Chapter 153: Invitation from Prince Qing's Wang Fu

Within this Great Yan capital, there are five districts: East, West, South, North, and Center.

The Forbidden City, serving as the imperial palace, sits at the very center of the entire capital, guarded on all four sides.

Besides the Forbidden City at the very center, a saying circulates among the common folk: The West is chaotic, the North is noble, the East is wealthy, and the South is poor.

The reason for this saying lies in the distinction made by the composition of the population in each district.

Most residents within the West District are outsiders; this group of martial artists has vigorous blood and qi, causing at least four or five martial arts brawls a day, hence the chaos.

Meanwhile, merchants and the ultra-wealthy mostly reside in the East District, aiming to stay away from the West District's disorder and gain peace.

Common people live in the South District, which has no news, while officials mostly reside in the North District.

Naturally, the Wang Fu of Prince Qing sits in the North District, just like other powerful figures of the current court.

After feeding the temperamental Ye Qingshi through the night, Fang Can set out alone from the West District early in the morning, heading toward the North District.

Compared to the noise of the West District, the entire atmosphere of the North District is completely different, with even the residential styles fully unified.

Just by seeing the size and specifications of these residences, one could roughly deduce the rank and status of their owners.

As one of the few Triple-Transformations in the entire court, Prince Qing's status in the Great Yan is naturally immense.

According to regulations, the main gate of his Wang Fu is embedded with sixty-three huge door nails; because of the banquet invitation today, most visitors arriving are young men dressed in tight-fitting clothes.

'Eightfold Xuan Gate, Ninefold Xuan Gate, Eightfold Xuan Gate...'

With a glance, Fang Can roughly estimated the strength of these youths through observation with both eyes and ears.

At this moment, although these youths acted freely and uninhibitedly, they were relatively respectful before the Wang Fu of Prince Qing.

Because the dozen or so armored guards standing at the gate were on par with them in realm; if a fight broke out, one of them could at most take on ten.

Let alone the thin and lean manager at the gate.

He appeared to receive guests one by one with a friendly and enthusiastic smile, but his internal energy was unfathomable, already exceeding the scope of the Shed Tui Tui Fan Qu realm.

'No wonder it's the Wang Fu of Prince Qing; even a single manager has at least a Single-Transformation cultivation.' Fang Can stared at that thin old man.

The Ascend to Heaven Path Realm cannot be judged by common sense; in the Shed Tui Tui Fan Qu realm, it is about who is taller, and the taller one is naturally stronger, while a short person is inherently three points weaker.

But within the Ascend to Heaven Path, various cunning and treacherous methods emerge endlessly, and sheer size really doesn't work well.

After observing from a distance for a while, Fang Can stepped forward.

As he approached, that thin manager, having just finished receiving the previous batch of guests, saw Fang Can, his eyes immediately lit up, and he rushed forward saying:

'I presume this must be the young hero Fang Can. The Prince specifically instructed me to pay attention to you; please, come into the mansion with me quickly.'

Having said this, amidst the surprised gazes of other martial artists, the manager directly abandoned the other martial artists and led Fang Can into the mansion.

'What's going on? Is Fang Can that important?'

'Exactly! None of us have entered the Ascend to Heaven Path; who isn't at the eighth or ninth level of the Xuan Gate?'

'Even if this Fang Can is fierce, he can at most take on three or four of us; what's so impressive about him?'

A group of young martial artists watched Fang Can entering the gate in the distance, feeling indignant in their hearts.

Besides this, some among them timidly shrank their necks, daring not to look directly at that receding figure.

At this moment, inside the guest reception hall, delicacies were abundant and dazzling, and jade liquid and nectar flowed like a stream.

As every martial artist stepped in, the announcer beside them would recite the ranking from the Heavenly Secret List.

'Number 195 on the Hidden Dragon List, Yang Feng, has arrived.'

Following the announcement, a youth wearing a golden silk brocade robe stepped in, attracting the gaze of everyone in the hall.

'Brother Yang Feng, I heard a few days ago you were beaten by Fang Can; how is it that your severed arm was reattached in just a few days?'

A martial artist looked at Yang Feng with a mocking gaze, drawing the attention of those around to gather.

'Lies... Lies! A sparring match doesn't count as being beaten.'

The youth named Yang Feng, not expecting to be mocked immediately upon entering, choked up, his neck stiffening and his face turning red.

A youth dressed in splendid brocade and wearing cloud-silk shoes said: 'A few days ago, my follower personally saw you stripped naked by Fang Can's follower and hung on a flagpole to be whipped.'

'Hmph! So what? I wasn't the only one who lost.'

Seeing himself exposed, Yang Feng completely gave up and started pointing fingers, saying: 'Li Xiuying, Zhao Siqian, Sun Guilian, Zhou...'

As Yang Feng made his grand roll call, all the martial artists named in the scene glared angrily at Yang Feng.

'These people were all defeated by Fang Can, so losing to Fang Can is no shame for me.' At the end of the roll call, Yang Feng made his evaluation.

And with this self-exposure, the entire scene erupted in laughter, with everyone looking at those stripped and hung on the flagpole with mocking gazes.

'Hahaha, interesting, too interesting. I heard your followers were following behind, at least a thousand Heart-Image martial artists, yet one by one they begged Fang Can to spare you.'

A rough youth with his collar open slapped the table and laughed:

'Is that Fang Can a Single-Transformation or a Double-Transformation? A thousand Heart-Image martial artists were on the scene, plus those lower-realm martial artists, at least ten thousand people, yet you didn't dare to fight Fang Can.'

'Do you think we haven't tried?' several of the named martial artists shouted angrily.

'That Fang Can is like a beast; even with thousands attacking together, he knocked them down in a few moves.'

Originally, Fang Can had left them a pair of loincloths, but due to the riot, even this last shred of dignity was torn away.

'Lies! That was thousands of martial artists, not thousands of pigs; even pigs couldn't be defeated so quickly.'

A Hidden Dragon List martial artist couldn't help but mock: 'Do you really believe that rumor about him defeating a Single-Transformation?'

'You haven't seen Fang Can, so of course you don't know; wait until you see him and talk nonsense, and I'll make you fly straight up.' Li Xiuying sneered coldly.

Regarding this, the other martial artists didn't care at all, thinking this group of martial artists had been beaten into submission by Fang Can and had become Fang Can's lackeys.

Just as they were being sarcastic and mocking each other, the announcer who had witnessed the whole thing from nearby said: 'Number One on the Ascending Dragon List, Fang Can has arrived!'

With a swish sound, the scene fell into silence, and everyone's gaze turned toward the entrance of the guest reception hall.

Since the entrance was a long flight of stairs leading upward, they could not see the arriving person, only hearing a steady sound of footsteps through their incredible hearing.

'Tap, tap...'

In the eyes of those martial artists who had been hung, each footstep sounded as if it were trampling upon their hearts.

Amidst the gaze of all, a white-haired youth gradually revealed his full form from the stairs, looking upon the entire hall with a gaze that looked down on everything.

'The younger generation of the Yan Kingdom... is nothing special.'

Accompanying this thought, Fang Can stepped forward, found an unoccupied seat, and sat down.

Looking at the delicacies placed before him, he picked up an apple and silently began to gnaw on it.

Yet when the martial artists who had spoken so boastfully before now faced Fang Can, the very person in question, they were not as arrogant as they had claimed with their words just moments ago.

An eerie silence spread through the hall.

(End of this chapter)