After presenting his invitation for inspection to the Myriad-Phenomena Army guards at the palace gate, Ian Song led Lena Wei, Moira Ji, and Adrian Zhang into the Myriad-Phenomena Palace.
Along the way, servant girls pointed out the direction of the banquet hall.
Honestly, all plotting is mere smoke before true power.
The grand hall was divided vertically into three sections, from top to bottom and small to large. The topmost section was arranged for Princess Myra Vance, though she hadn’t arrived yet—only two maids and four Myriad-Phenomena Army guards stood there.
The next tier down was reserved for the high-level representatives of the Sky-Sun Region’s major powers.
The lowest tier was for the young geniuses of the Sky-Sun Region.
Stepping into Flora Hall, Ian scanned the third tier’s left-hand side and quickly found his assigned seat. Each spot had a main seat and three secondary seats.
Ian took the main seat, while Lena Wei, Moira Ji, and Adrian Zhang sat in the secondary seats.
In this world, the left side is honored. Ian’s seat on the left signaled that Princess Myra recognized him as the king of geniuses for the Sky-Sun Region.
Many geniuses felt stifled by this, since Ian wasn’t a true native of the Sky-Sun Region—at best, half. Yet he was now placed as their foremost genius, which left them frustrated. Still, his overwhelming strength made them despair; even if they were unhappy, they had no choice but to accept it.
Elder Sean and Elder Miles looked visibly annoyed.
The second seat on the left belonged to Gavin Tian; the second on the right to Gavin Ward. Serena Sima, once ranked second on the Hidden Dragon Ranking, could only take the third seat on the left.
“Brother Chu, I am Tianyang (Gavin Tian)!”
After arriving, Gavin Tian smiled and greeted Ian.
He’d suffered serious injuries in his duel with Victor Ward, but after more than ten days of rest, he had mostly recovered.
As the saying goes, you don’t hit a smiling face. Ian stood up, cupped his fists, and said, “Brother Tian, I’ve heard your name for a long time—truly, I’m honored!”
Princess Myra’s gaze was sharp—she missed nothing in the hall. Her lips curled in faint amusement as she nodded to Victor and drained her cup.
Across the hall, Victor Ward found the scene an eyesore. He thought to himself, That Chu Fan knows I don’t get along with Gavin Tian, yet he’s joking around with him—he’s clearly ignoring me.
Ian just smiled, completely indifferent. To him, Victor’s provocations were meaningless.
In truth, his strength was already on par with the gods of this world. Not only Victor and the Ward Family—even Princess Myra herself was no longer someone he needed to fear. Why get angry over something as trivial as the order of a toast?
Clearly, both of them still harbored resentment over losing, and maybe they were deliberately trying to drive a wedge between Ian and the Ward brothers.
As an old hand at schemes, Ian didn’t bother paying attention to such minor tricks.
Many people instinctively looked to Ian, but he showed no intention of toasting. This put Gavin Tian in a spot—he quietly transmitted, “Brother Chu, it’s your turn to toast.”
After about a quarter of an hour, everyone invited—the major powers’ top brass and the various young geniuses—had arrived, except for Princess Myra.
Finally.
Ian replied by sound transmission, then picked up a spiritual fruit from the table and started eating, making it clear he had no interest in playing status games.
At once, everyone in the hall rose and bowed.
“No need to be so formal, please sit!”
Princess Myra gestured for everyone to sit as she and her attendants walked through the hall and ascended to the top tier, taking the sole seat there.
The four army experts automatically stood to either side, while the two maidens positioned themselves behind Princess Myra.
Although the two maidens and four army experts didn’t reveal their cultivation,
Many people could see their realm—they were all Demigod-level experts. As for their true strength, that would only show in a real fight.
For a moment, the major powers’ representatives and the young geniuses all had complicated feelings.
Even Princess Myra’s young personal maids had reached the Demigod Realm, while the elders present had only attained that level in old age—if at all. As for the Sky-Sun Region’s geniuses, not a single one had reached Demigod.
The next moment, Princess Myra raised her cup, her expression solemn. “Everyone here is either a current ruler of the Sky-Sun Region or its future pillar. I’m honored you came to this banquet. This cup, I toast you all!”
“Thank you, Princess!”
“We wouldn’t dare, we wouldn’t dare!”
“Princess, your invitation honors us!”
“It should be us toasting the Princess!”
As soon as she finished speaking, responses flooded in. Princess Myra smiled, raised her cup to the crowd from afar, then lifted the wine to her lips and drained it in one graceful motion.
Everyone praised her and quickly drained their cups.
Next up,
The representatives of each major power rose in turn to return a toast to Princess Myra.
Princess Myra didn’t put on airs; she drained every cup offered. This made the leaders feel greatly favored—they secretly admired how well she handled giving face.
“Princess, this junior Victor Ward boldly toasts you!”
After the major powers finished their toasts, Victor Ward suddenly picked up his cup and stood, respectfully raising it.
Seeing this, the other young geniuses’ eyes lit up—they thought it was interesting.
There’s an unspoken order to toasting—you can’t just do it randomly.
After the major powers, it should have been Ian Song, the recognized ‘king of geniuses,’ to toast first. But Victor Ward jumped ahead, clearly signaling his unwillingness to accept Ian’s supremacy.
Gavin Tian and Serena Sima both glanced at Ian, wondering if he’d endure the slight or…
Elder Sean and Elder Miles looked ugly.
Although the Ward Family only recruited Ian to use him, he’d now brought them huge prestige. If not for this, when Ian beat Victor before, they’d only given him a token scolding and let it go.
Victor’s move, though aimed at Ian, actually made the Ward Family lose face in front of all the other powers—and especially in front of Princess Myra.
For a moment, they both felt a surge of irritation toward Victor.
Quietly, they sent Ian sound-transmissions, telling him not to be impulsive and promising that after the banquet, they’d personally discipline Victor and seek justice for him.
On the other hand, Gavin Ward’s eyes showed a trace of disdain; in his view, Victor had already lost twice to Ian yet still couldn’t stop provoking him, and did so without regard for time or place—pure stupidity.
Princess Myra’s gaze was sharp—she missed nothing in the hall. Her lips curled in faint amusement as she nodded to Victor and drained her cup.
Victor was overjoyed, quickly finished his wine, and shot Ian a provocative look.
Ian just smiled, completely indifferent.
Right now, his strength was already comparable to the gods of this world. Not only Victor and the Ward Family—even Princess Myra herself wasn’t someone he had to fear. Why would he get angry over the order of a toast?
Besides, he’d never planned to toast at all. If Victor wanted to curry favor, Ian was more than happy to let him.
Victor sat down, satisfied.
Many people instinctively looked to Ian, but he showed no intention of toasting. This put Gavin Tian in a spot—he couldn’t help but quietly transmit, “Brother Chu, it’s your turn to toast.”
“No need; Brother Tian, you go ahead.”
Ian replied by sound transmission, then picked up a spiritual fruit from the table and started eating.
—