A while later, Yi Chen was dropped at the Feng clan's gates.

"See you in two days, Brother Chen. Don't be late," Zhou Mei waved her hand through the window as her carriage left.

Yi Chen waved back with a subtle smile on his face before turning towards the clan's gate and making his way in.

Since it was already evening, he wasn't in a hurry and, along the way, stopped by the Clan's marketplace.

When he left towards Elder Lei's residence, a red packet was in his hand.

Inside, a red wine bottle was nicely wrapped. It was the symbolic gift he had prepared for the occasion.

'Since I don't know her personally, something like this should be the safest option,'

That was his reasoning behind choosing this as the birthday present.

When he arrived at the residence, it was already four in the evening. Knowing that Qin Yao would be busy cultivating in his room, he went to his room without disturbing him.

"Let's cultivate then," Yi Chen muttered to himself and sat cross-legged soon after.

Although a lot of his time had been and would be wasted because of this banquet, he didn't regret it.

The reason for that was obviously the mission which was assigned to him.

'10x Comprehension Speed...' A subtle smile formed on his face when he thought about it before fully focusing his attention on cultivating.

Thanks to Zhou Mei's treat earlier, his Qi pool was already full. This saved him time, which he spent on refining his meridians.

By the time it was late evening, Yi Chen had finished refining one meridian and also refilled his depleted Qi.

With that done, he went to the kitchen to give Qin Yao a hand.

"You mean to say that you have a friendly relationship with the Zhou Clan!" Qin Yao exclaimed while cutting the vegetables.

"Well, not the entire Zhou Clan. I only have a good relationship with Zhou Mei and her family." Yi Chen tried to play it down a little.

"She's the Patriarch's daughter, Brother Chen! It's the same thing!" Qin Yao voiced out and looked towards Yi Chen with glittering eyes.

'To think Brother Chen was not just strong and talented but also a person with great connections…' he thought to himself.

It was only yesterday that he got to know that Yi Chen had already reached the Second Level of Meridian Refinement after seeing him perform a Qi-infused strike.

His opinion of Yi Chen, which he thought had already reached a peak, forced him to reimagine an even higher one.

"Why are you looking at me with such eyes?" Yi Chen couldn't help but feel uncomfortable under Qin Yao's intense gaze.

However, instead of answering him, Qin Yao grabbed Yi Chen's hand and said, "Brother Chen, how can you be this amazing? Is there a way for me to become like you as well?"

"…maybe try dying once," Yi Chen answered with a straight face after a pause.

"Come on, Brother Chen, I was serious!" Qin Yao exclaimed bitterly as he went back to cutting the vegetables.

'Well…I didn't lie, though,' Yi Chen thought to himself while focusing his attention back on making the dough.

Later, while having their dinner together, they exchanged their learnings and theories from today's morning lesson before going back to their rooms.

The night was longer than usual for Yi Chen, as only after he had refined a total of three meridians and practised his swordsmanship for an hour did he call it a night.

The next day.

By and large, it was the same routine for Yi Chen today. In the evening, a staff member from Celestial Silk Tailors arrived at their doorsteps and delivered his robes to him.

"How does it look?" Yi Chen asked Qin Yao after looking at himself in the full-body mirror.

"Excellent! They fit you perfectly," Qin Yao praised when he saw the new robes.

Unlike the dull robes which Yi Chen was fond of wearing, the bright white and blue robe which he was currently wearing brought a fresh change to his serious disposition.

Apart from the natural seriousness, there was also a hint of cheerfulness being exuded by him, thanks to this change.

"Uhm…Brother Chen," Qin Yao called all of a sudden, his tone firmer than usual.

Yi Chen, who was trying to get the hang of this new robe, asked when he heard Qin Yao's serious tone.

"Hm? Did you find a defect?"

"Do leave some women in the city for me as well…"

"You rascal," Yi Chen couldn't help but chuckle when he heard this and pinched Qin Yao's nose the next moment.

While Qin Yao groaned in pain, Yi Chen said teasingly, "I'll make sure to leave a few for Brother Qin then."

After the two had exchanged a little chuckle, they went back to their routine, and the day soon passed.

The next day, it was only after Elder Lei had finished with his lessons that Yi Chen freshened up and at one in the afternoon was ready to leave for the banquet.

Just in time, a knock was heard at the residence door. A carriage was waiting for him outside.

"I'll be going then," Yi Chen nodded towards Qin Yao and spoke.

"Yes, Brother Chen. I hope you have a lot of fun," Qin Yao said with a grin as he saw him out to the carriage.

When the carriage left the residence's premises, a grin formed on Qin Yao's face.

"Since Brother Chen's not cultivating today, now's the chance for me to get one step ahead of him," Qin Yao muttered to himself with a gleeful expression and went back inside.

He planned to give his two hundred per cent today.

Half an hour later, Yi Chen arrived outside a huge hall within the Zhou Clan's territory.

Rows of carriages were parked outside it, and several influential figures and people from reputable clans were making their way inside.

Yi Chen glanced around at the richly decorated entrance, which was filled with several red and golden banners with artistic emblems on them.

'Luckily, there's no line here,' Yi Chen thought in relief as he entered the banquet hall.

Huge bronze pillars, which even two grown men would be unable to wrap their hands around, appeared in front of him.

Around ten of them were supporting a vast dome-shaped ceiling in place.

Beneath him, the floor was made of exquisite green jade that was so smoothly polished that even one's face could be seen on it.

Admiring his reflection on the floor, Yi Chen soon made his way towards one counter where the attendant was accepting everyone's gifts.

With his hands finally free, Yi Chen began looking around the hall.

His eyes scanned through all the people who were talking amongst each other while waiting for the birthday banquet to begin.

Earlier, Zhou Mei had told him that she would meet him when he entered, but there seemed to be no trace of her in here.

While Yi Chen was busy scanning around, several people were also looking at him curiously.

"Who is he?" a young nineteen-year-old cultivator asked his fellow clan member.

"Brother Tang Li, I'm also seeing him for the first time. He seems to be of our age," the clan member who shared the same surname replied.

"Indeed. I wonder if he's one of the distant members of any major clans," Tang Li said in thought.

"Want me to go and ask Brother Tang Li?" the clansman suggested.

"No need. Let's wait for the banquet to start. There would be plenty of opportunities to know each other then," Tang Li added and started discussing some other things.

Just like the Tang pair, other people were exchanging similar dialogues as well.

And some of them were even about to approach Yi Chen in order to start a conversation with him, only to stop midway.

All their gazes suddenly focused on a woman standing a few meters behind Yi Chen, who had suddenly started making her way in his direction.

Her every move seemed to attract everyone's attention, and as a result, even Yi Chen, who wasn't facing her, seemed to be able to feel a change in the surrounding people and couldn't help but turn around in confusion.

A woman dressed in dark cyan Qipao was making her way towards him.

Her long jade-like legs fully displayed themselves through the slits of her dress as she confidently made her way in Yi Chen's direction one step at a time.

All the men whose eyes fell upon her couldn't help but hold their breath for a second.

"Manager Gao…" Yi Chen couldn't help but mutter when he finally saw the woman stopping right in front of him as the familiar scent of roses invaded his nostrils.

"Greetings, Young Master Chen, it's really been a while, hasn't it?" Gao Zhen greeted her with her usual smile and commented, "You're looking very sharp in these new robes."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.