When everyone looked at the sky to check where loud roar came from, they saw an enormous beast flying towards them at lightning speed.
When the flying beast was only about 500 meters above them, they managed to discern the origins of the beast.
"It's the Emperor's Flood Dragon Spirit Beast!" Someone from the crowd remarked.
"The Royal Family came!"
Inside the clan grounds in the floral garden, many guests were talking to each other and Liu Xiaobei was greeting everyone with his wife Mu Lan. When a loud roar resounded in the air, almost all of the guest looked up to the sky.
When they saw that it was an azure Flying Dragon that came and that it was heading towards them and not stopping at the entrance they frowned. Everyone had to land on the ground and dismiss their Spirit Beast before they can enter the Liu Clan's territory.
When the Flood Dragon landed, it gazed at everyone with its sharp azure eyes. An invisible pressure invaded everyone who dared to look into its eyes.
"Enough, we are here as guests, don't be naughty." A grating voice entered their ears, only then did the dragon close his eyes and turned around.
A robust man who was in his 40's wearing an azure robe dropped to the ground from the dragon's back. The dragon already laid upon the ground, so it was easy to jump off. The next person to land was a veiled young lady and a handsome young man, who were also wearing azure clothes.
When the clan leaders saw the veiled lady, they already knew their plans were ruined. The Emperor only had one daughter and seeing her here, they cursed under their breaths. It was well known that she was the number one beauty throughout the country. Although not many people saw her face, just from her eyes, one could tell she was very beautiful.
"Zhen Shang, I didn't expect you would come personally. Your rank 5 Flood Dragon is still as majestic as I remember." Liu Xiaobei greeted the Emperor with a smile.
"How could I miss such a gathering, it's such a rare occasion to meet all of you geezers."The Emperor answered with a smile, pleased with the flattery. The Flood Dragon was his most prideful possession.
"And this should be your son and daughter, Zhen Ping and Zhen Shan. To reach peak Grandmaster Stage at such a young age, they really are a pair of geniuses." Liu Xiaobei looked at them and nodded.
Hearing the praise, Zhen Ping straightened his back and turned his expression into "Of course I'm perfect" face.
Many young women in the garden looked at him with shining eyes. Why bother with Liu Xuefeng, when a man like Zhen Ping came.
Zhen Shang looked at everyone and said, "Okay, okay we can stop with the flattery, how about we go ahead with the ceremony, I don't think anyone else is coming."
"Then I shall invite everyone to the Spirit Awakening Hall. There are tables full of food waiting." Liu Xiaobei invited everyone.
As they were all walking towards the hall, many greeted the Emperor, but he didn't say much, only nodded. There was a clear difference in treatment between Liu Xiaobei and the others.
While the guests were in the garden, Xuefeng was already waiting inside the Spirit Awakening Hall. He was waiting with everyone taking part in the ceremony, but the sight of it was hilarious to everyone.
This year, there were exactly fifty kids who were around ten years old and each and every one of them were currently surrounding Xuefeng. As he was much taller than everyone, he looked like a shepherd with his sheep.
As there was a limit to the number of people who could fit in the Spirit Awakening Hall, only high ranked elders or managers, as well as the parents of the participants, were seated by the tables. As always, after the ceremony, there would be a giant feast for everyone involved.
Parents who were watching their kids gather around Xuefeng as if he was their leader were amused.
"Our Young master really does look like a big brother right now. Our children must be so nervous, but with Young master around them, they might relax a bit. Look how nice he is, he is playing with them and patting their heads." One mother commented as she watched her son.
"Yeah, I thought that he was quite distant from people, but look at his smiling face. I wonder if he will inherit his parents' talent. That would be a blessing to our Liu Clan." Another gossiping aunty said.
"It would be nice, but what if he doesn't? With so many guests coming, it would be so embarrassing to our clan. Hopefully, some of our kids will shine today."
While they were talking to each other, Xuefeng was busy answering many kids' questions.
"Big brother, why are you so old? I thought only small kids can take part in the ceremony." One kid asked the question that everyone wanted to ask.
"It's because I was ill since I was little. Because of that, I couldn't play with the kids around my age. But now that I've recovered, I decided to join you in the fun. Are you happy?" Xuefeng answered with a gentle smile.
"Yeah, we are less scared with big brother here." One bold small girl grabbed his hand happily.
"There is nothing to be scared of here, we are going to start a new journey in our lives today." Xuefeng patted her head.
"Big brother, is it true that when we are strong enough, we can fly in the sky?" The small girl asked with her cute eyes blinking expectedly.
"Yeah, but to do that you have to work hard on your cultivation. What's your name?" He asked.
"My name is Liu Mei." The little girl answered happily.
"You are indeed a beautiful little flower." Xuefeng complemented her then proposed. "Let's make a deal. When I am powerful enough and learn how to fly, I will come back and fly with you in the sky, okay?"
"Pinky promise?" She jumped excited and extended her pinky finger.
"Pinky promise." He grabbed her pinky with his and shook it. "But you have to work hard until I come back, okay?"
"Okay!" Liu Mei agreed.
At this time, people who were gathered in the hall stopped talking and stood up from their chairs.
Surprised by the sudden silence Xuefeng turned around to see many new guests coming inside through the doors.
He only recognized his parents and Manager Wu, the rest were unknown to him. But, the more he looked, the more shocked he became because, behind the group of older man, there was a group of around 10 beauties talking to each other as they walked. Inside the group, there was also a handsome young man with his chin high up in the sky as he was enjoying praises from the young women around him.
'Where did they get so many beauties from.' He wondered.
He knew that cultivation could be comparable to the best skin care product on Earth, but he didn't think that it would be true.
'As I'm not that bad looking now, I guess I will be somewhat handsome after I start cultivating.' Xuefeng thought happily.
The guests all sat around the Clan leader's main table as they looked around the hall. For some of these ladies, it was the first time they left their respective clans, so they were somewhat excited. When the emperor and clan leaders sat down, only then did everyone else sat.
The Spirit Awakening Ceremony event could be considered a gathering of elites now, rather than the normal ceremony. Clan Leader Liu Xiaobei clapped his hands and several maids came out from the side doors bringing out countless dishes and wine. The main event turned into a sideshow when a large number of powerhouses met.
At this moment the Liu Clan's Leader also stood up and said "I welcome everyone who came to our humble clan today to witness the Spirit Awakening of our young clansmen. You are free to eat and drink while we entertain you. Also, we will be opening the Spirit Treasury for the participants today, so for the safety of everyone I decided to use my Shadow Guards in this event."
As soon as he finished his speech, various dark shadows started appearing all around the hall. After a few seconds, about a hundred black masked cultivators were stationed in every corner.
Seeing this, the Emperor frowned for a moment but soon returned to his half-smiling expression.
'So, this is your power… 96 Spirit Grandmasters and 4 Spirit Kings. He is definitely hiding more… Hopefully, we have the Sacred Sword Kingdom's backing.' Zhen Shang thought as he quickly discerned the strength of every member of the Shadow Guards present.
Many clan leaders didn't mind. They thought it was understandable as the Spirit Treasury was really precious. If someone sneaked inside and stole rare Spirit Artefacts, that would be a big loss to the Liu Clan.
When Liu Xiaobei sat down, he gestured to Elder Ming who was standing on the stage with all the kids and Xuefeng. Seeing that, Elder Ming cleared his throat and started checking if everyone on the list was present.