Chapter 223: Banquet: An Invitation from Venerable Yao Guang

The Primordial Secret Realm was very close to the continent of the Virtual Universe Company's universal headquarters, and with Venerable Yao Guang's spaceship traveling at such high speed, Lu Qingshan and Venerable Yao Guang returned to the headquarters continent very quickly.

After a lively conversation with Venerable Yao Guang in his residence, Lu Qingshan soon returned to his own residence and immediately began studying the Purple Thunder Stepping Heaven Boots bestowed upon him by Master Lord Lord Bingfeng Zhi.

It must be said that as a Universe Master, Master Lord Lord Bingfeng Zhi's insight was extremely astonishing.

Merely casually bestowing a heavy treasure boot, the law secret patterns upon it were extremely compatible with Lu Qingshan's own previously created movement supreme art.

For Lu Qingshan, he only needed to slightly modify his original movement supreme art to fully match this heavy treasure boot, naturally saving him a great deal of effort.

After all, for most powerful beings, it was very common to recreate compatible secret arts because of a heavy treasure.

After slightly familiarizing himself with the Purple Thunder Stepping Heaven Boots, Lu Qingshan quickly connected to the Virtual Universe again and then rushed to the residence of Zifeng Zunzhe on the mid-slope of Lei Ting Island.

For Zifeng Zunzhe, Lu Qingshan had always been deeply grateful.

Although he had now smoothly cultivated to the peak of Hei Fengwang and possessed power at the Hei Fengwang Invincible level, and even by chance had acquired wealth of several hundred heavy treasure points.

Yet if Zifeng Zunzhe had not helped back then, he would have been fundamentally impossible to obtain so many treasures.

Let alone the heavy treasures of the soul category, the more important ones were those treasures capable of helping World Master-level powerful beings break through to the Immortal level.

If it were not for these treasures allowing Lu Hongwen and others to smoothly break through to the Immortal realm, then now Lu Qingshan likely would not have a single child at his knee.

And since he now held enough resources in hand, the debt he owed Zifeng Zunzhe back then certainly had to be repaid.

Although Venerable Yao Guang had once said that even if he went to repay, Zifeng Zunzhe would not accept it, whether to accept was Zifeng Zunzhe's choice, but whether to repay was his own issue.

Moments later, Lu Qingshan, clad in purple-gold battle armor, appeared directly before the palace gate of Zifeng Zunzhe.

"Ten Thousand Worlds King!"

Before the palace gate, an Immortal-level guard, upon seeing Lu Qingshan's figure, quickly said respectfully: "The Venerable has already instructed that once you arrive, you may enter directly!"

"Mm!" Lu Qingshan nodded slightly, then stepped directly into the palace.

He had already given notice before coming to visit Zifeng Zunzhe, so naturally he would encounter no obstruction at this time.

After walking into the palace hall, Lu Qingshan quickly saw Zifeng Zunzhe wearing a set of purple long robes.

"Greetings, Zifeng Zunzhe!" Lu Qingshan quickly bowed and performed a salute.

"Junior Brother Qingshan!"

Zifeng Zunzhe quickly stepped forward two paces to help Lu Qingshan up, then spoke with feigned dissatisfaction: "You come to your senior brother's place and are still so polite?"

Actually, after receiving Lu Qingshan's visit message earlier, Zifeng Zunzhe's heart was also somewhat confused.

For this little fellow Lu Qingshan, he was naturally not unfamiliar.

It was just that back then, after retrieving the top-tier auxiliary flight supreme treasure 'Jin Yu Silver Wings' from Master Lord Lord Bingfeng Zhi's hands, he felt 'Jin Yu Silver Wings' was too precious, that he could not unleash its full power, so he directly contributed it to the clan.

Afterwards, he even used the supreme treasure points obtained after contributing Jin Yu Silver Wings to exchange a set of top-tier weapons and armor from the clan treasury, and even a high-grade supreme treasure wing, a ordinary domain-type supreme treasure, a ordinary palace-type supreme treasure, and a ordinary soul-type supreme treasure.

And this caused his wealth to surpass all Universe Dominators of the Human Clan, and even those three top-tier Universe Dominators might not be able to compare with him.

Precisely because of this, Zifeng Zunzhe had been familiarizing himself with the newly acquired treasures during this recent period, and naturally could not pay attention to a small Hei Fengwang Immortal like Lu Qingshan.

When he first received Lu Qingshan's message, he thought Lu Qingshan had something to ask for his help, but he did not expect Lu Qingshan had already bowed to Master Lord Lord Bingfeng Zhi's tutelage and directly become his junior brother.

Later, after querying the various data concerning Lu Qingshan, his heart was both sighing and envious.

The sighing was naturally because of Lu Qingshan's rather legendary experiences; as for the envy, it was naturally because Lu Qingshan possessed the ability of clones.

As for the news that Lu Qingshan had acquired many heavy treasures on the Outer Battlefield, for him it could not be counted as anything.

After all, he had previously directly obtained Jin Yu Silver Wings, such an auxiliary flight-type top-tier supreme treasure; speaking purely of luck, he probably did not lose to an ordinary Universe Master.

In fact, if Jin Yu Silver Wings had not emerged in two separate parts, then he, such a Universe Dominator, absolutely would not even have had the qualification to participate in the struggle!

Of course, while various thoughts flashed through his mind, Zifeng Zunzhe also quickly invited Lu Qingshan to take a seat.

After the two sat down as host and guest, Zifeng Zunzhe quickly waved his hand to send fine wine and delicacies to Lu Qingshan, then asked with a smile: "Junior Brother Qingshan, you coming to my place this time, is there some important matter?"

"It is like this!"

Lu Qingshan quickly replied: "Senior Brother Zifeng, I came to your place this time, first to invite you to attend the banquet I will hold in three years at my residence on the headquarters continent; second is to repay the two heavy treasure points I owed you, senior brother, back then!"

After finishing these words, Lu Qingshan moved his mind, and quickly transferred two heavy treasure points to Zifeng Zunzhe through the Virtual Universe.

"Junior brother, rest assured, I will definitely go personally to attend the banquet you are holding this time!"

Zifeng Zunzhe, while raising his wine cup to signal, returned the heavy treasure points to Lu Qingshan along the original path: "As for these heavy treasure points, they were merely a joking remark from back then; junior brother, you need not take them seriously!"

"Senior Brother Zifeng!"

Lu Qingshan likewise raised his wine cup and drank it down in one gulp, then spoke solemnly: "Back then, if it were not for your help, senior brother, the people close to me would likely all have perished by now!"

"Just for that, junior brother is already infinitely grateful; moreover, senior brother you back then also put in two heavy treasure points for junior brother me. If senior brother you do not accept it now, junior brother will likely have no face to come and see you in the future!"

After finishing these words, Lu Qingshan quickly transferred the heavy treasure points to Zifeng Zunzhe again.

"Junior Brother Qingshan, you..."

Zifeng Zunzhe shook his head slightly, then sighed: "Enough, this time I will follow junior brother's wish... come, drink!"

At the same time, Zifeng Zunzhe also made up his mind in his heart that when attending the banquet, he would use these two heavy treasure points to prepare a rather precious gift for Lu Qingshan.

Do not think two heavy treasure points are very little; after all, even the Purple Thunder Sky-Wing Sword in Lu Qingshan's hand is still less than one heavy treasure point.

Moreover, Lu Qingshan is after all still a Hei Fengwang Immortal, and what is being held is merely a banquet.

A gift of this level already counts as infinitely precious!

After a bout of hearty drinking, Lu Qingshan quickly took his leave from Zifeng Zunzhe's residence.

And after leaving Zifeng Zunzhe's residence, Lu Qingshan personally went to invite other powerful beings.

Such as the Sky Erosion Palace Master, Yin Ying Junzhu, and even Zifeng Zunzhe of the Universe Mercenary Alliance...

King King Fengying Wang, Sovereign Beihai, Hearing Qingping Wang, and so on...

After personally inviting many important figures, Lu Qingshan quickly realized his consciousness back to reality, then with his third son Lu Hongwen, disciple Huo Gesi, and others, began preparing the various items needed for the banquet.

Just like this, time constantly passed, and very quickly three years later arrived.

To prepare for this banquet about to begin, Lu Qingshan had already ordered many rare delicacies from the Human Territory, and even from the territories of many allies within the Hong Alliance City.

Although these matters didn't require him to worry excessively, they had cost him nearly a trillion Huan Yuan units of wealth.

Fortunately, he had reaped great gains on the Outer Battlefield earlier; otherwise, he might have been forced to squander precious treasures to exchange for Huan Yuan units.

On the day of the banquet, Lu Qingshan arrived early at the mansion entrance with his third son Lu Hongwen, seventh son Lu Hongyuan, disciple Huo Gesi, Ai Na, and others.

In addition, there was also the Peak of Marquis-level powerhouse, Director of the Liuguang Branch Military Department, "Zixin Marquis" Luo Gen!

In fact, with the status of Zixin Marquis "Luo Gen," he was qualified to be a guest.

Yet to draw closer to Lu Qingshan, he had been bustling about tirelessly during Lu Qingshan's banquet preparations, even more diligent than Huo Gesi and others.

Lu Qingshan naturally understood the reason—Long Tao Wang had already visited his mansion to explain the situation with Qingyang Marquis.

Although Long Tao Wang's strength was slightly inferior to Lu Qingshan's current level, he was a disciple of Zifeng Zunzhe, his power roughly equal to that of Jing Lei Wang and Lei Huanwang, and likewise a pillar among the Virtual Universe Company's King-tier immortals.

Moreover, for powerful figures like Lu Qingshan and Long Tao Wang, the struggle for the position of Liuguang Branch Director was merely a trivial matter.

Previously, when Lu Qingshan had mentored Luo Gen, the man's character and conduct had been quite commendable; furthermore, Luo Gen's master, Jing Lei Wang, was a sworn brother of Lu Qingshan's master, Lei Huanwang, so Lu Qingshan had not opposed him using Lu Qingshan's name, merely instructing Huo Gesi to privately warn him.

As for the numerous service staff within the mansion, all were immortal military lords and numerous realm lords transferred by Lord Heifeng from the Virtual Universe Company's transportation department.

As time passed, invited guests arrived one after another.

These guests varied in strength—some were merely ordinary immortals, such as Lu Qingshan's old friends Mo Kexun, Karista, and "Zimang" Luo Si…

The strongest were Sovereign Beihai and even King King Fengying Wang, peerless King-tier powerhouses…

At this moment, the Intelligence Department's Zunzhe Qingping quickly approached.

"Zunzhe Qingping!"

Lu Qingshan hurried forward to greet him warmly: "Welcome to my banquet!"

Long ago, Zunzhe Qingping had lent him hundreds of billions of Huan Yuan units during the Hong Alliance's grand auction, when he had not yet revealed much of his strength—this had been truly rare and precious at the time!

"Wanjie Wang!"

After sensing Lu Qingshan's warmth, Zunzhe Qingping smiled and produced a prepared gift, handing it to Huo Gesi beside Lu Qingshan.

Yet just as Lu Qingshan invited Zunzhe Qingping into the mansion for the banquet, Zunzhe Qingping produced another gift.

"Not yet!"

Zunzhe Qingping waved his hand and whispered: "Wanjie Wang, this gift was specially entrusted to me by Zifeng Zunzhe!"

"Zifeng Zunzhe had originally intended to attend your banquet personally, but as you know, our Intelligence Department's nature makes it difficult—Zifeng Zunzhe is currently planning a major operation and cannot leave for now!"

Hearing this, Lu Qingshan nodded quickly: "I understand!"

"Then, Wanjie Wang, you attend to your duties—I'll go in and chat with others!" After delivering the gift from Yin Ying Junzhu, Zunzhe Qingping smiled and said.

"Good!"

Lu Qingshan nodded and immediately instructed his seventh daughter Lu Wenxuan to personally guide Zunzhe Qingping to the banquet hall.

……

Thus, one guest after another arrived, and Lu Qingshan, accompanied by his third son Lu Hongwen and others, continuously received each guest.

To be sure, Lu Qingshan's banquet was even more lively than the one hosted by Tian Shi Princess immediately after she had just broken through to the King-tier level.

This was not because Lu Qingshan's potential or strength surpassed Tian Shi Princess's at the time, but because he had walked from weakness to power and knew far more people than Tian Shi Princess had then.

Especially now, with his peerless King-tier strength, his body doubles, and his status as a disciple of Lord Lord Bingfeng Zhi Zhu, his position within the Virtual Universe Company's lineage was already quite impressive.

Moments later, several streaks of light flew from afar—it was the Jinjiao race, led by Kelimansi, who had once guided Lu Qingshan.

Seeing Kelimansi, Lu Qingshan was slightly surprised.

Although he had invited the man earlier in Hong Alliance City, he had not expected him to come in person.

After all, as an alien cosmic Sovereign, Kelimansi needed to go through elaborate procedures to appear in the human race's core territory—the Virtual Universe Company's central continent.

Of course, though inwardly astonished, Lu Qingshan quickly stepped forward: "Elder Kelimansi, welcome to my banquet!"

"Hahaha!"

Kelimansi laughed heartily: "Wanjie Wang, your great display of power on the Outer Battlefield has truly made your name echo across the universe—now countless races' powerful beings know your renown!"

"I was just lucky!"

Lu Qingshan smiled quickly: "And if not for Elder Kelimansi's two prior guidances, I might not have reached peerless King-tier strength so soon!"

Lu Qingshan was not being polite—indeed, as the first cosmic Sovereign to guide him, Kelimansi had greatly helped him.

It was precisely because he accepted Kelimansi's guidance under the aid of the Wu Dao enhancement function that he smoothly broke through to the High Peak of Marquis level; moreover, Kelimansi had gifted him a treasure to restore divine power.

Though this meant little to him, given his boundless Divine Sea body doubles, it still clearly demonstrated Kelimansi's and the Jinjiao race's sincerity.

"Wanjie Wang, you are far too humble!"

Kelimansi smiled: "If there's an opportunity, I hope you'll visit my Jinjiao race!"

"Our greatest elder, Xiluoduo, has recently forged a Sacred Stele. Though it doesn't align with your cultivation path, it might still spark some inspiration in you!"

"If Wanjie Wang visits my Jinjiao race, you may meditate at the Sacred Stele Tower for a time!"

"Thank you, Elder Kelimansi, for the invitation!"

Lu Qingshan replied quickly: "If an opportunity arises, I will certainly visit the Jinjiao race again! Please, come inside and enjoy the feast!"

"Mm." Kelimansi nodded slightly, then led the several Jinjiao race King-tier immortals behind him into the banquet hall under Huo Gesi's guidance.

As time passed, most guests had arrived, including over thirty cosmic Sovereigns.

Among these cosmic Sovereigns were those Lu Qingshan had invited, such as Tian Shi Princess, as well as some powerful beings who had come upon hearing the news.

Once all guests who could arrive had arrived, the banquet was finally ready to begin.

After offering a few words of welcome, Lu Qingshan immediately instructed Huo Gesi and others to commence the feast.

Yet for these guests, eating was secondary—chatting was the true purpose!

After all, those who attended this banquet, aside from those with some connection to Lu Qingshan, were all at least King-tier immortals.

Especially the cosmic Sovereigns—normally, meeting even one was difficult, yet now over thirty appeared together.

Especially for weaker guests, merely attending the same banquet as these cosmic Sovereigns was enough to let them boast for eons.

Over thirty Cosmic Venerables were divided into two groups: one consisted of cosmic hegemons such as the Sky-Eclipse Palace Master and Venerable Yao Guang, while the other comprised some relatively weaker Cosmic Venerables.

After Lu Qingshan walked up to those slightly weaker Cosmic Venerables, Dream Moon Venerable of the Virtual Universe Company lineage rose directly and began conversing with him.

Lu Qingshan was quite familiar with this Dream Moon Venerable; she was the youngest Cosmic Venerable of the Human Race before the Sky-Eclipse Palace Master, having cultivated for several million years before breaking through into the Venerable Realm.

When Lu Qingshan originally accepted the inheritance of the Four Divine Generals, he had also encountered Dream Moon Venerable's son and grandson going together to accept the Four Divine Generals' inheritance.

"King of Ten Thousand Worlds, your current strength is no longer suitable for the Outer Battlefield. Do you have any intention of venturing into a Cosmic Secret Realm?"

Dream Moon Venerable asked with a smile: "Several Cosmic Venerables and I are currently exploring a relatively safe Cosmic Secret Realm. If you are willing, you can join us!"

"No, thank you!"

Lu Qingshan quickly smiled and refused: "I plan to cultivate in seclusion for a while next, to see if I can break through to the Venerable Realm as soon as possible!"

Lu Qingshan naturally understood Dream Moon Venerable's intentions clearly in his heart.

The other party simply hoped that Lu Qingshan, who possessed the ability of a clone, would help investigate dangers; Venerable Yao Guang had warned him of this matter before, so of course he would not agree.

Moreover, cultivating in seclusion to break through directly to the Venerable Realm next was originally Lu Qingshan's plan.

Believing that with the assistance of the Dao-Comprehension Enhancement function, achieving this would not be too difficult; it would merely require spending a bit more time.

(End of this chapter)