Chapter 44: 8527

　　Under all kinds of gazes from the crowd, Yunxiao walked calmly through the middle of the banquet. However, he suddenly sensed something, so he looked up and saw Li Yi—who was sitting in the main banquet hall—giving him a cold look.

　　He gave a light snort as a slight expression of contempt appeared on the corners of his mouth, and then sat down in the seat belonging to the Chen Family. Meng Wu and Meng Bai were sitting on both sides of him while Chen Zhen and Han Bai sat together on a table to his right.

　　The Chen Family and the Han Family were military families attached to the Li Family, and their titles were not low. So, their seats were in the front position in the secondary banquet hall.

　　Li Yi’s eyes went cold instantly and his pupils were full of killing intent. Li Baifeng, who was sitting behind him, looked worried.

　　In addition to Li Yi’s hostile gaze, a long-bearded old man in the seat opposite the Li Family also stared at Yunxiao coldly. He was the leader of all the civil officials—Lan Hong. Behind him, Yunxiao saw Lan Xuan with a gloomy and resentful face. His injury seemed to have healed, but his air of arrogance and pride was completely gone.

　　The people in the other two tables also stared at him curiously. One of them had a facial complexion that looked like iron, his air as mighty as mountains and rivers, and he sat there like an immovable mountain. He was Xiao Qingwang, the commander-in-chief of the Guardians of the State. Sitting opposite him was Liang Wenyu, a second-tier alchemist of the Alchemist Association. He gave Yunxiao a friendly smile.

　　The other two tables were occupied by two men in dragon robes. One of them looked in his forties while the other was only in his teens, with a slightly childish face. They were the Eldest Prince, Qin Yang, and the Second Prince, Qin Yue. They were both men of exceptional ability and hailed as the most likely princes to ascend the throne. They were also studying Yunxiao carefully.

　　The last two empty seats were reserved for today’s main characters—Luo Yunshang and Qin Ruxue.

　　“Since you have also come to attend the feast, come and sit here. You are a member of the Li Family, so how can you sit at the table of another family?” said Li Yi suddenly, looking up at the ceiling of the banquet hall with an arrogant look on his face. Although he did not look at Yunxiao, everyone knew who he was talking to. The whole banquet hall quieted down. The situation of the Li Family was well known to them all.

　　Yunxiao did not seem to hear that as he was admiring Meng Wu’s girlish manner. While smiling, he asked, “Do you know why people are born with their nostrils facing down?”

　　Meng Wu, who had been looking nervous, was surprised to hear the question. “Why?” she asked involuntarily.

　　All the officials and ministers present were startled, and they began to guess the answer.

　　Yunxiao burst into laughter and said, “Haha! Because if one’s nostrils faces up, they will be filled with water during rainy days!”

　　“Haha!”

　　The whole crowd erupted into laughter as all eyes turned to Li Yi, who was looking up at the ceiling arrogantly with his nostrils facing up. Even the men of the Lan Family, who had been hostile to Yunxiao, smiled sardonically.

　　Chen Zhen and Han Bai laughed the loudest, and Meng Bai kept slapping the table as he laughed. Meng Wu was shy, so she covered her mouth and bowed her head slightly as she chuckled.

　　“Haha!” Xiao Qingwang laughed without the slightest hesitancy. “This boy is interesting!”

　　Pa!

　　Angry from embarrassment, Li Yi smashed a wine glass to the ground and bellowed, “Li Yunxiao!”

　　All the laughter stopped. The whole venue was instantly quiet, and the atmosphere grew tense.

　　Yunxiao’s eyes turned cold. He took a sip of wine, and said without lifting his head, “Who are you?”

　　Li Yi clenched his fists tightly in anger. All of a sudden, a Martial Master standing beside him stepped out and rushed in front of Yunxiao with a few flashes. Pointing at him, he cried out, “How unbridled! As a member of the Li Family, why don’t you salute when you see the acting family head? Kneel now and beg for forgiveness!”

　　His Martial Master’s aura exploded out instantly, pressing down on Yunxiao like rolling waves. He was ready to break Yunxiao’s legs at any time and force him to kneel in order to establish authority for Li Yi.

　　“Kneel? Kneel my a*s!” Yunxiao’s figure suddenly flickered and disappeared in front of the Martial Master.

　　Pa!

　　A crisp noise rang out. The Martial Master only saw something flash in front of his eyes and was slapped hard on the left cheek. Everyone’s heart gave a jerk while Xiao Qingwang’s pupils constricted and his eyes burst with a glimmer of light.

　　“Kneel, you slave!”

　　Yunxiao made a sudden move. A golden light flashed and changed several forms in the void, and then a fist was thrown at the Martial Master’s dantian. Terrified, the Martial Master quickly retreated, but he was horrified to find that Yunxiao’s fist had covered all areas within a few meters of him. There was no way he could avoid the attack!

　　A dull thud echoed out as the punch smashed accurately on the Martial Master’s dantian. He spewed out a mouthful of blood, and a hole was opened on his back where the force came bursting out! He suddenly became dispirited and fell to his knees when Yunxiao hit him hard again on the back, prostrating at the latter’s feet.

　　Everyone was stunned. With only one move, Yunxiao had broken a Martial Master’s Qi Sea, completely crippling him!

　　Xiao Qingwang’s eyes sparkled while Lan Hong had a thoughtful look on his face; horror pooled in Lan Xuan’s eyes and the two princes frowned in astonishment. Carrying a blank face, Li Yi said foolishly, “How could… how could you…”

　　“How my a*s!” Yunxiao kicked the Martial Master on the head. He immediately flew out like a football and fell directly on the table in front of Li Yi, spilling wine and dishes all over the floor.

　　The Martial Master did not utter a sound, and his pupils were dilated. Clearly, he was dead.

　　“Watch your dog, 8527,” Yunxiao clapped his hands and said indifferently. After all this, he calmly sat back on his seat as if nothing had happened.

　　8527…Everyone’s expression changed while traces of cold sweat oozed out of their foreheads.

　　“YOU!”

　　Li Yi was so angered that his eyes seemed about to pop out! 8527 was his number when he was a servant in the Li Family. Later on, he was given the family name because he did a good job as a servant. Over the years, no one had dared to mention this figure again.

　　“Old Eight, you should behave yourself as a servant, and the master will naturally give you bones. Otherwise, you will be chopped to pieces and fed to the dogs,” Yunxiao said coldly. “His Majesty is giving a feast today. I don’t want to chop you to pieces in front of all the civil and military officials!”

　　“You!” Li Yi could not bear it any longer as he jumped to his feet wildly in a fit of rage. A sword bloomed with colorful light shot out of the main banquet hall. His eyes were full of towering killing intent, and his mind had only one thought—cut Yunxiao into pieces!

　　Suddenly, an invisible force descended from the sky and stopped Li Yi. No matter how he roared and struggled, he could not move a single inch, trapped inside the main banquet hall.

　　Xiao Qingwang flicked his index finger lightly, and the invisible force immediately burst like a bubble. Li Yi’s body bounced back as if he was struck by a hammer and landed on his seat. The former raised his head slightly and said, “Today is a big day. His Majesty is giving a feast to his subjects. Don’t cause any trouble.”

　　“What Commander Xiao said is true,” agreed the Eldest Prince, Qin Yang. “Somebody, clean up the place and set Young Master Li another table!” Immediately, many eunuchs and maids trotted in and carried the Martial Master’s body out, soon serving Li Yi another table full of wine and dishes.

　　Li Yi’s face became extremely ferocious as he roared, “Li Yunxiao, prepare yourself for my wrath!”

　　Sitting behind him, Li Baifeng was first shocked by Yunxiao’s swift strike. But when he heard Li Yi’s words, his face turned pale and eyes showed a deep anxiety.

　　As if he did not hear that, Yunxiao poured himself a glass of wine and sniffed it, then said, “Well, I thought a dog who likes to bite doesn’t bark!”

　　Bam!

　　Li Yi’s face was so red with anger that he sank back into his chair and never spoke again. He was afraid that he would die of anger here!

　　The whole banquet hall quieted down after the commotion. Everyone had different expressions on their faces as they were silently weighing the situation in their minds. No matter who they were, they could sniff a smell of ‘disturbance’. Yunxiao’s sudden show of power would definitely bring great turmoil to the Li Family, and this turmoil would definitely cause chaos in the state!

　　Xiao Qingwang squinted at Yunxiao. Of all the people present, his eyes were the sharpest. He clearly saw all the moves Yunxiao had just made. It was a series of swift moves, as smooth as floating clouds and flowing water, without any delay!

　　How could a warrior be able to use this kind of fist art that followed one’s will, as well as the martial intent that moved as one’s heart? It was powerful as if he had trained it thousands of times! Even Xiao Qingwang himself did not dare to say that his understanding of martial arts could reach such a deep level!

　　Just when the atmosphere was somewhat awkward, a eunuch shouted outside. Soon afterward, His Majesty the King, Qin Zheng, led Luo Yunshang and Qin Ruxue into the banquet hall, accompanied by a crowd of ministers. Seeing him, everyone stood up and bowed.

　　Although Yunxiao did not want to, he bowed his head reluctantly.

　　What was so great about the king of a small state? Even the emperors of those super empires in the Heavenly Martial Realm would have to be polite and smile on seeing him!

　　Qin Zheng was old. His hair was all white and his pace was extremely slow. With Qin Ruxue’s help, he walked into the main banquet hall smilingly and sat above all the officials, looking down at his subjects.

　　Yunshang and Ruxue sat down on either side of the king. When they came in, they both gave Yunxiao a surprised look. He smiled back at them and made a gesture of victory.

　　Ruxue secretly made a face and stuck out her tongue to mean ‘old-fashioned!’.

　　The most old-fashioned thing in the world was to make a gesture of victory.

　　As soon as Qin Zheng sat in his dragon chair, an aura of someone who had remained as a superior for a very long time immediately spread out of him. He laughed in a slightly deep and thick voice, then said, “The reason why I am hosting this feast today is that there are two happy events. One is that Commander Yunshang has been promoted to become an alchemist. She is really a great talent! And the second is that the illness which troubled Ruxue for more than ten years has finally been completely eradicated. These two events make me very gratified and happy.”