Chapter 537 - 533: Grandmaster Banquet Invitation
"A Grandmaster Banquet?!"
The moment those three words reached their ears, the hall was plunged into a dead silence.
Fang Han’s pupils contracted slightly. Luo Yuntian’s fingers tightened abruptly on the armrest, making a faint creaking sound. A flicker of unconcealable shock finally appeared in Yun Muyao’s cold eyes.
A Grandmaster Banquet—a grand celebration held only upon the birth of a new Grandmaster Level expert.
Only when a power produced a Grandmaster would they send out widespread invitations, calling upon the various factions to attend the ceremony and heralding the news throughout Qingyang County.
The problem was, the Tiejiang Gang was merely a major power.
The birth of a Grandmaster required a Grandmaster Level Technique as its foundation.
Without a Grandmaster Level Technique, the three gates of Essence, Qi, and Spirit were like three insurmountable chasms. No matter how breathtakingly talented one was, taking that final step was nearly impossible.
And as for Grandmaster Level Techniques, in all of Qingyang County, only the Seven Sects possessed them.
This was the fundamental reason the Seven Sects reigned supreme over all other powers in Qingyang County, firmly cementing their status as top-level factions.
For all these years, the Seven Sects had tightly controlled the inheritance of Grandmaster Techniques, strictly forbidding them from being passed to outsiders. The status of Grandmaster was like an invisible barrier, completely separating the Seven Sects from all other factions.
Though those major powers were strong and boasted numerous disciples, they could never surmount this barrier, forced to bow their heads in submission to the Seven Sects.
’But now, the Tiejiang Gang, a faction with no Grandmaster Technique, has produced a Grandmaster and is holding a Grandmaster Banquet?’
Yun Muyao was the first to recover from her shock.
Her cold eyes landed on Chen Tianyuan’s face. Her voice, though still cool, carried a rare note of gravity.
"Sect Leader, for years, the Seven Sects have kept a tight grip on Grandmaster Techniques, ensuring that Grandmasters only arise from within our ranks. How did the Tiejiang Gang obtain a Grandmaster Technique, and how did they produce a Grandmaster?"
This was the very question on the minds of both Fang Han and Luo Yuntian.
The gazes of all three fell upon Chen Tianyuan as they awaited his answer.
Chen Tianyuan was silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head.
A trace of helplessness, one he himself was reluctant to admit, surfaced on his scholarly features.
"That is what I fail to understand as well. As for where the Tiejiang Gang obtained a Grandmaster Technique, the Sect had heard nothing about it before this."
His words made the atmosphere in the hall grow even heavier.
’A faction the Seven Sects had never even deigned to notice has silently produced a Grandmaster. There must be an immense secret behind this.’
A Grandmaster emerging from a power outside the Seven Sects meant that their monopoly over Qingyang County had been shattered.
The political landscape of Qingyang County was about to undergo a world-shaking transformation.
After a moment of silence, Fang Han spoke.
"You plan to attend the Grandmaster Banquet personally, Sect Leader. Is it to confirm the truth of this new Grandmaster in the Tiejiang Gang?"
Chen Tianyuan nodded slightly.
"Correct. Since the Tiejiang Gang dared to send out invitations for a Grandmaster Banquet, there is a very high probability that the news is true."
"However, the birth of a Grandmaster is a matter of grave importance. Unless I confirm it with my own eyes, our Qingxuan Sect cannot possibly rest easy."
He paused, his voice taking on an air of unquestionable resolve.
"Therefore, I must personally make a trip to the Tiejiang Gang to confirm whether a Grandmaster has truly emerged, or if this is all just an elaborate bluff."
"Go back and prepare. You will all accompany me tomorrow morning."
The three of them exchanged a glance, then rose in unison, bowing and cupping their fists. "Yes, Sect Leader."
Outside the Sect Leader’s Hall, the night had grown deep. Moonlight spilled through gaps in the clouds, blanketing the mountain path in a layer of cool, silvery-white light.
The three walked side by side, rendered temporarily speechless by the shocking news.
When they reached the fork in the road by the True Inheritance Courtyard, they each went their separate ways.
...
Around the same time the Qingxuan Sect received the invitation to the Grandmaster Banquet, the other six of the Seven Sects—the Netherworld Pavilion, Vajra Temple, Baihua Valley, Overlord Blade Sect, Lingyun Sword Sect, and Tingyu Building—also successively received the gilt-edged invitation from the Tiejiang Gang.
In a great hall deep within the Netherworld Pavilion, Li Wushang stood before a window, hands clasped behind his back, clutching the invitation.
On his grim face, the initial shock and anger had been replaced by a far more complex expression.
It was a mixture of suspicion, scrutiny, and a hint of unease.
Beside him, the Pavilion Master of the Netherworld Pavilion, Ling Wuyuan, sat at the head of the hall.
His face was unreadable, but a cold glint flashed for an instant in the depths of his eyes.
After a moment, Ling Wuyuan spoke slowly.
"I will go and confirm this myself."
Inside a meditation room at Vajra Temple, Abbot Kudu sat cross-legged on a prayer mat, the gilt-edged invitation in his hand.
An old monk beside him inquired in a low voice. Kudu handed the invitation to him, brought his palms together, and spoke slowly. His voice was placid, yet it held an unshakeable resolve.
"I will make the trip to this Grandmaster Banquet myself."
In the Flower Pavilion of Baihua Valley, Valley Master Hua Nishang, a woman of enduring charm, reclined on a divan, her slender hand toying with the invitation.
She examined the invitation, turning it over several times, before letting out a soft chuckle. When she spoke, her voice was laced with a certain languor, yet held an undercurrent of seriousness.
"This Valley Master will go see for herself just what kind of trick the Tiejiang Gang has up its sleeve."
The Overlord Blade Sect, the Lingyun Sword Sect, Tingyu Building—the same scene played out in various locations across Qingyang County.
After the initial shock, every faction that received an invitation made the same decision: their Sect Leader, Master, or Tower Lord would go personally to uncover the truth.
In addition to the Seven Sects, many other major powers in the county also received invitations to the Grandmaster Banquet.
That night, not a single major power in Qingyang County slept, all on account of a single invitation from the Tiejiang Gang.
The invitations were like boulders cast into a placid lake, sending ripples spreading out in every direction at a speed visible to the naked eye.
...
In the early morning, a thin mist shrouded Qingxuan Mountain like a delicate veil.
When Fang Han arrived at the sect gates, Luo Yuntian was already there.
He stood on the stone steps, dressed in a deep cyan True Inheritance Robe with a longsword at his waist. His expression was calm, hands clasped behind his back, the hem of his robe fluttering gently in the morning breeze.
Hearing footsteps, he turned and gave Fang Han a slight nod.
"Senior Brother Fang."
"Junior Brother Luo."
Fang Han returned the salute with a cupped fist and came to a stop beside him.
The two exchanged a look, but neither said anything more.
The two words "Grandmaster Banquet" from the previous night’s gilt-edged invitation still echoed in their minds.
A moment later, Yun Muyao arrived.
She was dressed in a cyan True Inheritance Robe, her face concealed by a white gauze veil. Her dark hair was loosely gathered with a White Jade Hairpin, and at her waist hung that sword of shimmering white.
She approached, gave the two a slight nod, and then stood on Fang Han’s other side. Her gaze turned to the path ahead, her demeanor as cool and distant as always.
None of the three spoke again.
The morning breeze whistled through the mountain gates, sending a few fallen leaves spiraling across the stone steps.
After the time it takes to burn an incense stick, a figure appeared, walking slowly from the end of the mountain path.
Today, Chen Tianyuan wore the deep cyan robes of the Sect Leader, cinched at the waist with a simple jade belt. His long hair was fastened with a Wooden Hairpin, lending him an air of authority that replaced his usual easygoing demeanor.
Following behind him was a colossal beast.
It was a White Tiger.
It was a full thirty feet long and stood nearly ten feet tall at the shoulder. Its coat was as pure white as snow, without a single blemish, and it shimmered like satin in the morning light.
Its four limbs were as thick as pillars, and each powerful step left faint scratches from its claws on the stone path.
It had amber-colored eyes with slitted pupils that, with every blink, radiated a majestic and intimidating aura.
A carriage was mounted on its back.
The carriage was roughly ten feet square, constructed from some dark-colored wood with copper adornments at its four corners. The roof was draped in deep cyan brocade, and each side had a small window covered with pale cyan gauze.
The carriage was fastened securely to the tiger’s back with wide leather straps, appearing both stable and comfortable.
Fang Han’s gaze lingered on the White Tiger for a moment.
He sensed that the aura radiating from the creature was deep and ferocious. ’It’s actually reached the First Grade.’
"So this is the Sect Leader’s mount?"
Luo Yuntian’s voice sounded beside him, tinged with unconcealable surprise.
"I heard years ago that the Sect Leader had a Demon for a mount, but I never imagined it would be a First-Grade Demon."
Yun Muyao remained silent, but her cool eyes also rested on the White Tiger for a long moment, a hint of shock in their depths.
Fang Han, by contrast, was relatively calm.
’With my current strength, killing an ordinary First-Grade Demon wouldn’t be difficult. This White Tiger is strong, but not enough to scare me.’
It was a different story for Luo Yuntian and Yun Muyao.
Their gazes fell upon the White Tiger’s amber, slitted pupils, then swept over its pillar-like limbs and whip-like tail, and their bodies tensed involuntarily.
It was an instinctual reaction—the bone-deep wariness of facing an apex predator.
Even though they knew this Tiger Demon was unlikely to harm them, the primal sense of pressure it exuded was not something logic could entirely suppress.
"Is everyone here?"
Chen Tianyuan approached, his gaze sweeping over the three disciples. He said nothing more, simply gesturing with his hand.
"Get on."
As the words left his lips, he tapped his toes on the ground, his body drifting silently onto the tiger’s back like a falling leaf to sit in front of the carriage.
SWOOSH!
Fang Han took a step forward.
The White Tiger’s amber, slitted pupils fixed on him, but his expression was impassive. With a light push of his foot, he leaped up and landed steadily on the tiger’s back.
The fur underfoot was thick and warm. The tiger’s massive body tensed for a moment when he landed, then immediately relaxed.
SWOOSH!
Luo Yuntian took a deep breath, suppressed the instinctual tension coiling in his gut, and leaped onto the tiger’s back as well.
He swayed almost imperceptibly as he landed but quickly steadied himself and sat down beside Fang Han.
SWOOSH!
Yun Muyao was the last one up.
She leaped onto the tiger’s back as gracefully as a swallow, landing without a sound, but her fingers gripped the hilt of her sword a little more tightly than usual.
The carriage was spacious enough that it did not feel crowded with the four of them seated inside, two on each side.
A middle-aged man wearing a Steward’s Robe leaped up from the side, settling himself at the very front of the tiger’s back. He took a Copper Whistle from his clothes, put it to his lips, and blew softly.
The whistle was not loud, but its note had a strangely piercing quality.
The White Tiger, which had been crouching low, sprang to its feet. Its paws dug into the earth, and its colossal body shot forward like a white lightning bolt, racing down the main road away from the mountain.
It moved with a speed that rivaled an ordinary Upper Three Grades Martial Artist sprinting at full power.
Fang Han leaned against the carriage wall, looking out through the small window.
The scenery on either side rushed past, blurring into streaks of color.
Pedestrians on the road saw the behemoth from a distance. Some yelped and dove to the roadside, while others froze in place, only snapping out of their stupor long after the white shadow had vanished, left to stare dumbly in its wake.
"W-was that a Demon?"
"That’s the mount of the Qingxuan Sect Leader! I’d heard he has a White Tiger, but to think I’d be lucky enough to see it today!"
"Over thirty feet long? What a monster!"
"What’s all the fuss? The Qingxuan Sect is one of the Seven Sects. It’s only natural for their Sect Leader to travel in grand style."
The sounds of awe and discussion were left far behind, quickly swallowed by the wind.
As they traveled northwest, the official road gradually widened, and the fields on either side gave way to a landscape of rolling hills.