The person who walked to the front of Shen Lian was no taller than Shen Lian’s shoulders. His skin tan, his physique powerfully built – especially on his shoulders, indicating that he was strong.

　　This man wore clothes made out of leopard skin, a jade-colored bamboo hung from his chest. A dagger was kept on his waist. His hair was kept short, voluminous and greasy. His eyes looked fierce.

　　He pointed at Shen Lian: “You, surrender this seat and move to the back.”

　　It seems that there exists certain protocols to Xia Kingdom’s palace banquet, the envoys of various countries will be divided into three classes of seatings – top, middle and lower seatings. All food and alcoholic beverages served differed according to the class of seatings. More importantly, the divisions were based on the Kingdoms’ influence in Da Xia’s eyes

　　In order to be less conspicuous, Shen Lian’s seating was specifically arranged by Lei Nuo to be placed in the middle. However, top and middle-class seatings are initially numbered/limited to start with, to place Shen Lian in the middle-class seating would naturally necessitate the removal of a certain Kingdom’s envoy.

　　The person who happened to be removed came from a Kingdom called Ba.

　　The people from the Ba Kingdom specializes in the dark arts, residing in caves located in the Southwest of Da Xia. Shen Lian had never gone through the Ba Kingdom despite traveling from Xi Liang Kingdom to Diqiu. But he heard of the bravery of the Ba people that were known for.

　　Their physiques were not considered tall, their powers were sourced from ghosts, but they were unafraid of death. The Kingdom of Ba were considered prosperous and powerful in the Southwest region.

　　They were also descendants of the ancestors who first arrived in the Netherworld long ago, and were among the eight great surnames.

　　The ancestors who first arrived in the Netherworld were not only the Xia tribe, but there were also other tribes. All of which possessed a unique bloodline, which was classified by their surnames. Among which eight surnames were the most prosperous, with numerous tribes. They were also the strongest ethnic group that were pit against the ghost god of the Netherworld. Respectively, the surname associated with Xiahou – Si, as well as Ji, Jiang, Yao, Ying, Yun, Gui, and Ren.

　　Tens of thousands of years down the road, only the Si surname thrived due to an assimilation of bloodlines with Xiahou, with most of the Si surname belonging to Xiahou. The other seven surnames had more or less dwindled, some were even subject to a life of destitution.

　　However, although the people in the country of Ba belonged to the surname of Ji, they were looked down upon by other countries. Because they had abandoned their ancestries, serving the ghost god that had great vengeance with their ancestors. The territory of the country of Ba were concentrated around the region of Mount Zhong Li, where the ghost god remained. In order to survive in the Netherworld that was gradually being encroached by humans, they made a deal with the people of Ba.

　　The people of Ba would be able to borrow the power of the ghost gods. In exchange, the people of Ba would offer sacrifices in order to feed the ghost gods, preferably in the form of humans. Consequently, the country of Ba was in hostility with its surrounding countries.

　　However, due to the remoteness of the Southwest region, the Xia find it undesirable; thus letting matters slide. Moreover, the country of Ba feared the strong and had paid significant tributes to Da Xia.

　　Shen Lian did not speak, naturally, someone would deal with the person before him in his stead. When the envoy of Ba was seen approaching Shen Lian, someone had already notified Dianke from the Prefect Grand Usher. Dianke was an official empowered to maintain order, and he arrived expeditiously.

　　Dianke was a member of the Hu surname. After working for the Prefect Grand Usher for more than a decade, he was known by many of the envoys.

　　The person from Ba also knew him, saluting/greeting him upon sight. Dianke shot a glance at him, and said: “Someone lead him out.”

　　Once Dianke ordered, naturally someone lifted the envoy from Ba away. Even if the envoy had extraordinary force, and was able to be possessed by ghost gods, he would not have dared to cause a scene here. He merely made some noises before he was sent far beyond the palace gate.

　　Dianke merely smiled at Shen Lian before leaving without a word.

　　There were numerous envoys from various countries, but his impression towards Shen Lian had been deeply etched. Not only was he given orders by the Prefect Grand Usher to take care of Shen Lian, he had also witnessed Shen Lian casually chatting with Nobleman Jing. He dared not treat Shen Lian as an ordinary envoy, like the rest of the countries.

　　Since the founding of Da Xia years ago, it had long since been an unspoken rule that a certain position could not be occupied based solely on the merits of outstanding force. For example, to be promoted as an official. Eventually, connections would prevail.

　　Although he bore the Hu surname and the purer the bloodline in the Xia tribe, the harder it was for them to reproduce. But after so many years, there were more than hundreds of thousands of people in the Hu tribe. Even after the release of many tribesmen, those remaining in Diqiu would be no lesser than five thousand.

　　The Prefect Guard Usher naturally would not take much care of him. They would at most offer some protection when he had made any mistakes.

　　Dianke was a self-motivated person, naturally, he would be unwilling to remain in his current position in office for the rest of his life. In his current capacity, the opportunities to meet the Prefect Grand Usher and its family members are incredibly slim. Even if there was such an opportunity, it would not be easy to obtain a meeting in private. Hence, he thinks Shen Lian was perhaps an opportunity.

　　Dianke drove away from the envoy of Ba without question, attracting the look of the crowd towards Shen Lian. Although Dianke said nothing to Shen Lian, the smile before he left had already won over a thousand words.

　　They were all whispering, and the identity of Shen Lian had also been excavated. He turned out to be a youngster from Xi Liang Kingdom. Envoys who came from all over the world were extremely broad in scope, and soon the story of the Xi Liang Kingdom was being told. It was told that the country was established not long ago, but it destroyed the somewhat famous state of Da Xi.

　　It was told that in that battle, there was someone high ranking who backed the Xi Liang Kingdom, which caused the mountains to fall apart, tearing the river. Tens of thousands of soldiers and the tigers, leopards, dholes, and wolves controlled by Da Xi all died without burial.

　　Therefore, Xi Liang Kingdom newly emerged as a powerful country and became famous.

　　Certain important information required special means of transmittance in the Netherworld. Therefore, years later, the envoy faraway in Diqiu knew about Xi Liang Kingdom, and even its neighboring countries.

　　The envoy explained it to others, and the people who knew about it thus increased.

　　The ability to cast the landslide spell would already establish a strong foothold in the Netherworld. Therefore, once the mystery of the identity of Shen Lian had been unveiled, many were awe-inspired towards Shen Lian. Envoys from stronger countries or tribes were even contemplating whether West Lian’s Dynasty would be classified as an opponent or an ally that could be won over.

　　But they would not know that it was God’s will that brought about the landslides and earthquakes, not techniques. There was no other connoisseur behind Xi Liang Kingdom other than Shen Lian, because Shen Lian himself was a connoisseur among the connoisseur.

　　Tonight’s Xia Palace lighted up. The sky full of stars seemed to be celebrating the banquet held by Emperor Xia, with starlights pouring down. A full moon was seen rising from the east, expelling any darkness existing in the Xia Palace.

　　Shen Lian was especially clear that the Xia Palace had set up a special tactical formation that mobilized the stars and the moon, transforming the Xia Palace into a crystal palace on the ground.

　　The full starlight and moonlight were also a grand banquet for cultivators. By remaining in the Xia Palace a while longer tonight, would save many cultivators half a month’s worth of work, simultaneously refining their mana.

　　If Shen Lian could notice this, so could many people.

　　Therefore, the closer it was to the square of the palace banquet, the more many people began to experience a shortness of breath, because the closer it was to the square, the denser the starlight and moonlight were.

　　Only Shen Lian walked casually, feeling the enormous essence of vital energy and blood the royal palace did not bother hiding. It was akin to the bright day, capable of outshining the sun and the moon.