"Alright everyone, please take your seats first!"
"Yuling, have the kitchen staff serve the food! I estimate everyone is hungry!"
Seeing the guests in the hall looking bewildered, Old Master Long was quite pleased.
The reason he announced names now but didn't let everyone know Lin Chen's true identity was twofold. Firstly, for secrecy. More importantly, it was to declare his claim to those old fellows.
Ordinary aristocratic families might not know Lin Chen's true identity. However, it was impossible to hide it from the patriarchs or leaders of the Ten Great Families. By openly hosting this banquet, he was making it known to those people that Lin Chen was now the Long family's son-in-law! He absolutely could not let anyone else have designs on him!
"Yes, Grandpa."
Hearing Old Master Long's words, Long Yuling blushed and nodded. Although her grandfather hadn't arranged a formal ceremony between her and Lin Chen today, it was equivalent to announcing her relationship with Lin Chen to the entire capital. Long Yuling was very satisfied with this.
"Hmph! Long Xiaotian, you old fox!"
Only Xiao Jianguo, standing beside them, clenched his fists, his expression filled with anger. But Old Master Long's strength was superior to his own, so he couldn't do anything even if he was angry!
"Alas, how could I, Xiao Jianguo, not find such a grandson-in-law?"
At this, Xiao Jianguo sighed deeply, his expression full of helplessness. If that Qingxin Pill had come into his possession, with his years of cultivation foundation, he could have instantly become a cultivator of the second-grade Nascent Soul realm!
"Forget it, forget it. Although I don't have a grandson-in-law, I must find a way to get some Qingxin Pills from that brat!"
Xiao Jianguo narrowed his eyes and looked at Lin Chen, who stood beside him with a helpless expression. For cultivators of their realm, the importance of the Qingxin Pill was self-evident. Nowadays, with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth being scarce, many cultivators used large amounts of pills to supplement their spiritual energy when breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm. However, pills often contained impurities. These impurities would remain in the body when cultivation was achieved. If they couldn't be cleared, these impurities would affect the cultivator's cultivation for life. And the only thing that could remove these impurities was the Qingxin Pill! It was precisely because of the Qingxin Pill's importance that even the Ghost Spirit Sect personally came looking for Lin Chen. In the end, it was all for the Qingxin Pill! If it weren't for Yang Tianfeng protecting Lin Chen, the Ghost Spirit Sect would have likely sent a large number of experts to snatch Lin Chen away long ago.
The entire banquet, with Old Master Long actively setting the mood, was still very lively. Lunchtime, one could say, was a time of joy for all guests. And at this moment, the most surprised was Yang Mei. Others didn't know who Lin Chen was, but she had just found out! Wasn't this Lin Yuelong's nephew? And he was Old Master Long's chosen son-in-law!
"Esteemed seniors!"
However, just as Yang Mei was sighing, Yang Jian suddenly stood up.
"Oh? It's Patriarch Yang?"
"Tsk tsk tsk, Yang Jian and Lin Yuelong agreed outside earlier to have a duel on the arena after lunch. Now he's probably inviting us to watch."
Some people who knew what had happened narrowed their eyes and looked at Yang Jian with amusement. However, when they looked around the hall for Lin Yuelong's figure, they suddenly found that Lin Yuelong, who had always been lively, had disappeared without a trace and was nowhere to be found in the hall!
"What the heck, this Lin Yuelong isn't afraid of Yang Jian and ran off early, is he?"
"That's likely it. Yang Jian is now a quasi-Nascent Soul realm expert. With Lin Yuelong's strength, how could he dare to fight him to the death?"
With no sign of Lin Yuelong in the hall, a group of people started discussing. Almost everyone thought Lin Yuelong had fled in fear of Yang Jian and left the Long family early. But it made sense. Even if Lin Yuelong was strong, he was only at the late stage of Core Formation. However, with Gan Yuanwei's help, Yang Jian had directly become a quasi-Nascent Soul realm expert! And it would be incredibly easy for a quasi-Nascent Soul realm expert to defeat a late Core Formation cultivator like Lin Yuelong.
"Patriarch Long, this junior Yang Jian, first offers congratulations to Patriarch Long on acquiring his chosen son-in-law!"
After standing up, Yang Jian first cupped his fists to Old Master Long at the head seat, his expression full of respect.
"Furthermore, this junior has another happy occasion I wish to ask Senior to witness!"
"Patriarch Yang, please speak."
Hearing that Yang Jian had a happy occasion to ask him to witness, Old Master Long became curious. Today was Long Yixian's birthday, and also Lin Chen and Long Yulin's engagement banquet, a double celebration. Under such circumstances, no matter what the other party said, Old Master Long would surely not be angry. And Yang Jian had just said it was a happy occasion, which made Old Master Long even happier.
"Old Master, upon my return to the capital, I am reorganizing the Yang family, and on another note, I am proposing to my ex-wife Yang Mei. However, at the entrance of the Long family just now, Lin Yuelong insisted on a duel with me, with the stake being who would be by Yang Mei's side afterwards. Therefore, I wish to borrow the Long family's arena to settle the score with Lin Yuelong and bring an end to my romantic affairs!"
At this moment, Yang Jian did not reveal the news of Lin Yuelong's escape. After all, that Lin Yuelong had a Nascent Soul realm expert by his side just now. Although it was a one-on-one duel between him and Lin Yuelong now, no one could guarantee that such an expert wouldn't intervene and interfere with the duel. In such a situation, having Old Master Long witness it would undoubtedly ensure the fairness of the entire match. Now that Lin Yuelong had fled, it meant he had automatically forfeited. Even if Lin Yuelong wanted to use his influence to go back on his word in the future, there would be Old Master Long and all the guests present as witnesses!
"So that's how it is. You two may ascend the stage!"
Hearing Yang Jian's words, Old Master Long's interest was immediately piqued. After all, this Lin Yuelong was Lin Chen's own uncle! And now he was about to fight another man on the arena for the sake of the woman he loved. Regardless of anything else, he had to give him this face!
"Thank you, Old Master!"
"May I ask, can we invite Old Master to be the referee for this match?"
Then, Yang Jian asked Old Master Long again.