Star Gate

Chapter 586: Ceremonial Rites (II)

The old man said nothing and strode forward with his son and powerhouses from other provinces. Servants from the Steadfast Duke’s manor led them to the Hall of Ancestors. At the doors, the speaker announcing the visitors hesitated and looked at Xu Xing. Did he announce the person who was in line in front of the old man’s set?

Xu Xing met the man’s eyes and shook his head minutely. That visitor did not need to be proclaimed. His identity shouldn’t be made public. Although everyone knew about him, no one would purposefully speak of him.

A ferocious air wrapped around the person in question. Quite a few followed behind him in a haphazard fashion, but they looked to Big Beard as their leader. He was wearing a short combat outfit and hadn’t cleaned himself up for the occasion. There were traces of blood on him as he said from far away, “Is old man Steadfast Duke alright? That little brat Li Hao is entirely too bold! We’ll find a chance to chop off his head and offer it to the young master!”

His voice was so loud that it raised a lot of attention. Xu Xing barely managed to squeeze out a smile and stepped forward. “Island Master Hu is here! Please come in!”

The big beard being identified as Island Master Hu continued to boom in a loud voice, “With the young master dead, that makes the second young master the little duke in the future! Congratulations!”

Xu Xing frowned deeply. Even if everyone was thinking this, this was not the occasion to say so. This guy was doing it on purpose, wasn’t he?

Granted, he didn’t want to offend the guy. On the surface, Big Beard was the master of an island in the East Sea. In reality, all eastern provincial powerhouses knew that was the leader of the strongest pirate crew in the East Sea, the equivalent of the Starlight Pirates in the North Sea. However, while the Starlight backers were mysterious, it was well-known that the Steadfast Duke backed the one in the East Sea.

Despite that being open knowledge, the two sides hadn’t been much in contact with each other before. Here the pirate was, showing up today!

Some of the attendees were grave, some contemptuous, and others irate! The provinces along the coastline were often harassed by Big Beard and his men. That was plainly under the duke’s authorization as well then, meant to weaken them. Now as they saw Big Beard today, some folks itched to rush up and execute him!

“The Steadfast Duke really is... confused in his old age!” transmitted a few scornful powerhouses. “These kinds of people can not be acknowledged in the open. He’s summoned the Red Beard Pirates in order to exert his influence!”

“And what can you do about it? Red Beard is very strong. While he’s an island master of the East Sea on the surface, everyone knows that he’s a pirate. But since the official authorities haven’t identified him as such, he’s still a decent citizen on the outside.”

“Red Beard is seriously bold to come on shore...”

“What, are you going to kill him?”

The other speaker fell silent. Red Beard was incredibly strong and rumored to be at the metamorphosis level. He wasn’t here alone—several experts followed by his side. Who would dare ambush him under these circumstances? Not only would they possibly fail, but their actions might rouse the ire of the Steadfast Duke.

“Let’s find a news agency to expose him later...”

“You first need to find one that’s willing to publish the report. Besides, what will it matter if ordinary people know about his identity? What will that change?”

All discussion came to a halt. Across the way, Red Beard laughed heartily until one of his cultivators transmitted a few words.

“Men and gods alike shake with fury at the young master’s death.” He replaced his smile with a tragic expression. “Heaven and earth weep at your loss. Please contain your sorrow, second young master. You can come to me to take your mind off things when you have time. Although the open water does not measure up to the land, everything can be found there. You can vent a thing or two...”

He flashed a meaningful smile that he quickly tucked away.

A sorrowful Xu Xing pretended like he hadn’t seen it and exchanged a few more pleasantries before Red Beard led his contingent inside. Various local officials followed after him, as well as some powerhouses with their identity concealed. They weren’t announced either, but were carefully greeted by the second young master and shown inside.

At the end of the line, some people dressed in black robes with a large sun insignia on their chests walked in. Xu Xing’s eyes widened—Helios members! His family hadn’t invited the organization, but here they were.

That rounded out almost all of the factions in the entire eastern continent, aside from a very small handful. Even the three great organizations that the Xus were at odds with had sent representatives. It looked like they wanted to probe the depths of the Steadfast Duke’s remaining strength.

Xu Xing greeted the last of the visitors all the same and surreptitiously set watchers on them, before showing them in himself.

......

Li Hao was watching from a distance, counting the visitors one by one. So many powerhouses! he registered with shock. Almost all twenty-one provinces, including Calm Borders, had sent Novas. Various organizations headquartered in those provinces had also sent representatives, which meant some provinces had sent more than one Nova!

Counting all of the attendees made Li Hao’s head ache. There were thirty-two Novas here! That was incredibly frightening! The Steadfast Duke himself already possessed many Novas—his three generals, two stewards, and some resident experts sported balls of light around them. That was almost a dozen to the young man’s eyes. Added to that martial masters that did not possess balls of light... There were almost fifty Novas gathered here!

This was mind-numbingly terrifying!

Of course, this wasn’t the result of one faction, but a gathering of all of the elites in the entire eastern expanse. There were more provinces in the east than in the north. If one Silver Moon could produce so many experts beyond Nova, this sum of Novas was only normal given the dense concentration of mysterious power in the east.

As they say, we have to travel through the world to understand how tall the skies are and how vast the earth is...

He’d wanted to outright seize the Windchaser Boots before! With all these heavyweights present, it might be easier to ascend to the heavens instead. While they weren’t part of the Xu banner, they would leap to defend the duke in order to curry favor. Having been local overlords for so long, the Xus wouldn’t be enemies with all of the factions in their domain. At least a third of the provinces supported them, if not half. The duke wouldn’t nurse the goal of conquering the east, otherwise.

But with so many present, it made Li Hao hesitate. Perhaps deception was more suited for the occasion. Ah, whatever, he’d adjust his actions based on what he saw. He wasn’t sure what these people had in mind. If they attacked the Xus instead... that was perfect, he could fish in troubled waters.

“Envoy, the ceremony is about to begin.” The feminine second steward knocked on the door at this time. “The second young master invites the envoy to attend the proceedings in the Hall of Ancestors. What might the envoy...”

“Coming!” Panther rose when the door opened automatically.

Led by the second steward, one man and one dog proceeded toward the Hall of Ancestors. It wasn’t too far as it was also in the complex. Li Hao sensed various strong presences churning in the distance before he arrived. There really were a lot of powerhouses present.

Outsiders could not enter the Hall of Ancestors during the family’s ceremonies. They all waited outside, but were seated in chairs. The times were not as they once were and some customs had fallen out of practice. If the royal family still ruled the world, these people would have to stand as they came to offer their condolences.

These days, instead, there were seats for the most important personages. Those deemed unimportant still stood.

The doors to the Hall of Ancestors were open and quite a few Xus inside. There were many concubine-born descendants apart from Xu Qing and Xu Xing, and the duke had his siblings as well. They were less well-known, so no one cared about them.

The hall teemed with Xu family members. Only on an occasion like this did one discover that a family with two hundred years of history was quite enormous. Since they didn’t practice monogamy, many of the Xu men took concubines and multiple wives. Some had two dozen children, so it was standing room only for the men inside the hall. There were likely many who didn’t even have the right to enter the hall.

Panther’s appearance immediately became the center of attention. Expressions shifted minutely. Monster spirit!

Whether it was those from the Firebright or East Pole provinces, everyone was surprised. First it was pirates, now it was monster spirits... The Steadfast Duke was brazen in his doings! Where had this monster spirit come from? It was only a mediocre Solar. Of those present, no one was below Solar, apart from Xu family members.

Panther sauntered cockily down the path, arrogance dripping from every pore. It was actually almost weak at the knees—as was Li Hao. There were so many powerhouses here!

Of course it would go weak at the knees when stared at by so many people. But as a descendant of an ancient monster spirit and one who’d seen great occasions like these, a domineering act was called for. As Panther trembled, Li Hao blasted out with a mental ripple, “What are you all looking at, imbeciles?! I’ll scratch you blind if you keep looking!”

Some expressions shifted drastically at that! Many people turned to the second steward, waiting for the Xus to react. On the Xu side, Xu Xing quickly walked out of the hall, inwardly berating himself for forgetting how cocky the monster spirit was. Although it was only a Solar, its arrogance knew no bounds!

The family knew the inside story and why it was so conceited, but not everyone would. If someone not in the know grew enraged enough to kill the monster spirit, then the family would be in grave trouble.

“Please excuse us, everyone.” He swiftly walked forward with apologetic smiles. “The monster spirit envoy has different customs from us humans. He doesn’t mean to give offense... Allow me to introduce the dragon god envoy from the Kui Mountains! Not only is the envoy representing the Kui Mountain monster spirits, but it is the descendant of an invincible existence with a noble status of its own!”

Kui Mountain monster spirits! Although some in the crowd had guessed at the truth, since there were only so many sources of monster spirits in the east, the last sentence was rather confusing. What descendant of an invincible existence? What kind of existence warranted such an introduction?

Within the crowd, Red Beard’s eyes shifted rapidly and he blustered, “Second young master, who dares call himself invincible in this day and age?”

“Hmph!” Li Hao snorted. “Shut up, red hair trash!”

Red Beard glowered ominously!

“Please be at peace, envoy and Island Master Hu!” Xu Xing hastily cautioned with great pain. “This one is the descendant of an ancient monster spirit, does everyone understand? An ancient bloodline runs in its veins and its ancestor is still alive!”

Do you all understand now?