Chapter 44: A Banquet to Die For?

Translator: Jillian Editor: JimmyInside the castle of the Venerable Da Xi family, Da Xi Heng, the patriarch of the family, waslistening to the report from an informant."Patriarch, the rumours are positive. The first Young Master of the Xi Men family, Xi Men Qian,has arrived today. He is currently residing in the Xu household. However, we do not know whathis intentions are."Da Xi Heng was always an earnest man and was given the nickname of "A man that neverchanged his expression even in the face of disasters." When he’d heard the news, he wasinwardly surprised. However, his face remained unchanged as nodded lightly: "Ok, investigatefurther into this."After the informant had left, Da Xi Heng sent out an order: “Let Ming’Er and Yang'Er meet me atthe garden.”Both Da Xi Ming and Da Xi Yang were brothers from the same father and mother. They were theonly two sons of Patriarch Da Xi Heng. Da Xi Ming, the eldest son, was twenty-seven years old.He had a flamboyant personality and was dissolute. On the contrary, Da Xi Yang, the secondson, had a mature and steady character. He was not one to reveal his emotions on his face.Although he was only sixteen-years-old, he behaved the most like their father.Between the two sons, the Da Xi parents also had a daughter named Da Xi Yue. She wascurrently twenty years old. Her birthday was coming up, and they were throwing a birthdayparty to celebrate at the family estate.The two brothers immediately headed toward the garden when they had received the order.When they arrived at the entrance to the backyard, they saw Da Xi Heng moving back and forth,the force of his palm thrusts causing shockwaves to burst out. His body surged up and downlike a dragon traversing the skies, and he moved with the grace and force of the wind andthunder. He was practicing the Da Xi family martial arts technique.This technique was the Da Xi family's traditional secret technique, called the "Tactics of Windand Thunder." It had the strength to overpower the mountains and rivers; it was a verypowerful technique.When Da Xi Heng used this method, it appeared to be even more powerful. Whenever he thrustout his palms, the shockwaves brought by the force of his palm destroyed the grasses, bent the

trees, caused leaves to fall and sent petals flying.Da Xi Heng finally regained his breath after he’d finished a set of the technique. He crossed hishands behind him and with his back still facing toward them, he said lightly: "Ming’Er, Yang’Er.Tell me, what have you learned by watching me?”As the eldest son, Da Xi Ming answered first."When I was watching Father practicing this set of martial arts technique, I saw you exhibitinga masculine momentum and channeling a magnificent power as if your fists had the force of

sweeping wind and roaring thunder. If Father did not have the strength of a Stage SevenGenuine Force Warrior, it would have been impossible to display this sort of power."His answers were purely regarding the martial arts technique. Da Xi Heng nodded lightly andsaid: “Yes, Ming’Er, since you love martial arts, this answer is reasonable, but you must knowthat humans have limited power. However, the power of the invisible heaven and earth isendless. You can reach the peak of martial arts if you understand how to use the power ofheaven and earth. Now, what about Yang’Er?”Since Da Xi Yang had a much more mature personality than his older brother, he took his timeto ponder the question. He was considering the scope of the question outside of the technique."I observed that Father has a very powerful fist energy, like the roaring waves and frenziedwaters. All the surrounding plants around Father were destroyed, except those few seeminglythin, weak willows in the corner of the garden. Compared to trees that were damaged by theshockwaves, these little willows moved with the flow of the wind from the shockwave, despitebeing bent from one direction to another. It always went with the wind and showed a strongtenacity. It does not seem much different to how most people survive in this world."Da Xi Heng liked this answer more as he laughed and nodded: "When trees stand out from aforest, it will surely be destroyed by the wind. However, this seemingly thin, weak willow didnot fall since it followed the direction of the wind. Since these few willows had to do this tosurvive by following the general flow, how could a family not do the same if they wanted toprosper forever?""The general flow?" Da Xi Ming spoke these words to himself, he had immediately understoodthe implications of what his Father had said. Was his arranged marriage the so-called generalflow?

Da Xi Ming was also a smart guy. He knew his father was hinting at him to follow the flow andto stop tangling with Qin Xiu. However, whenever he thought about it, he was reluctant to letgo, it felt like a knife was stabbing into his heart.Nobody understood his son better than him. Da Xi Heng knew his eldest son had a passionatetemperament and it would be difficult for him to change. Thus, he had never ordered Da XiMing to obey him.Noticing that Da Xi Ming had fallen silent, Da Xi Heng said lightly: “A report had come in fromone of our agents. Xi Men Qian, the first in line to the Xi Men family, the number one among theyounger generation of Southcloud City, and one of the “Four Scarlet Warriors” has alreadyarrived at River County with his subordinate. He has been residing at the Wealthy Xuhousehold."Regarding the forced marriage by the Xi Men Feudal Lords, Da Xi Heng was, in fact, angrierthan anyone else. He, of course, understood Da Xi Ming's pain and as his father, he also sufferedfrom the humiliation.However, to the Venerable Da Xi family, each and every movement of the Xi Men Feudal Lordswas correlated to the survival of their family. Since they were the general flow, the VenerableDa Xi family could only bend their heads and go with the flow as they did not have the power tofight back.“Xi Men Qian?”

On Da Xi Ming’s handsome face, a trace of angry red light had emerged. A wave of buzzing filledhis head. He could never forget nor feel relieved whenever he heard this name.Xi Men Qian, one of the “Four Scarlet Warriors.” An exceptional young man that had offered hisadvice to the Redwood Lord on how to defeat one hundred thousand Northern Barbarians. Hewas the number one among the younger generation and the already decided heir of the Xi Menfamily. He had an impressive list of achievements to his name. Not to mention, even theEmperor had met him.When you compared his achievements to Da Xi Ming’s, the leader of the "Seven Young Masters”of River County, it was clear that young Da Xi Ming's results were not even comparable.Whenever Da Xi Ming remembered how Xi Men Qian, in the past, had beaten him in one moveat the birthday banquet of the Redwood Lord, he always felt resentful and unwilling. This knot

in his heart had become the biggest obstacle to Da Xi Ming in his attempts to reach a higherlevel of martial arts.Xi Men Qian's other identity posed a greater threat to Da Xi Ming. He was the older brother of XiMen Yan, who shared the same mother! To clarify, Xi Men Qian had killed his first person forthe sake of his little sister. It was quite apparent how close their relationship was.For the first time in his life, Da Xi Ming felt a profound sense of failure when comparinghimself to Xi Men Qian.“Indeed, it is Xi Men Qian,” Da Xi Heng replied with certainty.“Father.” Da Xi Ming suddenly raised his head. “What do you want me to do, after telling me allof this?”“As long as you carry the name of Da Xi, you must put our family’s interest first.”“Then should we also cancel our invitation to the Humble Qin family?” Da Xi Ming asked with ahoarse voice.“No, their invitation will still proceed.”When he’d heard his father's words, Da Xi Ming finally let out a breath of relief inwardly. If hisfather had said the word "cancel," then he would not hesitate to immediately implement his"Fake death and flee" plan.With the general flow ahead of him, he was powerless by himself. He could only use this form ofmethod to escape the marriage.…Da Xi Yue's twentieth birthday celebration had indeed turned River County livelier than usual.There were many strange faces from different regions. All of these people were dressed inbeautiful clothing and had come for Da Xi Yue's birthday party.Qin Wushuang hadn’t wanted to participate in the party regardless of the quality of the feast.However, he could not go against his sister's desire. Besides, he wanted to broaden his horizonsand see what kind of entertainment a Venerable family would prepare.The three people of the Qin family departed from the inn soon after lunch. In a moment, theyhad arrived outside the gate of the Venerable Da Xi estate. The Da Xi estate was fairly close as itexisted in the downtown area of River County.

These three people got past the gate easily as they handed in their invitations. A servant then

led them to enter the castle. Before they had taken a few steps, Qin Xiu spotted Da Xi Mingwalking toward them with her sharp eyes.“Patriarch Qin, Missy Qin and also Little Brother Wushuang, you are all here."Qin Wushuang inwardly chuckled. He noticed that Da Xi Ming was being rather formal towardhis sister. After all, it would not be appropriate for Da Xi Ming to address her as“Little Xiu" withso many other aristocrats here. He immediately smiled: "Big Brother Da Xi, surely you must bebusy today?”“Not really. Everything was prepared by others in the family. We are only responsible forgreeting guests. I will lead you guys in."With an elegant demeanor, Da Xi Ming led these three people toward the center of the castle.After they had walked through the front garden, a small open plaza appeared in their view. Alarge group of people had already gathered in the plaza. Approximately seventy to eightypercent of the guests had already arrived.The group of guests all became curious when Da Xi Ming had brought in these three guests. Justwhat kind of people were they, that Da Xi Ming himself had brought them in?Among these guests, half of them were aristocrats from River County, whereas the other halfwere aristocrats from all over the place that had had some interactions with the Da Xi family inthe past.The lowest classes among them were the Prominent Classes. There were many Wealthy Classesand even some Venerable families from other regions.These powerhouses were aware of their social statuses and had gathered in their little circles oftwos or threes. The distinction between the levels was clearly shown.Since the feast had yet to start, these offsprings of the aristocrats were feeling incredibly bored.All of them looked over when Da Xi Ming had brought in the three people. Since aristocraticclothing clearly displayed one’s standing in the social hierarchy, the people watching Da XiMing leading the Qin family thought their eyes were playing tricks on them.The three guests that had been brought by Da Xi Ming were all dressed in Humble Classclothing!These confused aristocrats inwardly became suspicious. What kind of show was this VenerableDa Xi family trying to put on?