96: Private banquet, real people settle cause and effect!

Leaving the Treasure Pavilion, he saw Wang Teng muttering as he came to meet him.

Seeing Shen Li's relaxed expression, he knew that this trip had been very fruitful.

He couldn't help but ask curiously.

“Shen Li…what else did you exchange from the mountain?”

As the two walked towards the tallest building in Crescent Lake Market, Shen Li spoke as he walked.

“I found a minor art, a grand Formation, and a spiritual plant.”

Wang Teng grinned.

“Is the Sword Cultivator's relic truly valuable?”

“It's also possible that I caught a big fish...”

“It was extremely dangerous at the time... I suppose it was a big fish, if it weren't for that Puppet, you would have suffered heavy losses, right?”

“How can there be peace on the path of cultivation? Even within the family, there are schemes, let alone with outsiders.”

“That makes sense.”

Upon arriving at the building, Wang Teng reached out and ushered Shen Li inside.

He led Shen Li to a seat below the main one... Wang Teng whispered.

“For tonight's banquet... my Uncle has invited many influential people from Crescent Lake Market, including Miss Ouye of Qi Sect, who is still setting up a branch store in Black Ridge City and cannot come, so an Immortal Master from her family was invited instead.

Everyone else here is a shop owner... you must treat them carefully.”

Shen Li asked curiously.

“Who all is here?”

“People from Qingchi Mountain's Pill Hall, Talisman Hall, Feng Shui Geomancy, Four Seas Merchant Guild, Formation Hall, Food as Heaven, Red Sleeve Brothel, Miaoyin Brothel, and Shang Gong Hall.”

Although Wang Teng had a fiery temper, as an Shen Family Immortal Seed, he naturally understood many things. He whispered.

“Although Black Ridge City has a Qi Sect branch, its appeal is inevitably insufficient. Some common people are at most the Foundation of the market, and won't amount to much.”

“Ultimately, it still needs warriors and Cultivators to develop and expand the market.”

“If we can befriend these people today, then when we open a branch in Black Ridge City in the future and develop it, Black Ridge City will truly have established its Foundation.”

After Wang Teng finished speaking, he got up and went to attend to other matters.

He had many things to attend to upon returning home... Additionally, he felt that his Realm had reached Qi Refining Stage 3 Perfection, and after acquiring some resources at home, he could seek a Breakthrough once he returned to Black Ridge City.

Meanwhile, Shen Li sat cross-legged, contemplating something.

Just as Wang Teng said, Black Ridge City currently needed too many things. Although the basic city defenses and grand Formations had been completed, they only met the passing standard.

Without revenue, and only ordinary common people... it wouldn't amount to much.

And the Wang Family's actions were helping him without reservation.

However, Shen Li was unsure why the Wang Family first gave him Heavenly Innocence Perfected Person's Magical Artifact, and then acted in such a manner.

What were they hoping to gain?

Something out of the ordinary must be suspicious... To do so much for someone not related by blood or kinship.

Could it just be because of Wang Teng?

It was probably more than that.

Shen Li exhaled a turbid Qi.

He had no ability to refuse, nor any need to refuse.

Even if he knew it was frosting hiding poison, he would swallow it with a smile on his face.

Because he was the fish on the chopping block.

Shen Li didn't dwell on these messy thoughts, but instead sat cross-legged in place, waiting for something.

As the sun set, the monsoon winds of Yellow Sand Plains quietly blew into the grand hall, bringing with them a sense of dampness.

Gradually, people entered the hall, then found their seats and sat down.

Their eyes, however, curiously looked towards Shen Li in the hall.

But they did not speak.

After waiting for about an hour... everyone had arrived.

One person had a cleaver strapped to his back, a scruffy beard, and the look of a butcher.

Another was composed, like a scholar, holding a book on Formation.

One old man, looking serene, entered the hall, holding a 'divination' scroll.

A woman in green sat in the hall, holding a six-stringed zither, tuning it.

A warrior exuded an overwhelming Evil Qi.

A plump middle-aged man held gold ingots in both hands, adorned with gold and jade, his eyes full of shrewdness.

A simple young man, dressed in a gray robe, had a stern face, sitting upright, not looking left or right.

Just then.

Shen Li's nostrils suddenly caught a hint of sweetness. He opened his eyes and saw a pair of watery autumn eyes propped on the table, resting her chin as she looked at him.

The woman made no attempt to conceal her grandeur, exposing herself to Shen Li's gaze.

She even seemed somewhat delighted...

Not only did she not flinch or hide when she noticed Shen Li's gaze, but she even straightened up more openly... as if to let Shen Li see more clearly.

“How generous...”

Shen Li shook his head and remained silent. The woman opposite him showed an expression of admiration, seemingly marveling at Shen Li's appearance.

Instead, she spoke first.

“Young Master looks a bit unfamiliar... Could it be that the Wang Family has another Immortal Seedling, here for experience?”

Shen Li smiled and cupped his hands, saying.

“I am Shen Li, an Shen Family Immortal Seed.”

“Shen Family...”

The woman, dressed in a green gauze, twisted her waist, and her slender jade-like hand pressed onto Shen Li's shoulder, leaning close to his ear, exhaling like orchids.

She felt warm, but Shen Li felt a chill... like a bamboo viper.

“That's strange. The Shen Family cultivates water and wood, how could they appear in Yellow Sand Plains?”

Shen Li explained indifferently.

“Family affairs are here. The land in the mountains entrusted to the Shen Family naturally needs someone to manage it. As an outer Disciple of the Shen Family, I naturally have to obey the family's orders... and had no choice but to come.”

The woman's face was full of disbelief.

“Young Master... you shouldn't joke like that. A Cultivator at Qi Refining Stage 5, not even twenty years old, is actually an outer Disciple of the Shen Family?”

“Then are all the inner direct descendants of your Shen Family at Qi Refining Perfection now?”

“Just a slight Opportunity, that's all.”

The woman was about to continue chatting when she saw Shen Li's gaze subtly shift towards the main seat.

Only then did Wang Chen's figure leisurely emerge from the back of the hall, with Wang Teng quietly following him.

He held a wooden box in his arms, looking at Shen Li with a complex expression.

Seeing this, everyone quickly rose, respectfully saying.

“Greetings, Lord Wang.”

Wang Chen chuckled and did not sit down, merely standing to the left and right of the main seat with Wang Teng.

Just as everyone was looking confused, a clear breeze flowed through, and when they recovered, Immortal Sen Yan's figure had appeared on the main seat.

Everyone was greatly alarmed and, without even looking around, immediately bowed in salute, waiting even more devoutly.

“Greetings, Immortal Sen Yan.”

Sen Yan slowly sat down, smiling.

“Everyone... please be seated...”

Shen Li, meanwhile, was filled with doubt.

An Immortal Master arriving... this kind of spectacle was clearly beyond his expectations.

He had originally thought that this banquet was for Wang Chen to act as a matchmaker, allowing him to display his abilities... to attract investors.

He hadn't expected Immortal Sen Yan to come in person?

Why was this?

In the hall, everyone was silent as cicadas in winter.

An Immortal Master of the Dao Foundation Realm... even if he didn't display his pressure, the pressure was immense.

As an Immortal Master, Sen Yan naturally didn't need to say pleasantries. He just smiled and said.

“I shouldn't have come to this banquet... but there's a small matter that concerns young friend Shen Li, and it involves an Elder of my family, so I had no choice but to come.”

Shen Li was somewhat puzzled when he saw Wang Teng slowly approach, holding up the wooden box with a complex expression, and slowly unfastening the clasp.

In an instant, a bloody storm erupted in the hall, with endless slaughter and fresh blood.

A delicate, dangerous Magical Artifact filled with Killing Intent lay quietly in the wooden box.

Immortal Sen Yan smiled and said.

“Young friend... by Heavenly Innocence Perfected Person's decree, can you accept this sword?”

“To form Karma?”

“Are you willing?”

Everyone in the hall immediately gasped.

They looked at Shen Li with disbelief... looking at this outer Shen Family Immortal Seed.

Their eyes were filled with an unnamable meaning.

And Shen Li felt an endless vortexAttack at him, yet he had nowhere to hide.

He slowly stepped forward, exhaling a turbid Qi.

“Shen Li.”

“Immensely grateful!”