Chapter 363: Gathering of Friends
He had a vague hunch that his guess was right because they were at Precious Laughter House!
Only people like the grandson of the Steelblood King Ning Bugui could have the power to arrange a banquet there and invite friends and guests from all over the world.
Ordinary people wouldn’t even be able to step through the door of Precious Laughter House!
I didn’t expect my cousin to have made friends with such people. If he leads the Lin Family, he can perhaps help the clan rise again… Lin Xuefeng thought to himself as he tried to catch up to them.
He could tell that the relationship between Lin Xun and Ning Meng was more than mere acquaintances, and that could make anyone envious.
Although cultivation was of utmost importance to descendants of wealthy and powerful families, networks and social circles were also indispensable. Lin Xun had a huge advantage over many other people to have a friend like Ning Meng!
At least, if anyone bullied Lin Xun, they would have to think about whether they wanted to anger Ning Meng first!
Additionally, it could bring many benefits, but it depended on how Lin Xun would take advantage of that friendship. Of course, Lin Xuefeng was thinking about personal benefits, which was very worldly but also very normal.
In the friend circles of wealthy family descendants, most of the so-called personal connections and relationships were based on benefits. Anyone without an equal status and identity as them wasn’t qualified to play with them!
For example, Lin Xuefeng wouldn’t have met Ning Meng if it wasn’t for Lin Xun! Although Lin Xuefeng was at most only acquainted with Ning Meng, if something were to happen to him, Ning Meng would no doubt help him if he brought out Lin Xun’s name.
This was the power of connections.
Lin Xuefeng knew that if he wanted to establish a deeper relationship with Ning Meng, he would need Lin Xun’s help. This was why he was very surprised to learn that Lin Xun and Ning Meng were very close friends. As he thought about their relationship, they had arrived at Precious Laughter House before he knew it. He immediately snapped out of his thoughts.
Lin Zhong and Third Old Zhu stayed behind and were arranged to rest in another hall specially prepared for them.
Lin Xuefeng smacked his lips again. How generous! This is Precious Laughter House. The host of the banquet even arranged a separate hall for servants and attendants!
Lin Xuefeng grew increasingly curious about who arranged the banquet.
……
Precious Laughter House stood hundreds of feet tall, and the interior was magnificent and grand!
The ground was paved with deep-blue sea spirit stones from the East Sea. Each piece was worth hundreds of gold coins, but they were being used as flooring tiles. Walking across the floor felt like treading across the rippling sapphire sea.
The interior and items of furniture were just as remarkable. There were octagonal palace lanterns made from golden meteorite iron, windows carved from violet yin wood, and tables and chairs made from black jade.
Every corner was incredibly exquisite, from the carved beams to the painted pillars to the potted plants. Anyone would be astonished by the lavish interior.
Based on the decor alone, Previous Laughter House was extraordinary. It had to have many unique and extraordinary characteristics to become the top money-squandering establishment in the Forbidden City.
However, Lin Xun quickly composed himself after his initial astonishment and he didn’t care anymore.
No matter how luxurious the decor was, it was still only decor. In his opinion, it was a waste to use such valuable rune materials as decorations.
“We’re here.”
With Ning Meng leading the way, they quickly came to the ninth floor of Precious Laughter House. On the ninth floor was only one main hall called the Ninth Heaven Pavilion.
Twenty men and women were already inside, all gorgeous and radiating extraordinary auras.
They sat at different tables, drinking and chatting.
Many seats were still empty. It seemed that many guests still hadn’t arrived.
All gazes shifted towards Lin Xun and the others when they stepped into the hall.
Ning Meng grinned, pushed Lin Xun to the front and shouted, “Everyone, do you recognize this guy?”
“Lin Xun?”
“Who wouldn‘t recognize the first place in Blood Kill Camp from our year?”
“It’s indeed Lin Xun! He actually came.”
Everyone exclaimed in surprise.
Someone smiled playfully. “Back then, no one in Blood Kill Camp knew about Lin Xun’s background, but now, I heard that he has achieved the title of the loneliest clan leader in the Mountains of Aristocratic Clans.
“Haha.” Many people laughed.
Lin Xun ran his eyes across the guests and noticed many familiar faces such as Gong Ming and Ye Xiaoqi.
He also saw many other acquaintances whom he didn’t have much contact with in Blood Kill Camp.
This was because the Blood Kill Camp students were divided into different campgrounds, and students were eliminated every day. The cultivation lifestyle in the camp was extremely brutal and stressful so students had few opportunities to talk with one another.
Even so, a surge of emotions rushed to Lin Xun’s heart. After two years, not only him but the familiar figures had also changed tremendously.
They had all been at the age where the most dramatic changes occurred when they had started training in Blood Kill Camp. Two years was enough time to change the appearance and temperament of many people.
Of course, Lin Xun noticed some completely unfamiliar faces among the guests. He thought they were other guests whom Shi Yu had invited or someone the others had brought along with them.
At that moment Shi Yu suddenly rose from the main seat and walked over to Lin Xun with a smile. “Come, come, come. Many of us didn’t know about each other’s identities in Blood Kill Camp. Now, let me introduce you all.”
As he was speaking, he dragged Lin Xun over to an ordinary-looking man with a confident bearing. “Gong Ming, from the Gong Clan, the renowned Never Falling Geezer Clan. This guy’s Nine Nethers Guard Club caused me a lot of distress in the first monthly assessment in Blood Kill Camp.”
Gong Ming got up and a smile curved the corners of his lips. “Lin Xun, it’s been a while. Let’s have a good chat later.”
“Sure.” Lin Xun also smiled.
“This guy is Ye Xiaoqi...” Just as Shi Yu was about to introduce a chubby young man, he had already risen to his feet and smiled. “You don’t need you to introduce us. Lin Xun has left a very deep impression on me.”
“Oh, I remember that you kept talking about wanting another fight with me,” Lin Xun said with a smile.
“Yes!”
Ye Xiaoqi’s eyes lit up and seemed eager to get into action. “How about this? Once this banquet ends, let’s have a battle?”
Shi Yu interjected, “Talk about that later. Lin Xun, remember this chubby boy. His father is Elder Ye Zhankong, the East Sea King. The Ye Family is one of the top wealthiest families in the East Sea province and has a collection of the rarest sea treasures.”
“How can our Ye Family be compared to Stone Cauldron Alms in terms of wealth?” Ye Xiaoqi rolled his eyes.
Shi Yu continued to introduce other people to Lin Xun. He specifically mentioned their family names and background.
Lin Xun maintained calm, but Lin Xuefeng almost couldn’t believe what he heard.
It never crossed his mind that the person who arranged the banquet was Shi Yu, the third young master of Stone Cauldron Alms! A direct descendant of Fortune God Shi!
The Stone Cauldron Alms was on par with the seven high clans in terms of power! And Lin Xun had a very close relationship with Shi Yu!
Lin Xuefeng completely lost his composure when he learned that the descendant of the Gong Clan, the Never Falling Geezer Clan, and the eldest son of Ye Zhankong, the East Sea King, were also at the banquet.
All the guests had an extraordinary background!
They were either from a famous clan in the Forbidden City or a colossus who dominated an area of the empire.
Only then did Lin Xuefeng realize that his identity as the successor of the North Light Lin Clan was very dim in comparison to theirs. He couldn’t be compared to any of them at all! The four collateral branches of the Lin Clan could only barely be ranked among the lower aristocratic clans when put together.
Of course, Lin Xuefeng wouldn’t belittle himself. He was simply shocked to learn that Lin Xun was acquainted with many descendants of wealthy and powerful families! Regardless of whether it was a superficial relationship or not, they still knew each other. Lin Xuefeng finally realized that his cousin had such a strong network of people. No wonder he dared to take charge of the entire Lin Family alone!
While Lin Xuefeng’s mind was wandering, a shrill voice rang in the hall, “Third Young Master Shi, if you introduce them one by one, when will you finish?”
Someone expressed his dissatisfaction.
Many people immediately turned around and saw an arrogant, black-robed youngster.
Shi Yu scrunched his brows imperceptibly, but he still said to Lin Xun with a smile, “This is Song Chonghe from the Song Clan, one of the seven high clans. He is a clan brother of Song Yi, the person who achieved first place in the national exam this year.”
However, Song Chonghe uttered coldly, “You don’t need to introduce me. I only came for Miss Bai Lingxi. I don’t care about the others.”
His words were rude and arrogant.
Many people frowned while Lin Xun was puzzled as to why Shi Yu invited a guy who thought he was above the other people.
Shi Yu chuckled. “Never mind. I can introduce you to everyone later. Come, Lin Xun, take a seat.”
As he was speaking, he dragged Lin Xun to the upper left seat and clearly didn’t want to lower himself to Song Chonghe’s level.
Who would have thought that Song Chonghe refused to let the matter go? “Young Master Shi, how can any random person sit in the upper seats?”