Chapter 91: The Day After the Li Clan Banquet

The day after the Li Clan banquet concluded.

In the distant Yuzhou, the Imperial City.

Within that luxurious palace, which gathers countless gazes from across the world yet remains difficult to peer over its towering walls.

An ancient hall standing for a thousand years, solemn and majestic, with a dark golden dragon-scaled carpet stretching from the entrance to the steps of the dragon throne inside.

The civil and military officials residing in Yuzhou were arrayed on both sides.

From the First Rank ministers, Grand Tutors and Grand Preceptors, and Generals-in-Chief, down to the Fourth Rank prefects of various provinces and the Libationers of the Imperial Academy, all bowed their heads and hung their hands in reverence.

Even the lowest among these officials could make the commoners of dozens of cities prostrate themselves just by stamping their feet.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty."

"The Li Clan of Qingzhou held a family banquet yesterday and announced to the world that the Li Clan has produced another Divine Child!"

Someone said respectfully in a memorial.

The imposing figure sitting upright on that profound and solemn dragon throne, though aged in appearance, had a straight posture, wore a black robe embroidered with nine black dragons, and his gaze was as piercing as a candle flame, looking down upon all the officials.

Upon hearing this, a faint smile seemed to appear on his face.

"Your Majesty, it is said that this Qilin Child is none other than Li Hao, whom you blessed and named fourteen years ago!"

"He is also the son of the Minister of Justice, Marquis Xing Wu, who came here to receive his enfeoffment just a few days ago!"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

The other officials could not help but offer their praises and congratulations.

"Your Majesty foresaw fourteen years ago that this child possessed peerless talent; he is truly like a general star descending to the mortal world. This is indeed the good fortune of our Great Yu!"

Someone said happily, his face full of excitement.

"Fourteen years ago, the Marquis of Zhenguo pacified the century-old demon plague in Cangzhou, slaying great demons and slaughtering demon kings. Unfortunately, he was drawn into that Netherworld-level Mo River and died with regret in Cangzhou; to this day, his heroic soul has nowhere to return."

"Perhaps this Li Hao is the reincarnation of the Marquis of Zhenguo's general star, a new lucky general bestowed upon our Great Yu by the heavens!"

Someone said with great passion.

Facing the congratulations of the officials, the thoughts in the eyes of the figure on the dragon throne seemed to be pulled back to that painful day more than a decade ago.

That infant who had been bestowed his own dragon-blood treasure jade had now grown into a youth and achieved such accomplishments? A faint smile appeared on his face, and his gaze seemed to sweep past the hall, looking toward Qingzhou, ten thousand miles away.

"Your Majesty, this child has peerless talent, yet he has never revealed his reputation before. I believe the Li Clan needs to provide an explanation."

After the congratulations ended, someone suddenly stood out and said: "Deceiving Your Majesty should be punished!"

The crowd was astonished and glanced slightly to the side; seeing it was the Marquis of the Helian Clan, also from the Divine General Mansion, they suddenly realized, and it was no surprise.

Among the five Divine General Mansions, there were those with closer relationships, such as the Wang Clan and the Li Clan, who had marriage alliances.

Where there is intimacy, there is naturally estrangement, and even mutual disdain, which was the case between the Li Clan and the Helian Clan.

Seeing that His Majesty had not spoken, another military official stepped out. He was a Second Rank Commander who had campaigned with the Li Clan, and he said respectfully:

"Marquis, I believe that the Marquis Xing Wu and his wife have been campaigning in Yanbei for many years, leaving their young child alone in the courtyard with no one to rely on. Naturally, they wanted their child to hide his cultivation to avoid being harmed or spied upon. This is understandable!"

"Hmph!"

Helian Boya snorted coldly: "Although the young child is small, there are layers of military protection within the Divine General Mansion. Who could harm him secretly? Are you questioning the loyalty of those noble ladies of the Li Clan, believing they would harm the young child?"

Most of the ladies of the Li Clan had been granted ranks; for example, the First Lady, He Jianlan, was a First-Rank State Lady.

Although they had no real power, their status was extremely high, and they could enter the palace to see the Emperor at any time. Even if they committed a crime, the Ministry of Justice could not punish them directly.

"I believe that the Li Clan has been suppressing demons for many years and has slain countless demons, so they have long been hated by countless demons. Such precautions are not a mistake."

The Commander still said with his head bowed.

Helian Boya sneered: "Are you saying that there are still demons in Qingzhou who dare to invade? Do you dare to look down on the Li Clan?"

"Marquis, I think there is some reason for the Li Clan to act so cautiously. Now that Li Hao has reached the Fifteen-Li Realm and has the power to protect himself, if he reaches the Grandmaster Realm in a few years, he can go anywhere in the world and will no longer have any worries."

Another civil official stepped out and said with a smile: "Moreover, now that the Marquis Xing Wu has just returned, he has announced it to the world, and he has no intention of deceiving Your Majesty. It is just a trivial matter, why must the Marquis be so serious?"

"Since it is a trivial matter, it should not have been hidden." Helian Boya still said.

The crowd shook their heads secretly, feeling that this Marquis's challenge was unreasonable, but they were used to it.

Over the years, regarding the Li Clan's enfeoffments, except for the time fourteen years ago when the Li Clan's True Dragon fell and the world was in mourning, and the Helian Clan dared not speak, they mostly had to interject a few words at other times.

Including this time when the Marquis Xing Wu returned triumphantly from Yanbei, pacified the demon chaos, repelled the Holy Palace, and made great contributions, this Marquis of the Helian Clan also stared at the duration of the war and the severe consumption of grain and fodder to argue for half the session.

During the more than ten years of fighting in Yanbei, many of the Helian Clan and their close civil and military officials were picking faults in the rear, and some even proposed unrealistic impeachments of the Marquis Xing Wu.

But everyone knew that only the Helian Clan could say these things; if anyone else picked faults like this, they would have been labeled as treacherous officials and beaten to death long ago.

And the Helian Clan had countless merits. You could say that their relationship with the Li Clan was extremely poor, which was known to everyone, but you could not say they were treacherous officials.

After all, the blood shed by the Helian Clan outside the border was not little; it was more than enough to dye several cities red.

"This Marquis Boya is too impatient. Now that the Marquis Xing Wu has made contributions, even if he made a mistake at such a juncture, he could not be punished, let alone such a small matter..."

Many officials thought to themselves.

At this time, the Emperor of Yu on the dragon throne raised his hand to calm the argument and said with a smile: "Minister Liu is right. It is just a trivial matter, not worth mentioning. This time, the Marquis Xing Wu has made contributions in battle, protecting the border while sacrificing his small family; his loyalty is clear to the sun and moon. Let's talk about the Cangyu City matter."

Seeing that the Emperor of Yu had made a determination, Helian Boya glanced at the civil official, snorted coldly, and said no more, only turning his head to look at the dragon pillar in the hall to express his dissatisfaction, as if to say, you guys talk, I won't participate.

Everyone knew that in such matters, it was fine if the Helian Clan did not participate, but if they did, they would definitely pick faults, so they did not pay much attention to him and began to discuss.

"Cangyu City was almost destroyed. Yue Shuhong pleaded guilty and has been imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison. The confession of guilt is written clearly. Thanks to that young master of the Li Clan, the city of Cangyu was protected. He is truly a hero in his youth!"

"Counting one by one according to the number of demons slain, he should be enfeoffed as a First-Rank Viscount."

"He has merit in protecting the city, and the number of commoners in the whole city is large. I think there should be additional rewards..."

Many officials began to discuss.

Jingzhou, in a forest outside Flying River City.

Trees dozens of meters thick were rapidly crushed and collapsed, being pushed aside like weeds. A fierce tiger over ten meters long darted rapidly, with four large eyes on each side of its belly, flashing with ferocious and strange red light.

But at this moment, several of its eyes were stabbed, closed, and bleeding continuously.

Suddenly, the fierce tiger turned its head to look. With a 'whoosh', golden light from beyond the heavens flew over, and a figure exuding brilliant golden light with a Buddha wheel behind its back killed its way into the forest.

This Buddha-like soul had the face of a youth, his expression calm, with no killing intent, but his attacks were extremely fierce.

"Roar!!"

The fierce tiger roared, letting out a howl: "Li Clan, I will not let you go even if I die!!"

"Then go to hell!"

The youth's soul slapped down, and violent divine power suppressed the fierce tiger.

A demon shadow also emerged from behind the fierce tiger, but before it could rush out several feet, it was suppressed by the palm of the Buddha-light golden shadow.

"Children, avenge me. The one who killed me is the Li Clan of Qingzhou—"

The roar spread throughout the mountain forest.

But it stopped abruptly. The demon soul dissipated, and the giant tiger's body could not stop, rolling forward and knocking down a dozen large trees before it stopped. Half of the eyes on its body were already closed, and it had no more breath.

In its amber pupils, the figure of a youth chasing from the forest behind was reflected, until the youth approached and stopped, and the sand under his feet splashed onto the tiger's eyes.

The youth observed for two eyes, then stepped on it fiercely several times, shattering its tiger head before stopping.

"Slaying this great demon should be a First-Rank merit..."

The youth said to himself.

He was none other than Li Qianfeng, who had descended the mountain into the world.

He bent down to cut off the tiger head and was about to leave when suddenly a purple sparrow, the size of a palm but moving like a sharp arrow with a slight sound, flew over from beyond the heavens.

The youth was slightly stunned, dropped the large tiger head, and reached out to catch the purple sparrow.

This was a small demon sparrow raised by his mother, extremely good at flying. Its own combat power might not even be at the Zhou Tian Realm, but even some Shenyou Realm martial artists might not be able to catch up with it.

The demon race's cultivation realm is slow, but they have their own various supernatural powers, just like the human race can cultivate rapidly.

The purple sparrow opened its mouth and spat out an oil-paper-like letter.

Li Qianfeng rubbed it open to look, and the slightly confused expression on his face changed instantly.

Fifteen-Li Realm?

Li Hao? Who is that?

Seventh Uncle's son? Shock appeared in Li Qianfeng's eyes. The key was what the letter said: the other party was only... fourteen years old!

Four years younger than himself?

He had only stepped into the Fifteen-Li Realm at seventeen, but the other party had done it three years early! Although these three years did not count for much before the Heavenly Human Realm, it showed the huge gap in their talent.

Moreover, if Li Qianfeng remembered correctly, this speed of progress was even more powerful than Ninth Uncle's! The letter was instantly crushed into powder by two fingers.

Li Qianfeng's face was covered in dark clouds. Originally, his target was only Li Wushuang, but the other party was at the Spirit Wandering Realm, and he did not have too much pressure.

Instead, he still had some energy left to guard against Eldest Aunt's son and daughter, those cousins.

And Third Aunt's only daughter, that cousin who had joined the army at fifteen and was now a female general.

But they were older, and although they had merits, the True Dragon looked more at talent. Among those of the same age, he was the first to step into the Fifteen-Li Realm at seventeen!

But now... a Li Hao had suddenly appeared.

A small character he had never noticed before.

"Cultivating by himself, it's impossible to be so fast. Ninth Uncle also stepped into the Fifteen-Li Realm at fifteen. Could it be that the older generation made a move..." Li Qianfeng frowned.

He recalled that the other party seemed not to have worshipped a famous teacher and was staying in the family mansion.

This gave him a chance to come into contact with the older generation of the Li Clan.

But, can't the older generation of the Li Clan influence the younger generation before the True Dragon is confirmed? This would be biased! "It seems that when I reach the ancestral hall, I must ask the ancestors to come forward to verify. Also, does this matter need to be notified to Master?"

Li Qianfeng looked into the distance, the light in his gloomy eyes flickered for a moment, and finally, it was covered by a touch of arrogance: "Forget it."

He picked up the tiger head and returned rapidly to Flying River City.

"With this merit, I will go back early to see."

Qingzhou, within the Divine General Mansion.

After the family banquet ended, the Shanhe Courtyard returned to tranquility from the hustle and bustle, but it was still much livelier than usual. From time to time, concubines and ladies from various courtyards came to give gifts, leading their children to greet Li Hao, wanting to get familiar with this future True Dragon of the Li Clan.

Among these concubine-born children, some were well-behaved and sensible, some were cautious and nervous, and some had already learned to flatter.

One after another, they all got to know Li Hao, which also allowed Li Hao to see the difficulties of these concubine-born children.

At least when he was forced by his parents to flatter another youth, he should have felt embarrassed, but some children were already skilled at it.

This kind of thing seemed to have nothing to do with maturity and experience. Some children were more eloquent than adults, purely a difference in personality and character.

And Li Hao's personality was of the somewhat idle kind, just letting things be.

It was early morning again.

Li Hao was still sleeping soundly when he suddenly heard his bedroom door being knocked.

He opened his eyes, swept his spiritual sense, and saw that outside the door was his father's favorite general, Yu Xuan.

He turned over and said: "Are you calling me to practice martial arts again?"

Yu Xuan thought of that day's incident, a bitter smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he said: "Young Master, the Marshal wants you to wash up and go with him to pay respects to the ancestors, and by the way, ask the ancestors to decide on the True Dragon matter."

Li Hao raised his eyebrows, thought for a moment, sat up, and called Qingzhi to change his clothes quickly.

Soon, the washing was finished. Li Hao pushed open the door, looked at the young man, and said lightly: "Let's go."

Yu Xuan knew that Li Hao was angry with him because of the painting, but he didn't care and reached out: "Young Master, please."

Walking through the corridor, they arrived at the main hall of the main courtyard.

Li Hao saw his father, who had already taken off his armor and changed into white clothes, but his temperament was not as elegant as Fifth Uncle's, likely due to years of campaigning, and his face carried a bit of murderous majesty.

(End of chapter)