Although strictly speaking, none of them needed food given their cultivation levels, that didn't stop these pampered scions from indulging their appetites.
Naturally, the feast laid out before them could hardly consist of ordinary mortal fare.
It was either precious medicinal herbs or the savory meat of demonic beasts.
Third Rank at the very least.
All of these rare ingredients had been filched by their host, Bai Fan, from his father—the sect master.
Besides the exquisite food, there was fine wine.
A vintage known as Yuanxian Brew, vermilion in color, from which rich waves of Source Qi surged as its heady aroma drifted through the room.
Of course, this fine brew had also been stolen by Bai Fan.
As the welcome banquet commenced, Xu Yuan discovered that the bonds among these high-status scions were even closer than he had anticipated.
Their banter bore none of the rigid, stilted decorum of formal speech; instead, they interacted with utter casualness, treating one another like biological siblings.
As the feast progressed, Xu Yuan pieced together the reason.
Their clan elders or masters were all high-ranking members of the same faction within the Qionghua Sect, meaning they had practically grown up together since childhood.
However, Jinghe and "Tianyan" were somewhat unique.
The two of them were essentially orphans, as their shared master had perished long ago while venturing out in search of a rare medicinal herb.
After three rounds of wine and five courses of food, the dishes on the banquet table had mostly been cleaned out, and everyone present grew even more uninhibited.
The playboy named Tang Jiuqing shamelessly called in several courtesans to keep them company.
The young women who had grown up alongside them were entirely unbothered by this, instead clustering around Tianyan to chatter excitedly about petty gossip.
Her golden eyes flickering, Tianyan handled them with considerable ease, readily coaxing out a wealth of information.
Xu Yuan's side of the table, however, fared somewhat worse.
Two people at the banquet had already drunk themselves under the table: one was the host, Bai Fan, and the other was Xu Yuan.
Seated side by side, they lay neatly slumped over the banquet table.
As someone who habitually skipped social gatherings, Xu Yuan had naturally become the primary target of everyone's toasts.
As for Bai Fan, his drunkenness was entirely self-inflicted—halfway through the party, the second-generation young master had tried to secretly channel his qi to sober up, only to be caught red-handed.
With Bai Fan and Xu Yuan both collapsed, the conversation gradually returned to the guest of honor for this welcome banquet.
The group of scions eagerly questioned Senior Brother Li about his travels and trials in the outside world.
After all, Senior Brother Li was only a few years older than them, and soon enough, their own elders would kick them out of this secret realm to wander the world as well.
Senior Brother Li spoke in a steady, articulate voice, recounting vividly and animatedly many curious sights and experiences from his journey.
Tales of demonic enchantresses, the emergence of spiritual treasures—the young aristocrats listened with yearning hearts.
Though born of noble blood, they had lived inside this secret realm since birth.
They lived here, cultivated here, sheltered beneath the wings of their parents and elders, never having stepped outside to witness the world beyond. Hearing these stories made them itch to embark on their own journeys immediately.
Suddenly, one of them piped up with a question:
"By the way, Senior Brother Li, why did you head straight to Qionghua Hall the moment you got back?"
"......"
Hearing this, Senior Brother Li did not answer immediately for the first time, a flicker of hesitation appearing in his eyes.
Only after a long pause did he say, "This matter... I'm afraid I cannot tell you for now."
His refusal immediately drew dissatisfied groans from the surrounding dandies.
"Come on, Senior Brother Li, why can't you say?"
"Exactly! Is there anything between us that has to be kept secret?"
"Even if it's confidential, we'll find out eventually anyway."
"Worst case, we'll just go to Qionglu Hall and ask the elders directly."
"......"
Besieged by the chorus of complaints from his younger martial brothers and sisters, Senior Brother Li showed a helpless look before finally letting slip a small detail:
"While traveling, I happened upon a spirit plant by chance—one capable of ensuring our Qionghua Sect flourishes for at least another thousand years."
At that, the corners of Senior Brother Li's lips curved slightly. "All right, beyond that, your senior brother truly cannot disclose anything more. If you really want to know, go ask the Sect Master yourselves."
At those words, the room erupted.
"A spirit plant?"
"What kind of spirit plant could keep our Qionghua flourishing for another thousand years?"
"A White Soul Fruit? Or a Celestial Catalpa Lotus?"
"Are you stupid, Liu Fengyue? Neither of those aligns with our Qionghua Sect's cultivation methods. Senior Brother Li said it would make us flourish for a millennium, so it must be either the Soul-Governing Tree or the Meishen cherry tree!"
"If it's the Soul-Governing Tree, that's fine, but that thing doesn't offer much help to our cultivation."
"So it really is the Meishen cherry tree? Every single part of that divine tree is of immense benefit to our techniques!"
Thanks to their broad horizons, within just a few exchanges, they had narrowed the mystery plant down to the Meishen cherry tree.
Then, every eye turned in unison to stare eagerly at Senior Brother Li.
Senior Brother Li said nothing, but a faint smile played across his face, amounting to tacit confirmation.
Seeing this, the dandies present all wore expressions of heartfelt delight.
After all, there was likely no one in this world with a stronger sense of belonging to the Qionghua Sect than they had.
Having listened intently to their exchange, Xu Yuan, who had supposedly been "drunk," quietly cracked his eyes open and glanced sideways.
And then, his gaze met that of Bai Fan, the fellow second-generation master.
Their eyes locked, and both "drunken" men felt a twinge of awkwardness.
After a moment, Bai Fan blinked at Xu Yuan and covertly gave him a thumbs-up.
"......"
Smacking his lips, Xu Yuan returned the thumbs-up and quietly closed his eyes again.
Half an hour later, outside the entrance of Haiwei Restaurant.
Reuniting after a long separation, this welcome feast had lasted nearly four hours, but the time had come for it to end.
The party of eleven stood gathered before the doors of Haiwei Restaurant, and onlookers in the vicinity quickly parted to give them a wide berth.
Most people in this market at the foot of the mountain were disciples of the Qionghua Sect; who among them didn't recognize this band of young nobles?
The mountain breeze blew across them with a faint chill, yet Xu Yuan showed no sign of sobering up.
Supporting Xu Yuan by the shoulder, Tang Jiuqing prepared to pass him over to Tianyan.
"Tianyan, I'll leave Jinghe to—"
"No."
Tianyan cast a glance at the dead-drunk Xu Yuan and stated flatly, "He reeks of alcohol. I don't want to touch him."
The others chuckled softly at her response, not pressing the matter, leaving Tang Jiuqing to keep lugging Xu Yuan along.
The group flew together back toward a secondary peak of the Qionghua Mountain Range, landing before a courtyard residence. Senior Brother Li said with a smile, "Tianyan, surely you can take Jinghe now?"
At that moment, the blue-robed girl named Yun Xi chimed in with a sweet smile, "If Sister Tianyan still doesn't want him, I might just carry Brother Jinghe back to my place tonight~"
"If you want him, take him."
"Really?" The blue-robed girl smiled brightly, reaching out to take Xu Yuan.
Seeing this, Tianyan gave a soft huff and smilingly swatted the girl's hand away.
The blue-robed girl wasn't offended in the slightest, giggling merrily.
Seeing this, Senior Brother Li smiled and said, "The hour is late, so we'll be taking our leave."
Tianyan took hold of the dead-drunk Xu Yuan and murmured, "Mm, goodbye."
As the others turned to leave, Yun Xi's eyes curved like crescent moons. "Sister Tianyan, you have to be gentle with Brother Jinghe tonight. He's so drunk after all~"
With that, amid cheerful laughter, the party of nine departed the courtyard.
Chapter 123