However, the first seat on the left remained empty.
It was reserved for Yun Heng.
Further down sat the heads, sect masters, and elders of several great families and sects within Shuolin City.
The tables on both sides of the hall stretched all the way to the back.
A very wide corridor was left in the center, leading from the hall's entrance straight to the main seat at the very front.
Usually, when the City Lord's Estate hosted banquets, dances and performances would be held in this corridor.
By now, all the invited guests had taken their seats.
Whispered conversations rippled through the hall from time to time.
Everyone present knew that the City Lord was hosting today's banquet to thank the Eastern Region's Third Prince, Xiao Cen, and the young lord of that secluded clan for resolving the beast tide.
Xiao Cen had already arrived.
Yet, the space behind the first table on the left remained completely vacant.
As the scheduled start of the banquet drew closer, the City Lord's brow gradually furrowed.
He cast a glance outside the hall doors.
Still, there was no sign of Yun Heng.
A servant walked in quickly from outside, approached the City Lord, and leaned in to whisper in his ear.
“City Lord.”
“Young Lord Yun is not in her guest room.”
The City Lord's face darkened slightly.
“Where is she?”
The servant replied in a low voice:
“The servant guarding the courtyard gate said that Young Lord Yun went out half an hour ago.”
“Before leaving, Young Lord Yun specifically instructed that the banquet should start on time and there was no need to wait for her.”
“She said she would naturally come over later.”
Hearing this, the City Lord's expression grew even more unsightly, and a wave of anger welled up in his chest.
He suppressed his irritation and waved his hand to dismiss the servant.
Adjusting his expression once more, the City Lord looked down at the crowd.
He raised his hand, preparing to announce the start of the feast.
“Let the—”
Before the next word could leave his mouth, the announcing servant outside the hall suddenly cried out at the top of his lungs:
“Young Lord Yun has arrived!”
The words the City Lord was about to speak choked in his throat.
He nearly choked on his own breath.
The chatter in the hall died down instantly.
Everyone present turned their heads in unison to look toward the entrance of Pingshuo Hall.
Clad in a dark ink-colored dress, Yun Heng slowly walked in from outside.
Faint gold patterns flowed subtly across the fabric, and the layered hem of her dress swayed gently with her steps, her waist bound by a gold-patterned belt inlaid with dark jade.
It was gorgeous and ostentatious.
With a natural expression and her back straight, Yun Heng strutted into Pingshuo Hall in a grand, swaggering manner.
Behind her followed eleven people.
Yun Zhao wore a deep black robe, her expression serene, with no extra ornaments in her hair.
Xuan Yi to Xuan Shi followed in neat order behind her.
After more than a day of treatment and rest, their injuries had mostly healed.
The pressure belonging to a late-stage Body Integration Realm cultivator on Yun Zhao was not intentionally released, yet it still exerted an incredibly powerful sense of oppression on everyone present.
The cultivation bases of the ten Shadow Guards were not concealed in the slightest either.
A few of them were at the late stage of the Soul Transformation Realm, while the rest had reached the peak of the Soul Transformation Realm.
The twelve of them walked forward along the central corridor of the hall, drawing the gaze of everyone present.
In the newly quieted Pingshuo Hall, a wave of hushed whispers quickly broke out.
“Is this Young Lord Yun?”
“It must be her.”
“She looks remarkably young.”
“I heard she is only twenty-five years old, yet she is already at the late stage of the Soul Transformation Realm.”
Looking at the luxurious robes on Yun Heng and the large group of powerhouses behind her, someone couldn't help but sigh:
“This Young Lord Yun is truly ostentatious.”
“So this is her personality.”
“Well, with such cultivation and family background, being a bit ostentatious is only natural.”
After sensing the aura on Yun Zhao, the face of a family elder suddenly changed color.
“That black-robed female cultivator behind Young Lord Yun... just what realm is she?”
“This pressure...”
“It's simply unfathomable.”
The sect elder sitting beside him was equally grave.
“At least the Body Integration Realm.”
Several people around them gasped in unison.
On the surface of the entire Taiyan Continent, there were only a handful of Body Integration Realm cultivators.
Behind almost every Body Integration Realm cultivator stood a top-tier power.
Yet, they had never seen or even heard of this black-robed female cultivator before.
Where on earth did she spring from?
Even more shocking was that such an unfathomably powerful Body Integration Realm expert was actually following quietly behind Yun Heng.
“Just what is the origin of the family behind her?”
Everyone present had their own thoughts.
Yun Heng acted as if she didn't hear the surrounding chatter.
Leading her group, she walked straight to the very front of the hall.
Yun Heng first cupped her hands to the City Lord sitting at the head of the hall.
“City Lord.”
Then, maintaining her cupped-hands posture, she turned around and gave a simple, sweeping bow to the crowd in the hall.
“Everyone.”
This served as her greeting to everyone present.
Having done this, Yun Heng walked over to the first seat on the left and sat down.
Yun Zhao and the ten Shadow Guards stood in neat alignment behind her.
Xiao Cen sat directly opposite Yun Heng, taking in the entire scene clearly.
She could more or less guess Yun Heng's objective today.
Yesterday, when Yun Heng met the City Lord for the first time, Yun Zhao and the Shadow Guards were not by her side.
The City Lord only knew she was the young lord of a secluded clan, but did not know exactly how powerful the backing behind her was.
Today, the people from the City Lord's Estate had gone to the depths of the Northern Wilderness and discovered that the cold vein had vanished.
Yun Heng had obviously guessed that the City Lord might harbor some thoughts he shouldn't have because of this.
Therefore, she had deliberately arrived late today.
Furthermore, she had Yun Zhao and the ten Shadow Guards follow behind her without concealing their cultivation bases in the slightest as they walked into Pingshuo Hall together.
How was this attending a banquet of gratitude?
This was clearly a show of force to intimidate the City Lord's Estate.
Xiao Cen looked at Yun Heng opposite her with a half-smile, her eyes full of amusement.
This Young Lord Yun was indeed very interesting.
The City Lord, on the other hand, was completely dumbfounded by Yun Heng's series of actions.
He looked at Yun Heng, then at the eleven people standing behind her.
Wasn't this just a gratitude banquet?
Was there really a need to bring so many powerhouses along?
He admitted that when he first learned that Yun Heng might have taken the cold vein, he had indeed harbored some designs.
In his eyes, things that appeared in the depths of the Northern Wilderness naturally had some connection to Shuolin City.
However, once he later heard about what Yun Heng had done in the Eastern Region five years ago, those designs completely vanished.
Although the City Lord coveted the top-grade cold vein, he was not reckless enough to offend a secluded clan of unknown depth for such things.
He coughed twice, suppressing the slight lingering displeasure in his heart.
Since everyone had arrived, the banquet should officially begin.
He looked down at the crowd.
“Today's banquet is hosted to express our gratitude to Young Lord Yun and the Eastern Region's Third Prince.”
“Yesterday, a sudden beast tide erupted from the depths of the Northern Wilderness.”
“Had it not been for the assistance of these two, Shuolin City would have inevitably been impacted by the beast tide and suffered heavy losses.”
With that, the City Lord picked up the wine cup on his table and stood up from the main seat.
“For this first cup of wine, let us thank Young Lord Yun and the Third Prince for protecting Shuolin City.”
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