Chapter 554: Invitation to a Banquet
Hui Yue was completely engrossed in his comprehension of the dao of the sword, and it took him some time before he finally opened his eyes once more.
The moment his eyes opened swordlight erupted from within and shot towards Pei Ze at a rapid speed. It shot out so fast and was so unexpected that Pei Ze was not able to react in time.
Huli who was used to fending off the swordlight reached out her hand to block the swordlight in the air and destroy it the moment it appeared, stunning both Hui Yue and Pei Ze.
"Sorry," Hui Yue said politely as he saw that it was Pei Ze he had accidently attacked. He had not intended to do so, but when he opened his eyes and felt a foreign presence in the room, he had, unconsciously attacked.
“What brings you here?" Hui Yue asked curiously, and Pei Ze who had arrived on the orders of the head elders just smiled as he looked around. "Impressive that you managed to comprehend the dao of the sword within this room without even the slightest amount of damage to the furniture or walls."
Hui Yue grinned as he heard this and gently kissed her cheek, "I couldn't do it without Huli by my side." He said honestly, and his honest praise made Huli's cheeks blush a little. Although she was a woman that many would consider cold and detached, she became very emotional every time it had to do with Hui Yue.
Seeing the interaction between the two, Pei Ze could not help but laugh a little. He knew that there was true love between them, and although the laws said that they were not allowed to have children outside of the sect, the sect never actually went against marriages that the sect members suggested on their own. If Hui Yue were to ask the elders for the permission to marry his beast companion, the elders would approve, especially considering her outstanding abilities.
Looking at them, he made a mental note to remember to tell Hui Yue later that he should ask the elders for permission to marry her. If they had a child now, it would have to be killed because of the sect’s rules, but if they married first, the child would become one of the sects treasured descendants.
"Oh well," he stopped thinking about his new friend's love life and started thinking about the reason he had come. "There will be a banquet in Youdu. It is hosted by Yanluo who invited all the members of the ten greatest sects in our galaxy. Obviously, we are also expected to join, and many of them want to meet the new member of the Celestial Sword Sect."
"The elders already decided that you should join so that everyone can meet you, but I have to warn you, you already have the nickname bastard of the Celestial Sword Sect."
Pei Ze was worried that Hui Yue would feel discontent at this name, but he clearly had no reaction. Hui Yue already expected it, and he had also previously been warned by Pei Tian. If they considered him a bastard then so be it.
"When is it? Am I allowed to bring Huli with me?" Hui Yue asked, but Pei Ze shook his head. "The only people who are invited are the members of the family, not their companions. You will have to follow me. The banquet is tonight, so we need to hurry. You have been training for a long time so take a bath and find some nice clothes, then come find me and we will head out."
Hui Yue nodded his head, and the moment that Pei Ze left, he took a warm bath. The warm water calmed his mind which had worked hard for the last few days comprehending the dao of the sword and his mind finally eased up as he bathed.
Huli entered the room and gently started to massage his back so that he could be as relaxed as possible before it was time for him to go.
When he finished the bath, Hui Yue found that a robe that had been laid out on the bed for him to wear. The robe was white with blue and silver embroideries of a great roc soaring in the sky among beautiful clouds. The quality of the cloth was very high, and it was clearly very expensive. On the top of it was a small note saying, "A present from uncle Pei Tian."
Hui Yue felt warm at the heart when he saw this note, and he hurried to put on the robe. With these clothes and a beautiful white hairband, he looked everything like a distinguished young master of a large sect or family.
When he left the room and knocked on Pei Ze's chambers, he was met by the young, black-haired man wearing a black robe with golden embroideries also of the great roc, but instead of clouds, his robe depicted the sun and stars.
Seeing Hui Yue wearing such fine clothes Pei Ze was at first shocked. One had to know that the clothes Hui Yue was wearing had to have cost at least a thousand Worldpower Stones. This was no small amount of money, and although Hui Yue had this amount of money, Pei Ze was aware that he had been training non-stop the last seven days. He never had time to order such a nice set of clothes.
Pei Ze had actually been worried for Hui Yue when he heard that they were going to a banquet. If Hui Yue came in the clothes he usually wore, he would be made fun of, not only by the other sects but also by their own members.
"Where did you get this set of clothes?" He could not help but ask. Although he understood that people would have their secrets, Pei Ze was a curious person, and when he saw the clothes, he could not help but ask.
Smiling, Hui Yue answered honestly. "Ancestor Pei Tian gifted them to me." For him, who had been gifted a communication orb and a set of clothes by Pei Tian, he was rather excited and happy, but when Pei Ze heard this, he stared at him with shock in his eyes.
"I guess it is because the first ancestor does not have any children of his own left," he said after a bit of thinking. "Now that he has found a long lost nephew he might be giving all his love to you."
Hui Yue, who knew that Pei Tian was certain that he was his son, said nothing but nodded his head. He had no intention of telling people that Pei Tian was, in fact, his father.
Huli was in Hui Yue's Universe Box and had been sent to the Divine Beast World where she was going to spend the time until Hui Yue was back from the banquet. Hui Yue felt the safest when Huli was by his side, even though he was not allowed to bring her, he still felt better knowing she was with him this way.
Pei Ze brought Hui Yue to the front yard of the family mansion where members of the Pei family were already gathered, and even some of the head elders were present as well.
When they saw Hui Yue, many looked at him with jealousy, hate, and rage while others looked at him with curiosity, interest, and reverence.
Even the head elders who arrived all nodded politely to Hui Yue. Even though he was a younger generation member, he was also a third generation descendant. Thus he was ranked highly in the sect.
Pei Feng showed neither reverence nor hostility; he was completely neutral as if Hui Yue were just another member of the sect.
The followers of Pei Ze were, however, different. All of them looked at Hui Yue with jealousy, hate, indignation, and hostility.
When they saw his fine clothes, they felt inferior. When they thought about his pure bloodline, they felt inferior. When they thought about his insights into the dao of space, they felt inferior. If they compared their looks to Hui Yue, they had to admit they were inferior. No matter how they looked at it, Hui Yue was much more talented and important than any of them, and none of them could tolerate this. He was a new sect member, and he was a bastard on top of it all.
According to rules, he should be slain, but now he was enjoying their rewards and cultivation resources! Who knew, with so many talents he might even end up as the next sect leader! After knowing that Pei Ze and Pei Feng had battled for this position for years, all of them felt that he was not entitled in the least to join the fight to be the next sect leader.
Even some of Pei Ze's followers felt indignant about this, however, when they saw how good the relationship between Pei Ze and Hui Yue was, all of them understood that there was not likely to be any rivalry between them. With this in mind, they started to become much more open towards Hui Yue.
"We are all gathered here now," a melodious voice sounded out, and when Hui Yue turned around, he saw that Pei Ziqi was standing right behind him. Looking at Hui Yue, she winked slightly and smiled happily. She had seen all of Hui Yue's performances, and it was clear that she was on his side.
"At this banquet, it is likely that you will be allowed to spar with the other sect's younger generation. Remember that these young experts also are the geniuses of their sects; never look down upon them and never take victory for granted! If you become complacent, you will be the one who ends up losing!"
As she said this, everyone present nodded their heads in acknowledgment. What she said made perfect sense, and no one wished to be the one who embarrassed their family.
"You have to be extra careful," Pei Ze said to Hui Yue with a low voice. "Many of our own members wish to see you embarrassed, and many of the other sects are very curious about you. Who is this person who was able to make the patriarch ignore the sect’s rules, is what everyone wants to know."
"We from the Celestial Sword Sect usually win our sparring matches because we have our wings for support. Our training mostly concerns aerial battles for this reason, and we have a great advantage against opponents without wings. However, you are different. You have never been trained to fight in the air, so many will target you. I hope you are good at fighting on your own."
Hearing this, Hui Yue grinned. Although he was a new God, he was not new to fighting with his life on the line; he had fought many battles against experts, and time and time again, he had bet his life in them.
Compared to these young masters who had protectors with them when they went out to train, he had far more experience in real battle, and he had faith in himself. Even if he could not convince the black figure within his core to help him, he still had plenty of secrets up his sleeve to use.
No matter how people looked at it, Hui Yue was not an easy person to bully. He might be a new god, but he was as dangerous as any other member of the younger generation, if not even more dangerous because of his deeply hidden secret techniques.
Hui Yue looked at the gate which opened and smiled slightly. This banquet was going to be quite entertaining.