Liu Qingyan shook her head. “I only coincidentally heard about it.”
Lin Xun felt a little disappointed.
Liu Qingyan cleverly sensed that Lin Xun’s mood changed. She asked warmly, “Young Master Lin, masters and experts from the Ancient Wasteland Domain will attend the banquet. Given your current reputation and strength, if you perform well, you might be able to seize the opportunity to get what you want to know.”
“I understand,” Lin Xun said with a smile.
……
As time passed, more and more guests accumulated on the square; almost all were nobles, powerful figures, or geniuses and elites of the younger generation.
Lin Xun received a lot of attention. Many conversations and discussions were related to him.
For example, some talked about Mind Cleansing Peak, some brought up Lin Xun’s great-grandfather Lin Daochen, and some lamented that a rising star had emerged in the deteriorating Lin Family.
The cultivators obsessed with martial arts enthusiastically discussed the duel between Lin Xun and Hua Wuyou and analyzed his achievements in martial arts.
Those proficient in runes were very curious about his ability after they heard that he had repaired the Sword of Apocalypse.Some hated and were disgusted by Lin Xun and were discussing his situation.
For example, he would soon suffer retaliation after angering so many forces ever since he had come to the Forbidden City.
In short, although some praised him and some belittled him, they all demonstrated that Lin Xun had made a name for himself in the Forbidden City, and many people couldn’t help but take notice of him.
Of course, Lin Xun was only one of the most popular topics on the square, but he wasn’t the focus of attention.
This was normal. The guests of the birthday banquet were either high-ranking figures, nobles, or outstanding talents.
Although Lin Xun had rapidly risen to fame, he still lacked a solid foundation and was unlikely to attract too much attention.
Talents blessed by the heavens such as Song Yi, Chi Cangfeng, Yun Fushen, and Yuchi Ze received more attention than Lin Xun.
Even Liu Qingyan received more attention than he did.
This was due to a difference in foundation and background.
He might be extremely talented and possessed many earthshaking abilities, but he was from the deteriorated Lin Family. He was far inferior to many other noble family descendants in terms of status and identity.
If it were five hundred years ago, when the Lin Family was still one of the high clans in the Forbidden City, Lin Xun would have received a completely different amount of attention.
However, he didn’t care. His path was different from that of the others, and so he wouldn’t care about superficial fame and titles.
……
Soon, a melodious, ancient bell resounded through the square, halting the endless discussions and clamor, making everyone stop what they were doing.
The atmosphere in the square suddenly became solemn, calm, and still.
All gazes shifted to the central imperial palace.
“It’s time. Please come into the palace hall!”
A sound that resembled morning bells and evening drums echoed throughout this part of the world, shaking the ninth heaven and stirring everyone’s hearts with an indescribable power.
Immediately, the closed door of the central imperial palace slowly creaked open. Beautiful palace maids walked out in two straight lines and stood respectfully on both sides of the steps leading into the central imperial palace.
The empress’ 300th birthday banquet had begun!
All the guests in the square were led into the central imperial palace.
“I’ll head in first to prepare. You have to listen carefully to the new song I composed at the birthday banquet later. It’s all because of you that I was able to smoothly complete this song.”
Liu Qingyan blinked and said goodbye to Lin Xun with a smile. She had to prepare for her performance for the empress later.
“Me?” Lin Xun watched Liu Qingyan disappear in puzzlement.
He couldn’t help but wonder how her new song was related to him.
As he contemplated, a palace maid guided him up the ninety-nine steps and into the most sacred palace hall in the empire—the central imperial palace.
Magnificent!
Glorious!
Majestic!
Those were Lin Xun’s first impressions of the central imperial palace. The inside of the palace was like a separate world. The sun, moon, and stars seemed to hang above their heads, and mountains, rivers, and valleys seemed to be at their feet. Everyone felt small and insignificant when inside the palace.
One hundred and eight violet glory stone pillars stood tall in the palace. Each one was engraved with dragons and phoenixes and stamped with cloud patterns, auspicious animals, and violet glory flowers.
From afar, the stone pillars appeared to tower into the sky, supporting the dome of heaven!
Lin Xun was shocked to find that an indescribably majestic and sacred aura filled the hall, deterring everyone from causing trouble.
In addition to himself, the other guests also assumed solemn expressions. Regardless of their terrifying identity and status, no one dared to raise their voices.
This was the central imperial palace!
Lin Xun was seated at one of the tables under the palace maids’ arrangement.
On the table was a jug of wine, a cup of tea, and a plate of aeth fruits. It looked very ordinary and didn’t seem luxurious, but everyone with good eyesight gasped out in shock and disbelief.
The jar of wine was the nine dragons ancient brew specially prepared for the imperial palace! Legend had it that it was prepared from hundreds of rare and precious materials in the world by dozens of top-level brewing masters. It had to be fermented for over hundreds of years before it was ready, so each jar was priceless!
It was no exaggeration to say that it would never be seen in the outside world!
The cup of tea was pale purple and glowed with divine light. The tea leaves were in the shape of dragons and phoenixes. The tea produced a cold and rich aroma that entered straight into one’s soul as it circulated the cup.
The tea was called Dragon and Phoenix and was unique to the imperial palace.
The plate of aeth fruits consisted of a golden flame jujube, a violet jade peach, and three lotus seeds glistening like black gems.
All three were harvested from the imperial garden, and each one was considered a rare wondrous treasure.
The food alone showed that it was a blessing to be able to attend the empress’s birthday banquet.
Even Lin Xun couldn’t help but marvel at the imperial family’s wealth and power. Only the imperial family would have the money to be so generous!
When all the guests were seated, a white-haired elder in a dark purple palace robe said aloud at the end of the hall, “Your Majesty, please grace us with your presence!”
His voice was like a morning bell and showed his terrifying cultivation level.
“Chief Steward Peng’s cultivation becomes more and more strong with every passing day. He likely has already reached the Cyclic Derivation Stage.”
The gray-haired old man was a tyrannical figure within the imperial palace.
However, Lin Xun’s attention was drawn to the end of the hall, where an illusory scene seemed to be emerging. Stunning golden light was filling the hall, and violet qi rushed forth.
Faintly, a female figure sat down on the throne. Mist and divine light spiraled around her body, blurring her face.
However, Lin Xun was awed into silence. It was as though he wasn’t facing a figure, but a high and mighty king that could shake the nine heavens!
Compared to her, the powerful Chief Steward Peng suddenly dimmed like a pearl drowning in the light of the moon.
“What level of terrifying cultivation does one have to have to possess such terrifying imposing bearing?” Lin Xun couldn’t maintain his composure.
Unquestionably, the empress was the one sitting on the throne!
Legend has it that she was a true Life Death Stage King who had assisted the emperor to ascend to the throne hundreds of years ago.
Within the imperial family, the empress had the most authority after the emperor!
The atmosphere in the hall turned unusually solemn, and all the guests stood up and bowed respectfully.
“Paying our respects to the empress!”
The voices echoed in the grand imperial palace hall.
“Everyone, please take a seat.”
The voice of the empress rang out from the mist and light around the throne. Her voice was gentle, calm, and not particularly powerful, but it made people dare not to treat her with disrespect.
Once all the guests were seated again, Chief Steward Peng eloquently read out a prepared birthday speech.
After that, he took out a document and read out the list of birthday gifts presented to the empress.
This was part of the birthday celebration. All the guests had already presented a birthday gift and once the list was read out, the banquet would officially begin.
Lin Xun had also prepared a birthday gift when he decided to attend, and he had entrusted Shen Tuo to send it to the imperial family.
Chief Steward Peng read out the long list of birthday gifts in a resounding voice.
“From the Marquis Jinghai’s residence, a pair of seven-colored exquisite lions, a three-thousand-year-old jade pearl flower, and a sea spirit jade phoenix ornament!”
“From the Marquis Wenyuan’s residence, a pine tree and crown crane painting, a bottle of purple-blue dew pill, and a set of mysterious sun and moon bracelets!"
“From the Marquis Bowang’s residence…”
The birthday gifts became more and more remarkable as the list went on, and each one caused a low commotion in the hall.
Treasures such as the thousand-year-old snow fungus, nine-leafed heart pill, and true eight treasures powder were considered rare treasures in the outside world, but they seemed ordinary when compared to the treasures on the birthday gift list.
The powerful and influential figures had clearly put a lot of thought into the empress’s birthday.
Lin Xun also couldn’t help but marvel at the gifts. The powerful and influential forces are indeed wealthy with a solid background. The treasures they presented are all so rare and unique that I have never heard of them before.
While Lin Xun was sighing, Chief Steward Peng paused for a moment before he continued. “From the Mind Cleaning Peak Lin Clan, a jade hairpin.”
The audience was stunned. Just a hairpin?
Lin Xun is a rune grandmaster but he presented a jade hairpin to the empress as a birthday gift!
Isn’t…isn’t that too shabby?
Suddenly, many gazes darted over to Lin Xun.