CHAPTER 282: THE BANQUET

During this whole process he had also respectfully declined the M1 offer from Zaid choosing his own path rather than becoming a subordinate, even if it meant fewer immediate battlefield opportunities.

He’d tested the waters, weighed responsibility, but ultimately craved the freedom to chart his own course.

There was no telling how things would be and if he’d have time for Ascendant Realms once he accepted.

After another week had gone by and Victor finished punishment elsewhere, he slipped into his dorm, and powered up his VR connection.

The familiar shimmer of virtual dawn greeted him as Fang Chen’s avatar materialized in his core disciple courtyard within Violet Spring Sect.

The courtyard pond’s surface rippled lazily beneath cherry blossoms drifting in a gentle breeze. Here, away from prying eyes, Victor had cultivated for over three months in game time since his return to Blueflame City.

A glance at his cultivation stats made his chest tighten with satisfaction:

• Nascent Soul Realm: 70%

• Void Emperor Bloodline Integration: 95%

He had unlocked two healing techniques from Lady Li Yang’s scrolls: Azure Phoenix Renewal and Celestial Restoration —and two more from his White Dragon legacy: Draconic Spine Shield and Tidal Surge Strike.

Despite having raised their mastery a bit, a small nagging discomfort tugged at him.

He turned to his storage ring and withdrew a fat, rolled scroll bound by crimson silk: the Sealed Scroll of Draconic Waters.

Its label invited curiosity:

Sealed Scroll of Draconic Waters

Knowledge of the ancient Pond of Dragon Tears.

Requires mastery of five White Dragon techniques to access.

He closed his eyes, recalling when he took this scroll from the quarters of one of the Jade Serpent Sect elders.

Back then, this scroll was hidden away as though feared. Why had the sect elders coveted the Pond’s secrets so fiercely?

To the point of wanting him kidnapped after failing to acquire a portion of the dragon pond of tears.

He tapped the scroll gently, but the seal remained unbroken. His system popped up a prompt:

Access Denied

Requires 5 White Dragon techniques at ≥ Mastery 80% or Nascent Soul Realm ≥ 100%

He grimaced. He had only unlocked four white dragon techniques so far.

To unlock a fifth, he would need to break into peak Nascent Soul Realm or push his current arts far higher.

Either path would take a lot of time and he was sure he wouldn’t be able to get it done before heading for the Outland Excursion which would require him to be away from the academy for like a week.

A week in the real world was like seventy days in the game.

He sighed before tucking the scroll back into his storage.

The stone lanterns of the courtyard flickered in his mind’s eye as he planted himself beneath the cherry tree. Time to cultivate.

He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and let the ambient qi flow in languid waves. He wove his breath with the tides of the Four Seas style, drawing on the pond’s reflection within his memory. The courtyard air grew thick, the ground faintly tremored, and he felt his core pulse with expanding power.

After about ten hours of profound meditation, he emerged with renewed clarity and a faint sheen of sweat.

Just as he tried to stand, a gentle knock sounded beyond the courtyard wall.

"Brother Fang Chen?" came a timid voice. "A letter for you."

A serving girl stepped forward while holding out two sealed missives. Her cheeks pinked as she curtsied.

"Thank you," Victor said softly, accepting the letters.

He examined the seals: one bore the City Lord’s emblem: Xuan Wenzhou while the other was a familiar crest in the shape of a dripping raindrop above a spring.

Intrigue flickered in his chest.

He broke the first seal and within it was an invitation:

To Fang Chen, Savior of Blueflame City

By decree of City Lord Xuan Wenzhou, you are cordially invited to a celebratory feast in your honor.

Date: In three days’ time, at dusk

Venue: The Hall of Radiant Tides, Xuan Palace

Attire: Formal ceremonial robes

Victor’s lips curved in a slow smile.

It was a party to acknowledge his role in resealing the ancient grove gate.

No mention of the princess’s scandal, no accusation of kidnapping, only honor and gratitude. He folded the letter carefully and turned to the second missive.

The other happened to be one from the Violet Spring Sect board.

It reminded him that as a "core disciple" he had neglected every single sect duty since the day he arrived.

That he hadn’t taken part in any sect assignments or teachings or even undergone a core disciple mission.

Apparently, core disciples were required to take on at least two missions every year and since he’d been in the sect for over a year in game time, it meant he was owing.

Victor folded the two letters in careful corners and settled them on the lacquered table beside his meditation cushion.

He leaned back and traced the embossed dragons twisting around the City Lord’s seal. They had waited months, hoping he would return to the city so they could properly celebrate his feat in the ancient groves. However, they didn’t know he had returned for quite some time now. They only found out recently.

Meanwhile the sect letter chided him for being absent. Nearly two years of free lodging, free resources, and not a moment of reciprocation.

He closed his eyes, weighing which obligation to honor first. A banquet in his name, attended by nobles, sect elders, and foreign dignitaries? Or a stern rebuke from the masters he hardly knew, beckoning him back to duty?

A soft wind drifted through the courtyard, carrying the sound of distant meditation bells. Inwardly, he smiled. There would be time enough for sect duties; he could quell their chiding later. For now, the City Lord’s banquet awaited, and he intended to make an impression.

---

(( Three Days Later - In Game ))

Evening fell like honey over Blueflame City as Victor’s carriage neared the palace gates. Lanterns glowed along the marble walls, marked by the City Lord’s emblem of ten lightning bolts swirling around a phoenix.

Palace guards in midnight-blue armor snapped to attention as the carriage rolled in. Victor stepped out with his dark green robes trimmed with silver embroidery catching the lamplight.

Inside the foyer, an endless hall of ivory columns and tiled floors, he was greeted by Xuan Wenzhou himself.

The City Lord bowed low as his eyes flickered with genuine gratitude.

"Fang Chen," he voiced with a warm tone, "your deeds have allowed us another one thousand years of peace... another one thousand years of survival... Tonight, we honor you."

Victor inclined his head. "Thank you, My Lord. You flatter me."

Behind the City Lord, Xuan Qing bounced forward with flushed cheeks.

She grasped his arm. "You made it! Father is certainly pleased."

"Him? Or you?" Victor teased with a playful grin causing Xuan Qing’s reddened face to turn more red.

Her presence drew whispers from the assembled guests. Noble families from neighboring provinces, ambassadors from other sects, even a handful of famed Nascent Soul cultivators filled the wide ballroom beyond.

Tables draped with jade-green cloth held platters of steaming delicacies: phoenix wings glazed in honeyed qi, dragon-scale fish simmered in spicy lotus broth, and orchids crystallized in sugar.

A silk banner overhead read, "Celebrating the Savior of Blueflame: Fang Chen."

As Victor mingled, whispers could be heard all around.

"Is it true?" murmured one gold-robed noblewoman whose figure oozed of seductive perfumed. "He single-handedly repaired the seals? The groves are said to repel all living creatures..."

"They must be exaggerating," another scoffed. "Reinforcing those seals require one to possess a Void Emperor Bloodline and refine it to a high level..."

Victor’s lips twitched in amusement. Their disbelief was natural since his feat defied convention.

At a corner table, a group of Violet Spring’s disciples smiled politely. They were glad that this whole attention was on one of their own.

Since Fang Chen was a disciple of the Violet Spring Sect, him being in the limelight automatically gave Violet Springs Sect a better rep.

"Disciples of Violet Spring," one disciple from another sect suddenly announced with a loud tone, "we honor you for producing a core disciple. Pray, enlighten us: what secret technique allowed this feat?"

A ripple of giggles followed.

Victor crossed his arms with a calm look while staring at this tall disciple who had his back slightly slouched.

"Of course, I mean no disrespect. It is merely out of curiosity. I’m sure other guests would like to find out as well," the disciple voiced with a tone meant to hide his ridicule but his eyes gave it away.

Many didn’t believe that Victor truly achieved the feat he was being celebrated for. Especially because he was just a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

The Ancient groves was no joke. Even elders from their sect would be repelled if they tried to enter and yet a weaker Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator not only infiltrated but fixed all the weakening seals within.

"Respect," Victor said softly, "is earned through deeds, not titles. If you doubt me, feel free to test it."

The hall fell silent.

’Did he just throw down a challenge?’ Similar thoughts ran through everyone’s mind.

Victor’s statement was akin to telling them that, they were free to test his strength if they doubted his capabilities so much.