The party

Bai Yun turned around when he heard the voice. He had a feeling that the voice was speaking to him.

When he turned around Bai Yun saw a young man standing there arrogantly in a gold colored dragon robe surrounded by many other young men. With a start, Bai Yun realized that the golden colored robe wasn't golden colored at all. Instead, it was made with authentic gold threads. With a single look, Bai Yun was able to guess the kind of person he was.

Bai Yun had seen pictures of him so he knew that the person in front of him was Bai Tian, the organizer of the party. Though he had no idea what he was doing hanging around the coliseum rather than at the party site.

"Why are you staying here. I came down to call you when I saw you. You should come with us to the VIP rooms." Bai Tian told Bai Yun. He brought a small handkerchief to his mouth as he spoke, almost as if he was trying to block out the smell of the ordinary members of the Bai clan. The people around them were looking at him strangely, some were even frowning. But no one had the guts to stand up and say something.

"For now I just want to look around. I'll come up when the time is right." Bai Yun replied. He found something fishy in the fact that Bai Tian came down all the way here just to invite him. He figured that there was a greater conspiracy afoot.

Bai Tian nodded and turned away as if he was dying to escape from here. Some of his followers were frowning as they did not like that Bai Yun did not accept Bai Tian's offer. One of them stayed back for a bit and turned to face Bai Yun with a sneer. "You should have accepted young master Tian's magnanimous offer and come up with us. Now you have to stay here with the rest. Serves you right."

Bai Yun raised his eyebrow when he heard this. His opinions of Bai Tian was never too high, but it dropped even further after meeting him in person.

After Bai Tian and his entourage left, Bai Yun stayed at the coliseum for a short while longer. But he did not find anything that impressed him.

After this, it was already midnight. Bai Yun quickly made his way up to the VIP rooms. There was a need to pay a certain amount of money to usually access the VIP rooms. But Bai Tian had completely booked them for tonight. As long as your name was on the list, you would be let in. After confirming that Bai Yun's name was on the list, the burly man standing guard at the entrance let him in.

Bai Yun was a little late due to touring the coliseum, so by the time he had arrived, the party was in full swing.There was a huge podium in the middle where Bai Tian was standing. He was chatting with a few friends there. He nodded to Bai Yun as he entered. Both of the walls were lined with many foods and drinks. The large hall was filled with people who were chatting and laughing.

With a single glance Bai Yun realized that most of the people here were in the qi condensation realm, though there were a few foundation establishment cultivators too. But from his glance, it seemed that most of the people here were definitely rich young masters and young misses. All of them were wearing very expensive clothing, and flaunting their wealth at every opportunity.

Bai Yun made a beeline for the food table. Since he did not know anyone here, he figured that he might as well have some food while he was at it.

But once he started, he realized that the food was excellent. It was even more delicious than what he would normally eat. Bai Yun would normally eat food that was prepared with special medicinal ingredients so they were not focused on taste, but rather on utility. Even with the best cooks, the food mostly tasted bland.

So this delicious food was a welcome surprise to Bai Yun. Even though it was not very good for the body, Bai Yun could easily dispel the waste with his god sense and cultivation. Eating this food every now and then was fine.

And so Bai Yun took a large plate full of food and stood in a corner. He didn't draw any attention to himself and just stood there eating. 'Bai Tian, thank your lucky stars for this food. I have decided to forgive you for your insolence.' Bai Yun thought. He didn't think it was right to eat so much of the host's food and wreck the party too.

Bai Yun was standing in a corner and minding his own business when he realized that someone was approaching him. With a stat, he realized that it was Bai Qing.

Bai Qing was one of the so called princes of the Bai clan. During his visit to the beast garden, Bai Yun had stolen some supreme weed fruits from right underneath Bai Qing's nose. Though at the time he had thought that he had gotten away with it without Bai Qing realizing who he was.

Bai Qing walked up to him and stood near him. He leaned against the wall just like Bi Yun and observed the crowd.

"Did you come here to ask about the incident at the beast garden?" Bai Yun asked

Bai Qing was silent for a few moments. "You don't look comfortable in these situations. Why are you here." He finally said.

Bai Yun looked over Bai Qing. He was wearing colorful robes. But from the look of things, they were made to be more practical and comfortable than the clothes others were wearing. Obviously this kind of party was not his style.

"You also don't seem too comfortable with situations like these." Bai Yun replied.

"It is not about being comfortable. It's about making connections." Bai Qing replied.

"What's the point. In life only the strength of your hands in permanent." BAi Yun replied.

"Your idea is based on the belief that you can grow to one day defeat everyone else. Even if they come at you together." Bai Qing replied.

"It is not a belief. It is a fact." Bai Yun stated.

BaI Qing simply stared at Bai Yun for a while. He thought about saying something about his baseless confidence, but he finally decided to let it go. "And in the real world, we have to deal with people. People who are just as talented as you are. And in such cases, we need to have connections to have enough strength to protect yourself. Everyone needs someone sometimes."

Bai Yun wondered whether he should explain that his belief of one day becoming the strongest in the universe was not fueled by noting. But if he tried to explain it, it could probably lead to a fight.

"Everyone in this world is after power. Power to protect their interests. Power to do what they desire. And power to subjugate our enemies. We just have different ideas on what that power means." Bai Qing continued.

The two of them stood there in silence for a few more minutes. Then Bai Qing stood up and began to leave. "Last time I lost because I underestimated you. Don't think that you have any chance of victory if we cross swords again." Bai Qing said.

"I'm looking forward to it." Bai Yun replied with a smile.

Once Bai Qing left to mingle with the rest, Bai Yun was once again left alone. He ate some more food and simply walked around watching the participants. He had no idea who anyone in the party was other than Bai Qing and Bai Tian. Some of the women saw Bia Yun and came to chat with him. But Bai Yun turned them down gently. After a while, they also shunned Bai Yun as if he was beneath them. This attitude of theirs suited Bai Yun just fine.

As he stood there, suddenly there was a commotion at the entrance. Bai Yun turned to the entrance to see a young man walk into the party. With a start, Bia Yun realized that the newcomer was Bai Song.

Bai Yun had run into Bia Song when he had just started to train in cultivation. At that time Bai Yun had defeated Bai Song's younger brother Bai Shun and was severely suppressed by Bai Song in turn. Later on, Bai Yun killed Bai Shun in the beast garden, though no one knew about it.

When Bai Song entered the room there as a small commotion. He was a celebrity in these circles. Even more than Bai Qing. Even though Bai Qing was called as a prince of the Bai clan, it was mostly due to his cultivation as well as management talent. He was not the descendent of someone important, unlike everyone else in the room.

But Bai Song was different. Not only was he the descendent of the ninth elder, he was also quite talented. Unfortunately, his personality and other talents were not quite up to the mark. Thus he was never officially considered as a prince of the clan. But offending him was worse than offending a prince. After all, Bai Qing was reasonable. Bai Song was not.

Bai Song stared at the group for a while. Unlike Bai Qing, who almost always had a smile on his face, Bai Song seemed to have his head on top of the clouds. When Bai Song entered, the host of the party, Bai Tian immediately went up to him to greet him. Seeing the way that Bai Tian was groveling in front of Bai Song, Bai Yun nearly burst into laughter. But he held himself back.

One by one all the others came to Bai Song to come and gave their greetings. They were all very polite, almost as if they were talking to a superior. Bai Yun thought that Bai Song was quite childish for showing up so late in a fashionable way and to get all of them to greet him.

As he looked around the room, Bai Yun finally noticed Bai Qing. He was standing there looking at Bai Song with a frown on his face. After a moment of thought, Bai Yun felt that this was natural. Bai Qing was a very diplomatic person. Bai Song with his holier than thou attitude would definitely rub him the wrong way.

At that moment Bai Song also noticed Bai Qing. He turned to him with a sneer and said. "Not coming over?"

The frown on Bai Qing's face deepened. "How do you do." He gently replied. Even though he hated Bai Song's guts, Bai Qing was not going to lose his decorum here.

Bai Song chuckled when he heard Bai Qing's reply. "Don't think you are all that just because a couple of people called you a prince. That's just a title that means nothing. It has no power."

Bai Qing shook his head. "As long as civilization exists, words will always retain their power." He said with a smile.

Bai Song sneered when he heard Bai Qing's reply. He then turned away and started to chat with others near him.

Bai Yun was hoping that a fight would grow out of their conflict. But it ended just like that. He continued to munch on the food there until he ran out.

Bai Yun returned to the food tables. One by one he started to pile more food on to his plate. Suddenly he sensed some movement behind him. For a moment Bai Yun froze, but then he continued without stopping.

"There you are I've been looking for you for a while."

Bai Yun threw a small dumpling into his mouth and slowly turned to face the person behind him.

Bai Qing stood there glaring at him.