In the huge courtyard of Dreamcloud Manor, there were a few hundred tables filled with different kinds of Spiritual Fruit and wine. The courtyard was filled with aromatic fragrance.
A few hundred young talents, brimming with power, were seated at the tables. They were drinking and chatting.
A burly youth in a golden python-patterned robe was sitting on the main seat at the forefront. He was extremely composed and exuded great depth. His mere presence seemed to be able to keep everything under control.
“It’s the third prince, Jia Yuanji!” Mu Lingping said softly to Su Mo.
Su Mo slightly nodded. He could tell that Jia Yuanji was an expert.
Su Mo and his two friends had been led into the courtyard by a beautiful maid and were shown to their seats.
As the talents saw the guests walking in, they glanced at Su Mo and his friends, but they did not pay attention to them.
Although their cultivation was at Lv 3 True Spirit Realm and they were powerful, no one took them to heart as Su Mo and his friends were not famous.
However, a few people fixed their gaze on Su Mo.
One of them had a round face and big ears. He was Zhu Shaojing, one of the Top 100 Talents, whom Su Mo had injured the day prior.
There were two others. One of them was a stony-faced youth, and the other was a charming lady. They were Leng Yunfeng and Ji Xuehan and both of them were in the List of Top 100 Talents.
When the three of them saw Su Mo, they had different expressions.
Zhu Shaojing stared at Su Mo, and after a while, he curled his lips in a wry smile.
The crowd did not pay attention to Su Mo and his friends when they entered. However, when Feng Xiu walked in, there was a great commotion.
“Hahaha! Brother Feng, I didn’t expect to see you here!”
“Brother Feng, you’re late!”
“Feng Xiu, I haven’t seen you in half a year. You are still as suave as ever!”
Seeing that Feng Xiu had arrived, many of them stood up to greet him. They were extremely ardent. It was very different from the way they had treated Su Mo and his two friends.
Feng Xiu smiled and nodded at the crowd.
“Feng Xiu, I have reserved a seat for you!” the third prince said with his deep voice and pointed to a table nearby.
“Hahaha! Brother Jia, thank you!”
Feng Xiu laughed and strode over.
Su Mo, Mu Lingping, and Xu Xinghan sat in the back row, drinking and chatting among themselves.
“There are more than 20 people from the Top 100 Talents attending the banquet!” Xu Xinghan said in astonishment.
“Yes. Other than five of our Topsun Country’s Top 100 Talents, those from the neighboring countries are here as well.” Mu Lingping nodded and said.
Su Mo looked at the front row. More than 20 people were seated there, and they were not ordinary people. Every one of them exuded great aura and were unfathomable.
A skinny youth in black caught Su Mo’s attention. He was like a sword in human form, and he exuded a penetrating force.
“That’s Han Yijian, the deadly swordsman!” Mu Lingping said to Su Mo after seeing Su Mo looking at him.
He continued and said, “The lady in red beside him is Hong Lian, the Rakshasa She-devil!”
Su Mo turned his head slightly and saw a lady in red, seated beside Han Yijian. She looked cold and there was an immense killing intent being exuded from between her brows. Her killing intent was more terrifying than Xin Wuming.
Hong Lian sensed that she was being watched and she looked at Su Mo. Her gaze sent chills down Su Mo’s spine, making him frown.
Hong Lian curled up her lips and withdrew the gaze.
At this moment, Jia Yuanji stood up and looked around. He said, “I’d like to thank all of you for taking time to attend the banquet. The contest for the List of Top 100 Talents is only more than a month away. I have organized this gathering simply for you to drink and discuss martial arts with one another!”
Jia Yuanji smiled and continued, “Please enjoy your wine and continue with your discussions.”
“Thank you, Your Highness!”
“Thank you, Brother Jia!”
Everyone started to thank him.
The banquet became noisy as everyone was having conversations.
The banquet was a place where people built their relationships and discussed their martial arts experiences.
The banquet hall had automatically been split into two groups. People of the similar caliber and background formed their own groups. One of the groups consisted of more than 20 people from the Top 100 Talents.
They talked among themselves and could not be bothered with the ordinary talents.
The ordinary talents would feel out of place to be in their circle as well.
“Brother Yang, I have heard that your Cloud-shocking Palm has reached the Minor Completion recently. It must be very powerful.”
“Hahaha. The Cloud-shocking Palm is a Medium Lv 3 Martial Skill. Of course, it is powerful at this stage!”
“Oh, since this is the case, shall we spar? I would like to have a taste of it!”
“As you wish!”
As they were chatting, they could not hold back and started to invite other talents to spar.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The two of them flew toward the middle of the courtyard.
The courtyard was extremely huge. In the center of the sitting area was a large piece of land meant for sparring.
Seeing that sparring was about to take place, Jia Yuanji smiled and said, “Since both of you wish to spar, please do not go further than necessary. Let’s do it amicably!”
“Please do not worry, I know what I’m doing. I won’t hurt him!” one of them said.
“Hahaha! You talk big, don’t you? You’re not capable of hurting me!” The other person sneered and refuted.
“Oh? Let me show you the difference between the two of us!”
Both of them sounded enraged. They were talents and would not want to be put down.
Very quickly, both of them started to fight with each other.
One of them displayed unique palm blows, and the other was good with his spear.
Shortly, the talent who had displayed Cloud-shocking Palm won by a cut above.
Su Mo nodded his head. The martial arts techniques of the two talents were unique and should belong to Medium Lv 3 Martial Skill.
After the two had sparred, the others followed suit. Many talents started to spar with one another and everyone was having a good time watching them.
Xu Xinghan went to spar too. His opponent was of the same cultivation level as him, at Early Lv 3 True Spirit Realm. However, he had been defeated and was slightly injured.
Although they were only sparring, when the fight became aggressive, it would be difficult to put a stop to it.
Su Mo was enjoying himself with the wine and watching the sparring.
He had no intention to spar as his purpose of attending the banquet was to widen his horizon and to check on the strength of the Top 100 Talents.
Those who had sparred were the ordinary talents. So far, no-one from the Top 100 Talents had displayed their skills.
Another round of sparring had ended!
Zhu Shaojing, ranked 86th in the List of Top 100 Talents, stood up from his seat.
Everyone was shocked as they thought that he wanted to spar.
However, he did not move forward but looked at a youth who was seated behind.
“Brother, you’re gifted and very powerful. Are you not sparring?”
Zhu Shaojing cupped his fist at Su Mo and said with a smile. He seemed to have forgotten that he bore grudges against Su Mo.
Upon hearing this, all the eyes were fixed on Su Mo, including those from the Top 100 Talents.
“Who is this guy?”
“Even Zhu Shaojing complimented him on his talent and power!”
Su Mo frowned and glanced at Zhu Shaojing. He had no idea what Zhu Shaojing was up to!
“Zhu Shaojing, who is he? Is he very powerful?” one of them from Top 100 Talents asked curiously.
“That’s right! Zhu Shaojing, he looks ordinary to me. Why are you praising him?” another person from Top 100 Talents asked.
When the others started to ask about Su Mo, Zhu Shaojing gave a sneering look and said, “All of you have no idea this gentleman has powerful combat strength. Even I am no match for him, he’s extremely confident and has said that no-one from the younger generation of nearby countries is able to take him on. Only the top 30 in the List of Top 100 Talents in the Great Hong Empire are qualified to take him on. I’m truly impressed by his confidence!”
Zhu Shaojing’s voice was loud and he did not cover the fact that he had lost to Su Mo. Anyway, he had publicly lost to Su Mo and news would soon spread to the entire Topsun Country.
After Zhu Shaojing had spoken these words, there was a dead silence.
All of them fixed their gaze on Su Mo.
“No-one from the younger generation in nearby countries is able to take him on?”
“Only the top 30 in the List of Top 100 Talents are qualified to take him on?”
“Is this confidence? This is more of arrogance!”