Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
For tonight’s banquet, Lu Peien reserved a special small courtyard at Sky Beyond. The dining area was in the middle of the courtyard, surrounded by a rock garden, green trees, and a pond. There were rosewood-framed windows that were embedded with palm-sized colorful glass shards around the room. In an era where glass was still deemed as a precious gem, the window’s design could be regarded as unique.
The courtyard they would dine in was known as the ‘Glassy Sky’.
Lu Peien was already waiting here.
“Have you been here before, Liqiang?”
When Yan Liqiang arrived and had just exchanged a few words with Lu Peien, he was suddenly hit by that question out of the blue.
“I’ve never been here, this is my first time. Why do you ask, Brother Lu?” Yan Liqiang asked.
“As expected, Liqiang is indeed an unusual person. How rare it is for someone to not react when entering the Glassy Sky!” Lu Peien laughed while shaking his head. He pointed to the glass shards on the windows around the room. “I’m not afraid of being a laughing stock to you, Liqiang. Although I consider myself as someone who travels extensively, I was dumbstruck for a good long while when I entered the Glassy Sky for the first time and saw these windows made out of glass! This place has indeed shown me just how little I knew. It would seem like the businessmen and wealthy clans in the capital city are incomparable to those from other places!”
Realization dawned upon Yan Liqiang. The decorations of this place might be unique to Lu Peien and the rest, but this glass was not that much different than tinted glass to Yan Liqiang. The windows that made Lu Peien sigh in amazement were nothing more than plain glass windows to Yan Liqiang. Therefore, the design was only a little odd to Yan Liqiang at most, rather than shocking.
Yan Liqiang couldn’t really consider himself to have seen a lot in his previous life, but when it came to ‘exotic’ things like these, the total knowledge of the entire capital city’s population probably couldn’t even rival Yan Liqiang’s alone.
“Ah, so that’s what you mean, Brother Lu…” Yan Liqiang pretended to scratch his head in embarrassment. “To be honest, I was shocked when I came in just now. I merely suppressed my reaction and ignored it so that I wouldn’t appear to be too much of a bumpkin to Brother Lu…!”
Lu Peien was taken aback by the answer before he burst into laughter. “I almost got fooled by you, Liqiang…!”
“Hahaha, forgive me, Brother Lu…”
Both of them continued their chat in the room while they waited for the people from Soul Mountain Sect to arrive.
When there were fifteen minutes left before the scheduled time made by both parties, the voice of the Lu Clan’s steward came from the corridor outside the Glassy Sky. “This way please, everyone…!”
As soon as the steward’s voice rang out, Lu Peien cast a glance at Yan Liqiang and told him, “Please wait for a while, Liqiang. I will go out to welcome them!”
“Let’s go together then. After all, the friends of Old Master Lu are considered my seniors too!”
“Alright!”
Lu Peien nodded, then both of them went out together.
As soon they pushed open the door and went outside, Yan Liqiang saw the steward from the Lu Clan leading three people toward them.
Among them were two men and one lady. One of the men was neatly dressed and appeared to be about the same age as Old Master Lu. Although he wasn’t young anymore, he still seemed extremely intelligent and capable. The other was a chubby old man, dressed in blue clothes and a jacket that couldn’t be buttoned up due his protruding, round tummy. Perhaps he appeared to be a man who wasn’t concerned about his looks, yet he exuded a powerful presence. Even the neatly-dressed old man would bow a little out of respect when speaking to him. The lady who seemed to be in her twenties was dressed in a long beige dress. Her looks were actually not inferior to Hua Ruxue’s, and she had a quiet temperament.
“Greetings, Uncle Yao!” Lu Peien went up to the three people and bowed to the neatly dressed old man without waiting for the steward to say anything.
“Haha, no need to be so formal, Peien!” The old man smiled and cast a glance at Yan Liqiang. “This must be that Yan Liqiang you mentioned to me before, right?”
“Greetings, Uncle Yao!” Yan Liqiang went up and bowed respectfully to the steward from the Soul Mountain Sect. Following Lu Peien’s example, he addressed that person as Uncle Yao too. “The Revival Pill that you gave to Old Master Lu as a gift back then saved my father’s life in the end. I had been waiting to express my gratitude to you in person since long ago!”
“Haha, no need to be so courteous. It must be the fate between you all and the Soul Mountain Sect!” Steward Yao laughed heartily. “Let me introduce you to Hall Master Zhang of the Soul Mountain Sect’s Thousand Engineering Hall. Our hall master here is known as the best engineer in the world. I’m sure his reputation precedes him…”
Lu Peien and Yan Liqiang were shocked by the introduction that Steward Yao made. None of them expected this chubby old man with a protruding tummy to be a famous figure from the Soul Mountain Sect — Zhang Yourong, the hall master of the Thousand Engineering Hall, also known as the best engineer in the world. No wonder Steward Yao was so respectful around this man. After all, his position in the Soul Mountain Sect far exceeded Steward Yao’s.
After knowing the identity of that person, Lu Peien and Yan Liqiang quickly greeted him solemnly without delay.
It wasn’t strange for the hall master of the Soul Mountain Sect’s Thousand Engineering Hall to appear in the Imperial Capital. However, it was certainly strange and unexpected that this person would attend the banquet tonight with Steward Yao! After all, both Yan Liqiang and the Lu Clan never had anything to do with such a famous figure.
“This is Shi Bingbing, one of the Soul Mountain Sect’s core disciples!” Steward Yao proceeded to introduce the beauty standing at the side.
The core disciples of any sect, especially from the four major sects, were not ordinary individuals. Her position in the Soul Mountain Sect was also superior to Steward Yao’s.
What was going on today? Could it be that this famous figure and elite from the Soul Mountain Sect were here to tour around the capital city? Yan Liqiang secretly muttered to himself, wondering if he was being oversensitive. He just couldn’t shake off the feeling that the hall master and beauty from the Soul Mountain Sect were secretly observing him.
After the group exchanged their greetings with each other outside, all of them returned to the Glassy Sky room again.
“When I traveled to Gan Province three months ago, I discovered a few interesting and useful items there. They are known as the Yan Coals, the Yan Stove, and the Yan Blade. I asked around and found out that all three items were actually invented by the same person, and it was a youth named Yan Liqiang. Then I heard that he followed Sun Bingchen to the Imperial Capital so I came here too, hoping to meet you!” As soon as all of them were seated, the best engineer in the world, Zhang Yourong, immediately spoke up. “I wish to ask Liqiang, just how did you think up of all these fantastic objects?”
Yan Liqiang was somewhat flattered and overwhelmed at the moment. He didn’t expect the engineer to actually track him down, all the way from Gan Province to the Imperial Capital…
