At that moment, there were countless gazes on Liu Chan apart from Ye Futian's. The Sage Palace's Assistant Palace Lord was now the acting Main Palace Lord for the Holy Zhi Palace. His Will could almost represent the Holy Zhi Palace's Will. Moreover, everyone knew what Liu Chan's arrival meant—this marriage would bind the three strongest factions in the Barren State together.
Even the White Cloud City Lord and Zhuge Qingfeng stood up to welcome Liu Chan. Although Liu Chan was only Bai Luli's master, he was also Bai Gu and Zhuge Qingfeng's Uncle-Master, so they had to abide by the seniority. To be precise, the majority of the people at the event were Liu Chan's juniors.
Liu Chan walked to a location and stopped. The crowd's gaze immediately followed and saw him turn slowly and look at Ye Futian. Ye Futian was also surprised, he had not expected Liu Chan to look towards him. Sage Zhusong must have told Liu Chan about the incident that happened a month ago.
"You have already obtained permission to enter the Sage Hall. You should be doing your best to raise and break through your cultivation level now. Do not let irrelevant matters affect your cultivation. After today, return to the Palace and cultivate in seclusion. Try to break through to the Sage Plane as soon as possible." Liu Chan continued, "Yu Sheng, you too. After the two of you go back, I will call for a Six Palace meeting to discuss allowing Yu Sheng to enter the Sage Hall and cultivate." After he said that, Liu Chan did not wait for Ye Futian and Yu Sheng's reply before turning around and continuing forward. Zhuge Qingfeng and Bai Gu gave him the seat of honor. Be it his Barren Sky Ranking or his seniority, Liu Chan was deserving of the seat.
Many people looked towards Ye Futian. They naturally understood the meaning of Liu Chan's words. Ye Futian had not behaved as he should have, but the Holy Zhi Palace still valued him highly and gave their best efforts to groom him.
Ye Futian looked at Liu Chan's back. If the wedding between Bai Luli and Second Sister today did not exist, Liu Chan would be an elder worthy of respect. Although he was from the Sage Palace, his magnanimity was way beyond a normal person. However, on Bai Luli's matters, Liu Chan and his stance were on opposing ends. Moreover, they stood firmly on their sides and could not be wavered. He could not persuade Liu Chan and vice versa, so they were stuck in a deadlock.
Liu Chan sat on the seat of honor and looked at the sky before declaring, "Let the feast begin."
"Okay." Zhuge Qingfeng nodded, then waved his hand. Immediately, everyone took their seats and the servants and maidservants from the Zhuge Family started to get busy. Today's feast was likely to be one of the grandest in the Barren State.
Not far away, a figure quietly arrived, it was Zhuge Mingyue.
Zhuge Mingyue was exceptionally beautiful today. The usual plain robes that she was used to wearing had been replaced by an elaborate dress which complemented her figure perfectly. With a touch of makeup, she was ravishingly beautiful and immediately attracted everyone's attention.
Zhuge Mingyue was originally a stunning beauty, but now she looked even more beautiful. Many people were stunned at her beauty, then looked at the handsome Bai Luli and thought, what a perfect couple.
Ye Futian looked at the ravishing beauty and felt his heartstrings tugging. At that moment, his second sister was so beautiful. She had a faint smile on her face, but there was a semblance of sadness and determination in her eyes. Would it really end up like in the letter? If his Third Brother did not come, Ye Futian did not know what Second Sister would do. Knowing her personality, would she really end up with Bai Luli?
Today's engagement banquet was already Third Brother's final chance.
Zhuge Qingfeng looked around at the crowd then said, "Today, all of you have traveled long distances to be here. Zhuge Qingfeng thanks all of you for your presence. I will skip the formalities, please enjoy the feast and don't hold back. Many of us are old friends and have not met for many years. I did not expect that we would be reunited here today, let's have a toast." As he said that, he raised his glass and said, "After you."
The crowd all raised their glasses and finished their wine.
As the wine glasses were placed down, the atmosphere started to hype up. The Vermillion Bird Sect Leader smiled and said, "Age is catching up to me. I did not expect that the younger generation would already be this outstanding. On today's feast, I can almost see the end of our generation and the younger generation starting to take over us."
The Vermillion Bird Sect was an elite faction in the Barren State's Northeast Region. The Sect Leader was an expert, 37th on the Barren Sky Ranking, so he naturally had the right to represent his generation.
"Indeed, seeing Bai Luli makes me feel as though a new era is upon us. Today's Crouching Dragon Feast has gathered the entire Barren State, in fact, we have gathered not only to support the event, but also to witness the arrival of a new era," another expert on the Barren Sky Ranking said emotionally.
"In reality, back when Bai Luli made it to tenth on the Barren Sky Ranking, I felt as though our era was about to end. Looking at all these people from the younger generation, they might look unfamiliar now, but the Barren Sky Ranking's elite figures are all definitely here," another person laughed and said.
Many people looked at the younger generation. Many of the experts on the Barren Sky Ranking had brought their descendants here today. There were those who had already entered the Sage Plane and experts within the Noble Plane who were rising up quickly.
"Who do you think among the next generation will be able to dominate the Barren State state?" someone asked jestingly.
"Bai Luli has been proclaimed to have the potential to become a Saint. If he actually does it one day, everyone else's efforts will become meaningless," someone smiled and replied. Now that Bai Luli's Saint potential had been publicized, everyone knew the purpose of this marriage.
"Although Bai Luli has the potential to become a Saint, there are many geniuses among the younger generation. The future is unknown, nobody knows who will lead the Barren State in the future," the Sovereign Family's Huang Xi said nonchalantly. As fifth on the Barren Sky Ranking, he was long-time rivals with the White Cloud City Lord, so he naturally did not feel that his Sovereign Family's descendants would be weaker than Bai Luli. For example, Huang Jiuge had exceptional potential and an enduring mindset.
"Time will tell," the White Cloud City Lord looked at Huang Xi and replied. When two elite figures met, they also opposed each other without giving way.
"The Sovereign Family's Huang Jiuge is also a genius of the generation. However, he was unable to come in first in the Holy Zhi Palace's admission examination," The White Cloud City's Yun Clan Leader had also arrived and said flippantly, intentionally targeting Huang Xi. He was hinting that Huang Jiuge could not even obtain first in the Palace's admission examination, thus how would he be qualified to command the Barren State?
"Before the White Cloud City's Bai Ze participated in the admission examination, I had also heard that he had a reputation as the second Bai Luli. Now, he has vanished among the masses. Time is indeed the best judge." Huang Xi said calmly, "Multiple incomparable talents can appear in their generation."
"There are some people who were born prodigies, there's no need to compare. Back then, Bai Luli crushed his generation and Ye Futian similarly dominated his generation. If Ye Futian is more outstanding, then those who were dominated by Ye Futian might end up becoming peerless in the future," Xu Shang said lazily.
Many people looked at Ye Futian, some with admiration, others with hatred. Among the geniuses here today, there were too many who had been defeated by Ye Futian, the most famous among them being the Ximen Clan's Ximen Hanjiang and Di Kai's descendant, Di Gang from Alchemy City. As for Yan Jiu, Nan Hao, Bing Yi and the rest, Ye Futian had probably left them far behind now. Was Xu Shang trying to incite a conflict between the two prodigies by flattering Ye Futian like this? Everyone knew that Ye Futian was extremely unhappy with this marriage. He had publicly said that Bai Luli was not worthy of his Second Sister.
"No matter who is more outstanding, they are both the Palace's disciples. Xu Que is also the same, I have high hopes for them," Liu Chan said. Immediately, Xu Shang smiled and shut up; Liu Chan words still held much weight.
"It's time." Liu Chan looked at the sky and a glint appeared in Zhuge Qingfeng's eyes. He looked at Ye Futian and nodded, saying, "They're here."
The White Cloud City Lord stood up and said, "Bring up the betrothal gifts." His voice was not loud, but it penetrated the area. In an instant, many figures at the foot of Crouching Dragon Mountain made their way up the mountain. These figures made their way up all the way until the feast and handed the betrothal gifts over.
There were exotic treasures—elite Sage ritual implements, valuable pills, and strong secret methods indexes. There were 99 betrothal gifts and they were all priceless treasures. When the Zhuge Family's people saw the scene, they all nodded delightedly. The White Cloud City had come with sincerity. This way, even if they took the Zhuge Family's treasure, the Zhuge Family would not feel that shortchanged.
Countless people sent their congratulations and it was a sight to behold. However, Ye Futian's expression was exceptionally grim. Zhuge Mingyue looked at him nonchalantly, maintaining her expression as she occasionally glanced in the distance.
"Brother Zhuge Family, I am here to officially propose marriage to the Zhuge Family on behalf of my son," the White Cloud City Lord said. Although both parties had already come to a consensus, he still needed to display the White Cloud City's sincerity. For one, to highlight the White Cloud City's magnanimity, and secondly, to give the Zhuge Family due respect.
At the feast, countless people looked at Zhuge Qingfeng. As long as he accepted the betrothal gifts, the engagement would be considered complete.
Zhuge Qingfeng looked at the betrothal gifts and surprisingly fell silent for a moment.
"Wait a minute," at that moment, an abrupt voice sounded. A figure stood up from within the feast and everyone's gazes landed on him.
Ye Futian clenched his fists and was actually shivering.
"Sit down," Liu Chan looked at Ye Futian and said in an imposing voice.
Upon hearing Liu Chan's voice, Ye Futian felt his entire body shiver, but he continued to stand firmly and raised his head, staring at Liu Chan with a determined expression, saying, "I object."
"What insolence." Many people from the Zhuge Family raged at him.
The White Cloud City Lord looked at Ye Futian with a frigid expression. In an instant, a terrifying pressure landed on Ye Futian.
"We object as well." Xue Ye and Luo Fan stood up, striving to make their objections heard.
"You two, sit down," You Chi chided them lightly.
The current scenario would not care for a few young teens' objections.
A repressed aura started to spread throughout the grand feast.
At that moment, an aura appeared at the foot of the mountain, as though a fight had broken out.
Zhuge Qingfeng's gaze moved towards the foot of the mountain, his eyes seemingly able to penetrate space itself. Over there, he saw a figure in white robes climbing up with resolution.
In the end, he had still come.
"Gu Dongliu has come to the Zhuge Family to propose marriage," the voice sounded through the air and throughout all of Crouching Dragon Mountain!