Two ancient scrolls? They turned out to be forgeries?
That was just plain laughable. If you weren't going to give a gift, don't bother. But if you did, at least put some sincerity into it. Passing off fakes as presents — was that intentional?
Even Jiang Chen was somewhat surprised. Looking at the direction of the gaze, it was clearly aimed at the Yan family's side. But which genius among the Yan family had been dumb enough to gift forged scrolls?
Jiang Chen recalled the gift-giving details. As for scroll-shaped presents, it seemed only Yan Jinnan's gift box could have hidden scrolls of that size.
In an instant, everyone's eyes turned toward Yan Jinnan, making his skin crawl.
"Impossible! The scrolls I gave were personally selected from numerous choices after a long search through the Divine Capital! How could they be fakes?!"
Daring not to shout, Yan Jinnan suppressed a low growl at their table.
"Brother Yan Zhenhuai, those forged scrolls come from a disciple of your Yan family." A young man from the Xiahou family shot a cold glance at Yan Zhenhuai.
A flash of irritation crossed Yan Zhenhuai's eyes. Unlike the others, he didn't jump to conclusions. He wanted to know if the Yan disciple's gift had been genuine, only to be swapped out. But switching items under so many watchful eyes wouldn't be easy.
"Which of you gifted the ancient scrolls?" Yan Zhenhuai swept a cold gaze over them. "Was it Jinnan?"
Yan Jinnan declared loudly, "My scrolls are genuine!"
The young man from the Xiahou family on the platform sneered. "Enough, let this matter rest. Miss Ying simply found it curious. In a large forest, there are all kinds of birds, after all."
Yan Jinnan's face turned the color of liver paste. He felt incredibly aggrieved, full of injustice, and wanted nothing more than to rush up and verify it himself. He still believed, from beginning to end, that there was nothing wrong with his scrolls.
Being inexplicably singled out as Miss Xiahou Ying's least favorite gift left Yan Jinnan thoroughly depressed. He had set great store by these two scrolls. He had originally hoped they would attract Miss Xiahou Ying's attention. Never did he expect to have backfired so spectacularly.
Yan Qingsang secretly breathed a sigh of relief. At least his ancient jade hadn't been chosen as the worst gift. As long as it wasn't the absolute worst, he felt he had no further part to play.
The two pieces of ancient jade he'd given were quite nice, but obviously nowhere near enough to top the list. That was still far off.
Sure enough, the three most popular gifts were soon announced. None of them were from the Yan family.
Yan Qingsang suddenly remarked with a sarcastic tone, "Someone was just talking about making up the numbers and embarrassing the family. So who was really making up the numbers? Who was truly embarrassing the family?"
Yan Jinnan's eyes nearly shot flames. If Yan Zhenhuai hadn't been present, he might have charged over to fight Yan Qingsang to the death.
"Yan Qingsang, don't look down on people with your dog's eyes! My scrolls are fine. They're definitely just trying to suppress our Yan family — it's a trick they've orchestrated!" Yan Jinnan's defense was feeble and unconvincing.
"Then why aren't they targeting us? Is it because your face just naturally invites more hatred?" Yan Qingsang prodded him with a half-smile.
"Enough, silence." Yan Zhenhuai spoke, his tone flat.
The moment he spoke, both Yan Jinnan and Yan Qingsang obediently shut their mouths.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Ying is extremely grateful for everyone's generous sentiment. This time, the Xiahou family has also had the honor of inviting two highly respected and accomplished elders to attend this gathering."
"The first is the National Preceptor of our Eternal Divine Kingdom, Senior Duan Zhiyuan."
"The second is the Celestial Alchemy Sovereign of the Eternal Holy Land, Senior Ziche Min."
The Xiahou family enthusiastically introduced these two elders.
The large curtain arranged behind was drawn back, and the two seniors, one on the left and one on the right, slowly stepped forward.
Seeing these two individuals, the atmosphere at the scene instantly grew fervent. Within the entire Eternal Divine Kingdom, these two were figures of immense renown.
One was the Kingdom's National Preceptor. The other was the Eternal Holy Land's Celestial Alchemy Sovereign.
What was a Celestial Alchemy Sovereign? They were legendary alchemists, titans who had reached the Celestial realm in the domain of medicinal pills!
Either one of them was a figure who wielded immense influence within the Eternal Holy Land.
For two to appear at once threw the scene into a frenzy. Even Yan Zhenhuai showed a slight change of expression upon hearing their names. As the two seniors emerged, Yan Zhenhuai couldn't help but rise to his feet.
When Yan Zhenhuai stood, the other members of the Yan family naturally didn't dare to remain seated; they all stood up in turn.
The young members of the other great factions also rose to their feet.
Applause surged like the tide, warmly welcoming the arrival of these two eminent seniors.