"So boring. When will the feast start?"
Young Master Lei, holding a handful of melon seeds, sat by a table that wasn't too secluded in the main hall, constantly cracking them. The pile of empty shells in front of him was stacked high. Anyone who didn't know would think Fang family's melon seeds were exceptionally delicious, making Young Master Lei so fond of them.
"It's still a long way off. It's only morning now. After all the guests qualified to enter have presented their birthday gifts one by one, it will be close to afternoon, and only then can the feast begin."
Fang Xiaoyu grabbed a handful of melon seed kernels and popped them into her mouth, chewing them heartily.
Little Sister Xiaoyu wouldn't crack melon seeds herself; it was bad for her hands. These were all shelled by Young Master Lei and placed into her palm.
While the young members of the Fang family were busy running around, these two were like guests. They sat there, completely free of any duties.
After all, the elders' guests were naturally to be received by the elders; it wasn't their turn. As for the guests of the younger generation, even the top prodigies of the Nine Great Powers weren't qualified for them to receive.
The status of the younger generation and the strength of the older generation made the positions of these two very extraordinary.
Most importantly, both of them lacked experience in welcoming and seeing off guests. With their thought processes, if they were made to handle tasks, it was bound to lead to some laughable situations.
"The Duqing Sect from Linping Kingdom has come to congratulate Old Madam on her birthday."
Following the gatekeeper's announcement, the first guest to come and offer birthday wishes finally walked in.
"This old servant congratulates Old Madam on her birthday and specially presents a piece of Coral from the Ice Sea."
"Good, you are rewarded."
Old Madam waved her hand with a smile.
The Duqing Sect, where this person belonged, was one of the Fang family's affiliated forces. Although calling himself an old servant was not entirely improper, he was, after all, the patriarch of a dignified sect and a powerful cultivator in the Mahayana stage. Such self-deprecation was somewhat contemptible.
"This junior, Zheng Zhixin, the head of the Zheng family from Kun Jin Kingdom, congratulates Old Madam on her birthday.
Old Madam, for your grand birthday, this junior searched the bottom of the Ice Sea for fifty years to find this piece of Ice Heart Jade, which stands thirty feet tall. It was then carved for ten years to depict your immortal visage. Attendants, present it."
Immediately, someone carried a statue into the hall. As soon as it entered, the temperature in the entire hall dropped, indicating how low the temperature of this Ice Heart Jade was.
If a cultivator with water-element affinity were to cultivate beside this statue, it would surely yield twice the results with half the effort.
Fortunately, the main hall of the Fang family had high doors; otherwise, this statue truly could not have entered.
"Good, it is worthy of reward."
Old Madam's elegant face was filled with joy.
"Mother, how about we place this statue in the open space in front of the hall?"
Old Fang suggested.
"Alas, how can that be? This old woman has achieved nothing and is unworthy of having a statue placed there. Take it to the back mountain for the disciples of the clan to cultivate with. We mustn't let it go to waste."
Later, many families and sects came to present birthday gifts. It was worth mentioning that none of them were major powers.
This was also understandable. Coming early was a demonstration of respect for the host. Other peak powers, confident in their status, naturally preferred to arrive later.
There were also some reasons for this; they felt that they should appear as the grand finale to seem more distinguished.
Those guests were guided by the Fang family elders and young disciples to take their seats. Many saw Wan Lei, but no one dared to sit next to him.
A few who were brought out of the Water Immortal Secret Realm by Wan Lei came to thank him for saving their lives. Wan Lei waved them away.
It was not until noon that someone caught Wan Lei's attention.
"Tiandan Pavilion congratulates Old Benefactor on her birthday, presenting one hundred Heavenly-grade pills. Wishing Old Benefactor boundless fortune and longevity as vast as the Eastern Sea and the Southern Mountains."
The people from Tiandan Pavilion entered. The leader was Elder Xuandan, and as expected, Sui Xiaohang was behind him.
"Tiandan Pavilion is truly generous. This old woman is humbled."
Old Madam stood up to welcome them for the first time, considering the status of Tiandan Pavilion.
"Old Madam, among the pills presented this time, ten of them were refined by this disciple of mine. This young man's attainment in alchemy is not yet outstanding, so I hope Old Madam will be understanding."
Elder Xuandan said this, but his face was already beaming with joy.
People around were all astonished. They congratulated Elder Xuandan and Sui Xiaohang one after another, calling him Master Sui, with the intention of flattery and fawning clearly evident.
After seven years of apprenticeship, he had leaped from being an alchemy novice to a Heavenly-grade alchemist, which showed how profound Sui Xiaohang's alchemy attainment and how heaven-defying his talent were.
No one called him Little Master Sui anymore. From this day forward, the Central Region had gained another Heavenly-grade alchemist.
After the felicitation, Elder Xuandan was naturally guided to his seat by a Fang family elder. As for Sui Xiaohang, he looked up at the ceiling, completely ignoring the surrounding compliments, acting incredibly smug.
Possessing the skill of a master but lacking the demeanor of a master.
"If we go any further, we'll collide. Turn here."
Seeing Sui Xiaohang with his nostrils pointed to the sky, about to bump into a pillar, Young Master Lei couldn't help but offer a reminder.
Although, he really wanted to say that he didn't know this fellow.
"Holy crap, Young Master Lei, you're not dead yet."
Sui Xiaohang's "surprise" was overly dramatic.
"You mean if I were dead, you'd be rushing to eat at the feast, right?"
"Who would bother eating at your feast? If I eat, I'll eat at Old Madam Fang's feast."
As soon as Sui Xiaohang said this, the expressions of the Fang family members around him changed drastically. His words were tantamount to cursing Old Madam to her death without reason.
"My apologies, I misspoke, I misspoke."
Sui Xiaohang, realizing he had said the wrong thing, bowed and apologized profusely, then scurried over to sit beside Wan Lei.
"You kid, you're amazing. Already a Heavenly-grade alchemist, how come I never discovered you had this talent before?"
"Alas, don't mention it. This time, I'm very disappointed."
Sui Xiaohang poured himself a cup of tea, drinking it while complaining.
"According to my plan, after arriving here, my master would present the pills, and everyone around would start praising his alchemy attainments. Then, a few short-sighted villains would sarcastically say, 'Oh, this Sui Xiaohang is nothing special; he's still just a mere Earth-grade alchemist after all this time.'
Then a group of people would come to mock me. I would pretend to be meek and submissive, enduring all the humiliation, smiling bitterly, when in reality, I was too lazy to explain.
In the end, my master couldn't stand it and would shout loudly that ten of the Heavenly-grade pills inside were refined by me.
At this point, those people would surely feel embarrassed and would question me, saying we were lying.
Then I would say, 'You can curse me, but you can't curse my master.'
Next, I would retaliate angrily, shed my pretense, and reveal my true strength. I would then use the Purple Gold Alchemy Furnace on the spot to refine a Heavenly-grade pill.
Upon seeing my pill, those people would be dumbfounded, their faces slapped, their old faces flushed red, and they would retreat to the side awkwardly.
I would hold the pill, the focus of everyone's attention, and then you would loudly exclaim, 'Brother Sui is awesome!', pushing this act to the extreme. Wouldn't that be glorious?
What a pity, my master, that old fellow, immediately said it was refined by me, completely disrupting my plan."
Looking at Sui Xiaohang sighing repeatedly, Wan Lei couldn't help but laugh.