Chapter Ninety-Three: Take a Look!

“Brother Jiankui, what have you prepared as a birthday gift for the Feng matriarch’s great celebration?”

“Ah, I did prepare something, but I’m afraid the old senior of the Feng family won’t think much of it. So now I’m planning to go to the Elegant Gathering Pavilion again and see if I can find something worthwhile.”

“Oh? Then Brother Jiankui had better hurry. I’ve gone through great trouble to get my hands on a Source Crystal Bracelet this time—alas, it cost me nearly everything I owned.”

“What? A Source Crystal Bracelet? You mean that kind of bracelet you wear on your body, which can continuously draw in and purify spiritual energy before turning it into refined spiritual energy? Brother Lu, you really are impressive!”

“Heh heh, indeed. I only hope the Feng matriarch will speak well of me this time and recommend me to the Li clan. Then I’ll truly be set.”

“Then let me congratulate Brother Lu in advance!”

...

Chen Xiang had sharp ears. As several cultivators passed by him, every word they said fell clearly into his ears.

“Who is this Feng matriarch? She seems to have quite a reputation here.” Chen Xiang turned his head and asked Li Hanwei, who was strolling slowly behind him.

She wore a scarlet dress, and her jet-black hair flowed down past her hips. Her delicate face was fair and lovely. Walking down the street, she was like a bloom in full splendor, so dazzling that men and women alike could not help but stare.

“A dependent of the Li clan,” Li Hanwei replied coldly without even looking up.

Ever since arriving in Azure Cloud City, she had been like this: never saying much, but when it came to the Li clan, she always answered in just a few words, concise and to the point.

“Ah.” Chen Xiang nodded thoughtfully. He was already used to her sparing speech; on the road here, he had asked her plenty of questions.

“System, what is a Source Crystal Bracelet?” Chen Xiang asked.

Ding. A Source Crystal Bracelet is a product of the exhaustion of a low-grade spirit vein. It can slowly condense the surrounding spiritual energy and store it, then release it in a more refined form. It is considered low-grade spiritual energy.

“So trashy?” Chen Xiang thought, rubbing his chin.

“Mm, might as well go have a look.” Not long after, he made up his mind.

“Beauty, I’m heading to the Feng clan. Could you show me the way?” Chen Xiang asked Li Hanwei with a grin.

Li Hanwei stopped, looked up at him, and then continued walking.

Chen Xiang smiled and followed along sensibly behind her.

Today happened to be the three-hundredth birthday banquet of the Feng clan’s strongest figure, the Feng matriarch. The Feng clan was quite famous in this area, so these past few days the entrance had been crowded with visitors.

“Yuan Li of the Thousand Leaf Sect has come to congratulate the Feng matriarch on her birthday!”

“Lin Feihuo of the Lin family has come to congratulate the Feng matriarch on her birthday!”

“Please come in, honored guests. You may wait in the side hall first.”

...

The threshold of the Feng residence was packed with people coming and going, nothing like a secluded immortal cultivation clan at all.

Those who entered first were mostly representatives of various sects, while many wandering cultivators stood off to one side outside, their eyes fixed intently on the Feng residence’s gate.

Chen Xiang and Li Hanwei watched from afar.

“I didn’t expect the Feng clan to have so much face here,” Chen Xiang muttered.

Most of the people who came were cultivators. Ordinary folk were forbidden from moving about in this area, and among the cultivators Chen Xiang saw, the majority were at the Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining stages, with most of them being wandering cultivators.

Among the wandering cultivators, only a few Core Formation cultivators stood at the top, while among those from the sects, three Nascent Soul cultivators had already appeared.

If Chen Xiang went out now and revealed his cultivation, he would certainly be treated as an honored guest. But it was said that people from the Li clan would also be coming. If he appeared in the main hall, he would inevitably become the center of attention.

It wasn’t that Chen Xiang feared the Li clan. But if he rushed straight into the Li clan and taught Li Youyuan a lesson, it would certainly alarm the Li family ancestor.

Although his strength had increased greatly, the gap between them was still enormous, making the matter troublesome indeed. Not to mention that the city lord of Azure Cloud City might also intervene by then, which would make things even more complicated.

“Little brother, what are you all standing here for? Why aren’t you going in?” Chen Xiang slipped into the crowd, caught a Foundation Establishment cultivator by the sleeve, and asked with a smile.

The man glanced at him. Although Chen Xiang did not exude the slightest aura, that bearing alone gave him an urge to drop to his knees.

“Oh, t-this big brother, we’re just wandering cultivators. We came here only hoping to chance upon some opportunity,” the man said nervously. With that kind of presence, he was absolutely a master—best not to provoke him.

“Mm, I know that. But why are you all standing here?” Chen Xiang frowned and asked again.

“Here’s the thing: today is the Feng matriarch’s birthday. The Feng clan is a vassal of the Li clan, and they oversee this area on behalf of the Li clan and the city lord’s manor. That’s why the nearby sects all come to offer congratulations. As for us wandering cultivators, after their banquet is over, we can also present some treasures. Then we’ll be invited in and entertained. If we’re lucky, we might even be accepted into the Feng clan or some sect. We may even be recruited by the Li clan or the city lord’s manor.” The man explained more and more excitedly, as though he had already been taken in by the Li clan himself.

“Mm.” Chen Xiang listened and nodded thoughtfully. Then he said, “All right, thanks, little brother.”

“You’re wel—” Before the man could finish, Chen Xiang had already turned and left.

Chen Xiang returned to Li Hanwei’s side, but when he looked over her position, his brows knit slightly.

“I haven’t even gotten to enjoy much of the view, and already some lecherous hand is touching?” Chen Xiang muttered.

Li Hanwei was frowning, looking extremely annoyed.

Beside her stood a properly dressed young nobleman, his eyes half-narrowed as he stared at her.

The young man wore a white robe, a blue silk scarf around his head, and a purple-gold jade belt at his waist. Hanging from it was a large emerald-green pendant, making him look every inch the refined and elegant son of a wealthy scholarly house.

Yet his complexion was faintly and unhealthily pale. His exquisite features, combined with his small, narrowed eyes, flickered with a trace of sinister light—though he concealed it very well whenever others noticed.

On the great jade pendant at his waist, three large characters had been engraved by some special method: South Azure Feng, plainly proclaiming his identity.

“My lady, I merely felt an instant sense of familiarity with you and wished to invite you for tea and a brief conversation. I hope you will honor me with your presence.” The rich young master spoke politely and culturedly.

But at the same time, he took one step forward, and the jade pendant at his waist swayed as though he were afraid no one would notice it.

“Look, that pendant on his waist!”

“South Azure Feng? He’s a young master of the Feng clan?”

“He looks so refined and extraordinary. He must be the Feng clan’s eldest young master, Feng Yushu, right?”

“Feng Yushu? The Feng clan’s young genius? So it was him!”

...

The surrounding crowd also began discussing the pendant, and they consciously made room, after all, the Feng clan’s eldest young master was not someone wandering cultivators like them could afford to offend.

Chen Xiang looked at that weak-looking young master with thoughtful amusement.

“Heh heh, a genius of the Feng clan? Indeed, a genius—so young, and already at the fifth level of Core Formation. Not bad, not bad,” Chen Xiang praised. Then he thought, with a touch of mischievous delight, “But I wonder what he’ll think once he finds out he’s flirting with the youngest elder of the Li clan?”

To be continued...