The grand Ziyun banquet was a traditional banquet that had been passed down for over seven hundred years. It was a banquet hosted by the five main sects of the Ziyun planet, for all who lived on Ziyun planet.
This grand banquet was hosted once every two decades, and the five main sects took turns organizing it. Every century was one cycle, which meant that each sect would have to organize a grand banquet once every hundred years.
This year, 1233 of the Ziyun era, it was the Xuanyin Sect’s turn to organize the grand banquet. For the occasion, the four other sects would send some of their disciples along with the high ranking elders to attend the banquet.
The grand banquet was hosted on October 10 to symbolize the idea of perfection of 10/10.
The five main sects, including the Xuanyin Sect, had already decided on the grounds seven hundred years ago, each having a plot of land beside their base dedicated to hosting the event. Nonetheless, preparations had to begin more than a year before. Otherwise, they would never be prepared in time.
Since the end of last year, the Xuanyin Sect leader had already ordered preparations to begin to decorate the site of the event. Hence, a group of elders and disciples of the Xuanyin Sect had already been busy since last year. The grounds that the Xuanyin Sect was using to host the grand banquet was within a vast city, a huge plot of land set aside for the grand banquet for all five main sects.
Within the city, there was a ring of buildings. These buildings were all guest inns under the Xuanyin Sect.
From the guest inns to the center of the city where the banquet was hosted, there was a huge stretch of market. In the ten days before the grand banquet, the city would be open to all. All those who had come to the city for the banquet would be able to exchange for goods they wanted in this market.
The city that was used to host the grand Ziyun banquet was named “Xuanyan City.” The first word, “xuan” came from the title of the Xuanyin Sect, while the second word, “yan,” was the shortened form of the term for banquet.
“Xuanyan City will be opening its doors in an hour’s time!” On September 30, 1233 of the Ziyun era, early at dawn, the sun slowly rose in the sky, and a huge group of people had gathered outside the four big doors between the Xuanyin Sect base and Xuanyan City.
Besides the people outside the four city doors, there were also many people dotting the skies above the city walls. Most of the people were perched on the backs of flying beasts, either sitting or standing. Others were Primal Core adepts who simply floated in the air.
But before Xuanyan City was officially open, not a single person dared to barge into the city from the air, even the group of Primal Core adepts. This was because there were many mid Primal Core adepts who were floating in the air above the city, who were the elders and disciples of the Xuanyin Sect who had been sent to ensure order and discipline. With these people ensuring security, no one dared to do anything.
“Old Li, you are here too? If you had said so earlier, I would have come with you… The journey here from the Qianqiu Empire was so boring.” In the skies above the exterior of Xuanyan City, an old man radiating a faint white mist was talking to another old man floating a distance away.
“You didn’t ask me either,” replied the other old man as he shook his head.
The two old men were both from the Qianqiu Empire and were old friends who were both early Primal Core adepts.
The Qianqiu Empire was an empire of the Qianqiu sect, one of the five main sects of Ziyun planet. It was extremely far from the Xuanyin Empire, and there was even the Divine Light Empire in between the two cities.
The old men had come from so far abroad to be part of the festivities of the Ziyun grand banquet.
Although the grand banquet itself was limited only to people from the five main sects, the other carnival was open to all, so whenever there was a grand banquet, people from all over Ziyun planet would come to join the fun. For many of those in Ziyun planet, it was an honor to be a part of the Ziyun grand banquet once in their lives.
“The doors are open!” An hour later, shouts of glee were heard as the four huge city gates finally opened slowly.
Soon, the crowd that had gathered outside the gates streamed into the city endlessly… from the air, it looked like an army of ants sending itself into the open mouth of a giant beast.
The people in Xuanyan City came from all over the planet, some were of the five main empires, while others were from beyond. This referred to those who were not in the five empires nor training in the five main sects, who were just training privately or in external sects or families. For example, the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley near the Divine Light Empire, or the Fourteen Countries of Southern Jiang, were all considered part of the external lands.
Typically, those from the external lands were all of a low level of skill due to the scarce resources in those lands, although there were some exceptions who were those who had received huge gifts or opportunities that granted their rapid growth.
“Young Master, Xuanyan City is right ahead.” In the southern direction from Xuanyan City, a huge shadow broke through the clouds and rushed down towards the city. This massive black shadow was a huge black eagle with a majestic, fiery golden crown. On its back, a handsome young man dressed in white sat cross-legged.
In front of the young man was a small girl who looked eight or nine years old sitting on his lap. She stretched out a finger towards the city in the distance, saying happily, “Brother, the city gates seem to be open.”
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The little girl’s face was filled with excitement.
The young man in white was Zhou Donghuang from the Divine Light Empire. Seeing his sister Yun Lu so happy, he could not help but smile.
“Little Gold, find a guest inn for us,” ordered Zhou Donghuang.
“Yes, Young Master,” answered Little Gold. With a flap of his wings, he streaked into the city like a bolt of lightning.
Xuanyan City was much smaller than the capital of the Divine Light Empire. From the top, it seemed like the throngs of people flowing through the streets of the city seemed no less than the population of the capital of the Divine Light Empire.
The guest inns in the city were all owned by the Xuanyin Sect. They were centrally controlled, and the prices of the rooms varied. The best courtyard only accepted spirit stones, not gold or silver. It cost a spirit stone per night.
The entire event from the day that the city gates were open till the last day of the grand banquet was a total of ten nights. That would cost ten spirit stones in total!
Even among the five main sects of Ziyun planet, only Primal Core adepts were eligible to receive spirit stones distributed by the sect. An early Primal Core adept would only receive one spirit stone a month. Though the mid Primal Core elders would receive slightly more spirit stones a month, but they only received three spirit stones a month. Hence few people could afford to live in the best houses and courtyards in Xuanyan City’s guest inns. Even if they could afford to, few would be willing to.
Before the grand banquet began, besides the host, the guests from the other four sects mostly stayed in the base camp of the Xuanyin Sect. Under such circumstances, the best guest inns of Xuanyan City were usually empty.
A year ago, there were five of the best guest inns in the city, but they were all empty most of the time… this time, the Xuanyin Sect further reduced the number down to just three rooms.
The Xuanyin Sect was responsible for receiving the elders and disciples of the guest inn. They had thought that even though there were just three of the best guest inns left, there would be nobody interested in staying there.
None of them expected that on the first day that the city gates were opened, someone would check into the best courtyard of one of the best guest inns.
“Wow! Brother, this yard is so big!” It was none other than Zhou Donghuang, Yun Lu and the golden-crowned eagle, Little Gold who had moved into the courtyard. The whole backyard was Little Gold’s bed. As for Zhou Donghuang and Yun Lu, they each had their room, and this guest inn only had two rooms in total, such that there wasn’t even a third room.
“A spirit stone per night for just two rooms… the Xuanyin Sect is really scamming people!” remarked Little Gold.
The fewer the rooms, the less people could stay. Thus if a group of four people who could not stay in the same room arrived, would have to book two courtyards in the gust inn. That was how the guest inn could earn twice the amount.
“Brother, can we go out to shop now?” Yun Lu looked at Zhou Donghuang expectantly.
“Yes,” Zhou Donghuang said with a nod. He had come so early to Xuanyan City for the free market within the city. In the ten days before the grand banquet, there would be people from all over the planet trading their goods in the market. Zhou Donghuang had come to take a look at the market to see if there was anything he wanted that even the Divine Light Sect did not possess.
Of course, this was only his secondary purpose here. This time, his main purpose was to resolve the threat from Chen Dandan…
After all, he was about to leave Ziyun planet son, and he could not leave such a threat that could harm his family. He had originally planned to go straight to the base camp of the Xuanyin Sect. But knowing that the Ziyun grand banquet was about to be hosted, he was in no hurry.
If he were to solve the matter during the grand banquet, it would be much more effective than if he went straight to the Xuanyin Sect base camp. This way, not only could the Xuanyin Sect witness it, but all four sects of the planet would be able to witness it. In fact, others outside of the four sects who had come for fun would also be able to see what he was about to do.
In the Xuanyin base camp, all he could do was to threaten those of the Xuanyin Sect. On the other hand, here, he would be able to send a threat to all in Ziyun planet, and he would never have to worry that anyone would pose a threat to his family after he left Ziyun planet!
