Chapter 563: The Dragon Ascension Conclave
Xia Fei originally wanted to return home and find Pod, but he ended up being forced by Yu Hua to make a trip to Patriarch Yu Jiang’s mansion, instead.
“After all, you did save Mu Fuping, and accepting their grat.i.tude in person isn’t a bad thing. The distinguished Mu family is one of the Nine Great Clans. It will be even better if they give you a little something for your efforts, too,” Phantom said from the sidelines.
Xia Fei noted the logic behind his words. Though he did not think too much of the incident, Mu Fuping was indeed a lady of status. He was not going to die receiving thanks from her, and the chance of establis.h.i.+ng rapport with the Nine Great Clans was good, too.
The grand and s.p.a.cious mansion of Patriarch Yu Jiang was right in the center of the capital. It was a property which spanned approximately a hundred acres.
From taking his first step in, Xia Fei felt this sense of unpleasantness. The servants who came to receive him were all gloating, while the guards that the Mu family had brought were all glaring fiercely at him.
Xia Fei felt aggrieved. He had saved Mu Fuping. Why did her family’s guards show such distaste toward him? An uneasiness gnawed at his heart as he continued.
Entering the guest hall, Xia Fei saw Patriarch Yu Jiang sitting beside a middle-aged man at the head of the room. Next to them in successive order were Mu Fuping, Mu Qingping, and some people whom Xia Fei did not recognize, most likely the two family’s elders and stewards.
Seeing Xia Fei, Yu Jiang smiled and beckoned him to get seated with Yu Hua, while the middle-aged man next to him snorted with a cold harrumph.
Mu Fuping was seated across Xia Fei, looking very primp and proper. She slightly nodded her head toward Xia Fei, a look of grat.i.tude on her face. Xia Fei returned a bow. The two were not too familiar with each other, and Xia Fei felt that the lady was very troublesome, so he maintained a fairly cold demeanor toward her.
Beside her, Mu Qingping sat with a look of schadenfreude which drew Xia Fei’s vigilance. There was something off about this girl no matter how he looked at it, as if she had some sort of trick up her sleeves.
That was when Mu Fuping got up and said, “Big Brother Xia Fei, I thank you for your aid in allowing Fuping to escape. It’s fortunate to learn that you managed to return safe and sound.”
She spoke with decency, and Xia Fei felt somewhat better inside. He returned a few words of courtesy before turning the conversation toward Mu Qiubo.
“Mu Qiubo was a failure in our clan. Having been chased out of Mu family by me due to thievery, he probably harbored a grudge and decided to take revenge on the lady,” the middle-aged man seated at the head answered.
Thievery? A Law Emperor needing to resort to thievery? Xia Fei did not believe a word of this, but because this was ultimately an internal matter of the Yu family, Xia Fei did not bother delving further on the matter.
Mu Fuping said, “This is my father, Mu Nanchen.”
Mu Nanchen impatiently wagged his hand, a gesture to imply there was no need for pleasantries. He proceeded to question Xia Fei’s experience, so Xia Fei came up with a set of lies. Since no one knew where Xia Fei had gone to, he could weave a story however he liked.
Mu Fuping and Mu Qingping very clearly had no life experience, actually believing Xia Fei’s story for fact, covering their hearts whenever any danger was mentioned, nervous as they got engrossed in the details.
There was no way that Xia Fei could lie to old experts like Mu Nanchen, Yu Jiang, and Yu Hua, so he made up his mind that no matter how they questioned him, he would not tell them a bit of the truth, so no one could try and trip him up.
When the story’s done, Mu Fuping and Mu Qingping both stayed and asked for greater details. It was rare for the ladies, who grew up in sheltered backgrounds, to hear such stories, so of course they were somewhat captivated by Xia Fei’s tale.
Mu Nanchen refused to believe a word he said, so he immediately asked, “You’re called Xia Fei?”
“Yes.”
“A newly promoted Law Warrior?”
“Yes.”
“From the Alliance?”
“That’s right.”
“Where did you live?”
“Earth.”
“Where are your parents?”
“I don’t know my father or mother.”
…
Xia Fei was depressed. He had originally thought that the other party would be very grateful for what he had done, so he had not expected to be interrogated so thoroughly that it seemed like they would not relent without exhuming every single ancestor in his bloodline, instead.
Xia Fei answered straightforwardly, and Mu Nanchen’s expression became sterner the more he heard. He finally sighed and glanced over to Mu Fuping.
Mu Fuping looked somewhat awkwardly at Xia Fei as if she had done something wrong. She was not someone who knew how to hide her feelings, and Xia Fei could see through her easily.
After the thorough question, Mu Nanchen let out a sigh and appeared to be dissatisfied with Xia Fei’s background, shaking his head in dismay.
‘What does any of my history have anything to do with you?’ Xia Fei cursed him in his mind.
Yu Jiang very courteously offered some tea, as Mu Nanchen took it and sipped. “A young man who knows how to sacrifice himself for the greater good is fine, and saving our young lady’s life at such a critical juncture, the Mu family as a whole is very grateful, but it is important to show some self-knowledge in all things.”
Xia Fei arched his eyebrow. To suddenly state that he needed to have self-knowledge, just what was going on here?
To the side, Yu Hua tugged at Xia Fei and threw him a look as if afraid that Xia Fei would say something disrespectful at this moment. They were addressing the Mu family, one of the Nine Great Clans, at the end of the day. The Yu family would be in trouble if they were to anger this person in any way.
Xia Fei did his best to suppress the anger he was feeling inside and kept quiet. Today was completely nonsensical. Having heard a group of random people speak some baffling words, how utterly unreasonable!
Mu Fuping rolled her eyes crossly at her father. “Dad, what are you saying?!”
Mu Nanchen lightly patted his head, seemingly powerless.
Xia Fei suddenly discovered that Mu Nanchen appeared to be very afraid of his daughter. Mu Fuping merely opened her mouth and he no longer said anything else.
“Ahem. Since Xia Fei has already returned safe and sound, then this incident has pretty much reached an acceptable conclusion. Tonight, I will host a dinner to entertain all our distinguished guests while also playing host to Xia Fei.”
Mu Nanchen waved. “I hope that Patriarch Yu won’t mind my lack of courtesy, but there are plenty of familial matters that need attending, so it is best if I hurry back and deal with them.”
Yu Hua leaned in next to Xia Fei as he softly whispered into his ear, “Mu Nanchen isn’t just some ordinary person. He’s someone who holds the highest authority in all of the Mu family, managing their finances from a young age. I heard that he might have a chance of entering the Mu family’s Privy Council. Becoming the successor to their patriarch isn’t impossible either.”
Xia Fei furrowed his brows. “What has that got to do with me?”
Yu Hua flashed him a mischievous smile. “Perhaps, perhaps not. It’s hard to predict what the future lies.”
Xia Fei pouted. Today was truly too strange a day. Everyone of every standing was speaking with such ambiguity. Even Yu Hua was no exception.
“Xia Fei, you’ve done the Mu family a huge favor by saving Fuping this time. I must show my deep grat.i.tude toward your actions,” Mu Nanchen said. “Patriarch Yu, how many invites did you receive for the coming Dragon Ascension Conclave?”
Yu Jiang’s face was slightly red as he answered, “We are just a small family, so we only received one.”
“Oh, and have you decided on anyone yet?”
“We have already decided at the start of this year, and it will be our younger generation, Yu Xiaobei, who will be taking part.”
Xia Fei was slightly startled. He had heard the name Yu Xiaobei many times before, and it seemed like he was a very outstanding individual from the Yu family. He was about the same age as him, and both Yu Hua and Yu Jiang had once mentioned his name in pa.s.sing.
As for this Dragon Ascension Conclave, who knew what sort of gathering this was? To actually only be given just a single invite to partic.i.p.ate despite the Yu family numbering in the million.
Mu Nanchen replied, “Then let’s do it like this; I’ll give you another invite this time, and Xia Fei will be the invitee.”
The entire hall went silent after he said this. Even the wise old Patriarch Yu Jiang was stunned, as if being given this invitation was an impressive show of grat.i.tude.
“After wasting nearly half a day here, all you got is an invite, without even any treasure to speak of. Even a bit of Origin Crystal will have been nice, too,” Phantom grumbled by the side.
Xia Fei was also a bit indifferent to it. Having already gotten Lionheart Emperor Oro Wenj by his side, Xia Fei had already set his goal to be striving for cultivation and do his best to reach the next level. Thus, he did not have any thoughts of joining anything else.
Yu Hua was at Xia Fei’s ears again. “The Dragon Ascension Conclave is a law study conference at the Dragon Ascension Martial Arts Hall, dedicated to nurturing the geniuses of the younger generation. An invitation is practically priceless.”
“Dragon Ascension Martial Arts Hall? Is it really great?” Xia Fei asked.
“Not your average ‘great’. Among the humans of the Nine Great Clans, as well as the cream of the crop from other sapient races, all will have the support of the Dragon Ascension Martial Arts Hall, and behind will still be the G.o.d Race’s underwriting. It’s said that the reason why the Dragon Ascension Martial Arts Hall was established is to help the G.o.d Race with pre-training so that they can keep an eye on the exceptional ones.”
The G.o.d Race consisted of the peak experts in the Law Realm, and only the best Law Adepts would be accepted. Xia Fei already knew all these, so he was surprised to learn that the Dragon Ascension Martial Arts Hall would actually be supplying the G.o.d Race with their candidates! No wonder Yu Hua had said that the invitation was priceless. After all, this was the greatest opportunity anyone who was in the Law Realm could have!
Changing the subject, Yu Hua sighed. “But the Mu family giving you an invitation is in no means to help you.”
Xia Fei did not understand what Yu Hua meant, but the Patriarch Yu Jiang had already spoken first.
Yu Jiang let out a bitter chuckle. “This is truly too generous of you this time around, and I’m afraid that we of the Yu family can’t bear this charity.”
Xia Fei was startled. The patriarch was clearly s.h.i.+rking this kindness, rejecting such a great opportunity. Could he have gone insane?
Mu Nanchen purposely asked, “Oh, is there something wrong?”
Yu Jiang eyed Xia Fei quite meaningfully. “There are merely fifteen days away from the Dragon Ascension Conclave, and partic.i.p.ants must be of Law Sovereign cultivation. Xia Fei is just a level 6 Law Warrior at the moment…”
Xia Fei instantly understood everything at that point. Mu Nanchen’s eyes told the whole story, and it was that of naked contempt. He had already calculated that Xia Fei would not have the qualifications to accept an invitation to partic.i.p.ate in the Dragon Ascension Conclave.
“Ah, so that’s the case. For him to have saved my girl from Mu Qiubo, I thought that his cultivation is at least a high level Law Sovereign.” Mu Nanchen appeared shocked when, actually, he had made the offer with ill-intent at heart. Looking at him appear so animated, there was actually not a sliver of surprise. He clearly already knew that Xia Fei’s cultivation was lacking.
The people of the Yu family all sighed, feeling sorry for Xia Fei to miss out on such a great chance due to his insufficient cultivation.
Meanwhile, the people of the Mu family were even more delighted, mocking smiles plastered across their faces.
Xia Fei ground his teeth. He did not know how he had offended the Mu family for him to be the recipient of such ridicule.
“There’s indeed not much time, but I do think that Xia Fei is an exceptional talent. Perhaps he might be promoted to a Law Sovereign in fifteen days! Patriarch of the Yu family, surely you don’t have to reject this offer?” Mu Nanchen deplored with feigned magnanimity.
Promoting from a level 6 Law Warrior to a Law Sovereign in fifteen days? That was practically a joke!
Forget everything else, just promoting from a level 9 Law Warrior to become a Law Sovereign was already abnormal. The talented could perhaps do so in a year, while the stupid could take ten years, or perhaps they could never even make the breakthrough their entire lives. For Xia Fei to be promoted to a Law Sovereign in just fifteen days, it was a joke that only Mu Nanchen could think of!
“Esteemed seniors!” Xia Fei suddenly stood up. He swept a cold gaze on all the Mu family, and everyone looked at him, some with sympathy, others with dark relish, and many with derision.
“Patriarch, why don’t you accept what Elder Mu Nanchen offered,” Xia Fei said plainly. “There’s something I haven’t gotten the chance to report since I got back: My cultivation has increased recently, and I’m now a level 9 Law Adept.”
“WHAT! You’ve reached level 9?”
“No way. Fewer than twenty days have pa.s.sed, yet you’ve already reached the peak of Law Warriors from level 6?!”
“That’s unbelievable. That’s simply too fast!”
Mu Nanchen knitted his eyebrows and asked solemnly, “You hit level 9?”
“That’s right,” Xia Fei replied with ease. “Level 9, and I’ve also inadvertently become an Energy Master.”