Chapter 57: Attending a Banquet at the City Lord's Manor

  "Yan Er, you're back. Didn't encounter any danger on the way?" Fang Zhen asked with a concerned face as soon as he entered his cultivation room.

  "Dad, I didn't encounter any danger, you see I'm fine now!" Fang Yan knew what his father was worried about and smiled calmly. "Dad, during the days I wasn't here, nothing big happened at home, right?"

  "No, everything is fine at home these past few days." Fang Zhen smiled as he spoke. "By the way, Yan Er, what did you gain from entering the Horizontal Mountain Range this time?"

  "Father, look at this, what is it?" Fang Yan heard this and took out a pure white jade box to hand over to Fang Zhen Dao.

  "What's this?" Fang Zhen opened the jade box, and suddenly a strong medicinal fragrance filled the room, making one feel refreshed and invigorated, but also somewhat strange.

  "Father, this is the White Jade Water Lotus that can bring people back from the dead and turn bones into flesh!" Fang Yan said.

  "Bai Yu Shui Lian, the White Jade Water Lotus, one of the seven life-saving divine medicines under the heavens." Fang Zhen was shocked upon hearing this, his eyes bulging out as if they were about to pop out. He never thought that he would actually be able to see this legendary divine medicine.

  "A spiritual object from such a place must be guarded by a demonic beast. How did you get it? Let me see if it's been damaged."

  Fang Yan felt Fang Zhen's deep concern and briefly told him how he had obtained the White Jade Water Lotus.

  "Father, this has six lotus petals. You take two petals. This thing can save your life at a critical moment." Fang Yan took out two flower petals and put them in the jade box he had prepared earlier.

  "Such a treasure, you'd better keep it on your body for protection. The two royal families will not let you go, and they will plot against you in secret as soon as they have the chance. As your father, I won't be able to guard you by your side at all times. With this medicine, you'll have six more lives." Fang Zhen heard this and shook his head.

  "Father, these two lotus petals, you must take them no matter what. With you around, the High King's family won't dare to do anything to me. Besides, after a while, if I pass the Proud Cold Sect's assessment, the High King's family will be even more afraid to touch me. After we leave, I'm worried that the High King's family might harm you, so you must keep this spiritual medicine. Otherwise, I won't be at peace!" Fang Yan insisted. He had the Immortal Realm system, and as long as it wasn't a fatal injury, the Immortal Realm's repair system could fix it. This White Jade Water Lotus was precious, but to him, it didn't have much use.

  This is something his son used to show filial piety to him. Fang Zhen just made a slight decline and then accepted the white jade water lotus.

  "Yan Er, you've also had a tiring day. Tomorrow we'll be attending the banquet at the City Master's Manor. At that time, the envoy from the Ao Han Sect will be waiting for us at the City Master's Manor. You should prepare well." Fang Zhen said to Fang Yan after discussing some other topics.

  "Father, I'll take my leave now, you should rest early too." Fang Yan said.

  Fang Yan returned to his residence, and he didn't idle around either. He carefully thought back on the experiences of killing the demonic beasts in the Hongyue Mountains, especially the battle with the water python in the deep pool, analyzing, calculating, and thinking it through one by one.

  "Ding! Congratulations, host's Earth-level sword skill Phantom Sword proficiency +1000."

  He replayed the battle with the giant water snake in the deep pool of Eagle's Beak Stream yesterday like a movie, and suddenly, the cold system prompt sounded in his mind.

  "It turns out that this realization is also a kind of cultivation. This time's realization has actually increased my proficiency by another thousand." Fang Yan's eyes flashed with insight, and his face revealed a hint of enlightenment.

  The next day, the major families of Luoyang City all received invitations from Mu Shi'an, the lord of the city, to bring their young juniors to the city lord's mansion for a banquet.

  This banquet, nominally to entertain the major and minor families in Yangzhou City, was actually to welcome the envoy of the Hao Han Sect. With so many people at the banquet, many young talents from Yangzhou City gathered together, and it was certain that these young talents would compete with each other in their cultivation.

  In fact, in the entire Xianxia world, strength is respected, whether it's a family, an official residence, or a sect. All kinds of gatherings are inseparable from competitions and comparisons. Even during New Year's celebrations, children's gatherings will let them compete with each other to show off their martial arts skills. Whichever child has the most outstanding martial arts skills, their parents will receive great honor.

  Because Fang Yan's cultivation was at the bottom among many family children, in order to consider Fang Yan's feelings, these martial arts gatherings of various large families were rarely attended by Fang Yan.

  And this time, the banquet of the city owner Mo Shi'an can also be said to be Fang Yan's first appearance among many large and small families.

  This time, Fang Yan and Fu Qingxuan were the main forces of the Fang family. Just as Fang Yan was tempering himself in the mountains of Hengyue, Fu Qingxuan had broken through to the realm of violent energy, because he had been consolidating his boundary all along, until today when the two finally met.

  Early in the morning, Fang Yan sat up on his bed after a night of meditation, suddenly opened his eyes, washed and dressed, and together with Fu Qingxuan and Fang Zhen, father and son, took the invitation and rushed to the city master's mansion.

  In the vast city of Yanzhou, today is a joyful and festive day. Many young talents from prominent families have come out, accompanied by their slaves, and are hurrying to the City Lord's mansion in luxurious sedan chairs.

  The castle is extremely luxurious and grand, covering an area of thousands of hectares, it's like a city within a city. The outer perimeter is surrounded by a river that flows from the vast Jiang River, with crystal clear water that allows you to see the bottom, where mechanisms can be vaguely seen.

  Apart from this, the city walls are tens of feet high, majestic and magnificent, with one after another being strong and powerful. Thick and deep generals are stationed on the tower to guard, their eyes looking up at the sky and down at the earth, even birds flying over must be carefully observed.

  On the city wall, row upon row of ballistae were lined up, striking fear into the hearts of all who saw them. These were the dreaded armor-piercing ballistae, their massive bolts propelled by gunpowder, and when a dozen or so of these machines fired in unison, even a high-level cultivator would be forced to meet his maker on the spot.

  The entire city mansion can be said to be hidden dragons and crouching tigers, ordinary people simply cannot rush in, and it is no wonder that it is the only first-class power in the entire Yanzhou City.

  Just as the carriages and horses of Fang's family arrived at the gate, many young masters from other wealthy families also gathered here. Various sedan chairs stopped, fine horses neighed, slaves shouted to each other, and the sound of armor clashing between guards merged into a torrent that shook the sky. The surroundings were as noisy as a vegetable market.

  Fang Zhen, Fu Qingxuan and Fang Yan got off the carriage. In an instant, Fang Yan felt dozens of eyes looking at him. Some people were pointing and talking, most of the topics were about the heavenly beauty Fu Qingxuan beside him, with envy, admiration, and hatred.

  "Look? That's Fang Yan from the Fang family. He actually dares to come to the City Lord's Manor for a banquet this time? Doesn't he fear being challenged by Gao Jin, the genius of the Gao family?"

  "I heard that this time Gao Jin is going all out, and once he sees Fang Yan, he will make him enter horizontally and exit lying down."

  "Lately, it's been crazily spreading that Fang Yan is the number one genius in Yangzhou City. Is this true?! And also, did he really defeat Gao Peng of the Violent Qi Realm? This time, I want to see how a waste from the Fang family can become a genius."

  "Look, the beauty beside Fang Yan is one of the two proud ones in Yangzhou City. At this moment, she was actually occupied by Fang Yan. It's really a good cabbage that was dug up by a pig."

  "What a genius, isn't he just a waste of space? This time at the banquet, the envoy of the Hao Han Sect is selecting talents. How could the two families of Gao Wang possibly do as he pleases? If Fang Yan dies, then wouldn't we have an opportunity with Fu Qingxuan?"

  ……

  As for the gossip of the crowd, Fang Yan directly chose to ignore it. Let those who want to wag their tongues do so; he didn't care what others thought of him.

  "Hey? Isn't this Fang Yan from the Fang family? I heard you've been hiding lately because you're afraid of Gao Jing's younger brother coming to bother you, but today you actually dare to show up. Are you thinking that your skills have improved and you're not a coward anymore, wanting to come out and make a good impression?" A young man in brocade clothes, holding a folding fan, shouted at Fang Yan with a provocative expression.