King of Creation
Chapter 146 - 144 I’ll Accompany Ye Zhen

Chapter 146: Chapter 144 I’ll Accompany Ye Zhen

In the evening, when Ye Zhen and Dao Field Elder Bao arrived punctually at the front door of Eldest Prince Zhu Xuan’s mansion.

Within the entire Black Water Dao Grounds, only Elder Bao and Ye Zhen had received the invitation from Eldest Prince Zhu Xuan.

Because of this, Han Shi, who ranked fourth on the Heavenly List within the Qiyun Sect, was very dejected.

Although the front of Eldest Prince Zhu Xuan’s mansion couldn’t be described as bustling with traffic, precious steeds and luxurious carriages were still lined up at the front gate.

"Hahaha, it turns out to be Elder Bao gracing us with his presence, please come inside, come inside!"

"I guess, this must be Ye Zhen, the brilliant young hero who has recently risen in the Qiyun Sect, please, come inside!"

With Eldest Prince Zhu Xuan’s status, he certainly wouldn’t stand at the doorway to welcome guests. The one welcoming the visitors was a man with a laugh-as-you-meet duck voice, an eunuch who specialized in serving as a butler for important members of the Royal Family.

The grandeur of the Royal Family is indeed extraordinary; stepping through the gates, one is immediately guided by the youthful and beautiful palace maids stationed on both sides.

It must be said that Elder Bao of the Black Water Dao Field is a man of considerable social breadth, and very popular at that.

The moment he steps into the grand banquet hall, he is greeted non-stop, acquainted with one person after another, and a line of princes and nobles at the banquet queue up to greet him.

Ye Zhen, on the other hand, didn’t receive such treatment.

Ye Zhen had some notoriety in Black Water King’s City, but it was a bad reputation, and not many people knew him, so Ye Zhen found himself unprecedentedly neglected.

Of course, it couldn’t quite be called neglect.

At the very least, there were two youthful and beautiful palace maids leading the way for Ye Zhen.

Especially since these two maids were wearing low-cut gauzy dresses, revealing a large expanse of creamy skin that made Ye Zhen’s mouth go dry.

On the way here, a noble young man had swept his hand across the chest of one of his accompanying maids, startling her and leaving Ye Zhen with itchy hands.

It was strange to say, but lately Ye Zhen had been feeling spring stirrings, and upon seeing such scenes, his lips would start to feel dry.

This made Ye Zhen wonder if, like the Huaa Li that had been in heat before, he had reached that "period."

"Where’s Elder Bao’s seat? Just lead me to a seat next to his!"

Ye Zhen had initially followed Elder Bao, but Elder Bao, radiant with happiness, had left, leaving Ye Zhen to tell the palace maid guiding him this.

"This seat here belongs to Elder Bao, esteemed sir. If you accompanied him, you may sit down at the seat below him!"

Though today’s banquet hosted by Eldest Prince was not as formal as an official court banquet, it was still the kind of solemn and solitary seating arrangement, with each person having a single seat for themselves.

There was a row of single seats on each side, radiating outwards in a V-shape from the main seat facing the front of the hall.

Such seating arrangements were very particular about the order of precedence; the closer to the central main seat, the better the position, indicating a higher status for the guest.

Elder Bao’s status in Ink Water King City was quite high.

He was seated to the left of the main seat, separated from the main seat by only one position.

But that was not surprising in the least.

Having mingled in Black Water King’s City for some time, Ye Zhen had come to know many secrets.

For example, before every new Emperor of Black Water Kingdom ascended the throne, they must first visit the Qiyun Sect Leader and receive the current Qiyun Sect Leader’s approval.

Even during the coronation of a new Emperor, it is the current Sect Leader of the Qiyun Sect who presides over the ceremony.

Although the Qiyun Sect has never outright rejected any prince’s eligibility as heir to the throne, any prince who wishes to become the heir must secure the support of the Qiyun Sect.

Otherwise, no matter how well they perform, they can forget about being qualified for the succession.

And so, the situation fell into this odd cycle: every new Emperor before their ascension did their utmost to court the Qiyun Sect for their support.

But once they became Emperor, they began to scheme to limit the power of the Qiyun Sect, working covertly to suppress them, so their descendants wouldn’t have to follow their old path and be constrained by the Qiyun Sect.

Lishui Sect was a product supported by the Royal Family under these peculiar circumstances.

However, the Royal Family has yet to achieve its goal; the princes still need to curry favor with the Qiyun Sect and secure their support to be considered for the throne.

Today, with Emperor Yuankang of Black Water Kingdom’s cultivation unable to break through to the Spirit Transformation Realm for a longer life span, coupled with his unrestrained indulgence in alcohol and declining health, the rivalry among the princes for succession has become increasingly fierce.

Especially Eldest Prince Zhu Xuan and Third Prince Zhu Kun, who fought each other relentlessly, holding small banquets every three days and grand banquets every five days.

Like the banquet Eldest Prince Zhu Xuan hosted today, it was part of this ongoing struggle.

Of course, these matters need not concern Ye Zhen.

Focusing solely on martial arts, soaring freely through the blue sky and white clouds, pursuing the Great Freedom, was Ye Zhen’s true goal.

Two lovely palace maids were kneeling on each side of Ye Zhen’s seat, one brewing tea, the other peeling grapes for him; a slight tilt of the body and a downward glance sent his heart racing, truly one of life’s great pleasures.

"Princess Huayang has arrived..."

"Prince Anchang has arrived..."

"Left Guard General has arrived..."

Every time a name was sung out, the entrance of the hall became lively: those with lower status crowded forward, jostling for a while to earn a lofty smile in return.

Then, the newly arrived dignitaries would hurry to some corner of the hall to greet the great personage they had not welcomed earlier with smiling faces.

Ye Zhen felt that their smiling faces were almost cramping, nowhere near as comfortable as his own.

Enjoying a peeled grape, he shifted his body and felt his heart race once more.

Soon, the time nearly approached, and the banquet was about to start; all the great personages, after their pleasant exchanges, took their seats.

Suddenly, a cold snort sounded above Ye Zhen’s head.

As Ye Zhen looked up, the two maids serving by his side hastily knelt down to greet, "We pay our respects to Tributor Wang!"

"Boy, who do you belong to, and who gave you the audacity to sit here? Make way at once!" Tributor Wang waved his hand impatiently.

"Sir, this is Master Wang, the Royal Family Attendant of the Black Water Kingdom, an esteemed Pill Master only second to the Black Water Pill King himself. Please give up your seat for him!"

A man who seemed to be a steward from the Prince’s Mansion was quietly pleading with Ye Zhen, who couldn’t afford to offend anyone at today’s banquet.

"Uh... okay..."

Spitting out a grape, Ye Zhen leisurely rose from his seat to give way.

Just another seat, let it be.

Ye Zhen didn’t care about it at all.

One’s status does not change just because you take a better seat.

"Young Hero Ye, this place is reserved for me, I’m afraid I need to trouble you to move again,"

Just as Ye Zhen was about to sit down in the next seat, Prince Anchang, Zhu Qianshu, smiled at Ye Zhen with folded hands, his expression somewhat gleeful. The awkwardness from when Ye Zhen came to collect a debt the day before had vanished.

Ye Zhen paused, then moved on to the next seat. Alright, it was just a seat. He wasn’t going to fuss over it.

When Ye Zhen tried to sit in the fifth seat, Prince Anchang, Zhu Qianshu, spoke again, "Young Hero Ye, this seat belongs to my seventh brother, and you can’t sit here either."

Ye Zhen was getting a bit frustrated and moved on to the next seat.

"Young Hero Ye, you can’t sit here either. This is Princess Huayang’s seat, and with her temperament..."

Prince Anchang, Zhu Qianshu, was quite smug. In this circle, Ye Zhen, you had better eat humble pie.

Ye Zhen was utterly flustered. The two palace maids attending to him also started to get anxious.

Alright, I’ll keep moving!

In his annoyance, Ye Zhen simply took the two maids and sat down at the ninth seat on the left side, which was, in fact, the last seat on this side.

This should keep anyone from bothering me.

Ye Zhen had yet to enjoy the thrill of snacking on grapes while his heart raced.

Especially since, upon realizing what Ye Zhen had done, the two maids blushed, daring not to speak, yet still had to serve him, which gave Ye Zhen a glance now and then—an exhilarating feeling.

Soon, most guests had taken their seats, including Princess Huayang who was seated two seats away from Ye Zhen.

When she sat down, she glanced at Ye Zhen in surprise, offered him a slight smile, and seemed to have greeted him.

At that moment, the extremely popular Elder Bao, who had finally finished socializing in the corner of the hall, returned to the main hall to take his seat.

Scanning the room and noticing Ye Zhen seated at the last position, Elder Bao’s expression changed.

Given his experience, he quickly understood the situation looking at the characters in front.

With a wave of his sleeve, he strode over to the seat in front of Ye Zhen, which was the second to last seat on the left, and sat down.

"Ye Zhen, how come you’re all the way back here?"

Glancing at the deep cleavage of the palace maid attending Elder Bao, Ye Zhen chuckled and said, "Since you’ve come to sit with me, why ask?"

"Actually, you don’t need to. If you sit here, I’ll be uncomfortable!" Ye Zhen said, shifting his gaze to the right.

"You, boy, hasn’t indulged in such pleasures, haven’t you? Want me to ask the Eldest Prince to arrange a few for you?"

At this statement, the faces of several maids nearby immediately flushed red.

"You can’t be serious. You’re really too..."

Ye Zhen’s eyes widened, and he was at a loss for words.

In shamelessness, he couldn’t catch up with Elder Bao even on horseback.

"Too what? Hmmph, I really don’t want to sit with those blind fools," Elder Bao suddenly said in a lower voice, chuckling, "To think I’d sit with those stale old guys over accompaning a genius who sky-rocketed from the First Stage of Blood Training to Mid-stage Spirit Summoning Realm in less than two years. What, am I supposed to be blind?"

"You noticed my true cultivation?"

Ye Zhen was shocked.

"Nonsense! It was the disturbance of your breakthrough that alerted me. By the way, the technique you’re using to conceal your Qi is quite good. Right now, I can’t see through it at all..."

When Ye Zhen breathed a sigh of relief, the people sitting in the first few seats on the left started to feel uneasy.

To nobody’s surprise, the esteemed Elder Bao, sitting in one of the last few seats, made them restless—how could they remain seated?

Princess Huayang and Prince Anchang, Zhu Qianshu, stood up at the same time and went over to invite Elder Bao.

"Elder Bao, you should sit up front. If you sit here, how can we remain seated?" Zhu Qianshu said with a smile.

"Ha, I want to sit with Ye Zhen!"

With a single sentence from Elder Bao, Zhu Qianshu’s smile froze, while Princess Huayang’s beautiful eyes flashed with a hint of surprise.

Just as they were about to urge him again, a resounding announcement came from the entrance.

"The Black Water... Pill King... has arrived!"

With those six words announced, all the distinguished guests, who had just been seated, stood up with smiles, looking towards the entrance.

As usual, the unprepossessing Black Water Pill King stepped briskly inside.

"Pill King Gai, this way please. Your seat is the first on the left, please, have a seat," the Prince Manor’s Chief begged with a grin that reached his ears.

The Black Water Pill King had been invited countless times, and they had sent invitations to every banquet, but he had never once attended!

The Black Water Pill King, however, ignored the Prince Manor’s Chief’s guidance. He glanced left and right, his eyes brightening, and suddenly made his way toward the last seat on the left! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to go to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)