Translator: 549690339
Shen Yuan, who was preparing to lead his Maine Coon up the hill, turned his head at the sound and saw a young man in a blue shirt waving him over with a hint of fear hiding under his cheerful expression.
Shen Yuan paused, realising that there was more to this place than met the eye.
After a moment of hesitation, he conveyed secretly to the Maine Coon:
“We should split up.”
“Yes!”
The Maine Coon pretended not to know Shen Yuan and arrogantly sauntered toward the mountain peak.
Small monsters flocked to the Maine Coon to guide it, and amongst the diverse faces, human-like flattery shone. For most of the small monsters present, a cultivator in the Qi Transformation Stage was indeed a being to look up to.
As for Shen Yuan who started walking towards Hoe Yao, he had already been forgotten.
Before Shen Yuan could catch up, Hoe Yao grabbed him and pulled him aside into a secluded corner, an enthusiastic expression of reminiscence on his face.
After ensuring their actions had not attracted too much attention from the monster tribe, Hoe Yao finally sighed with relief.
-I don’t know you, I just wanted you to come over.”
“Don’t rush up the mountain right now, there’s something wrong with this
Dragon Sovereign Banquet!”
“Someone just went up the mountain and was killed for some reason by the small monsters. Those who tried to run were chased down by the monster tribe. It’s likely they are more dead than alive now.
If we stay here and wait for the right moment, we may still have a chance of survival.”
Hearing Hoe Yao’s serious warning, a smile appeared on Shen Yuan’s face and
he thanked him,
“Shen Yuan is indebted to you, friend.”
Hoe Yao quickly waved it off,
“I’m Hoe Yao, no need to thank me. I just said a word.
Though his words were modest, there was a triumphant smile on Hoe Yao’s face.
However, thinking of his current situation, Hoe Yao’s smile quickly turned bitter.
“This can only save us for a moment. Both of us are in a bind, and whether we
can survive is unknown.”
As he said this, anger erupted on Hoe Yao’s face.
“I don’t know who spread the news on the forums about the Dragon Sovereign Banquet, making it sound like heaven on earth and even backed up by many ancient records.
The reality is chaos! We ordinary cultivators can’t even protect our own lives.
Who knows when the monsters will eat us?
Attend the Dragon Sovereign Banquet? I’m afraid we’re the main dish at that feast!”
Hoe Yao’s words caused a flicker of emotion on Shen Yuan’s face.
He had heard of the Dragon Sovereign Banquet from the Maine Coon and was unfamiliar with the forum Hoe Yao mentioned. However, there was indeed something strange about the banquet held by the Fubo Dragon Monarch. With Fubo Dragon Monarch’s status, he had no qualification to hold a real Dragon Sovereign Banquet. The so-called banquet was just a bluff among the monsters and Aquatic Tribe.
However, this information that initially should have circulated only among monsters and the Aquatic Tribe had spread to the Human Clan society, and even Qi Transformation cultivators like Hoe Yao knew about it, which was uncommon.
There must be someone fueling this information behind the scenes.
Almost immediately, Shen Yuan thought of the Liu family in Qing Province, which had close ties with the Fubo Dragon Monarch.
With the Liu family’s influence, they could indeed spread news of the Dragon
Sovereign Banquet among cultivators.
“But what is the person behind the scenes aiming for?
“Are they intending to simply massacre ordinary cultivators? Or plan to harm some people?
Or perhaps the person behind this can gain some benefits?”
Shen Yuan found this odd and suspected it might be related to the cooperation between the Liu Family and the Fubo Dragon Monarch.
After considering it briefly, Shen Yuan was still clueless. Meanwhile, Hoe Yao was quite talkative, and continued to chat about his experiences.
Shen Yuan could tell that beneath Hoe Yao’s chatty exterior, he was actually using this as a distraction to alleviate his fear.
Shen Yuan was impressed by Hoe Yao, and this made him even more disgusted with the plot set up by the people behind the scenes.
“Friend Hoe, have you heard of the Liu Family?”
With limited information, Shen Yuan decided to directly ask Hoe Yao.
If he could get some useful information from the victim’s mouth, it might help
Shen Yuan make some judgments.
“The Liu Family?”
Hoe Yao’s face suddenly changed, expressing some awkwardness and suspicion towards Shen Yuan.
“The royal Liu Family from Qing Province is well known; who in the entire Qing Province doesn’t know about them?”
Even though he was praising them, Hoe Yao’s tone had a hint of mockery.
Shen Yuan, with his usual expression, said: “I am from Yun Province and merely heard about the Liu family on my journey, hence, I’m somewhat curious.”
Hoe Yao’s face softened immediately after hearing this, and he apologized profusely saying:
“1 am sorry for my previous reaction, Friend Shen. You suddenly mentioned the Liu Family, and I thought you were somehow related to them.” Shen Yuan shook his head indifferently and asked with some confusion:
“Do you have a grievance with the Liu Family?”
“More than just a grievance!” Hoe Yao said grimly: “Friend Shen, you are from Yun Province and probably don’t know how domineering the royal Liu family of Qing Province is.”
“Three months ago, I accidentally reached the Essence Refining stage, becoming one in a million, a natural cultivator. Many organizations, including the Great Xia’s Imperial Court, extended an olive branch to me, including the Liu Family.
The people from the Liu family were very humble at first, even proposing that I marry a Miss from the Liu branch family and offering me many resources for my cultivation.
influenced by the Liu Family’s tempting conditions and the vast influence of the King of Qing Province, I was inclined to join the Liu family.
However, as soon as I showed some willingness, the Liu Family presented so-called ‘Spirit Contracts’, claiming that signing them would fulfill all my conditions.”
“I was cautious at the time, and 1 didn’t agree immediately, but secretly sought relevant information on the cultivator’s forum.
While the Spirit Contract is indeed a treasure for cultivators to sign contracts, those involving fair transactions are usually extremely valuable. The Liu Family wouldn’t need to pay such a high price just to buy me off.
On the agreed day of contract signing, the Liu Family brought out that Spirit Contract. I was prepared and identified immediately that it was not a regular transactional contract but a modified Spirit Beast contract.
The Liu Family intended to deceive me, guiding me into signing a Spirit Beast contract!”
Shen Yuan’s pupils suddenly contracted, gaining a more comprehensive understanding of this so-called royal Liu Family.
The Spirit Beast contract is prepared by cultivators to control low-aptitude spirit beasts. Since the signing spirit beast will be stripped of part of its Spirit Soul, the beast owner can control its Spirit Soul, thus holding the power of life and death over the beast.
However, the Spirit Beast contract will significantly damage the potential of the beast. Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, cultivators rarely use the Spirit Beast contract on the beasts.
The contract, which is used sparingly on beasts, was secretly altered by the Liu Family in an attempt to trick cultivators into signing it.
Once a cultivator signs the contract, his life and wealth would be under complete control of the Liu Family.
Plus, since the Spirit Beast contract would strip away the Spirit Soul, damaging the potential, the cultivator has hardly any chance of turning the tables after signing.
Such an act reveals the malicious intent of the Liu Family.
“What happened then?”
“I exposed the Liu Family’s tactics on the spot.” said Hoe Yao, his expression grim.
“Then I was threatened by the Liu Family. They forced me to bury this matter in my heart and not let it out. If the news got out, they would take action against me.”
Shen Yuan couldn’t help asking: “Is there really no one in Qing Province who can control the Liu Family, when they so audaciously plot against the prodigy of the human race?”
Hoe Yao sighed and said: “When the Liu Family planned this out, they had taken precautions to not provoke troublemakers.
The small handful of people who could threaten the Liu Family in Qing Province will not stir up any trouble for an unrelated cultivator.
Moreover, when dealing with cultivators, the Liu Family simply gives up any further pursuit once they are exposed. They do not resort to direct action, nor do they push the other party to a dead end, thus leaving a small leeway to prevent an all-out war.”
“Most importantly, by that time, 1 had already turned down the courtship of the Great Xia Imperial Court and several other large families.
The Liu Family chose me as their target precisely because they knew there was no one to stand up for me..”

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