"Congratulations, Cici."
Joy offered her heartfelt blessings.
"I'm still way behind you."
Cici giggled, but then shot Ian Song a plaintive look. "It's because Master favors you so much, isn't it?"
Joy hurriedly replied, "Not at all."
"Oh? Are you unhappy with your Master then?" Ian Song reached out and grabbed somewhere soft on Cici, his tone carrying a hint of threat.
"Of course I'm unhappy! I want Master to make it up to me."
Cici licked her lips, and her gaze grew unmistakably heated.
"If you want compensation, then your Master will gladly oblige!"
Ian Song gritted his teeth as he said this, then swiftly flipped over and pinned Cici beneath him, giving her a thorough 'punishment.'
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Victor Wang, Jason Zhuge, Jackson Wenren, Hannah Chen, Rhea Yan, Moira Ji, and a few others had spent almost two hours wandering around the city, picking up all sorts of little trinkets. They decided to have lunch at Moonview Tower, the best restaurant in Dragonskull City.
Moonview Tower was the top restaurant in Dragonskull City, and with Victor Wang set to host a banquet for all the young prodigies in a few days, business was absolutely booming.
The restaurant had both a main hall and private rooms.
The main hall could seat more than two hundred people, while there were only about twenty private rooms.
Jason Zhuge and the others were all scions of noble families or major sects, so of course they didn’t want to eat in the noisy main hall. They got lucky—just as they arrived, a private room happened to be available.
"Lead the way!"
Jackson Wenren tossed a ten-tael silver ingot to the waiter.
The waiter’s face lit up instantly, and he became even more enthusiastic. "Right this way, honored guests!"
Just then, a group of imposing young men and women walked in, led by a green-robed youth with an arrogant look. The yellow-robed youth behind him stepped forward and called out, "Waiter, get us a private room."
The waiter looked troubled and a bit uneasy. "Young master, you were just a moment late—the last private room was just taken by these guests. I hope you understand!"
Hearing that there were no private rooms, the yellow-robed youth's face instantly darkened. "I don't care if you have any left or not. Since we have arrived, you must arrange a private room for us!"
Seeing how forceful and unreasonable the other party was, the waiter felt bitter inside. "Young master, please have some understanding. There truly are no private rooms left. If you don't mind waiting, as soon as any guests finish their meal, we'll arrange a room for you right away. How does that sound?"
Smack!
The waiter was sent flying, landing right at Jackson Wenren and the others' feet.
"Who is this guy? So domineering. Are you okay, waiter?" Hannah Chen shot the yellow-robed youth a look of disgust and helped the waiter up.
Seeing the commotion, the manager hurried over with a worried face, smiling apologetically. "Young master, please don't mind that little fool. He doesn't know how to talk—don't take it to heart."
"Enough with the nonsense! Get us a private room right now, or I'll tear this shabby restaurant down!" the yellow-robed youth demanded relentlessly.
Jason Zhuge finally couldn't stand it and spoke up. "You're being totally unreasonable. Everything is first-come, first-served. If you wanted a private room, you should've reserved ahead or come earlier. Now you're making things difficult for the staff. Do you think this restaurant exists just for you?"
The yellow-robed youth let out a strange laugh, glanced meaningfully at Jason Zhuge and the others, then pulled out a thick stack of gold notes and stuffed them into the manager's arms. "Here's ten thousand taels of gold. I'm buying this restaurant!"
"Uh...?" The manager hesitated, looking uncertain.
"Is that not enough?" The yellow-robed youth stared coldly at the manager. "Fine, I'll add another five thousand!"
"No... that's not necessary!" The manager waved his hands quickly. Though he was only at Divine Sea Stage, his judgment was sharp. He couldn't gauge the yellow-robed youth's exact cultivation, but guessed it was at least Sigilforge or higher.
Besides, the restaurant was only worth about three or four thousand taels of gold. More importantly, with the Goblins possibly invading Dragonskull City at any time, selling for ten thousand was already a huge profit.
As for refusing the offer of fifteen thousand, the manager was worried about being held accountable later.
"No need, sir! I'm more than satisfied with ten thousand taels!"
"At least you know what's good for you."
The yellow-robed youth looked at the manager with satisfaction, then turned to Jason Zhuge and the others. "This place is mine now. All of you, get lost!"
Hearing this, Jason Zhuge and his group were furious, their faces flushed with anger.
"Are you leaving or not?"
Jackson Wenren looked to the group for their opinion. Leaving now would be a huge loss of face.
"What, can't you understand human speech? Get out, all of you! If you're not gone in three breaths, don't blame me for what happens next!" The yellow-robed youth said arrogantly, his face full of pride.
Hannah Chen couldn't stand it anymore and snapped back at the yellow-robed youth, "If you want to fight, then fight! Who's afraid of you?"
Ha!
The yellow-robed youth burst out laughing, a sly look flashing in his eyes. "You country bumpkins from Mystic Sun Region think you can take us on?"
"Who are you calling country bumpkins?"
That insult 'country bumpkins' infuriated all six of them.
"I'm talking about you, country bumpkins! What can you do to me?"
"You're asking for it!"
Victor Wang was furious and was about to draw his sword, but Moira Ji stopped him and sent a voice transmission to the group: "Something's off today. It looks like they're trying to force us into a fight—this is probably all planned."
After Moira Ji's analysis, the others realized it too—these people were way too deliberate; it was definitely premeditated.
"So what do we do? Are we just supposed to swallow our pride?" Victor Wang sent a voice transmission.
Moira Ji replied, "If they're prepared, we'll probably suffer if we fight."
"We can't back down, or we'll disgrace Mystic Sun Region!" Jackson Wenren sent to the group, making his stance clear.
"That's right, we can't back down!" Hannah Chen said angrily.
Just then, the yellow-robed youth's voice rang out again, even more grating than before.
"So, you country bumpkins from Mystic Sun Region—have you finished your little meeting? Are you leaving, or staying?"
Another of the group chimed in, his voice full of mockery: "Brother Ying, you're giving these bumpkins way too much credit. They think they can fight us?"
"That's right! Even if you lent them ten lives, they wouldn't dare fight us. If they did, I'd beat all six of them until they cried their way back to Mystic Sun Region!"
A third person spoke up, his tone full of insult and malice. It was obvious they were trying to provoke a fight!