"Let's go, Brother Chu—let's head inside!"
Prince Rowan Vance walked back to Evan Chu and the others, smiling as he spoke.
Evan Chu nodded, then led Chloe Snow and the rest into the Universal Celebration Hall. The moment they stepped across the threshold, the scene shifted—a massive, tiered platform appeared before them, almost like four upside-down, super-sized lecture halls stacked together.
This tiered palace platform was divided into six levels.
At the very top sat six chairs—one dragon and five phoenix—clearly reserved for the emperor, empress, and imperial consorts.
The next level down held 108 seats, which, according to Prince Rowan, were for the old-generation princes and princesses.
The third tier had even more seats—these were for the current princes and princesses, first-rank officials, and various dukes.
The fourth tier was for second- and third-rank officials.
The fifth tier was for fourth-rank officials and the invited prodigies.
The sixth tier was reserved for fifth-rank officials.
On the fifth tier, Evan Chu found a metal nameplate engraved with his alias. His designated area was quite spacious, and behind his seat were ten unmarked spots—clearly prepared for the people he’d brought with him.
Although there was still nearly half an hour before the banquet officially began, most seats were already filled.
Evan Chu led his group up the steps and took their seats on the fifth tier.
On the table were all kinds of rare delicacies, fine spirits, spirit fruits, and spirit-beast meat, all free to enjoy.
To Evan Chu’s left sat the Heavenly Spirit Race prodigy section, including Bohan Bai, who had once fought Gavin Ji at the Imperial Dragon Arena.
There were seven Heavenly Spirit prodigies present—five men and two women.
All the men were bald, while the women had striking green hair. Evan Chu couldn’t help but joke to himself—maybe the men all shaved their heads because, in this world, there’s also a ‘green hat’ metaphor for getting cheated on, so they’d rather be bald.
"Brother Chu, I’m Bohan Bai!"
The next moment, Bohan Bai suddenly stood up and walked over to Evan Chu, greeting him very courteously.
"Nice to meet you, Brother Bai!"
Evan Chu stood up as well, smiling in response. He figured Bohan Bai was being so polite mostly because they both opposed the Ji Clan—after all, Bohan had lost to Gavin Ji before.
The other six Heavenly Spirit prodigies also came up to greet him, all behaving with genuine friendliness.
A few seats away, the Human prodigies watched this scene with sour expressions. One of them couldn’t help but scoff, "Hmph! He’s clearly Human, yet he insists on hanging out with a bunch of non-humans! What a disgrace to our race!"
"Careful what you say, Brother Snow—Chu Fan is basically a demon king. If he hears you, you’re asking for trouble!" another Human prodigy warned from beside him.
"So what if he hears? He wouldn’t dare make a move here!" Neil Snow retorted, full of bravado—he was ranked third on the Hatchling Dragon Ranking.
The one who’d tried to warn him just shook his head silently, thinking: Maybe Chu Fan won’t do anything to you here, but what about once you leave? Neil Snow really would risk his life just to impress a beauty.
Neil Snow had been pursuing Ji Bing, who was ranked second on the Hatchling Dragon Ranking—and Ji Bing was Ji Yan’s daughter. Of all the Ji Clan members who hated Evan Chu, Ji Bing was one of the most resentful.
When Neil Snow made his comment, Ji Bing—dressed in crisp white—didn’t react at all, leaving Neil Snow disappointed. He muttered again, "Someone that arrogant is bound to suffer sooner or later!"
No one echoed his sentiment.
After what happened that night, everyone now had a clear understanding of Evan Chu’s strength.
So, there was no need—nobody wanted to make him an enemy.
Just then—
From the Blood Demon Race section, Muse and Winnie both stood up and walked over to Evan Chu. One knelt to his left with a cup, the other to his right pouring wine, acting completely like handmaidens.
Many people were stunned by this scene.
The Blood Demon Race ranks fifth among the Ten Great Races—even if Chu Fan is strong, their female prodigies shouldn’t have to humble themselves like handmaidens!
The three male Blood Demon prodigies, feeling the stares from around them, flushed with embarrassment. But more than anything, they felt powerless—Chu Fan’s strength was simply beyond anything they could match.
"Princess, look—Chu Fan is such a womanizer. In no time at all, he’s already won over two Blood Demon beauties. I really feel bad for Sister Lynne Ward!"
On the third tier, Sunny, standing beside Princess Myra Vance, saw this and huffed indignantly.
Princess Myra Vance replied coolly, "For a man as outstanding as him, having a few more women is hardly surprising."
After witnessing Evan Chu’s terrifying strength, all her resentment and dissatisfaction had vanished, leaving only a faint regret. If, back in the Sun Domain, she’d lowered her pride just a bit more—even if she still couldn’t recruit him, their relationship wouldn’t be so strained now. Instead, her imperial brother Rowan had ended up with the advantage.
Sunny was a bit surprised—she hadn’t expected her princess to say something like that.
"Brother Chu really does have good fortune!"
After a brief moment of surprise, Bohan Bai and the others all silently gave Evan Chu a thumbs-up in their hearts.
Once the Heavenly Spirit Race prodigies returned to their seats, the Sea-Folk prodigies arrived to greet Evan Chu. The Sea-Folk are ranked seventh among the Ten Great Races—one spot above the Humans. On Manggu Continent, the oceans still cover far more area than land.
That’s why the Sea-Folk outnumber the Humans. If their power didn’t weaken so much on land, they’d probably rank even higher than seventh.
No sooner had the Sea-Folk left than the Elf Race prodigies arrived.
Seeing these green-skinned elves, Evan Chu couldn’t help but think of that brainless princess he’d left on a certain temple planet.
The Elf Race truly lived up to their name—regardless of gender, all were strikingly beautiful. The two female elf prodigies in particular radiated an aura of purity that made people instinctively want to approach them.
The Elf Race are nature’s darlings, preferring to live in forests. They are ranked fourth among the Ten Great Races, just below the Dragonfolk.
Unlike the other races’ prodigies, the elves greeted Evan Chu with cool detachment. It seemed like a mere formality—once done, they left without even making small talk.
Next came the eight Beastkin prodigies.
The Beastkin Race ranks below the Humans—ninth among the Ten Great Races.
In truth, the Beastkin are actually quite powerful—at least on par with Humans. But they’re a warlike people, prone to infighting and civil strife, which constantly drains their strength.
All eight Beastkin prodigies maintained humanoid forms, but you could still spot animal traits—like the female prodigy with long rabbit ears, clearly a Rabbitkin.
Another had a bushy tail trailing behind her—she was probably a Foxkin.
After the Beastkin prodigies left, a group of Giants arrived.
The Giant Race ranks tenth among the Ten Great Races. Each Giant is incredibly strong, but their numbers are few, and their reproductive rate is so low that fewer than ten thousand Giant infants are born each year.