Chapter 227: Juxian Banquet
As dusk approached, Ji You followed the Tianshu Academy group out of Rusheng Garden, traversed the white marble path, rounded the lake island, and arrived at Yongqing Garden.
It wasn't dark yet, but the vast courtyard was already brightly lit.
Through the gate, Ji You saw a scene of flickering shadows.
Between the ponds, arched bridges, pavilions, and gardens, cultivators moved back and forth, chatting and laughing. Due to the cultivators' self-cultivation, the Spiritual Qi around Xianxian Garden had gathered in the air above, reflecting a silvery-blue hue under the dim light of dusk.
In this environment, the distinctions between factions became exceptionally clear.
Some people clearly gathered in groups, distinct from those around them, while others connected with many forces, constantly toasting each other.
Ji You followed the crowd through the moon gate and entered this noisy environment. After a few glances, he noticed He Lingxiu, Shi Junhao, and others dispersing.
They all had their own Families, and also forces that their Families befriended. Attending such a banquet naturally meant being with them.
Ji You walked through the front courtyard, seeing Elders often with Juniors by the pond, greeting each other, and also seeing men and women in different Family attire moving through elegant bamboo groves, fragrant gardens, and other scenic spots.
Only he, like an out-of-place tourist, wandered aimlessly.
This was not just his own feeling; in fact, the gazes of those around him were also like this, filled with doubt and scrutiny.
“Who—is this person?”
“Never seen him before, very unfamiliar.”
“He seems somewhat similar to the second son of the Zhao Family.”
“The second son of the Zhao Family is already thirty-five now, Elder Huang, you must be joking, ha ha ha ha.”
“Thirty-five? I didn't expect that after my seclusion, the human world would have changed so much— ”
The introduction and networking of cultivators all relied on Family Elders.
If a Family brought outstanding Juniors to such a banquet, they would either be remembered by other Worldly Families and form marriage alliances, or they would be used for comparison.
Ji You, being such a unique individual, naturally couldn't integrate.
However, this didn't make him feel depressed; what made him depressed was that there wasn't a single person alone here, so opportunities to develop clients were extremely rare.
And for those who were in groups, Ji You didn't like them much, fearing he couldn't serve them well.
He passed through the archway of the front garden and entered the right garden, continuing to search for potential clients, but unexpectedly ran into two familiar figures.
Changle Princess Zhao Yunyue, and Kuang Cheng's beloved Wei Rui, along with two other women, who, judging by their attire, should also be imperial relatives.
“Young Master Ji, over here!” Wei Rui suddenly waved.
Ji You walked over upon seeing this: “Young Miss Wei, why are you here? Where is Kuang Shusheng, my sworn brother?”
“The Juxian Banquet is managed by the Immortal Management Bureau; he is the Supervisor of the reception area and is still busy with coordination, so he probably won't be able to come until later. Oh, by the way, let me introduce you.”
Wei Rui looked at the two women beside her: “This is Princess Jiaren, and Princess Changjing.”
Jiaren and Changjing were two daughters of the Great Xia's former emperor, but they were not of the emperor's direct lineage. Strictly speaking, they were idle princesses who lived off the imperial treasury, and their cultivation was only at the Micro Illumination Realm.
Zhao Yunyue, who was the only one who had known Ji You for a long time, looked at him at this moment and couldn't help but ask, “Young Master Ji, are you wandering around alone because you can't find anyone you know?”
“Isn't that the truth?”
Ji You replied softly, thinking to himself that there wasn't a single person alone, truly not giving him a chance.
Zhao Yunyue had actually noticed Ji You earlier than Wei Rui, taking in his silence, loneliness, melancholy, and solitary wandering.
Defeating Chu River, establishing a Worldly Family, and acting as an envoy to the Snow Region, Ji You was indeed famous, and he even rejected her request to become his Dao Companion. He seemed to stand proudly above all, self-important.
But how was he at this banquet where Immortal Sects and Worldly Families gathered? This rural rogue cultivator of his still completely revealed his true colors.
He knew no one, couldn't integrate, like an outsider who had accidentally stumbled in.
It was as if he had luckily entered Tianshu Academy as a rogue cultivator, completely out of place with his surroundings.
In truth, Zhao Yunyue's situation here, while better than Ji You's, wasn't much better.
She was a Princess, true, but among Worldly Families, that wasn't particularly impressive.
Furthermore, Prince Chong could no longer interfere with tax offerings, and the Spirit Stones from Yun Province were no longer the first choice for cultivators due to the impact of the snowy region demon stone, which further weakened the influence of their Prince Chong's Mansion.
However, she had another identity: a Disciple of Lingjian Mountain.
But because she was an external member and had never cultivated on the mountain, she wasn't very familiar with the people of Lingjian Mountain.
The only familiar ones were Liu Junzhi and his group, who had previously come to Shengjing to intercept spare Medicinal Pills. The two had agreed to meet here, but she hadn't waited for them yet.
Yet, in Zhao Yunyue's view, she was ultimately stronger than him.
Wei Rui couldn't help but ask, “Then, Young Master Ji, would you like to wander with us?”
She actually wanted to ask when Young Master Ji would go find Sister Yan, and she wanted to go too, but she knew that sentence couldn't be said.
Ji You pondered for a moment, then looked at Wei Rui: “Forget it, I'll go look around first and come back to find you later. If you run into Kuang Cheng, remember to tell him to wait for me.”
He still needed to develop clients, and having women with him would make it inconvenient to act.
Especially since those two princesses were only at the Micro Illumination Realm, and Wei Rui had no cultivation at all; standing by and clapping would be dangerous.
Princess Jiaren watched him walk away and couldn't help but look at Zhao Yunyue: “This Ji You is famous throughout Shengjing; it can be said that no one doesn't know him, so why can't he even find a single friend now?”
Zhao Yunyue recovered and patiently explained: “Qingyun World has always valued Worldly Family backgrounds. No matter how much trouble he can stir up or how famous he is, he ultimately cannot be taken seriously here.”
“Like my maid, no matter how good her needlework is, she's still just a maid?”
“Your analogy—is actually quite apt.”
At this moment, Ji You didn't know that he had been likened to a maid. Instead, he continued deeper into the right garden. Although he didn't find anyone alone, he did encounter some familiar Faces.
First were the Disciples of Asked the Dao Sect, about thirty of them, all wearing indigo immortal robes. When they saw Ji You, their eyes were filled with Killing Intent.
Ji You had killed many of their Senior Brothers and Junior Sisters at Qi Ridge, and many remembered this old grudge.
And Min Cheng, who had used silver to lure Ji You and was nearly killed by him in return, was also among them.
Too many people, bad service, forget it.
Ji You avoided their challenging gazes and continued westward, realizing that he actually knew quite a lot of people, such as Jiang Chenfeng, Jiang Yan, Jiang Yuerou, and Huo Hong, the younger brother of the Mountain and Sea Pavilion's direct Disciple Saint.
Ji You had traveled to the Snow Region with them, barely counting as having gone through life and death together, and couldn't help but chat for a few moments upon meeting.
“Young Master Ji's arm is healed?”
“It's healed, thank you for your concern, Fairy.”
Jiang Yan and Jiang Yuerou still remembered his heroic demeanor in the wilderness and had a good impression of him, so their attitude was excellent.
As for Jiang Chenfeng, Huo Hong, and others, seeing that he was still in the Tong Xuan Realm, they felt a little relieved.
The combat power Ji You displayed during his mission to the Snow Region was truly terrifying. For them, if his cultivation speed was as exaggerated as his combat power, their Dao Heart would actually be affected.
But fortunately, he was still at Tong Xuan Realm.
In fact, many people who knew Ji You probably had this same thought, even his own people from Tianshu Academy.
He was still just at Tong Xuan Realm, which was truly excellent.
Besides these people, Ji You also saw people from the Yunzhou Lu Family.
The Lu Family was a large and prosperous Family in Yun Province, but in a place where cultivators from all over the world gathered, they were not among the top ranks.
Lu Xiong, the Clan Chief of the Lu Family, proactively greeted Ji You. He didn't mention the snowy region demon stone but thanked Ji You for teaching Lu Hanyan the Dao of the sword.
Ji You had no good feelings for these Spirit Stone Worldly Families because of the fostering pavilion incident, but in this setting, he did not make Lu Xiong lose Face, and simply responded a few words.
However, what puzzled Ji You was the extremely strange look in the eyes of a lady accompanying the Lu Family's Clan Chief.
The strangeness of that gaze was that she was scrutinizing and observing him with a condescending attitude, like an Elder meeting a Junior, picking and choosing him over, not knowing what she was looking at.
“Young Master!”
“?”
Walking to the edge of a clear lake, Ji You heard a call and turned to see Ding Yao and Zhuo Wanqiu.
One wore a moon-white narcissus dress, and the other a small shirt with auspicious cloud patterns. They bowed to Ji You.
Then Zhuo Wanqiu quietly added, “Son-in-law.”
Ji You turned to them: “Where is your Young Master Jian?”
Zhu Wanqiu replied: “Master Jian is in the back garden meeting with several Worldly Families she didn't have time to see when she arrived that day.
We had some free time, so we thought we'd come out and wander around.”
They actually didn't know where to go after leaving the back garden, so they just wandered along any visible path. Now that they saw Ji You, they suddenly felt like they had found their backbone.
Master Jian is the master, and Young Master Ji is also the master.
This was actually a very subtle feeling, especially for Ding Yao.
She had served Yan Shuyi since childhood and had never lowered herself to serve anyone else; in fact, at Lingjian Mountain, she was always the one giving orders.
But as her Master Jian and Ji You grew closer, to the point where her mouth was bitten like that, she also developed a subconscious obedience towards Ji You.
In contrast was her relationship with Asked the Dao Sect.
At this evening banquet, there were many Asked the Dao Sect Disciples.
Under normal circumstances, Ding Yao would definitely have mingled with them, but as Master Jian clarified her stance,
she also knew that there was likely no major possibility between Lingjian Mountain and Asked the Dao Sect.
Thus, continuing to cultivate her relationship with Asked the Dao Sect no longer held much meaning.
Ding Yao suddenly remembered something at this moment and couldn't help but look up and say, "Master Jian told us earlier that if we met Young Master Ji when we came out, we should introduce him to some people. Does Young Master Ji have time now?"
"Introduce him to some people?"
"They are the opponents you need to pay attention to this time."
Ding Yao and Zhuo Wanqiu then took him around, pointing out some Tong Xuan Realm cultivators.
One was a newly promoted Dao Cultivation Genius from Asked the Dao Sect named Zhu Yao, who was one of the participants this time. It was said that he had once fought against a Rongdao Realm Senior Brother within the Sect and did not fall into a disadvantage.
Another was a Worldly Family Young Master who was not a Fairy Sect Disciple, named Wei Bo, who had been secretly hidden by the Yong Province Wei Family for many years. As soon as he made a move, he defeated all the Disciples in his Clan.
In addition, Zhuang Zixin, the younger brother of Zhuang You, the Chief Disciple of Tianjian Peak, was also on the list of those to pay special attention to.
Following them were Wei Yingmeng, the daughter of the Mountain and Sea Pavilion Branch Master, Murong Yu, the Young Miss of the Yuzhou Murong Family, and Li Yunlang from the Li Clan of the former Imperial Family in Zhongzhou.
Each of these individuals had significant backgrounds, with a vast power behind them, making anyone who heard of them feel awe.
Precisely because of their powerful backgrounds, their combat strength was also extraordinary.
Therefore, it wasn't just Ji You and the two women staring at them; many others were secretly sizing up these individuals, especially some participants who were also in the Tong Xuan Realm.
These participants also had sources of information. Although they didn't know as much as the Lingjian Mountain Little Master Jian, who could even find out what Dao techniques they commonly used, they at least knew that these few were hot contenders in the Tong Xuan Realm competition at this Heavenly Dao Conference.
As for Ji You, he received less attention.
After all, many people had just come out of secluded cultivation, and as mentioned before, very few people knew what he looked like.
Ji You looked at Ding Yao and Zhuo Wanqiu at this time: "Is there nothing to worry about regarding the Tong Xuan Realm cultivators of my Tianshu Academy?"
Zhuo Wanqiu opened her mouth: "The Tong Xuan Realm cultivators of Tianshu Academy are all very solid in strength, but there are no particularly outstanding ones. Young Master Ji is a Disciple of Tianshu Academy, so naturally, you understand them better than we do."
"Tianshu Academy really has no Face."
"Uh, Young Master Ji is indeed very straightforward—"
The three then moved to the southwest side of the right garden, where they found the last opponent they needed to pay attention to, beneath a tall rockery made of stacked stones.
It was a young man standing under a crabapple tree, dressed in a moon-white brocade robe with Auspicious Beast patterns subtly embroidered on it. A wide-brimmed dark jade belt was tied around his waist, and as the corners of his robe fluttered in the wind, his inner shirt, embroidered with river cliff patterns, would faintly appear.
Ding Yao hesitated slightly when she pointed him out, but finally spoke: "This person is named Yan Hao, the direct grandson of the Tianjian Peak Master. He is in the Tongxuan Upper Realm, skilled in using heavy swords, and his Sword Dao talent is also extraordinary—"
Ji You carefully observed Yan Hao and nodded gently.
Seeing this, Ding Yao's heart was actually somewhat complicated, because no matter what, Yan Hao's participation in this battle also represented the Face of Lingjian Mountain.
Her own Master Jian had sold out Yan Hao for her lover, which in her opinion was too much concern for personal romance. This shouldn't be something the previous Master Jian, who was always strategizing, would do, because the former Family Head had always prioritized Lingjian Mountain.
This was also the reason for her earlier hesitation, yet she could not disobey Master Jian's command.
Ji You stared at Yan Hao for a long time before speaking: "Go back and tell Yan Shuyi that I'll handle this matter?"
Ding Yao was startled upon hearing this: "Handled by Young Master Ji—what?"
"What the tsundere wants most right now is to weaken Tianjian Peak's influence within your Sect, as evidenced by forcefully taking 20% of the Medicinal Pills during the New Year. So, if Yan Hao loses, and loses badly, it will likely shake a large number of Tianjian Peak Disciples."
Ji You rolled up his sleeves: "Imagine if even the Peak Master's direct grandson is so weak, what meaning is there for those whose resources are inferior to his to remain at Tianjian Peak? Don't worry, leave this matter to me. This is all I can do now."
As Ding Yao listened, her eyes gradually widened.
Then she thought for a moment, opened her mouth again, and looked back at Yan Hao, who was laughing and chatting with his friends.
How could it be understood this way?
She had never thought that Master Jian's intention was this.
But after Ji You explained it, she suddenly realized that compared to the Face of Lingjian Mountain, the most pressing issue within their Sect was actually the internal conflict of the hidden opposition between Tianjian Peak and Xuanjian Peak.
Master Jian had only been in power for a short time, and Tianjian Peak's foundation was still the deepest.
Among the Disciples who entered the mountain each year, Tianjian Peak was always the first choice, because Tianjian Peak had many Elders, which meant more opportunities.
But if the Peak Master's direct grandson truly lost, and lost in a somewhat undignified manner, it would certainly influence the Disciples' thoughts when choosing a mountain.
But most people wouldn't think that way, would they? Ding Yao turned to look at Ji You. If it were someone else, perhaps they would only think that having a wife in a high position was too comfortable or something—
Zhuo Wanqiu was different from Ding Yao; she focused more on the latter part: "Young Master Ji, this Yan Hao is not to be underestimated. You must not be careless; you should treat him cautiously."
Ding Yao also came back to her senses at this time: "Junior Sister Zhuo is right, Yan Hao's strength is indeed very strong."
In fact, apart from a few Disciples of Tianshu Academy, very few people knew that Ji You's spot was obtained by defeating two cultivators of the same realm with four swords, forcing the Elder Council to yield the spot.
This was different from when he broke through the Tianjian Peak Sword Forest and went on a mission to the Snow Region. Those incidents brought Face to Tianshu Academy when publicized, but if this matter were to spread, it would harm the Face of Tianshu Academy's Elder Council.
Therefore, Ding Yao and Zhuo Wanqiu were not very clear about Ji You's current strength, lacking a concept, making them prone to worry.
Ji You nodded upon hearing this: "I will first observe a few matches; I won't be overconfident. You two go back first. If others see you two accompanying me, then my Little Master Jian and I won't be able to explain ourselves."
Zhuo Wanqiu couldn't help but cough, thinking, *hadn't it already been inexplicable for a long time?*
Tsundere—
Her scalp couldn't help but tingle, thinking, *besides you, who else in this world would dare to address Master Jian with those three words?*
"Will Young Master Ji go to the backyard to see Master Jian later?"
"Is the backyard a place anyone can go to?"
"The direct Disciples of each Sect are all in the backyard, so you need to submit an invitation. However, Young Master Ji naturally doesn't need to; you just need to call us."
After listening, Ji You thought for a moment: "If I can find a suitable reason, I'll go. If not, then forget it. The relationship between Tianshu Academy and Lingjian Mountain isn't good after all."
Zhuo Wanqiu bowed after hearing this and bid farewell to Ji You.
Ding Yao followed her, but her expression was still somewhat complex. After walking halfway, she couldn't help but speak: "I previously thought Master Jian valued Young Master Ji more than Lingjian Mountain."
Zhuo Wanqiu looked at Ding Yao: "Lingjian Mountain will always be the most important in Master Jian's heart. We should not question that. However, we should be fortunate, fortunate that Young Master Ji thinks the same way."
"But—how did Master Jian know that Young Master Ji would understand immediately?"
"Perhaps Master Jian really just wants her lover to win? It's probably Young Master Ji who truly wants to do something for her."
(I've been too busy recently. In the coming period, probably seven or eight days, I'll be able to update more. The reason is that my previous book is about to be published, and there are many things to handle. However, I'm very satisfied with the plot I've written in the past few days; I feel incredibly clear-headed.)
(I mentioned before it went on sale that I don't want to write a story with a single perspective all the way through this time. I hope to do a vertical expansion. This book is telling me whether I can write this way or not. This recent mix of multiple perspectives is also an attempt, and now I feel my experience points are soaring, and I'm increasingly feeling my own growth, which makes me incredibly happy.)
(The main storyline hasn't been lost; it will proceed alongside the Heavenly Dao Conference, or rather, it's related to the Xianxian Holy Land.)
(Finally, please vote for me with monthly tickets.)
