Wang gazed at the cheering crowd with a faint smile, feeling a certain smugness in his heart.
Truth be told, cultivators had once appeared frequently in the households of high-ranking nobles and powerful aristocratic families. But later, for reasons unknown, they suddenly began to disappear and no longer had much contact with mortals. As a result, people like "Immortal Masters" had nearly become legends, and even someone like him, a relative of the royal family, had never seen a true cultivator before.
Now that the old Daoist had displayed such a technique, it shocked everyone present, which of course made Prince Xin feel he had gained great face.
Prince Xin naturally did not know that the period when cultivators frequently appeared in the mortal world was before the Ascension Assembly had appeared in the cultivation world.
At that time, some wandering cultivators who felt Foundation Establishment was utterly hopeless, along with low-level cultivators from cultivation families, had given up on themselves and were willing to enjoy worldly wealth and glory among mortals. But once the Ascension Assembly appeared, cultivators all had hope of fighting their way to Foundation Establishment. Naturally, every one of them retreated to the deep mountains to diligently cultivate their techniques. Why would they ever appear in the secular world again?
Of course, exceptions like Yu Zitong, who could not maintain his cultivation mindset and fell during his tempering in the secular world, were another matter. However, cultivators like this were few. Even if one truly became a guest elder of a powerful noble household, they would go to great lengths to conceal it, not wishing outsiders to know.
After all, for a cultivator to serve as a retainer for mortal nobles was considered an extremely shameful matter in the cultivation world.
Thus, while there were no shortage of cultivators in the secular world, those willing to associate with the powerful and wealthy were few and far between. Even the few who were willing to become honored guests of noble families had their identities strictly concealed by these households, to prevent ridicule from other cultivators they might know.
And the guests watching this scene had truly never encountered other cultivators before, so they were naturally awestruck by the old Daoist's masterful manipulation of flames!
And so, under the awestruck gaze of the crowd, the white-haired Daoist returned to the main hall with a touch of pride in his expression.
Those who had not yet been tested were naturally eager, calling out "Immortal Master" and crowding around him so that this Immortal Master Wu could examine their spiritual roots.
The white-haired Daoist was quite energetic, accepting everyone without refusal and examining each of the remaining people one by one.
But unfortunately, among the remaining people, including Elder Hua's juniors and Qin Yan's younger relatives, not a single one was found to possess a spirit root. They were all just ordinary mortals.
This news dealt a heavy blow to the newly examined people, who had no choice but to leave the old Daoist's side in low spirits.
It seemed that such spiritual fate was truly not so easy to come by!
This only further highlighted the preciousness of "Tong Jing" the chubby youth's spirit root. The others looked at him with boundless envy, and the father and son standing beside the Daoist kept grinning from ear to ear, unable to close their mouths.
Han Li watched with his usual expression as Qin Yan led the dejected young master and miss of the Qin family back to his side. Upon seeing Han Li, Qin Yan looked somewhat embarrassed.
"I still refuse to accept it! Why does that good-for-nothing have a spirit root and we don't? Any one of us is a hundred times better than him!" A petite young lady of the Qin family muttered resentfully, unwilling to let it go.
"Enough! Stop talking nonsense! You simply don't have that destiny. What is there to complain about?" Qin Yan's face darkened, and he scolded the young lady before sitting down.
These words made the famous "little chili pepper" of the Qin family purse her lips, her face still full of indignation.
At this moment, Elder Hua also walked over with the young man and woman beside him, and sat down next to Qin Yan without a word.
After the two exchanged a glance, they simultaneously let out bitter laughs, quite like brothers in hardship.
"Brother Qin, it seems that fatty Tong is about to throw his weight around!" Elder Hua said with a joking tone.
"Ah! It's only to be expected. Who told him to have such a fine son? He'll soon have an Immortal Master as his backer!" Qin Yan sighed, seemingly resigned.
"But..."
Elder Hua and Qin Yan chatted back and forth.
Though they kept talking, they were also paying attention to the movements of Immortal Master Wu and Prince Xin with divided minds.
At this moment, Prince Xin saw that all the guests' juniors had been tested for spiritual roots. He turned his head and quietly gave instructions to a maidservant beside him.
The little maidservant immediately withdrew through a side door, presumably carrying out some order.
Only then did Prince Xin turn back, clear his throat a few times, and slowly say with a smile:
"Next, to celebrate my beloved concubine's recovery from her strange illness, and the apprenticeship of my son and this Junior Brother Tong to the Immortal Master, let us all have a proper celebration!"
Having said this, Prince Xin unhesitatingly raised both hands and clapped twice.
"Clap, clap!"
With the sound of applause, from the main entrance of the hall, pairs of neatly dressed servants and maidservants entered carrying black lacquered trays, laden with delicacies and bottles of fine wine.
They then skillfully arranged everything on each table and filled every wine cup with a wine as pink and delicate as dew, letting the fragrance of food and wine fill the hall in the blink of an eye.
"Come, this prince will first toast everyone!" Prince Xin raised a wine cup that an attendant had proactively offered, held it high above his head, and declared in a loud voice.
"Your Highness, please!"
...
The atmosphere in the hall instantly soared as everyone shared a toast with Prince Xin.
Before long, the numerous guests were exchanging cups and toasts.
The banquet had finally begun!
Prince Xin and his concubine called Qing'er mingled among the tables, chatting and laughing with close friends, without any airs of a prince at all.
No wonder this prince's reputation was so good among people like Qin Yan!
As for Immortal Master Wu, he did not join the banquet. Instead, the moment Prince Xin raised his wine cup, he had silently slipped away.
This greatly disappointed many who had hoped to cultivate connections with this Immortal Master during the feast.
But upon reflection, this was only natural. How could a living immortal be like these mortals, drinking, reveling, and gorging on fine food and wine?
Having come to terms with this, the guests truly let go and threw themselves into the eating and drinking.
When the banquet was well underway, Prince Xin even had a troupe of court dancers from his mansion perform graceful palace dances to entertain the guests, truly raising the atmosphere to its climax.
Just then, a young man in white emerged from the main hall. He was about twenty years old, refined and elegant in manner, with a tall and slender build. Every movement he made was courteous and graceful, perfectly matching the image of an ideal lover for most young maidens.
"Ming'er, come and greet your uncles!" Upon seeing the young man, Prince Xin happily beckoned him over.
By coincidence, Prince Xin had just arrived at the table where Qin Yan and Elder Hua were seated. The refined young man walked over with a smile.
"Greetings to you both, uncles!" the young man said courteously.
"We wouldn't dare! The Little Prince is too kind."
Qin Yan and Elder Hua did not dare to be presumptuous and hurriedly stood to return the greeting.
"Ah! You are his elders. It's only right for Ming'er to greet you. Why so formal?" Prince Xin said, sounding a little displeased.
Qin Yan and Elder Hua exchanged a glance, showing a hint of embarrassment.
While the words were true enough, how could they truly treat a royal relative as their junior?
But they were both cunning old foxes. With a few casual words they changed the subject, and then introduced the juniors behind them to this unusually forthright prince. This was a rare opportunity for the younger generation to show their faces!
Naturally, Han Li was included in Qin Yan's introduction as well.
When Han Li was introduced, Prince Xin's eyes lit up. He looked Han Li up and down repeatedly with a hard-to-fathom gaze, his face carrying a half-smile. Clearly, this was also someone who knew something about the rumors.
This made the embarrassment that had just faded from Qin Yan's face resurface once more.
"Ming'er, come over and meet this Brother Han!"
For reasons of his own, Prince Xin cheerfully instructed the Little Prince to meet Han Li.
The young prince walked over, very politely called out "Brother Han," and then cupped his fists in a bow to Han Li, a gentle expression on his face throughout.
Every move this dashing young prince made left several marriageable-age young ladies nearby utterly enchanted and captivated!
On the surface, Han Li appeared flustered and awkwardly returned the bow, looking as though he was too nervous and dumbfounded. But inside, a storm of shock raged within him, and he could no longer maintain his composure.
When the Little Prince approached to pay his respects, he gave Han Li the exact same sense of danger as the household steward had. Although the pressure was far less powerful than the steward's, it was undoubtedly the same dangerous feeling.
"What is going on here?" Han Li was alarmed and fell into bewilderment.