Chapter Ninety-Seven: Conflict

"Eh?" Hu Tiehua was utterly baffled by Chen Xiang's sudden remark.

"Oh, nothing. Brother Tiehua, please sit." Chen Xiang said with a faint smile.

Everyone at the table twitched at the corners of their mouths. We all heard that just now, didn't we? Why deny it the moment you turn around?

Hu Tiehua had also heard Chen Xiang say he wanted to make a friend, but he did not call him out. Instead, he smiled and sat down as well.

As for Old Madam Feng, she had been watching Chen Xiang the whole time and said nothing more. The other guests merely glanced over and paid it no further mind; after all, he was no great figure.

"Brother Chu, is it? I am Liu Yu of the Thousand Leaf Sect. You have quite the extraordinary bearing, Brother Chu. May I ask which great sect you hail from?" A middle-aged man beside him first cupped his fist in greeting, then asked with a smile.

The others also perked up their ears in curiosity.

"Heh, Brother Liu flatters me. I have no sect or school; I am merely a wandering cultivator," Chen Xiang said.

Yet once those words left his mouth, the expressions of those paying attention in the great hall changed a little.

"Oh, a wandering cultivator!" Liu Yu said coolly. "Fellow Daoist looks quite young, yet has such cultivation. Your talent must be excellent."

His tone had grown less courteous as well, and he no longer addressed Chen Xiang as Brother Chu, but as fellow Daoist.

The others likewise displayed their disdain without reservation. Even a few who had been about to come over and make conversation stopped short.

"Hm? That's odd. This is the main hall. If you are a wandering cultivator, you should be dining in the side hall. Since you are here, perhaps you have come to the wrong place?" At that moment, an out-of-place voice rang out. It was a slightly plump young man at the neighboring table, looking at Chen Xiang with a faint smile.

He was only at the peak of Foundation Establishment. He had come on behalf of a sect to offer congratulations. Most of the other sects had sent Core Formation cultivators, some even Nascent Soul experts, yet he alone stood apart.

That was because he was the young sect master of the Kunshan Sect, a major power in Biyun City, roughly on par with the Feng family. His talent in cultivation was mediocre, and he often kept company with the Feng family's eldest son, Feng Yushu, which had made him arrogant and overbearing.

And there was another reason: he especially could not stand those with outstanding cultivation talent. Since Chen Xiang had also claimed to be a wandering cultivator, he naturally could not resist picking a fight.

The moment he spoke, most of those present wore gloating smiles. Only a few with higher cultivation, relying on their status, pretended not to notice. Old Madam Feng was the same.

Chen Xiang was not angry at all. He merely glanced at the man and took note of him. "Little fat man, I was personally invited here by Old Senior Feng. If that's what you're saying, are you implying that Old Madam Feng herself has broken the rules?"

He deftly turned the matter back onto the Feng family matriarch, and it was, in fact, the truth.

The table where Old Madam Feng sat also heard him. Everyone looked toward her, and she calmly nodded, taking it as an admission, though she still said nothing else.

The relationship between the matter was difficult to untangle. They were only here to attend a birthday banquet, and it would not do to pry into another family's affairs.

But on Chen Xiang's side, things were far from harmonious.

"Oh? Boy, what did you just call me?" The plump young man put away his airs, though the smile on his face only grew brighter.

He did not take up Chen Xiang's returned banter, but asked another question instead. The malice in that smile, however, was fully exposed.

He was only slightly plump, but he was not very tall, which made him look rather stout. What he hated most of all was being called "fat," let alone with "little" placed in front of it.

"What, you didn't hear me? Little fat man. You look nicely round, but your ears don't seem to work. Ah, what a pity." Chen Xiang shook his head and sighed.

He had never been stingy with his retorts when facing someone obviously looking for trouble.

When the plump young man heard Chen Xiang repeat it, the smile vanished from his face, and he stared straight at him.

"Boy, do you know what it means when trouble comes out of your mouth?" he said lightly, as if discussing something utterly ordinary.

At the chief seat, all the Nascent Soul cultivators were seated, and upon seeing the situation here, they too began offering their opinions.

"Sigh, this youngster is truly too arrogant. A wandering cultivator dares provoke others so casually."

"Heh, Fellow Daoist Sun, why concern yourself with the affairs of the younger generation? He's just an ignorant brat. Don't let him spoil the pleasure of our drinking."

"Fellow Daoist Wu Tong speaks wisely. That Kunshan Sect has grown more and more overbearing lately. Their young sect master may not be very strong in cultivation, but he is quite deep and scheming."

A group of Nascent Soul cultivators conversed among themselves, showing no intention of intervening. To them, this was nothing more than a trivial matter.

The two members of the Li family and the people from the city lord's manor all held wine cups throughout, drinking as though nothing in the world concerned them.

The discord here also affected the others. Once they saw that the young man was the Kunshan Sect's young sect master, they did not dare speak out, and could only whisper among themselves.

"This brat is really bold, daring to provoke the Kunshan Sect's young sect master?"

"He said just now that he was only a wandering cultivator. I'm afraid he won't see tomorrow's sun after the birthday banquet ends."

"Sigh, seeing how young he is and that he already has third-level Core Formation cultivation, I originally wanted to recruit him as a wandering cultivator. Looks like he can only pray for his own good fortune now."

Though their discussion was quiet, everyone present was a cultivator; whose hearing would be poor?

A smile also appeared at the corner of the plump young man's mouth. Looking at Chen Xiang, he seemed to be staring at a toy in his own hands, despite not even possessing Core Formation cultivation.

After all, those Core Formation cultivators who had offended him with no sense of propriety in the past had all ascended heaven ahead of time, and there had even been two or three Nascent Soul cultivators in the early stage who met the same fate.

Chen Xiang naturally heard all of it as well, and after learning the plump young man's identity, he merely snorted with contempt.

Kunshan Sect? On par with the Feng family? Should I tell you all that I am planning to go and provoke the Li family patriarch? Should I tell you that even if a Spirit Transformation or Infant-Transformation expert stood before me, I would still dare to face him head-on?

Chen Xiang smiled at the plump young man. "Little fat man, what? Doesn't it suit you? No need to thank me. It's only right. Only right."

Everyone looked at him as though he were an idiot.

Suit me? No need to thank you?

Suit my ass. Thank you? Are you stupid?

The smile on the plump young man's face faded, and a hint of gloom appeared, but he still said calmly, "Very well."

Then he sat down expressionlessly.

One person cast Chen Xiang a complicated look and said to the person beside him, "Brother Zhang, what's going on with this fellow? He only said a few words and already provoked the Kunshan Sect's young sect master. He really has a talent for making trouble!"

The middle-aged man called Brother Zhang nodded in deep agreement and analyzed, "Indeed. I think this person must be from out of town and unfamiliar with Biyun City's situation. Seeing that the Kunshan Sect's young sect master has low cultivation, he relied on his own higher cultivation and ended up unknowingly stepping on his sore spot."

"Heh heh, I think so too. Looks like this fellow won't live many more days."

Several people at the same table nodded in agreement, feeling that Brother Zhang's analysis made sense.