Banquet

"Hey, it's time for the banquet. I don't know why I keep recalling the past over and over again. Well, anyway, I should get going."

Lei Kongming swiftly changed into a more formal robe and walked out of his courtyard, making his way toward the family hall where a banquet was being held. Before long, he arrived at the hall. Although it was not extravagantly decorated, judging by the noise coming from within, he could guess that there were many people in there.

The hall is divided into two sections: the outer hall where Lei Kongming is currently standing, and the whole place is very noisy, filled with all the younger generation of the Lei family. He can even see Lei LongWei drinking with others while loudly laughing.

Lei Kongming doesn't move forward to meet Lei LongWei. Instead, he heads toward the inner hall where all the senior members of the Lei family, including his parents and other elders, are gathered. Compared to the outer hall, this place is relatively quiet.

After inspecting both the outer and inner halls, Lei Kongming found that all the people present were members of the Lei family, and it appeared that no outsiders were invited to the banquet.

After paying respect to his parents and all the elders of the family, Lei Kongming turns back and moves towards Lei Longwei. At this time, the drunken Lei Longwei is laughing while talking about something.

"At that moment, Brother Kong was embracing my leg tightly, crying loudly as he thanked me for rescuing him from that 'scary' carriage."

"hahaha"

"hahaha"

Lei Kongming's face turned black when he heard that his dark history was being revealed publicly. He wished he could beat Lei LongWei and tell everyone that he was sprouting nonsense, but this incident actually happened, and with a little investigation, everyone could verify its authenticity.

At that time, he was only 8 years old and was roaming on the street outside the house with Lei LongWei when a large carriage, pulled by several majestic horses, passed by. All the horses were foundation-building beasts, whose strength could rival that of a 1st level of foundation-building cultivator.

He was so frightened that his legs felt weak and he was unable to move. Lei Longwei then pulled him aside to prevent any injury. Later, it was discovered that the owner of the carriage was a disciple of the Purple Cloud Place.

He still remembers this grudge and will definitely take "good care" of him after he enters the Purple Cloud Palace.

"Eh? Brother Kong, come, have a drink with us."

Suddenly, one of the young men around Lei Longwei notices him approaching and calls him out.

"Haha, Brother Kong, you're finally here! I was just telling everyone about your past heroic deeds."

".....Heroic....deeds, Brother Long. Since you are the protagonist of today's event, why don't you exchange pointers with me and show your heroic self to everyone?"

"No need, Brother Kong, No need. You should take some time to enjoy life instead of focusing on cultivation all the time. Come, drink with your brothers, and we can discuss exchanging pointers another day."

Lei Kongming did not continue to tease him but instead got seated with everyone and started having a drinking competition.

Suddenly, the wall separating the inner and outer halls moves upwards, connecting both areas. This wall was constructed using a simple first-grade formation. It is primarily used when there is a need to announce important news and decisions made by the family elders to all the people in both the inner and outer halls.

Soon, the whole place became quiet, but there were some exceptions like Lei Longwei and his group of completely drunk brothers who were still drinking nonstop while murmuring some nonsense, but no one paid attention to them.

Lei Kongming also stopped drinking while waiting for the announcement. The main reason he isn't drunk is because he arrived late and drank in moderation, but he still feels a little tipsy.

Lei ShiLong, the first elder of the family and the father of Lei LongWei, stood up.

"I have gathered all of you here today to share some joyous news to all."

Lei Shilong nods respectfully toward Lei Ying before addressing the entire family: "With great honor and happiness, I announce the betrothal of my son, Lei LongWei, to the daughter of the city lord, Ye QingQing." Soon, the entire place becomes noisy with excitement.

"Oh, how wonderful! Our Lei LongWei and Ye QingQing will make a splendid couple!"

"Ah, most auspicious tidings indeed! Lei LongWei and Ye QingQing are destined to harmonize like yin and yang!"

The city where the Lei family lives is called Xiangyun City, and Ye Jing serves as the current city lord. He can be considered the strongest figure in the entire city, not only to his personal strength but also to his official position.

Ye Jing arrived in the city twenty years ago, accompanied by his sister, Ye Xiaomei, and his wife. Their purpose was to take the role of city lord. Naturally, many well-known families in the city refused to recognize him because he was an outsider and feared that there would be additional contenders to share the resources of the city. However, their opposition swiftly dissipated upon witnessing Ye Jing's formidable strength at the peak of the foundation building. 

Although there are people in some big families within the city who have reached the pinnacle of foundation-building cultivation but they are mostly elderly men and women without any hope of advancing to the golden core realm.However, Ye Jing was still very young at that time.

Given that 20 years have now passed, there is a high probability that Ye Jing has likely broken through to the Golden Core Realm.

There is also a rumor that Ye Jing is a direct descendant of the Ye family from the capital, but Ye Jing neither confirms nor denies it.

"Lei LongWei, you are a fortunate man to have such a beautiful bride."

Lei Kongming also congratulated Lei Longwei, who was grinning from ear to ear while thinking about the beauty of Ye Qingqing. But if you look carefully, you will find that most people, especially young men, are gloating at Lei Longwei.

Yes, although Ye Qingqing is undeniably beautiful with a tall figure and long, graceful legs, her face often wears a cold expression. The only flaw in her appearance is that her chest is rather flat, like an airport runway. Despite this, Ye Qingqing is praised as the top beauty of the city and the strongest female cultivator among the younger generation. However, her personality tends to be a little "fiery".

Originally, based on her appearance and strength, she should have had countless followers, both male and female. However, the reality is that more than 90% of her followers are girls.

This is mainly attributed to her violent personality. It is said that during her childhood, if a dog accidentally barked near her, it would receive two slaps. Although the city lord thoroughly denied it as a rumor but whenever Ye Qingqing walks down the street, all the dogs take a detour.

As for the rich second-generation playboys? There are no less than a dozen of them who have their balls busted and become eunuchs.

Consequences? Sorry, she is the only daughter of Citylord, the strongest powerhouse of the city. 

While Lei Longwei was still accepting congratulations from everyone and drinking, Lei Ying sent a bottle of second-grade spiritual wine as a congratulatory gift. This wine was made from a foundation-building heaven and earth fruit, which could knock even a foundation-building cultivator unconscious, let alone Lei Longwei, who had a pitiful cultivation level of the 8th level of the Qi refining realm.

Furthermore, this wine also helps in cultivation. Judging by the size of the bottle, it was expected that Lei Longwei could climb directly to the peak of the Qi refining realm.

*thud*

Before Lei LongWei could even accept it, he fell down and was knocked unconscious.

Lei KongMing silently left the hall as well. He was going to prepare a gift for his good brother and wait until Lei LongWei sobered up before giving it to him.

"I am sure he will like it, Jie Jie Jie"

-------

The next morning, upon waking up, Longwei held his head in pain and slowly rose up from the bed.

"Alcohol truly harms the body, even someone as resilient as myself could be knocked unconscious."

Strictly speaking, Longwei is not considered a "strong" cultivator, as most people with little talent and hard work can enter the Qi refining realm. The only difference is that Lei Longwei has high-grade spirit roots and a fairly high chance of reaching the golden core realm, which most common people consider unreachable.

While looking at the sunrays coming from the window blinds, Longwei slowly recalls the outrageous things that happened last night, and all the happiness of breaking through to the qi refining realm gradually disappears with the return of his memory.

"Young master, wake up! The elder is waiting for you."

The call from the maid woke Longwei from his daze.

"Tell the father that I will talk to him later, I'm busy with something very important to do" 

While instructing the maid, Longwei quickly puts on his clothes and rushes outside.

"Young master, wait!"

Longwei ignores the call of the maid and continues to rush towards the entrance.

"Brother Longwei, where are you going in such a hurry?"