefectural city?
Although Zhong Quan does not discriminate against Qingyuan Market, the facts are undeniable.
Lu Ming knew he couldn't go against his grandfather's wishes. His grandfather was used to being domineering and forceful, and even if he refused now, his grandfather would continue to make arrangements for him tirelessly later. So Lu Ming didn't bother to say anything more, took the gorgeous brocade clothes that Zhong Quan handed him, and went back to his room to change.
When Lu Ming came out again, Zhong Quan looked at the tall, handsome young man and couldn't help but smile and exclaim, "Cousin Lu Ming, what a dashing young man!"
"Come on, quite a few young talents from various families in Fengyang Prefecture have come today. I'll introduce you to them later. When you're out in the world, connections are very important. If Thunderfire Hall wants to grow stronger in the future, it will inevitably need to cultivate some relationships."
Lu Ming didn't really care, but since Zhong Quan was so enthusiastic, he didn't want to spoil the fun. Besides, it was his grandfather's birthday today, so he might as well take Lu Mengmeng to join in the fun. She had been cooped up in the courtyard for the past two days and was quite bored.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, cousin."
Zhong Quan waved his hand, turned around and led the way, while Lu Ming followed with Lu Mengmeng.
Upon leaving the courtyard, they saw Zhong Xia and Zhong Ling, Lu Ming's cousins, waiting outside. They quickly greeted him, having witnessed Lu Ming's strength and talent displayed in the Divine Aperture Arena a few days prior. They had learned their lesson and dared not show any contempt or disdain for Lu Ming and his companions simply because they came from Qingyuan Market.
Lu Ming didn't mind at all and returned their greetings.
Then the group of young people gathered together and walked excitedly through the corridor toward the most lively place where the birthday banquet was being held.
"Cousin Lu Ming, our Fengyang Prefecture has five Level Fourth-Tier Divine Ability Hall. Besides our Golden Bell Mystic Gang Hall, the other four are the ' Great Dragon Elephant Hall,' ' Cliff Carving Hall,' ' Heavenly River Hall,' and ' Blazing Radiance Hall.' These four Fourth-Tier Divine Ability Hall will definitely have people coming today. According to the rules, they might even have a friendly exchange of skills, which you can observe." Zhong Quan said as they walked, introducing the characteristics of each Divine Ability Hall to Lu Ming.
Lu Ming was no stranger to this; the competition between the Divine Ability Hall was quite fierce, and this did not change regardless of the location.
Amidst their laughter and conversation, they arrived at the birthday banquet area, where various stages had been set up and the venue was packed with distinguished guests. Every now and then, servants could be seen leading birthday congratulatory groups from different factions into the venue.
Zhong Quan led Lu Ming to a lakeside pavilion, where the scenery was excellent, offering views of the birthday celebration platform and the lake.
However, at this moment, a slender and graceful figure was already standing on the balcony.
Zhong Quan stepped forward with a smile and said, "Thank you for keeping you waiting, Miss Zhao Clan."
Lu Ming smiled helplessly to himself. He knew that this was the noble lady from the prefectural city that his grandfather had chosen for him.
He raised his gaze to the girl. She wore a scarlet dress, had a graceful figure, and was quite pretty. She was indeed not bad-looking, but she was still a level below Jingyi and Zhou Fuling.
At this moment, the girl nodded slightly to Zhong Quan and said indifferently, "My elders ordered me to do this, so I have no choice but to comply."
Zhong Quan felt slightly embarrassed upon hearing this, as the other party had clearly been forced to come by their elders. So he coughed and introduced, "This is my cousin, Lu Ming. Although he comes from Qingyuan Market, he possesses High-Grade Divine Ability Bone, and his talent is no weaker than the geniuses of the various families in the prefecture city."
"Cousin, this is the noblewoman of the Zhao Clan, her given name is Qian."
Lu Ming nodded to the girl in the crimson dress and said, "Greetings, Miss Zhao."
Zhao Qian also glanced at Lu Ming. He was quite good-looking, but unfortunately, he came from a Third-Tier Divine Ability Hall in Qingyuan Market. Such a background was really unacceptable in the prefectural city. Although he possessed High-Grade Divine Ability Bone and could be considered a potential seed, he still did not meet the standards of the person she admired.
But she didn't reveal these emotions, and simply said politely, "Greetings, Young Master Lu Ming."
"Just call me Lu Ming. The young master of the Third-Tier Divine Ability Hall is not worthy of being mentioned here," Lu Ming said with a smile.
Zhao Qian nodded noncommittally.
The two fell silent for a moment. Seeing this, Zhong Quan could only laugh and chat with Zhao Qian.
Lu Ming didn't interrupt, since he was only there to appease the other party. Since the other party wasn't interested in him, he naturally wouldn't try to strike up a conversation. So he let Zhong Quan chat with him while he looked around at the birthday celebration area not far away.
He could sense that many powerful experts had arrived from that direction, and the faint yet powerful fluctuations of their vital Primordial Qi were extremely noticeable.
At a certain moment, Zhao Qian, who was chatting casually with Zhong Quan, suddenly brightened up and looked at a group of people emerging in the distance.
"That's Huo Qing, the young master of the manor. He actually came too?" Zhao Qian said to Zhong Quan with some surprise.
Zhong Quan was taken aback. He looked at the figures not far away. Among the crowd, there was indeed a familiar figure. It was a young man with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, with an extraordinary demeanor. As he appeared, the young people from various forces around him couldn't help but gather around him.
"It is indeed Huo Qing," Zhong Quan said, also somewhat surprised.
Huo Qing is extremely famous among the younger generation in Fengyang Prefecture. It is said that he has now condensed twenty-one Divine Ability Dharma Mark, making him extremely powerful. In addition, he is the son of the prefectural lord, so he has attracted the attention of many noble ladies from the powerful families in the prefecture.
Zhong Ling and the others stood by, craning their necks in undisguised admiration. After all, the other party was more famous than Zhong Quan among the younger generation in Fengyang Prefecture, and had an impressive background.
However, as they watched, they noticed something was amiss. Although the young master of the manor was being fawned over, he clearly ignored everyone and instead humbly introduced a figure to someone beside him.
"Hey, who's that next to Young Master Huo? What noble lady could possibly earn such respect from him?" Zhong Xia and the others exclaimed in surprise.
Zhong Quan and Zhao Qian also noticed this, and immediately looked over with some surprise. Then they saw a graceful and slender figure standing next to Huo Qing. She had bright eyes and white teeth, and her beauty was as bright as the autumn moon. She was like a peach blossom blooming in spring, bright and beautiful.
What's most unique about her is that she seems to possess a refined and noble air, which makes even the young master of the Fengyang Prefecture, who is famous among the younger generation of the prefecture, seem like a mere supporting character.
At this moment, the bright and Orthodox God figure was calmly dealing with Huo Qing, while her eyes were constantly scanning around, as if searching for something.
"Huh?"
Lu Ming looked up at the incredibly graceful figure, then paused for a moment, couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, and his expression became quite interesting.
Because he discovered that the beautiful figure... was none other than Zhou Fuling.
Why did she come to the Golden Bell Mystic Gang Hall to offer birthday wishes?
While Lu Ming was still in shock, the beautiful figure who had been looking around seemed to sense something as well. She suddenly looked up in his direction, and when their eyes met, she paused for a moment. Then, the next moment, her red lips curled up slightly, and a bright and lovely smile appeared on her pretty face.