Chapter 34: The Banquet

Three days later!

After finishing his day of cultivation, Ye Qingxuan left his small courtyard and headed toward the central plaza of the Blessed Cultivation Academy.

The Blessed Cultivation Academy was not actually large, covering an area of only about a thousand square kilometers.

Despite having lived in the academy for so long, this was the first time Ye Qingxuan had observed its internal environment from a close distance.

In the past, Ye Qingxuan had always flown via sword, seeing the academy only from a bird's-eye view from high above.

After walking for a long time, Ye Qingxuan found that most of the courtyards within the academy were of similar size, and the ornamental spiritual plants outside them held little attraction for him.

Looking at these was no better than finding a random peak in the Xuantian Mountains; the peaks within the Xuantian Mountains were mostly ethereal and beautiful, boasting countless wondrous flora and fauna.

Thus, Ye Qingxuan abandoned his plan to walk and instead summoned his flying sword, riding it toward the central plaza of the academy.

Only upon reaching the vicinity of the plaza did Ye Qingxuan stop flying and enter the plaza on foot.

By the time Ye Qingxuan arrived, quite a few people had already gathered at the plaza.

There were a total of one hundred disciples in Ye Qingxuan's cohort who had entered the Blessed Cultivation Academy at the same time.

Currently, aside from the administrators, these one hundred disciples were the only ones left in the entire academy.

As for the previous generation of disciples, they had all successively broken through to the Great Circle of Qi Refinement in recent years, leaving the academy's contracted spiritual lands to become true Blessed Cultivators.

When Ye Qingxuan entered, he only drew a few side-glances from those on the periphery; since they were strangers, those people did not come to disturb him.

Seeking peace and quiet, he directly found a remote seat on the outskirts and sat down.

At this time, the seats were already filled with various spiritual fruits and wines.

After scanning the area, Ye Qingxuan clicked his tongue and thought to himself

"What a grand gesture. This banquet must have cost quite a lot of spirit stones, doesn't it?"

Looking at the spiritual fruits and wine before him, Ye Qingxuan did not act reserved; he began to eat the fruits and drink the wine on his own.

Before long, all the seats in the field were filled.

A chubby little fellow with a face full of auspicious features appeared beside Ye Qingxuan.

After sitting down, the little fatty took a large bite of a spiritual fruit and then looked at Ye Qingxuan with a grin, saying

"Brother, my name is Fu Dingtian. What should I call you? Are you also a disciple of the Blessed Cultivation Academy? Why haven't I seen you before?"

Hearing the little fatty's address, Ye Qingxuan gave him a strange look and said indifferently

"My name is Ye Qingxuan, a disciple of the Blessed Cultivation Academy."

"Ye Qingxuan? Wait, let me look!"

With that, the little fatty pulled out his disciple token, checked it for a moment, and then shouted

"Wow, brother, you've been hiding deep! I actually don't have your contact imprint!"

Ye Qingxuan's forehead was covered in black lines!

Wasn't it perfectly normal that he didn't have his contact imprint? They weren't acquaintances.

But the little fatty did not stop and continued

"I knew it! Clearly, one hundred people entered together, but I only collected the contact imprints of ninety-eight people! I thought it was a ghost!"

Ignoring Ye Qingxuan's darkening expression, the little fatty leaned closer to him

"Brother, I'm only missing you to complete the imprints of all one hundred people from our cohort. Let's become friends and exchange contact imprints, shall we?"

"We aren't close. No exchange!"

Facing the little fatty's request, Ye Qingxuan refused directly.

But the little fatty did not give up, instead acting thick-skinned

"Don't be like that! Brother, the first time is strange, the second time is familiar! Meeting is fate; you can't be so heartless!"

Ye Qingxuan wanted to continue refusing, but feeling the gazes being drawn toward them by the little fatty's voice, he could only grit his teeth and say

"Fine!"

Fortunately, after he exchanged contact imprints with the little fatty, the fellow happily returned to his own seat and did not continue to pester him.

Only then did Ye Qingxuan secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

He finally understood how this little fatty managed to get everyone's contact imprints; you couldn't fight him, and his skin was so thick that if he insisted, everyone had no choice but to give in.

In any case, an imprint wasn't much of a loss, and there was no point in bickering with him.

Following this unexpected interlude, the banquet hosted by Lin Fan officially began.

Lin Fan raised his wine cup, exchanged words with several friends around him, and then stood up high-spiritedly, saying

"I am deeply grateful to all my junior brothers for giving me face and attending this banquet!"

With that, he drank the cup of wine in his hand.

Many disciples in the field who were on good terms with Lin Fan responded one after another, raising their cups to drink together.

Ye Qingxuan had no reaction to this, merely watching everything in the field indifferently.

In contrast, the little fatty beside him was acting excited and jumpy, though it was unclear what there was to be so excited about.

After Lin Fan finished his wine, he continued

"The purpose of inviting all my junior brothers this time is, first, to gather with you all before I depart, and second, to discuss a matter. I hope all my junior brothers can agree!"

As soon as Lin Fan finished speaking, many people in the inner circle chimed in, expressing support for him

"Senior Brother Lin, just tell us what it is! If we can help, we definitely will!"

"That's right! Senior Brother Lin, no need to be polite with us, just say it!"

"I have been friends with Brother Lin for many years. Brother Lin's business is my business. There is no need for Brother Lin to worry; just say it, everyone will agree."

The people in the inner circle were going back and forth, nearly agreeing on behalf of everyone in the field.

However, many people on the periphery, including Ye Qingxuan, merely watched with cold eyes, and many even wore a trace of mockery on their faces!

"As expected, there is no such thing as a purely good banquet!"

Ye Qingxuan thought to himself, beginning to eat the fruits and watching this drama with great interest!

After receiving responses and support from many friends, Lin Fan shouted

"Good! Since that is the case, I shall speak plainly!"

"We are all fellow disciples who entered the Blessed Cultivation Academy together. The reason I have gathered everyone here is in the hope that we can form a Blessed Cultivation Alliance, so that in the future, we can look out for one another. What do you all think?"

Hearing Lin Fan's words, someone in the field immediately asked

"Senior Brother Lin, how exactly would this alliance work?"

"Yes! Senior Brother Lin, what will we need to do after the alliance is formed?"

Facing their inquiries, Lin Fan raised a hand slightly and smiled

"Don't be in a hurry. First, let me introduce two friends to you all!"

With that, he pointed to two people standing not far behind him and said

"These two are Senior Brothers Li Xuan and Zhu Dafu. They are seniors who entered the Xuantian Sect in the same batch as us. Although they are not disciples of the Blessed Cultivation Academy, they are now outer disciples of the Foundation Establishment stage of the Xuantian Sect."

Li Xuan and Zhu Dafu stepped forward, not interrupting Lin Fan, but merely looking at the crowd with smiles.

After a pause, Lin Fan continued

"Once we form the alliance, everyone's future blessed land production can be handed over to Senior Brother Li Xuan and Senior Brother Zhu Dafu for unified management."

"Of course, you can rest assured; the alliance will purchase the resources produced in your blessed lands at market prices."

"Furthermore, after joining the alliance, if there are any supplies you need to procure, you can report them to the alliance collectively, and Senior Brother Li Xuan and Senior Brother Zhu Dafu will send people to purchase them for us!"