Miss Fairy, Please Hear Me Out

Strictly speaking, none of the Splendorbloom disciples gathered at Ocean Air Tavern needed to eat anymore with their cultivation levels. But that did nothing to stop these young wastrels from indulging their appetites.

Of course, what they ate could not possibly be ordinary mortal food. It was either rare medicinal herbs or delicious cuts of demonic beast meat. Third rank was the minimum. All these precious ingredients had been stolen by Bai Fan, the host of the banquet, from his sect master father.

Aside from food, there was also fine wine. It was a wine called Primordial Immortal Brew. The liquor was a deep vermilion red, and as its fragrance spread, source qi stirred within it. Naturally, this good stuff had also been stolen by Bai Fan.

Once the welcome banquet began, Xu Yuan discovered that the relationship between these children of the powerful was even closer than he had expected. There was no stiff politeness or formal courtesy in their speech. They were as casual as could be, treating one another almost like real brothers and sisters.

But as the banquet went on, Xu Yuan gradually figured out why. Their family elders or masters were all high-ranking members of the same faction within the Splendorbloom Sect, so they had practically grown up together.

Jing He and Tian Yan, however, were a little special. The two of them could be considered orphans, because their shared master had died many years ago while out searching for a certain medicinal ingredient.

After three rounds of wine and five courses of food, the dishes on the banquet table had already been mostly cleared, and everyone present grew even more relaxed.

That wastrel named Tang Jiuqing invited a few courtesans in to keep them company without the slightest hesitation.

As for the girls who had grown up with them, they were long used to this sort of thing. They simply gathered around Tian Yan, chattering away about little private matters.

Tian Yan’s golden eyes flickered as she handled them with surprising ease, and she managed to extract quite a lot of information from them without much effort.

Xu Yuan’s side, on the other hand, was not going quite so smoothly.

Two people at the banquet table had already been drunk under the table. One was Bai Fan, the host, and the other was Xu Yuan.

The two sat beside each other, lying face down on the banquet table in perfect neat formation.

As someone who had always avoided gatherings with friends, Xu Yuan naturally became the prime target of everyone’s special attention.

As for why Bai Fan got drunk, that was entirely because halfway through the banquet, this spoiled second-generation young master had shamelessly tried to circulate his cultivation to sober himself up in secret, only to be caught on the spot.

With Bai Fan and Xu Yuan both down, the topic at the banquet gradually returned to the main character of this welcome feast.

The group of wastrels all began asking Senior Brother Li about his experiences traveling outside.

After all, Senior Brother Li was only a few years older than them. Before long, their elders would also kick them out of this secret realm and send them wandering through the world.

Senior Brother Li’s voice was steady, and he proved quite the conversationalist. He described all sorts of sights and amusing incidents from his journey in vivid detail.

Demonic sect enchantresses, spiritual treasures emerging into the world, all of it left the young wastrels listening with stars in their eyes. Although they came from noble and powerful backgrounds, they had been born and raised inside this secret realm.

They lived here, cultivated here, and under the protection of their parents and elders, had never once gone out to see the wider world. Hearing these stories now, they could hardly wait to rush outside and begin their own adventures.

Suddenly, one of them asked, “Right, Senior Brother Li, why did you go to Splendorbloom Hall as soon as you came back?”

Hearing this question, Senior Brother Li did not answer immediately for the first time. A trace of hesitation appeared in his eyes. After a long while, he finally said, “I’m afraid I cannot tell you about that for now.”

His refusal immediately drew protests from the gathered wastrels.

“Come on, Senior Brother Li, why can’t you tell us?”

“Exactly. What is there between us that can’t be said openly?”

“Even if it’s confidential, we’ll find out sooner or later anyway.”

“At worst, we can just go straight to Qionglu Hall and ask our elders.”

...

Besieged from all sides by these younger brothers and sisters, Senior Brother Li looked helpless. In the end, he still revealed a little of the inside story.

“While I was out tempering myself, I happened upon a spiritual plant by chance. A spiritual plant that can allow our Splendorbloom Sect to prosper for at least another thousand years.”

At this point, the corners of Senior Brother Li’s lips lifted slightly. “All right, aside from that, your senior brother truly cannot reveal anything else. If you really want to know, go ask the sect master yourselves.”

The moment he said this, the group exploded.

“A spiritual plant?”

“What kind of spiritual plant could make our Splendorbloom Sect flourish for another thousand years?”

“White Soul Fruit? Or the Immortal Catalpa Lotus?”

“Liu Fengyue, are you stupid? Those two spiritual plants don’t match our Splendorbloom Sect’s cultivation arts. Senior Brother Li said it would let the sect prosper for a thousand years, so it has to be either the Soul Dominion Tree or the Beguiling Divine Sakura.”

“If it’s the Soul Dominion Tree, that’s actually not too exciting. That thing doesn’t help our cultivation much.”

“Then that means it’s the Beguiling Divine Sakura? Every part of that divine tree is hugely beneficial to our cultivation arts.”

Thanks to their broad horizons, the group narrowed the spiritual plant down to the Beguiling Divine Sakura in just a few exchanges.

Then, as if by prior agreement, everyone turned their eager little eyes toward Senior Brother Li.

Senior Brother Li did not say anything, but the smile in his expression was almost as good as an admission.

When they saw this, the young wastrels present all showed, more or less, a trace of genuine delight.

After all, there might not be anyone in the world who felt a stronger sense of belonging to the Splendorbloom Sect than they did.

And after quietly listening to everything, Xu Yuan, who had already drunk himself unconscious, secretly opened his eyes and glanced sideways.

Then, by pure coincidence, his gaze met that spoiled second-generation young master Bai Fan’s.

Their eyes met, and the two drunk men both felt a little awkward.

After a long moment, Bai Fan blinked at Xu Yuan and secretly gave him a thumbs-up.

Xu Yuan smacked his lips, returned the thumbs-up, then silently closed his eyes again.

ᯓ➤

Old friends reunited after a long separation, and this welcome banquet had lasted almost two full hours. But now, it was finally time for it to end.

The party of eleven arrived at the entrance of Ocean Air Tavern and came to a stop. Everyone around them immediately backed away when they saw who it was.

Most of the people in this market at the foot of the mountain were disciples of the Splendorbloom Sect. Who in the sect did not know this gang of wastrels?

The mountain breeze carried a faint chill as it blew over them, but Xu Yuan showed not the slightest sign of waking up.

Tang Jiuqing, who was supporting Xu Yuan, prepared to hand him over to Tian Yan.

“Tian Yan, I’ll leave Jing He to...”

“No.” Tian Yan glanced at Xu Yuan, who looked as drunk as mud, and said bluntly, “He reeks of alcohol. I don’t want to touch him.”

Everyone chuckled at that and did not say much. Tang Jiuqing simply continued carrying Xu Yuan.

The group flew together toward one of the side peaks of the Splendorbloom Mountains and landed before a courtyard. Senior Brother Li smiled and said, “Tian Yan, can we leave Jing He to you now?”

At this moment, the blue robed girl named Yun Xi cut in with a bright, teasing smile. “If Tian Yan still doesn’t want him, then I’ll carry Big Brother Jing He back with me tonight.”

“You can have him if you want.”

“Really?” The blue robed girl smiled sweetly and prepared to take Xu Yuan from him.

Seeing this, Tian Yan gave a soft snort and swatted the blue robed girl’s hand away.

The blue-robed girl was not angry at all. She only giggled.

Seeing this, Senior Brother Li smiled and said, “It’s getting late, so we’ll head off first.”

Tian Yan took the utterly plastered Xu Yuan and said softly, “Mhm. Goodbye.”

As everyone turned to leave, Yun Xi’s eyes curved into crescents. “Tian Yan, be gentle with Jing He tonight. He’s already so drunk, after all.”

With that, amid a wave of laughter, the party of nine left the courtyard.