BXBX NOVEL Chapter 418 - Banquet
Chapter 418: Banquet
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Young cousin sister, who’s not being sensible now?!” Leng Feng demanded. “Young cousin sister, I’m not a child anymore!”
Lu Yurong ignored him and turned to Chu Li. “How about we go in again?”
Chu Li broke into a smile. “What door is not meant to be entered?”
Lu Yurong glanced at Leng Feng from the corner of her eye and said, “The princess is in the backyard. Let’s go meet her.”
Chu Li nodded. “Is His Royal Highness not in the Residence?”
Lu Yurong shook her head. “His Royal Highness is in the Ministry of War.”
Chu Li understood immediately what that meant.
The issue with the Holy Church of Light must have plunged the Ministry of War into disorder. If an insider were to infiltrate their ranks, the ministry was bound to have its own fair share of unfortunate victims.
Lu Yurong and Leng Ying brought him inside, ignoring Leng Feng all the while.
Leng Feng’s handsome face sunk and darkened in extreme anger, but he did not want to leave just like that.
He saw how different Lu Yurong treated Chu Li and grew jealous and resentful. He wanted to know what the two were talking about, but at the same time, he did not want to see how intimate they were with each other. The conflicting desires of wanting to know and not wanting to know tormented him, causing him pain beyond measure.
All that pain was transformed into hatred directed toward Chu Li. He had the urge to get rid of him right then and there.
Along the way, they occasionally came across maids and scribes who curtsied and gave them a fist salute in greeting. Lu Yurong acted as if she was in her own house, nodding lightly in response. They walked into the fourth entrance of the courtyard and come into the backyard.
The backyard was wide and spacious, containing six parterres in total. Each parterre had its own martial arts field as well as a small lake. Above each lake stood a waterside gazebo.
Consort Lu, accompanied by several maids, was sitting in a gazebo while admiring the Koi in the lake.
“Aunt, Chu Li has come.” Lu Yurong and the other two arrived at the gazebo.
Chu Li did a fist salute. “Greetings, princess.”
Lu Yurong was dressed in gorgeous clothing completed with exquisite makeup, looking beautiful and graceful as ever. She raised her hand and waved, her laugh tinkling like bells. “There’s no need to be so courteous, Head Chief Chu. Thank you for your trouble.”
“You give me too much credit, princess. It’s no trouble at all.” Chu Li said.
Lu Yurong smiled and said, “The lady cook from my house makes delicious pastries. Sit down and enjoy them.”
“Yes, thank you, princess.” Chu Li sat down without any reservations.
Lu Yurong sat beside him, her faint fragrant aroma wafting under his nose.
Leng Ying sat on the other side, staring at him curiously. She wanted to hear what he planned to do.
Elder cousin sister would rather scold big brother than go against Chu Li. It was obvious that she had high hopes for Chu Li but did not know if he would be able to meet up to those high expectations.
“Where are you from, Head Chief Chu?” Consort Lu made small talk with Chu Li as if she was an amicable and ordinary married woman.
Chu Li went along with her wishes.
The two talked about local affairs as well as orders in the martial arts world. Leng Ying listened with great interest.
Around noon, Consort Lu held a banquet in the main hall of the residence.
Chu Li was only one person. That meant he was merely an insignificant member of the banquet held in the imperial residence which was lavish, extravagant and extremely ceremonious.
There was only one princess in the Imperial Residence of King Jing, so Consort Lu could do whatever she pleased.
It was as if all the scribes and maids in the residence were mobilized. The delicacies were served continuously like the flowing of water. Even before a dish could be savored, it would already be taken back with another dish taking its place.
Chu Li ate heartily. His stomach was like a bottomless pit.
After he cultivated the Heavenly Demonic Power, his appetite grew much larger than what a normal person could stomach. If he ate without holding himself back, he could eat around ten people’s worth of food.
All of these dishes being added together would have been three to four times the size of his own stomach, but he managed to swallow everything anyway. Leng Ying gaped at him with wide eyes.
Consort Lu ate very little, only eating a few bites before leaving. She let Lu Yurong, Leng Ying, and Leng Feng accompany Chu Li while he continued eating.
“Your appetite is astonishing!” Lu Yurong sat across Chu Li, shaking her head. “You sure can eat!”
“He’s a good-for-nothing glutton!” scoffed Leng Feng.
Chu Li smiled. “Since I have cultivated this torso tuning technique, I became physically stronger, and my appetite grew as well.”
“You cultivated a torso tuning technique before?” Lu Yurong frowned. “Which
type?”
“The Sun Cultivating White Tiger Portrait.” Chu Li took another bite of beef.
Lu Yurong pondered for a moment and said, “The Sun Cultivating White Tiger Portrait... I’ve heard of that before. Apparently, it’s an excellent torso tuning technique. But no matter how excellent, it’s still only a torso tuning technique. How did you manage to reach the Innate Mastery’s Boundary?”
“I cultivated it after reaching the Innate Mastery’s Boundary,” said Chu Li.
Lu Yurong nodded. That made sense.
“Do you have such high cultivation skills because you have cultivated the Sun Cultivating White Tiger Portrait?”
Chu Li said, “More or less.”
Lu Yurong glanced at him.
Although the Sun Cultivating White Tiger Portrait was wonderful, not everyone was able to cultivate it successfully.
More importantly, not many people would go down this path. Many seniors have already proved that this path led to nowhere, but Chu Li still dared to do so. His guts were large enough to reach the heavens.
It seemed like it was the Sun Cultivating White Tiger Portrait which had enabled him to move with such speed. Even if everyone had the same Light-body Technique, he could somehow employ it much faster than everyone else. That was why he was so quick in drawing his sword. Since his power was so strong, naturally, his drawing of a sword would be quicker too.
She thought to herself, ‘Should I try to cultivate some torso tuning techniques as well?’
She shook her head and laughed immediately after that. The Empyrean Fairy Power had granted her torso tuning capabilities. She did not need to cultivate anything else.
“The Sun Cultivating White Tiger Portrait?” Leng Feng scoffed. “What kind of Martial Art is that? I’ve never heard of it before.”
Chu Li chuckled.
Lu Yurong did not pick up the conversation, and this angered Leng Feng even further. He was much more adamant to stay than before.
Leng Ying could not bear to watch any longer. Giving big brother the cold shoulder to this extent was just a bit too much.
“Elder cousin sister, what kind of Martial Art is the Sun Cultivating White Tiger Portrait?”
“It’s one of the top-tier torso tuning techniques. It was the antique study of the White Tigers Cave from several hundred years ago.”
“The White Tigers Cave?”
“There’s no point in saying so much. Forget it, you can go find out about it yourself.”
“Elder cousin sister!” Leng Ying whined.
Lu Yurong smiled and said, “You’re a daughter. It’s fine if you don’t know about these kinds of things. However, it’s not right for elder brother cousin to not know about this. All you do every day is fooling around with those disgraceful friends of yours and neglecting your studies. You’re such a disappointment!”
“What’s the point of studying? Everything will be fine as long as I concentrate on training my Martial Art,” Leng Feng said petulantly.
Lu Yurong waved a hand dismissively and did not bother to say anything more to him.
He should know what he should study and what he should not study as he was an adult and not a child anymore She had nothing more to say to him doing all the things he knew he shouldn’t have done. Saying anything more would just make her angry.
“Alright, now that this good-for-nothing glutton has had his fill, he’ll be taking his leave now,” said Chu Li with a grin.
“Very well, I shall see you out,” Lu Yurong said.
“Alright.” Chu Li nodded.
Lu Yurong turned to Leng Feng who was just about to stand and said, “I’ll send him out myself. I wish to have a few words with him alone.”
Leng Feng frowned. “Younger cousin sister, is that a good idea?”
Lu Yurong’s beautiful face darkened.
Leng Feng hurriedly explained, “Younger cousin sister, doing something as suspicious as this...”
“Silence!” Lu Yurong demanded coldly.
She turned to Chu Li and smiled. “Let’s go.”
Chu Li grinned as he stood. He spared Leng Feng a quick glance and shook his head.
Leng Feng glared vehemently at him, watching as they walked out of the main hall shoulder-to-shoulder. He gritted his teeth until they creaked, and his hands bent the chopsticks he was holding in half.
Leng Ying shook her head and let out a helpless sigh.
This big brother of hers really was hopeless. He let his anger go to his head and committed a foolish action one after another. Even her younger sister could not do anything to help him.
If she were Chu Li, she would have gotten mad and left long ago.
Chu Li was quite impressive to be able to remain tightly on his seat just now. His skin was as thick as a wall, and it was, as seen at the banquet, certainly not a lie at all.