"Of course, please wait a moment."
The maid was specially trained and did not show any unusual expression due to Xu Yi's question. Instead, she thoughtfully brought a basket of fresh spiritual fruits and placed it by Xu Yi's spirit stone table, allowing her to take them at any time.
Even Xu Yi was a little surprised. After expressing her thanks, she said to Wang Yang, " The Jian family's family tradition seems quite good."
Wang Yang remained silent for a moment. Unable to speak contrary to his conscience, he could only nod his head dejectedly.
"Yes, I also met the Jian family ancestor once more than ten years ago. He spoke very congenially with my master, showing no disrespect at all. He even encouraged me to study diligently and inherit my master's legacy."
But why had things changed this time? Wang Yang thought with distress.
Xu Yi nodded, her evaluation of the Jian family ancestor improving significantly.
"Senior Sister Wang, I want to eat spiritual fruits too."
A crisp, tender female voice came from Xu Yi's left.
She turned her head. To her right, a middle-aged woman with a stern face and a little girl with two small buns in her hair had taken their seats at some point.
The little girl looked about seven or eight years old, with a delicate and lovely appearance. She was staring longingly at the spiritual fruits on the table and quietly pleaded with Senior Sister Wang beside her.
"Xiao Yi, what did your master tell you before we came out?" Senior Sister Wang's voice lowered, with a hint of threat.
Xiao Yi pouted aggrievedly, "Master said I must listen to Senior Sister and not be naughty."
"That's right. We are guests of the Jian family, and we represent the reputation of our Mingyue Pavilion. Therefore, we must be strict with our words and actions and not bring shame to Mingyue Pavilion."
As Senior Sister Wang spoke, she gently patted Xiao Yi's back, urging her to sit up straight.
"But... I'm hungry."
Xiao Yi lowered her head, looked at her own little stomach, then reached out and patted it. It was empty.
"Xiao Yi!" Senior Sister Wang quickly reprimanded her upon seeing this.
Xiao Yi looked up at Senior Sister Wang's somber face, tears quickly welling up in her eyes.
"Cry, cry, cry, all you do is cry! Master isn't here. Even if you cry, no one will comfort you!"
Senior Sister Wang poked Xiao Yi's forehead forcefully with her finger, her eyes filled with intense annoyance.
She didn't understand why Master had asked her to bring this crybaby to the Jian family's birthday banquet. She was clearly a nuisance.
If other cultivators saw this, they would surely think the entire Mingyue Pavilion lacked manners.
She furrowed her brow. Seeing the increasing tears in Xiao Yi's eyes, she whispered sternly, "Don't you dare cry! If you dare to cry, you won't eat for the entire day!"
Xiao Yi immediately covered her mouth, letting out soft whimpers.
Senior Sister Wang was grudgingly satisfied. She raised her head and her gaze met a sharp one.
She subconsciously scanned with her divine sense and found that she couldn't sense the other party's cultivation. Her attitude immediately became much more respectful, "My junior sister is still young and ignorant, I apologize if I have offended you."
Xu Yi's brow furrowed slightly, but she still did not intervene to meddle and quietly averted her gaze.
Senior Sister Wang was also displeased. She had made a gesture of goodwill, but this female cultivator had not responded. What was the point of having high cultivation if she lacked manners and was destined to not be respected?
Senior Sister Wang adjusted her posture, sitting upright and striving to present her most dignified demeanor.
After another half an hour, most of the spiritual fruits in the basket had been consumed by the little green worm. The Jian family's birthday banquet finally began.
When the Jian family ancestor and the current Jian family head appeared, Xu Yi could clearly feel a faint pressure in the air.
This pressure was not uncomfortable; instead, it helped people focus.
This was the brilliance of the Jian family, displaying their power subtly yet effectively.
"Thank you all for attending my humble birthday banquet. I am deeply grateful..."
The Jian family ancestor was a benevolent-looking elder. He had a slight smile before speaking, and his words were flawless.
After a few sentences, the silent atmosphere was broken, and all the guests had smiles on their faces.
After the Jian family ancestor finished speaking, the next segment began: the presentation of gifts.
Presenting gifts, as the name suggested, was for the Jian family disciples to come forward in turn and present birthday gifts to the ancestor in front of all the guests.
This served two purposes: first, to showcase the Jian family's abundant wealth, creating a silent deterrent; second, to facilitate a competition of wealth among the Jian family disciples.
It was known that financial strength also reflected one's capabilities to a certain extent.
The Jian family had many disciples. If they competed in martial prowess, it might harm their harmony. Hence, this unique competition was held.
The guests also eagerly anticipated the gift-giving segment. This allowed them to better understand the strength of each Jian family disciple and thus choose more influential individuals to befriend.
The first person to present a birthday gift was naturally the current Jian family head. His gift was a seventh-grade spiritual fruit, a Purple Pan Peach.
As soon as this Purple Pan Peach appeared, gasps of admiration erupted from below.
This Purple Pan Peach was plump, filled with abundant spiritual energy, extremely rare, and carried excellent symbolism. When the Jian family ancestor saw the Purple Pan Peach, his round face was full of smiles, and he repeatedly said, "Very good, very good."
Just as the Jian family head left, the second person to present a gift eagerly brought the gift tray before the Jian family ancestor.
"Father, please take a look."
The speaker was the Jian family ancestor's second son. He suddenly reached out and lifted the red cloth covering the tray, revealing a crystal-clear dragon-shaped statue.
The moment the dragon-shaped statue appeared before everyone, a dense surge of spiritual energy swept over them.
The Jian family ancestor peered at it and said hesitantly, "Is this carved from the finest spirit stones?"
"That's right, it is indeed a dragon-shaped statue carved from the finest spirit stones." The second son of the Jian family's lips curled up, a look of pride flashing in his eyes.
The finest spirit stones were treasures born from spirit stone mines of a thousand years or more, after various fortunate encounters.
The spiritual energy contained within a fingernail-sized piece of the finest spirit stone was thousands of times more than that of high-grade spirit stones. Moreover, the finest spirit stones could gather nearby spiritual energy.
This meant that by placing a piece of the finest spirit stone in a room, one would not have to worry about spiritual power depletion.
Not to mention, the dragon-shaped statue by the second son of the Jian family was almost half a hand in size, which was a rare size even among the finest spirit stones.
"Good, excellent, excellent! You have a thoughtful heart!" The Jian family ancestor's eyes were squeezed shut with joy.
Especially when he felt the envious and jealous gazes projected from the guests, he was even more delighted and could not close his mouth.
As the second son of the Jian family left, he specifically cast a challenging glance at his elder brother, the Jian family head.
The Jian family head remained outwardly calm, but he cursed the second son of the Jian family thoroughly in his heart.
No wonder that fellow had been so arrogant lately. It turned out he had stumbled upon such a treasure. This time, he had truly been outdone.
With the birthday gifts from the Jian family head and the second son of the Jian family setting the bar, the gifts presented by other Jian family disciples, although also precious, were somewhat inferior in comparison.
After the gift-presenting segment concluded, everyone had a new understanding of the Jian family's strength.