Chapter 342: Welcome Banquet

Yuan Ling Zhenren had set up a sumptuous banquet in the Immortal Feast Hall of Queyun Palace to entertain the distinguished guests who had traveled all the way from the Borderlands (though not particularly far for a living being). There were not many people at the table; besides Yu Sheng, whom he knew, and Xuan Che and Yuan Ling Zhenren, there were only a few inner disciples who had come to keep them company. Fortunately, the awkward scene Yu Sheng had worried about—a huge crowd of strangers gathering in the hall to watch him eat—did not happen.

At the same time, the meal on the table truly opened Yu Sheng's eyes.

... Strictly speaking, there were hardly any items on that table that he recognized, even though Xuan Che had guaranteed in advance that all the food was prepared according to the tastes of the Borderlands people.

"I thought that once cultivators reached a certain realm, they would feast on wind and drink dew, surviving solely on the spiritual energy of heaven and earth," Yu Sheng sighed, looking at the food before him, "I didn't expect you to be so particular about cuisine."

"There are those who feast on wind and drink dew, and those who draw upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth—there are also those who delight in the desires of the mouth and stomach, and who can comprehend the Dao through every sip and bite," Yuan Ling Zhenren smiled. He did not put on airs during the meal and looked more like a cheerful ordinary old man. "Cultivating the Dao means cultivating the heart; what we cultivate is following one's heart while keeping the spiritual platform clear as a mirror. Hard cultivation is not the goal; the 'Dao' exists in all things of heaven and earth and is naturally unconstrained by form."

"I recall that the Eldest Senior Master once practiced the method of avoiding grains?" Xuan Che asked curiously from the side, "But later I heard him say the effect was poor, so he didn't persist..."

"What the hell is avoiding grains!" Yuan Ling Zhenren's eyes instantly widened, and he instantly lost all his dignity. "He asked me to refine two hundred pills of Grain-Avoiding Pills, claiming he would avoid grains for ten years, but he ate them all in one night. Then he comprehended the 'Compressed Grain-Avoiding Method' and said something about one day having the merit of ten years, asking me to refine another two hundred white-flower-cake-flavored pills for him! Do not listen to the nonsense he boasts to you—relying on a tough life to cultivate the Dao is not feasible."

Yu Sheng, listening from the side, felt too embarrassed to interrupt, but at least he realized that here, the master and disciple jointly roasting a certain "strange person" seemed to be a normal phenomenon. Even the inner disciples accompanying them, upon hearing the Eldest Senior Master's deeds, showed no change in expression; they were all bowing their heads and devouring their food...

Afterward, he looked up and glanced around himself. The first person he saw was Zheng Zhi sitting right beside him. To be honest, Yu Sheng had been quite worried about this guy at first. After all, the big nephew had been brought along in a daze, still looking completely confused before entering Queyun Palace. This had even made Yu Sheng consider opening a door again to send this unlucky fellow back, but now he realized he had been overthinking it.

The big nephew was also bowing his head and devouring his food, embodying the excellent mindset of following a leader out to improve one's diet: no matter what, eat first and pay respect.

Obviously, Gao Min's chronically low-stability constitution had somewhat tempered this young man's willpower; at the very least, he was truly skilled at adapting to his environment.

Of course, the one devouring the most fiercely at the scene had to be Hu Li. This Miss's head basically never lifted up; regardless of what was in the bowl, she just shoveled anything she saw into her mouth. The two Ailins standing beside her held plates on the table and poured food into her bowl (feeding her was mainly for fun), pouring almost as fast as she could eat...

How to put it? Yu Sheng had brought three people over here, excluding Zheng Zhi. Two of them were puppets who did not eat human food and could not enjoy the delicacies on the table, but Hu Li alone had made up for this point—perhaps even overcompensated.

At least half of the dining motivation of the disciples bowing their heads and devouring food around them was due to the immense survival pressure brought upon them by the fox-girl.

At this moment, Yuan Ling Zhenren also noticed the commotion. He looked up and glanced at the surroundings. Seeing his disciples burying their heads and stuffing their faces, he couldn't help but shake his head, but soon he smiled helplessly and apologized to Yu Sheng: "My disciples are strictly disciplined in their daily lives, but they indeed are not very familiar with the etiquette of dealing with people. Please forgive the embarrassment."

"No trouble, no trouble," Yu Sheng quickly waved his hand. "I actually prefer this kind of thing. If you really arranged for a circle of people who were so proper that even putting down chopsticks required eighteen procedures, and everyone had to recite a five-minute speech on drinking before lifting their wine cups, I really wouldn't be able to eat this meal; it wouldn't be enough to keep them busy."

"Then that is very good, very good," Yuan Ling Zhenren immediately clapped his hands and laughed heartily, looking very happy. "As long as you do not blame us for inadequate hospitality, haha."

"Why didn't Shishu Yuan He come?" Xuan Che looked up again at this moment and asked in a low voice.

"He went to pick up your Shibo," Yuan Ling Zhenren said, sighed, and then looked up to explain to Yu Sheng, "Yuan He is my junior brother, who holds the 'Beast Taming' sect of Qianfeng Lingshan. With distinguished guests arriving, he should have come to welcome you originally, but my senior brother... encountered some calamity. He has now luckily escaped the predicament and needs someone to receive him, so Yuan He went to pick him up."

Speaking of this, he paused, then added: "Actually, the original schedule was appropriate. It would take Xuan Che three to five days at least to return from the Borderlands. Who would have thought he arrived today?"

"Ah, it was my sudden whim on this end that disrupted your arrangements," Yu Sheng heard this, and his smile became a bit awkward. "Mainly because I hadn't planned that much beforehand."

"Ai, you shouldn't say that," Yuan Ling Zhenren quickly waved his hands, his expression showing some helplessness again. "It was my senior brother who caused the trouble... and made the guests laugh at us. To speak of it, I am ashamed. I know you came this time because of my senior brother's many strange experiences from his early years, wanting to learn many things from him, but my senior brother Yuan Hao... is a reckless and unbridled person. Although he indeed has countless strange encounters, when telling others, he always exaggerates and is casual, so it cannot be taken as accurate. When you hear it later, you may use it as a reference, but do not take it too seriously."

"Is it not so exaggerated?" Yu Sheng listened, his expression somewhat subtle. "I heard some of his Eldest Senior Master's experiences from Xuan Che. Although those stories were quite strange, as an 'adventurer,' he is quite admirable—ordinary people do not have his courage and luck."

"'Adventurer'? That is indeed a good title," Yuan Ling Zhenren sighed. "It would be even better if he could just honestly be his Sect Master..."

Hearing this, Yu Sheng was stunned and looked steadily at the Yuan Ling Zhenren before him, who had white beard and hair, an immortal-like demeanor, and looked exactly like the style of a sect leader: "... Isn't the Sect Master of Qianfeng Lingshan you?"

"No, I am the Executive Vice Sect Master."

When Yuan Ling Zhenren said this, he wore a helpless expression, raised his wine cup, and drank it down in one gulp, as if compressing hundreds of years of resentment into this single cup of wine.

"Back then, I shouldn't have accepted his seal, and even less should I have been tricked by him into agreeing to take on this duty... Ai, I was young and didn't understand back then, always thinking my senior brother wouldn't harm me."

Seeing this situation, Xuan Che on the side quickly spoke up: "Master, you have drunk too much."

"I have drunk too little," Yuan Ling Zhenren glared at Xuan Che. "If I had drunk too much, I would be flying on my sword out of the mountain right now to find your Shibo!"

Xuan Che immediately lowered his head: "One cannot fly on a sword after drinking..."

Yuan Ling Zhenren glared at Xuan Che, held it in for a long time, and finally let out a sigh: "Ai, this honest child, just like me back in the day."

Yu Sheng felt too embarrassed to interrupt on this topic, so he could only let out a few dry laughs from the side, then quickly changed the subject: "By the way, regarding the activities of the Hidden Cultivators Association..."

"I have already heard Director Bai Li speak on this matter," Yuan Ling Zhenren's expression immediately adjusted when discussing the Chongsheng Hidden Cultivators Association, and his tone became serious. "I have arranged for dispatched disciples at the border to go to the several nests where the Hidden Cultivators Association was originally discovered and start investigating again to see if there are any overlooked clues. At the same time, I have arranged personnel to review the files from that time to see if there were any oversights. In addition, I have contacted the other major sects of the Taixu Ling Shu, hoping they will also attach importance to this matter and pay more attention within their respective spheres of influence to see if there are any traces of those evil demons and outsiders."

Speaking of this, probably noticing a bit of curiosity in Yu Sheng's expression, Yuan Ling Zhenren paused and then explained again: "The Feiyu Star Domain is... not quite the same as your Borderlands. Its capital, 'Taixu Ling Shu,' is not dominated by a single sect. Although my Qianfeng Lingshan is revered as the head of the immortal families, there are also famous great sects like Yaolan, Hengxu, Youming Valley, and the Ten Halls of Woyun on this Taixu Star, each no weaker than Qianfeng Lingshan. The five major sects jointly govern Taixu Ling Shu and each has its own sphere of influence in the Feiyu Star Domain. Although they are friendly neighbors, I cannot command them."

Yu Sheng listened very seriously to this knowledge from outside the Borderlands, which was very novel to him. Meanwhile, Ailin, who was feeding Hu Li on the side, suddenly blurted out: "Then don't you fight?"

"Rude," Yu Sheng immediately glanced sideways at this rash little puppet, then turned his head to look at Yuan Ling Zhenren. "Then don't you fight?"

"Haha, we have fought before," Yuan Ling Zhenren didn't mind at all; obviously, this wasn't a sensitive topic. "But that is already 'ancient history' recorded in scrolls. To use the Borderlands' phrasing, that is already 'the history of the old world'."

"'The history of the old world'?" Yu Sheng raised his eyebrows. He didn't expect to hear this term from such a "immortal" with this kind of style in a realm ruled by cultivators, and immediately felt somewhat surprised.

"Yes, the old world. The Second Singularity Explosion was like an invisible heavenly moat in the river of time, spanning across the new and old worlds. Since there are many cultivators in Taixu Ling Shu, including many ancient monsters from the upper realms, and there are many strange books and ancient scrolls preserved, we are considered to have relatively more records of the 'old world' and a relatively common understanding of the matter of 're-creation of the world'. Even so, many records about the old world... have long since become vague."

"But some things can be confirmed: that the Feiyu Star Domain also had days of war and chaos with immortal sects fighting each other in the past. It even seems that until the very last moment of the old world, this realm was not very peaceful. Even after the heaven and earth were reopened and the universe was reshaped, Taixu Ling Shu continued to fight for a while based on 'inertia'... but those are all things of the past."

As Yuan Ling Zhenren spoke, he raised his hand to stroke his beard, his tone carrying a bit of emotion.

"By now, everyone has fought enough. After a recreation of the universe, the ancestors who were most capable of fighting back then seem to have all figured something out and have one by one hidden themselves outside the mundane world, leaving behind this reopened realm, which has finally been peaceful until today."

(End of Chapter)