Chapter 2020 - Banquet
All generations of Ancient Dao emperors would prepare a banquet the night before the grand ceremony. The banquet would begin at sunset and end at sunrise. The people that participated in the banquet would also participate in the grand ceremony.
At the evening banquet, the Ancient Dao Emperor would come out with the Empress. This would be the first public appearance of the Empress.
After accepting the blessing of everyone, the Empress would leave, but the Emperor would stay with everyone throughout the night until the grand ceremony.
The banquet was going to be held at the giant square outside the palace. The sun was about to set and there were countless servants setting a large amount of tables in the square. There were thousands of tables.
These tables formed a fan shape and seemed to be worshiping the palace.
Hundreds of small platforms were floating in the sky above the palace. There were hundreds of tables on each of the platform, and they were used to welcome the people that were coming.
When the time arrived, drum beats began to echo from the palace. The drums began to echo and roar across the palace. A giant drum thousands of feet wide appeared at the center of the palace. It was made of the skin of an unknown type of beast. The skin gave off an ancient and fierce aura.
There were nine people in black floating above the drum, and each of them had cultivation comparable to an Empyrean Exalt. Each beat of the dream was created by the combined force of all nine of them. Their power condensed into an illusionary palm that hit the drum.
The drum beat echoed and didn’t dissipate, but spread out like ripples. It enveloped the entire sky, shrouding the nearly 1,000 flying platforms.
This allowed all the Ancient clan members here to hear it.
Thunderous rumbles were set off every once in a while, creating countless echoes. Whenever the sound started fading, another would be set off, causing the world to be immersed in the sound of the drum.
When the third drum beat echoed, people came from the palace. There was a large amount of them, and at a glance, it was not possible to count them all. They were all powerful - although not comparable to Empyrean Exalts, they were all comparable to third step cultivators.
These people each chose a table and sat down to talk to each other. The entire square began to buzz and became very lively.
When the fifth drum beat echoed, rays of light flew through the sky. There were people of the Ancient Dao and also people from the other two clans among them. Some chose to sit down in the square and others sat down among the hundreds of floating platforms.
More and more people came, and when the seventh drum beat echoed, thousands of rays of light flew across the sky. These rays of light seemed to fragment the sky, and all of them sat down.
After the thousands of rays of light all sat down, 108 bright lights came from the horizon. They instantly arrived and revealed to be 108 Ancient Dao members in white armor!
These 108 people all bowed toward the palace and then landed in the square. They picked tables close to the palace and sat down.
“The Ancient Dao’s 108 Jin!”
“The Ancient Dao is divided into Jin, Saint, Fiend, King, and Immortal Generals! The 108 Jin have appeared, so the others should come shortly after!
“These 108 Jin have monstrous slaughter auras. That is why they are called ‘Jin!’”
The soft discussions that were covered up by the roar of the drum could not hide the gazes gathered on them. These gazes contained envy, gloominess, and evaluation.
Just after the 108 people appeared, 72 tornados appeared in the distance. Each tornado had a person inside, and they were rushing toward the square.
A powerful pressure suddenly descended and shrouded the area when the 72 tornados arrived. Inside them there were men and women, young and old, but each of them had the aura of a God, Demon,or Devil Lord without exception. Then, when looking at their eyes and foreheads, one could see a total of 27 stars!!
“72 Saints! The 72 Saints that have achieved great merits for the Ancient Dao!”
“I have long heard that the 72 Saints only have 72 people, no more and no less. The 72 Saints have guarded the Ancient Dao for countless years.
Sounds of discussion echoed as another thunderous rumble echoed. It was the eighth drum beat!
As this drum beat echoed, the earth trembled as if there were dragons moving beneath. At the same time, 36 rays of blood light descended from the sky, causing the sky to be dyed red; even the sunset was covered by this blood light.
“36 Zhangs!”
“The Ancient Dao clan’s famous 36 Zhangs. They are the Ancient Dao royal family’s guards. 36 powerful guards created by the resources of the entire Ancient Dao royal family for each generation of emperor!!”
“I heard that they are like death soldiers. The moment the Ancient Dao Emperor gives the command, they will self-destruct!”
“How can they be called the 36 Zhangs? They are clearly 36 fiends!”
36 burly men walked out of the red lights. They were covered in red mist and it was impossible to see their appearance. They bowed at the main palace and then sat before the 72 Saints.
The drum beat’s echo continued. After the 36 people sat down, a thunderous rumble that suppressed the drum and the sounds of the nearly 100,000 people present rang out. This attracted the attention of everyone, and they saw 18 rifts torn by people in the sky. Then 18 pairs of black and red claws appeared from thin air!
Thunderous roars echoed across the sky. When everyone’s gazes had gathered in the sky, 18 black and red dragons came out of the 18 rifts!
These 18 dragons gave off shocking demon auras. They were dragons! Dragons with ancient demon auras!
The 18 pairs of silver eyes gave off endless demonic energy, making these 18 dragons extremely fierce. After they appeared, they began to fly in circles in the sky, forming a huge vortex.
“The Ancient Dao’s 18 Kings!!”
“That’s right, they are the demonic dragon mounts of the Ancient Dao’s 18 Kings. Since these dragons appeared, that means the 18 Kings have arrived!”
“They are also of the royal family below the Emperor, the 18 Kings of the Ancient Dao. I heard that they are all very powerful and that 12 of them are usually not allowed to enter the capital because they have to guard the 12 countries!”
A huge uproar was set off when the 18 dragons appeared in the sky. In the distant sky, still far away from the palace, Wang Lin looked over.
When the 18 demonic dragons appeared, they changed the worldly energy in the area. The storm they had created by forming the vortex could block divine sense.
“Ancient Dao’s 18 Kings… I wonder if Ye Mo was one of the 18 Kings back then… Maybe I’ll know at the feast.” Wang Lin rubbed his chin. H had just come to the Ancient Dao and had been in closed door cultivation this whole time, so he hadn’t had time to search for Ye Mo’s descendants.
However, this matter was still in his mind.
After pondering, while the eighth drum beast still echoed, he walked toward the palace in the distance. However, the sense of unease became stronger the closer he got to the palace.
This unease was not danger, but an indescribable feeling. With Wang Lin’s cultivation level, he could sense matters of great importance to him ahead of time.
However, no matter how much he thought, he could not figure what could happen at the royal banquet.
As Wang Lin frowned and walked forward, the 18 demonic dragons descended to the square below. If one looked carefully, they would see a person standing on the head of each dragon!
A total of 18 people that all looked different but possessed a hint of similarity. They all looked quite imposing as they walked down from the dragons. They sat down sat at the seats closest to the main palace.
When they sat down, the 18 demonic dragons let out roars and then returned into the rifts in the sky. The rifts disappeared and everything returned to normal.
And at this moment, the ninth drum beat echoed and fused with the echo of the eight beats from before. A monstrous roar echoed. This sound was loud enough to shake cultivators to death, and even the Ancient clan members would find it difficult to deal with. However, strangely, no one here was affected by this sound.
Wang Lin stepped forward and arrived above the palace at the ninth drum beat. He suddenly looked up and his pupils shrank slightly.
He saw nine rays of black light descend from the sky. The black lights were like huge pillars that supported the sky so it wouldn’t collapse. Ripples echoed as the nine rays of black light descended, revealing nine giant men in black armor!
These nine people gave off intense killing intent, and one could even see countless ghosts around them. They didn’t bow at the palace but looked at each other and then walked to the nine tables before the 18 Kings.
Before them there were still four more tables!
“Immortal Generals!”
“They should be the Ancient Dao’s nine Immortal Generals!”
“The nine of them are comparable to Ascendant Empyreans who have broken through the 13th palace! One of them has even reached the level of being able to break through the 14th palace!” Wang Lin withdrew his gaze and walked forward as the ninth drum beat echoed.
His appearance immediately attracted the gazes of many people here!!