Episode 4: The Banquet of Hidden Daggers

## **Episode 4: The Banquet of Hidden Daggers**

The destruction of the Sun-Gorged Pillar sent shockwaves through the continent. To the commoners, it was an omen; to the other Great Sects, it was a threat. That evening, the Ye Clan hosted the **Grand Moon Banquet**, ostensibly to celebrate the "prodigies," but in reality, it was a trap set by the **Azure Cloud Sect** and the **Blood Moon Pavilion** to probe Ye Chen’s true nature.

The banquet hall was filled with the fragrance of spirit wine and the hidden aura of over a hundred high-level cultivators.

### **The Provocation**

As Ye Chen sat at the table, ignoring the delicacies that contained "rare" spiritual energy he found pitifully weak, a young woman in flowing blue robes approached. This was **Lin Xi**, the Holy Maiden of the Azure Cloud Sect.

"Prince Ye Chen," she said, her voice like wind chimes, yet her eyes were sharp. "Your performance today was... unorthodox. Many believe you used a forbidden 'Void Talisman' to destroy the pillar. After all, a five-year-old with no visible meridians cannot possibly possess such mass."

She poured a cup of wine, but as she handed it to him, she infused it with the **Frost-Core Chill**, a technique that would freeze the internal organs of anyone below the Spirit King realm.

Ye Chen took the cup. The liquid was vibrating with lethal cold, turning the air around it into mist.

"Mass is a matter of perspective," Chen said. He drank the wine in one gulp.

Lin Xi waited for him to shatter into ice. Instead, Ye Chen’s eyes seemed to grow slightly brighter. The "lethal" frost was nothing more than a refreshing breeze to the **Primordial Soul**.

"A bit warm," Chen remarked, setting the cup down. "Do you have anything with more... bite?"

### **The Killing Move**

The hall went cold. Not from a technique, but from sheer intimidation.

An elder from the Blood Moon Pavilion, a man known as **Old Ghost Wei**, stood up. He was at the **Nirvana Realm**, a tier that could level cities. "Enough parlor tricks! Boy, if you have no Qi, you are a freak of nature. And freaks are better off dissected!"

Wei moved with a speed that blurred reality. He didn't use a weapon; he used a **Soul-Gripping Claw**, aiming straight for Ye Chen’s throat. The intention was clear: kill the boy and claim it was an accident caused by his "unstable" power.

Ye Feng, Chen's brother, stood up to intervene, but he was too slow.

Ye Chen didn't move. He didn't even put down his chopsticks.

"The laws of movement state that for an object to reach me, it must first exist in my reality," Chen whispered.

**[Skill Activated: Reality Anchor]**

Old Ghost Wei froze. Not because he was paralyzed, but because the space he occupied had become "fixed." He was like a fly trapped in amber. His hand stopped exactly one inch from Chen’s neck. The momentum of his Nirvana-level speed had nowhere to go—the kinetic energy rebounded back into his own body.

**CRUNCH.**

Every bone in Wei’s arm shattered simultaneously. He was flung backward, crashing through the jade pillars of the hall, coughing up blood that glowed with spent spiritual essence.

### **The Master’s Lesson**

Ye Chen finally stood up. The rusted sword at his hip didn't leave its scabbard, yet the sound of a blade being drawn echoed in everyone’s mind.

"You speak of 'Dissection'?" Chen walked toward the fallen Elder Wei. Every step he took caused the floor tiles to bloom with ancient, glowing runes—the **Script of the First Age**.

"You are like ants trying to understand the sun by staring at it," Chen said, looking down at the terrified Elder. "You think because I have no 'Qi' that I am empty? I have no Qi because this universe is too small to contain it. I have to hold my breath just so your sky doesn't crack."

He looked around the room at the other Sect Leaders. They were all trembling, their "mighty" cultivation bases flickering like candles in a hurricane.

"Go back to your mountains," Chen commanded. "Tell your 'Gods' and your 'Sovereigns' that the Master of the House has returned. The rent for the universe is due."

### **The Cliffhanger: The Forbidden Message**

As the panicked guests fled, a small, black bird made of shadows landed on Ye Chen’s shoulder. It carried a message from the **Borderlands of the Void**.

*“The Seal on the Black Sun is weakening. The others are waking up. They remember the First Light... and they are coming to snuff it out.”*

Ye Chen smiled—a look of genuine, terrifying anticipation.

"Let them come," he murmured. "I've missed the smell of falling stars."

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