183: Chapter 183 The Chen Family Observes the Ceremony

The surrounding Cultivators immediately fell silent, and the Cultivators from various Families who were originally queuing also stepped aside to let the Chen Family and Liu Family pass first.

Some youths who had come with their elders to observe the ceremony wore expressions of envy and displeasure upon seeing such a grand display by the Chen Family and Liu Family.

Chen Lingyan followed behind Chen Yuanqing along with two other young men and women from the Chen Family. He merely glanced at them and did not care much about these people.

A total of six people from the Chen Family had come this time, and those three were here to broaden their horizons. Aside from the Clan Chief, the other two were Chen Changhe and an outsider Cultivator named Qin Qi.

On the other side of the Chen Family were the people from the Liu Family. The Liu Family had sent seven people, among whom were three young Cultivators who had also come out to broaden their horizons.

Led by the Cultivators of the Zhou Family, the two Families walked up the mountain step by step, while the surrounding Cultivators continuously flattered the Chen and Liu Families.

Chen Yuanqing merely smiled and nodded.

Before long, Zhou Minghong and Li Chengyan came before them to welcome them.

"Brother Chen, Brother Liu, please," Zhou Minghong said with a smile.

"Brother Zhou, congratulations! Your Zhou Family has produced another Foundation Establishment expert," Chen Yuanqing offered his congratulations.

Then he turned to look at Li Chengyan, "I didn't expect Brother Li to arrive so early."

"Ah, it's just a step earlier than you. As soon as I came up the mountain, I heard you had arrived, so I came along with Brother Zhou to welcome you," Li Chengyan explained with a smile at the corner of his mouth.

With that, the four of them chatted and laughed as they walked into the reception hall accompanied by Zhou Minghong.

Meanwhile, Chen Lingyan and the others were led by the remaining Zhou Family members to sightsee around the entire Tianchen Mountain.

...

Before long, the Zhou Family's Foundation Establishment ceremony officially began.

Zhou Ziye sat in the main seat.

Meanwhile, Chen Yuanqing and other Cultivators from Foundation Establishment Families sat in the second tier of seats.

Below them were the members of the remaining Qi Refining Families, who stepped forward one by one to offer congratulations and present congratulatory gifts.

Zhou Minghong, on behalf of Zhou Ziye, was responsible for accepting the gifts.

After these Qi Refining Families finished offering their congratulations one by one, it was the turn of the Chen Family and the other Foundation Establishment Families.

"Brother Chen, why don't you go first?" Li Chengyan and Liu Waya said.

"Since that is the case, then I won't stand on ceremony," Chen Yuanqing nodded and said.

He stood up and walked to the center, and Qin Qi followed closely behind him, holding a jade box in both hands.

"Chen Yuanqing of the Chen Family, on behalf of the Chen Family, presents a congratulatory gift to Senior, and congratulates Senior on reaching Foundation Establishment," Chen Yuanqing said in a resonant voice.

Qin Qi stepped forward and presented the jade box with both hands. Zhou Minghong took it, opened it for a look, and was immediately shocked. Truly, the Chen Family was making a lavish gesture.

"The Chen Family presents five Tier-2 Low Grade monster cores."

With this shout, no one present was unshocked. Wasn't the Chen Family's gesture way too extravagant?!

Five Tier-2 Low Grade monster cores were valued at about four thousand to six thousand Spirit Stones. It was questionable whether all the previous Families combined even had that much value.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ziye was moved for the first time, but this expression flashed across his face instantly, and no one caught it.

"Young friend, I wonder how Chen Changqing of your Chen Family is doing nowadays?"

Chen Yuanqing kept a calm expression and said neither servile nor overbearing, "Thank you for your concern, Senior. He is doing very well."

"Mm." Zhou Ziye nodded and said no more.

The Zhou Family disciples standing nearby felt a sudden sense of pride upon hearing that their own Foundation Establishment expert actually knew that Chen Changqing.

Chen Changqing's great reputation was renowned not only in Qinghe County but also in Taihe Prefecture.

At least half of the entire Chen Family's current status came from that Chen Changqing.

After returning to his seat, Chen Yuanqing was immediately teased by Li Chengyan and Liu Waya.

"Brother Chen, your Chen Family's congratulatory gift is actually so precious. If we had known earlier, the two of us would have gone up first," Li Chengyan said with a wry smile.

"Indeed! We originally thought Brother Chen you were just going through the motions, but we didn't expect you to be willing to spend such a massive fortune," Liu Waya said with a smile.

"You two brothers are joking. I am merely carrying out matters entrusted by my tenth younger brother," Chen Yuanqing's tone was very calm.

"Then let me go first this time," Liu Waya immediately said.

The other two nodded.

"Liu Waya represents the Liu Family in congratulating Senior on successfully reaching Foundation Establishment."

As soon as Liu Waya stepped out, many Qi Refining Families felt a wave of envy, especially those that, like the Liu Family, were vassal Families of the Chen Family.

After Zhou Minghong took the other party's congratulatory gift and glanced at it, he was somewhat shocked in his heart, but even more shocked that the Liu Family, having become a Foundation Establishment Family for less than a few years, was actually willing to pull out such a treasure.

"The Liu Family presents ten stalks of one-hundred-year-old Six-Leaf Lotuses."

Six-Leaf Lotus, a Tier-2 Low Grade Spirit Medicine, with a single stalk valued at around one hundred Spirit Stones...

All information regarding the Six-Leaf Lotus flashed through Zhou Minghong's mind.

Next was the Li Family. What the Li Family presented was a set of Tier-2 Low Grade Magical Artifacts, valued at around two thousand Spirit Stones.

It could be said that the gifts presented by these three Families were getting close to ten thousand Spirit Stones.

After everyone had gone through the motions, Zhou Ziye finally spoke a few polite words and then announced the start of the banquet.

...

This observation ceremony lasted for about a full day. On the second day, the Genius Cultivators from various Families stepped forward to test their cultivation and strength.

The Zhou Family had long since prepared for this; they had specially arranged a venue and built a martial arts arena for all the young Cultivators to spar.

In the early stage, the four Families including the Chen Family only watched the spars of those Qi Refining Families and did not take the stage proactively. If they went up, the other Cultivators would have no way to showcase their own strength.

Among the young Cultivators sent by the Chen Family this time, Chen Lingyan had the highest cultivation, reaching the Perfection of the fourth layer of Qi Refining. Chen Die's cultivation came next, reaching the fourth layer of Qi Refining, while the other was Chen Liqing, whose cultivation was at the Perfection of the third layer of Qi Refining.

The cultivation of these three far surpassed all Families; only the Li Family could barely find someone to contend with them.

As for the other two Foundation Establishment Families, they were similarly no match.

This sparring match was restricted to those under eighteen years of age, so the cultivation of most participating Cultivators was around the second layer of Qi Refining.

Occasionally, there were one or two at the third layer of Qi Refining, but unfortunately they still could not catch the Chen Family's eye.

Chen Lingyan and the others were getting somewhat impatient. Watching rookies peck at each other, he had no interest at all.

Chen Yuanqing also saw the mood of the three beside him, and his heart could not help but furrow in a frown. It wasn't about how they were evaluated, but rather that they were still so unconcerned when facing Cultivators even weaker than themselves; if they went out in the future, they would surely suffer losses.

Right then and there, he began to earnestly and patiently instruct them. As for how much they could take in, it was hard to tell.

The Cultivators from the three Families nearby saw Chen Yuanqing instructing his own juniors, and different feelings arose in their hearts.

No wonder the Chen Family could be so powerful. Even though their own descendants were already incomparable to the rest of the Cultivators present, they still attached great importance to their opponents. This was truly terrifying.