Chapter 467: Banquet in the Imperial Palace

After Lan Jiao left, Meng Qing looked at Lin Pheng and said: "She doesn't want to leave, you should ask her to stay."

Lin Pheng smiled wryly and shook his head.

"Jing Yun, do you want to go back to Yangzhou City and then go back to Yun Hai Sect with the others?" Asked Lin Pheng towards Jing Yun.

"I will go to the Yun Hai Sect first and I will wait for Mister Chi and Mister Huo there." Replied Jing Yun while smiling. She was also a member of the Yun Hai Sect. Even though she used to be a simple ordinary disciple, the Yun Hai Sect was a beautiful memory from her youth. She had always been sad after its destruction. Being able to see the Yun Hai Sect's revival was a great thing for her.

"It's another possibility indeed. Alright then, Yi Xue, you can come with me to the Lovesick Forest." These days, they didn't need to stay inside the Celestial Academy, there was nothing for them to gain there.

"What about Duan Pheng?" Asked Jing Yun.

"He should stay here and practice cultivation. I think the Celestial Academy is more than happy to nurture him." Replied Lin Pheng with a faint smile. A thousand ties linked Duan Pheng to the Imperial Clan, besides, he had extremely high natural abilities and a very pure heart. The best thing for him was to practice cultivation in a peaceful and calm location. Lin Pheng wasn't willing to have too much contact with Duan Pheng, he didn't want to influence his cultivation.

"That's good too." Nodded Jing Yun. Jing Yun and Yi Xue then started cleaning and tidying their residence before leaving the palace with Lin Pheng.

At the academy, everybody was still staring at Lin Pheng which made him smile wryly.

Lin Pheng suddenly noticed a familiar face before he left the ground of the academy, Nan Shan.

"Jing Yun, go to the Yun Hai Sect alone, but be careful. Meng Qing, take Yi Xue with you and go to the Lovesick Forest." Said Lin Pheng. When Lin Pheng saw Nan Shan, he knew that something had come up.

"Son of Yue Meng He."

As expected, Nan Shan was smiling and run towards Lin Pheng, so fast that it seemed like he was going to attack him.

"Call me Lin Pheng, ok?" Said Lin Pheng while smiling. "Son of Yue Meng He" sounded too unusual for Lin Pheng.

"Son of Yue Meng He, I will call you Young Master instead." Said Nan Shan while shaking his head and smiling. "Young master, everybody has seen how strong you were at the national competition. You killed Chu Zhan Peng and Chu Qing. Now, everybody knows that you could become a high-official but for that you first have to pass the test. If there was no test, you would already be a high-official."

"The term high-official means nothing to me." Said Lin Pheng while shaking his head. He didn't care about the high-officials. He knew how vast and boundless the continent was and there were many strong cultivators lurking in the shadows. Being a high-official wouldn't influence his true goal.

"But even if it is meaningless to you, it is also a way to prove your strength." Said Nan Shan while smiling wryly. Many people dreamt of becoming a high-official, in their eyes, the eight high-officials were the most amazing cultivators of the country. However, Nan Shan could see that Lin Pheng didn't care about that at all.

Lin Pheng only attached importance to the high-officials' strength, but didn't care for the fame.

"Let's talk about something else, did the second prince send you to talk to me?" Asked Lin Pheng. He didn't feel like talking about the high-officials anymore.

Each time Nan Shan appeared, it had something to do with Duan Wu Ya, this time was no exception.

"Indeed." Nodded Nan Shan and said: "Lin Pheng, His Highness the second prince has been waiting for you for a very long time."

"What do you mean?" Asked Lin Pheng.

"Young Master, after the national competition at Xiangjiang Lake, some people from the Dragon Mountain Empire arrived to select who was going to participate in the Great Competition of Xue Yu. They also brought the outstanding cultivators from Tian Pheng with them. This way, the outstanding cultivators of Xue Yue will be able to measure their strength against the cultivators of Tian Pheng. Xue Yue has organized a banquet for everyone to celebrate the occasion. Some of the most outstanding cultivators of Xue Yue were invited but because you were unreachable, the banquet was postponed. The people from Dragon Mountain and Tian Pheng have already started complaining." Said Nan Shan while smiling wryly. He then continued; "I've been waiting for you every day, all day, I searched the Lovesick Forest but I never saw you. Today I heard that you were here and I immediately rushed here to inform you. The second prince wants the banquet to happen tonight. I hope that you can understand why we are in a hurry and accept the invitation to the banquet."

Members from the Dragon Mountain Empire had come and Xue Yue was the official host of that banquet. Organizing a banquet was an obligation. However, because of Lin Pheng, Duan Wu Ya had asked to postpone the banquet which shocked Lin Pheng. Besides, he also realized that Nan Shan had become much politer to him, that meant that Duan Wu Ya attached even more importance to Lin Pheng.

Nan Shan represented the second prince, Lin Pheng understood that much.

"Nan Shan, tell the second prince that I will be there." Said Lin Pheng while smiling. Nan Shan agreed and said: "Thank you very much young master. I will inform him right away."

"Alright." Nodded Lin Pheng. Nan Shan then bowed in front of Lin Pheng and left. Lin Pheng was looking at Nan Shan's back as he left and looked perplexed. A sharp light was twinkling in his eyes. Nan Shan's behaviour had changed, he was being extremely polite and courteous. Besides, Nan Shan represented the second prince Duan Wu Ya which meant that Duan Wu Ya also respected Lin Pheng, it meant that Duan Wu Ya thought that Lin Pheng was important.

"Everything has changed because of my mother!" Suddenly thought Lin Pheng. It was a flash of enlightenment. He suddenly understood the mysterious actions of other people which he didn't understand before. Duan Wu Ya was good to him because he had always known that Lin Pheng was Yue Meng He's son. Back in the Lovesick Forest, Duan Wu Ya hadn't intervened in Yu Tian Xing and Lin Pheng's fight and seemed to side with Lin Pheng. Yu Qiu's cultivation was then crippled by Lin Pheng's mother for attempting to kill Lin Pheng. Duan Wu Ya's people always supported Lin Pheng in his actions.

It seemed like all those events had been planned by Duan Wu Ya. Everything went according to plan because Lin Pheng was Yue Meng He's son. That was also why the Yu Clan didn't dare to openly retaliate against Lin Pheng.

In Celestial River, Duan Wu Ya had stolen the heavenly dragon cauldron from everybody. He had astonished everyone with his power and was the victor of a huge battle. He was the only one who had the right to obtain the ancient cauldron. Duan Wu Ya was monstrously powerful, his strength was incredible but his temperament and methods were just as incredible.

Even though Duan Wu Ya was good to Lin Pheng because he had other motives, he also wanted to help Lin Pheng, he never planned to harm Lin Pheng and would only benefit him.

"Back in Celestial River, someone stole the ancient cauldron from Duan Wu Ya and gave it to me, but I don't know who that person was." Lin Pheng thought. That person with the powerful sword aura wasn't his mother, but they must be related.

"When I see my mother again, I will ask her."

Lin Pheng didn't know many strong cultivators, he only knew Yan Yu Ping Sheng, but he didn't know who returned the cauldron to him. Why did that person help him? Besides, the ancient cauldron was extremely valuable, why did they give it to Lin Pheng? Why didn't he keep it for himself? It was probably one of his parents' friends, everything started to make sense.

Lin Pheng raised his head and looked at the sky. Immediately after, he said to Meng Qing and the others: "You can leave now, I am going to the Imperial Palace."

"Be careful." Said Meng Qing. Lin Pheng smiled and nodded. This time, at the banquet, Lin Pheng would meet the people from the Dragon Mountain Empire. Besides, all the cultivators from Tian Pheng would also be extremely strong, there were no weak cultivators involved. They would need to compare the strength of all the outstanding disciples.

Besides, a conflict between cultivators during the banquet was inevitable. Tian Pheng and Xue Yue were countries under the jurisdiction of the Dragon Mountain Empire, they probably wouldn't be on good terms with the other party.

But those minor conflicts wouldn't be a problem. Nobody would want any accidents to happen during the banquet. The Dragon Mountain Empire also didn't want anything regrettable to happen to the participants before the Great Competition of Xue Yu, during the fighter selection process. Conflicts were unavoidable and no matter who won the battles, no battle was permitted to end in the death of a selected talent, as it might weaken the Dragon Mountain Empire's chances at victory.

The Great Competition of Xue Yu wasn't only about a single empire. In Xue Yu, there were three empires with other countries under their jurisdiction that were competing. The Great Competition of Xue Yu was the biggest event of the region. All three of the empires wanted their participants to dazzle everyone else.

The confrontations of all the outstanding disciples were actually closely related to the countries' respective national affairs. Young cultivators were the future of their countries. If the young cultivators were strong, then their country would prosper.

Meng Qing and the others nodded and left. Meng Qing brought Yi Xue to the Lovesick Forest and Jing Yun left for the Yun Hai Sect. Jing Yun didn't count as a strong cultivator, but in the lands outside of the Imperial City, she would be considered very powerful.

Lin Pheng's silhouette then flickered and he rushed straight towards the Imperial Palace.