Chapter 996: Banquet
Translator: Lordbluefire Editor: Lordbluefire
In Princess Changping's estate, Qin Wentian stared at the written invitation as he spoke in a low voice, "Qi King Manor!"
Qing`er appeared beside him, "The crown prince of the Qi King Manor returned from the City of Ancient Emperors many years ago. It's said that in the past, he was powerful enough to be ranked #5 there and after his return, he has been in closed-door seclusion all thIs time to break through to immortal foundation. Right now, he is sure to be very powerful. There must be some insidious plot in him inviting you over. Let me go with you."
"I think it would be better if I went alone. The Evergreen Immortal Emperor told the Cloud King not to interfere in matters of the junior generations. In the royal palace, those nobility wouldn't dare to do anything to me. In addition, your name isn't included in the guest list and if I forcibly bring you there with me, wouldn't that incur the ridicule of others?" Qin Wentian smiled. "Don't worry, I can handle them."
Qing`er stared at Qin Wentian as she nodded her head. "Okay...but if they are too overbearing, just return here straight away."
"Mhm." Qin Wentian nodded. He held onto the delicate hands of Qing`er. Qing`er's hand trembled slightly but she didn't resist, allowing him to hold on to it.
"I'm someone who is going to marry the princess of an immortal empire. How can I allow people to look down on me." Qin Wentian teased.
Around noon, the Qi King Manor was extremely lively. Several experts of the younger generations in the royal palace were all invited and they respectively made their way there, riding on immortal-ranked treasures or having powerful demonic mounts. The scene of so many people travelling truly constituted an imposing sight.
Outside the Qi King manor, many powerful demons started roaring. Their thunderous roars were extremely terrifying and many of these demonic beast mounts were variant or mutated types, sharing the same level of cultivation as those human experts who mounted them. Basically, they grew up together.
The Qi King was an expert that was bestowed kingship by the Evergreen Immortal Emperor, there was no doubt about his power. The Qi King Manor was also located in an extraordinary location within the royal palace. Now, the crown prince of the Qi King Manor, Yang An, was arranging a banquet specially to target Qin Wentian. This was the reason why there were so many of the younger geniuses showed up. Basically, everyone who received the invitation was here today, so how could the atmosphere here not be lively with so many experts of the younger generations gathered here in the Qi King Manor?
Outside the manor, people were chatting with each other. One of the young men asked, "Did Qin Wentian even show up?"
"I think he's still not here yet, but I have no idea if he would come or not." Some other person replied.
"Hmph, maybe he will come but would also bring Princess Qing`er along." The person who spoke earlier snorted coldly. And at this moment, a voice rang throughout the air causing the eyes of everyone to turn to that direction.
"That's Qin Wentian."
"He is Qin Wentian? Seems merely so-so. What type of trash demonic beast is he sitting on? It's so chubby. Don't tell me that's actually his pet?"
The people below discussed. Qin Wentian's mount was naturally Little Rascal. Little Rascal didn't bother with transforming, he only made his body larger. That chubby appearance naturally exuded a natural cuteness but that was only relative to the perspective of females. In any case, the entire sight just seemed comical.
The eyes of this pet was very large, it continued flashing, staring in all four directions, at the powerful demonic beasts present here. Its chubby body shook with every step as it flew through the air.
"Brother Qin, your demonic beast is so adorable." In the air beside Qin Wentian, there was a young lady also mounted on a demonic beast, flying through the air. She was sitting on the top of a red-winged avian beast whose eyes gleamed with a terrifying light. It was actually a Crimsonblood Roc, one of the weaker species that descended from the great rocs.
"This pet of yours is so chubby, can you lend him to me to play with for a few days?" Another young man smiled. He was sitting atop a ferocious white tiger that exuded a balefulness that was incomparable. The tiger stared at Little Rascal and let out a few thunderous growls.
Many young experts then crowded around Qin Wentian as their demonic beasts roared, exuding a fearsome demonic might that swept over this entire space.
"Would this little cutie be frightened? Hahaha…" Everyone laughed, intentionally making their demonic beasts to get near Little Rascal.
"Little Rascal, seems like you are being looked down on." Qin Wentian smiled and patted Little Rascal.
Little Rascal's eyes gleamed with light, he didn't seem to be the slightest bit frightened. Next, it merely spoke in its baby-like voice, "You go fight with them and then I will have a legitimate reason to eat their demonic beasts. So many powerful beasts here, I'm sure they must taste delicious."
"Eh?" Everyone was stunned for a moment upon hearing the baby-like voice of Little Rascal. However, they soon recovered and started laughing uproariously.
"Brother Qin, your pet still hasn't fully weaned yet?"
"Haha, this pet is truly too adorable. It doesn't even know what fear is? It probably has no idea our powerful demonic beasts would be able to devour it in a single gulp." Everyone was laughing, staring at Little Rascal like they would look at an interesting clown.
"Ai, this little fellow is still too young and insensible, everyone please don't blame him." Qin Wentian clasped his hands to everyone. He then ruffled the fur on Little Rascal's head, "Little Rascal, seems like I have to give you better food after we return and hope that you can grow up faster."
"All of you go to hell…" Little Rascal's baby-like voice whined in a low voice, angrily glaring at the demonic beasts surrounding it. Although these demonic beasts were mounts, they all had intelligence. They were now all showing malevolent expressions on their faces while facing Little Rascal, as though intentionally wanting to terrorize it.
"Don't try to frighten me, this baobao ain't afraid of you all." Little Rascal waved its paw threateningly towards those demonic beasts while inclining its head proudly. All those demonic beasts had expressions of interest on their faces. What an interesting cub this white puppy is.
The whole lot of them then arrived at the Qi King Manor. There were guards who escorted them in and when Qin Wentian surveyed the surroundings, a majority of these people were all at the Celestial Phenomenon Realm. However, there were a few at the immortal foundation level, possessing outstanding talent.
Within the Qi King Manor, the banquet was already set and many people had already arrived and were already seated. Qin Wentian stared at the person in the lead. That man in the lead seat had a face resembling a king and was in glowing spirits. His eyes shimmered with a faint sharpness and although his aura was retracted, Qin Wentian could still sense an extraordinary aura that bespoke of one breaking through the Celestial Phenomenon Realm and stepping into the immortal foundation realm.
"After the crown prince of the Qi King Manor exited the City of Ancient Emperors, he has been in closed-door seclusion ever since. Seems like he has already established his immortal foundation." Qin Wentian mused.
Many people also sensed the aura from the crown prince, Yang An. Somebody then asked, "Crown prince, you ascended to immortality?"
"That's right. The crown prince has already broken through. Our Evergreen Immortal Empire has yet another character below 100 years of age that became an immortal." Even before Yang An could speak, someone else already replied on his behalf.
"Congratulations, congratulations!"
"The crown prince is too strong. If he continued remaining in the City of Ancient Emperors and didn't exit early, he would surely already become the #1 ranker on the Immortal Ascension Rankings." Everyone offered their congratulations, yet there were some with jealousy in their hearts. Immortal foundation was a threshold. Being able to become an immortal before the age of 100 was yet another threshold within the threshold. Since Yang An managed to become an immortal before 100 years old, his achievements would definitely be extraordinary and he would be heavily recognized and thought of highly by the elder generations.
Someone casually glanced at Qin Wentian. Seems like Yang An exiting seclusion wasn't purely because of Qin Wentian but was just a coincidence. He had broken through to immortal foundation and Qin Wentian was invited because he was coincidentally here in the royal palace at this time.
"Everyone is too polite, please enjoy the banquet." Yang An smiled as everyone sat down. Qin Wentian randomly found a seat at the extreme ends of the room and sat down carefreely. Since he was invited, it didn't matter what Yang An's cultivation was. He couldn't be bothered at all. He would just act the part of a guest and enjoyed the good food and wine here.
"Everyone, what were you guys chatting about earlier? You all seemed very happy." Yang An spoke.
"We are talking about brother Qin's pet. That demonic beast cub is too adorable, it even said that our demonic beast mounts would taste delicious. Hahaha!"
"This is the first time I met such a silly fellow. It doesn't even know fear, simply not knowing how high the heavens and how vast the earth is." Somebody glanced at Qin Wentian, his words clearly shooting bullets at both him and Little Rascal.
"Oh?" Yang An turned his gaze onto Qin Wentian. He then smiled, "So this gentleman is none other than brother Qin. I've been hearing your name ever since I got out of my closed-door seclusion. Qin Wentian's fame can only be described as legendary and since you are able to become the #1 ranker on the Immortal Ascension Rankings, brother Qin must surely be an extraordinary individual.
"Crown prince is too polite." Qin Wentian replied.
"I wonder, when brother Qin exited the City of Ancient Emperors, who were the top few rankers of the Immortal Ascension Rankings? Back then during my time, all the top rankers were exceedingly powerful characters. An example was the son of the Violet Emperor Zi Daoyang, and when I exited the city back then, he was the undisputedly ranked #1. Most probably, he should have also already left." Yang An smiled. Qin Wentian merely nodded politely. He knew if Zi Daoyang didn't die, he should have also already broken through to immortal foundation just like Mo Xie. After all, even Yang An has already established his immortal foundation.
However, breaking through to immortality early wasn't an indication of strength. For some, although they weren't at the peak of the ninth level of Celestial Phenomenon, their combat prowess was still able to sweep aside peak ascendants. An example was like Zi Daoyang and Mo Xie. At that time maybe their cultivation levels were lower than him, yet they were able to easily defeat him. Yet, Yang An broke through to immortality before them. Other than this, one still had to depend on luck, their state of heart, their personal target as after all, immortal foundations can be divided into six grades and three tiers.
However, Yang An's words were like doubting the power of him, the current #1 ranker of the Immortal Ascension Rankings!
"Even for characters on the level of brother Yang, are you unable to defeat Zi Daoyang of that year?" Qin Wentian smiled as he replied.
"Zi Daoyang and Mo Xie both have fearsome combat prowess, they are simply tyrannical. Back in the day, the competition in the City of Ancient Emperor was too intense." Yang An calmly spoke, causing the others to be excited. One of the experts asked, "The ranking in the City of Ancient Emperors cannot represent everything. Sometimes, when the strong meets the strong, the rankings might be unfair."
"That's true." Many nodded.
"If crown prince and brother Qin enters the City of Ancient Emperors in the same era, it would surely be a fight of tigers and dragons." Someone intentionally stated.
"No, no, how can I be compared to brother Qin? Although there are many experts in my time, I'm merely ranked #5." Yang An sounded very modest, yet he was not humble at all.
"During your time, do you really think the experts there are very strong? You simply have no idea of the immensity of heavens and earth." Little Rascal was eating food at the table as it spoke in its baby-like voice, causing many to be startled as they turned their gazes onto him.
"Haha, this little fellow is simply too adorable."
"This pet actually wants to talk about the strength level of experts? Simply laughable."
"When Qin Wentian was in the City of Ancient Emperors, Zi Daoyang originally was ranked #1. But after a few years, Zi Daoyang slipped to the #3 ranking. What do you think of the strength level of experts in the City of Ancient Emperor during Qin Wentian's era? You guys are really funny." Little Rascal was chomping down on fruits as it stared at the crowd with contempt.
Zi Daoyang was ranked #3?
"Little fellow, you must be kidding right. Zi Daoyang is the son of the Violet Emperor, how would he drop from the #1 ranking to the #3? Even if Mo Xie surpassed him, Zi Daoyang would at most drop to the #2 rank." Yang An narrowed his eyes as he spoke.
"I still thought you were modest." Little Rascal stared at Yang An with disdain. "This baobao didn't lie to you, you can ask Qin Wentian about it. After he heavily injured Zi Daoyang, Zi Daoyang's ranking dropped to the #3. Back then you was #5 right? If you still didn't leave the City of Ancient Emperors, I'm afraid in this era, you wouldn't even be ranked within the top ten."