These fellows, when talking about the Ten Great Divine Kingdoms and their Sixteen Beauties, were all brimming with enthusiasm — every last one of them a chatterbox.
"Oh right, I wonder if Miss Yan Qinghuang of the Eternal Divine Kingdom has arrived yet?"
"She probably won't come, will she?"
"Now that you mention it, I heard the Yan family offended the Xiahou family. Wasn't that Miss Yan Qinghuang already claimed by Xiahou Zong of the Xiahou family?"
"That's right. The Xiahou family has been developing rapidly in recent years, while the Yan family has been declining. Poor thing — Miss Qinghuang, ranked among the top three of the Sixteen Beauties, is destined to become nothing more than a cultivation furnace for Xiahou Zong."
"Doesn't Xiahou Zong fear becoming the public enemy of all Ten Great Divine Kingdoms?"
"Heh, this is a grudge between two great noble families. No one else can really interfere."
"That may be so, but using someone as a cultivation furnace is truly a waste — it's utterly disgraceful. I'd wager that many talented cultivators secretly despise Xiahou Zong. In the future, when geniuses from the Ten Great Divine Kingdoms clash, Xiahou Zong will surely have no shortage of potential rivals. I imagine quite a few people would instinctively target him."
"That's certainly possible. But Xiahou Zong is said to possess extraordinary talent and overwhelming strength. Within the entire Eternal Divine Kingdom, he's considered one of the very best. Rumor has it that the Xiahou family has even declared that Xiahou Zong aims to claim the crown in the Ten Great Divine Kingdoms' Geniuses' Tournament."
"Claim the championship? Tsk tsk, a toad sneezing — what a lofty breath. Championship? Let's see if our Brother Ye Zhou here agrees to that first!"
Ye Zhou smiled faintly. "Come now, idle chatter is fine, but let's not dwell on right and wrong. Gossiping behind someone's back is never proper. I've met that Xiahou Zong once, and his talent is indeed extraordinary. But then again, everyone qualified to participate in the Geniuses' Tournament is a genius in their own right. This talk of him claiming the championship is probably nothing more than a rumor that's gotten out of hand."
"Is Xiahou Zong coming this time?"
"He's been in secluded cultivation these past few years, hasn't he? Probably hasn't come out yet. But once he does, Miss Huang'er is sure to be in trouble!"
"Then he probably didn't come."
"Whether he came or not is none of our damn business — I couldn't care less. What I want to know is whether Miss Huang'er has shown up."
"No idea. Next time we run into someone from the Eternal Divine Kingdom, we can ask around."
"Why bother asking? The Ancient Jade Gathering is about to start. If she's here, we'll see her there."
"Haha, true enough. Just imagine all Sixteen Beauties appearing together — that would simply be the most stunning sight in all the mortal realm!"
"Agreed. If I could lay eyes on all Sixteen Beauties gathered in one place, I'd gladly trade ten years of my life."
Hearing these fellows talking big, Jiang Chen secretly found it amusing. These so-called Divine Realm geniuses were actually no different from others at their core.
It was just that their level was different, their circle was different.
But the things they cared about, the things they paid attention to, still resonated with ordinary martial artists.
It was always about the martial way, always about beauties, always about various anecdotes from the world of cultivation.
Jiang Chen was listening with great interest when, suddenly, another group of people walked up from around the corner of the staircase.
The group from the Duowen Divine Realm spotted them from the window, and someone exclaimed, "Isn't that the people from the Eternal Divine Realm?"
The incoming group also consisted of a dozen or so people.
However, these dozen or so people also seemed to come from several different families.
Hearing the exclamation from the Duowen Divine Realm member, Jiang Chen's heart skipped a beat, and he looked towards this group at the staircase.
He swept his gaze over them, but didn't catch a glimpse of Huang'er.
Jiang Chen immediately chuckled at himself. Worry made one irrational — he was overthinking things. Huang'er was a young woman; there was no way she would visit a place like a pleasure house.
Still, Jiang Chen glanced sideways at the group with the corner of his eye, hoping to see whether any other members of the Yan family had come, even if Huang'er had not.
"Yan Jinnan, I've brought Brother Xiahou here as you asked. You said you wanted to express the Yan family's apology on your behalf. The rest depends on your sincerity."
One of the young men, his complexion rather pale, looked at the youth in the yellow robe and spoke in a flat tone.
That yellow-robed youth was Yan Jinnan, a scion of the Yan family from the Eternal Divine Kingdom. His expression was one of complete humility and eager ingratiation.
Beside him were several others dressed much the same, clearly also Yan family disciples. Among the guests they had invited were likely young talents from other major powers of the Eternal Divine Kingdom.
Yet every one of them showed great deference to a silver-eyed young man. His features were very young, but he bore a distinctive head of silver hair with matching silver sideburns, giving him an unmistakably striking appearance.
Standing there as he was, none of the others dared to take a seat, their expressions filled with reverence.
"Everyone, please sit and speak freely." The silver-eyed youth was none other than Xiahou Xi, the other prodigy of the Xiahou family from the Eternal Divine Kingdom.
Only after Xiahou Xi spoke did the others finally take their seats.
Several young members of the Yan family stood there with obsequious expressions, smiling ingratiatingly as they said, "Brother Xiahou, some of us from the family took the liberty of inviting you here today. We wanted to express our apologies to you… Please, everyone, enjoy yourselves to the fullest tonight. No matter how much is spent, the Yan family will cover the bill. All we ask is that everyone has a good time."
Yan Jinnan also began enlivening the atmosphere.
It was clear that he was eager to ingratiate himself with Xiahou Xi. Given the relationship between the Yan family and the Xiahou clan, Yan Jinnan was deeply worried that the Yan family would be jointly shut out by the other families this time around—even pushed out of the ranks of first-tier powers altogether.