Food Fairy Lord

Chapter 745 Looking Down from the Pavilion
There were about thirty people in the Sword Cultivation Academy. Under a rock, there were more than ten small tables, with two or three people sitting around them. The tables were sparsely filled.

Pei Ye led Li Tishui inside, greeted them a couple of times, and the people moved aside to make room for them at a small table. He was now quite prestigious in the Sword Cultivation Academy, and many people peeked out with smiles to greet him.

It was indeed bustling and lively. The pavilions by the pond were layered and varied in height, with countless small tables set up or scattered around, most of which were already occupied by people dressed in different colors and with distinct personalities. Waitstaff moved about, leading the way and serving tea in an orderly manner.

Two swordsmen were already dueling on the pond, advancing and retreating, the white beads kicked up by their blades shimmering in the morning sun.

“If someone is below the fourth grade, they can’t participate,” Pei Ye said.

Chu Shuiting, who was standing next to him, said, "I think the friends of Sansheng are also not very willing to go on stage."

Ning Shuhong said, "I estimate there aren't twenty men in the entire garden who are considered 'San Sheng'."

Although the group was talking to Pei Ye, their eyes were all on the veiled woman beside him. She sat there calmly, exuding an air of elegance, neither speaking nor making eye contact with anyone, and surveying her surroundings. Only the shape of a sword was faintly visible on her knee beneath her spring robe.

“This is a senior friend of mine,” Pei Ye said. “It’s not convenient for him to show his face.”

Li Tishui turned his head and nodded slightly to the group.

The group nodded as if they had just realized something, and then clasped their hands in a gesture of respect.

Among the women on the other side, Jiang Yin'er turned around and kept looking at him. When the young man finished his greetings and looked at her, she smiled at him and then glanced at the woman beside him with some doubt.

Pei Ye smiled at her, and the girl turned her head back.

"Is that Jiang Yin'er?" Li Tishui asked.

"Yes, it's Sister Yin'er."

"She's so clean and cute." Li Tishui looked at the back of the girl's head. "She looks so bright and intelligent; she's a promising swordsman."

Pei Ye glanced at her and said, "How about I call Yin'er over to sit with us?"

Li Tishui was silent for a moment, then shook his head: "No. Don't mention me to her or Ying Suyu either. Let's watch the sword banquet. We won't pry into each other's affairs today. You can ask me anything about their sword fights."

Pei Ye nodded.

The Sword Cultivation Academy was located in a quiet place, and quite centrally, offering a good view. Pei Ye glanced around and, although it was within a garden with various areas, a closer look revealed differences in quality between the inner and outer sections.

Numerous small and medium-sized sects were located in the outer circle, numbering nearly a hundred. Young men and women bustled around their elders, but each sect only sent out a few invitations, usually for three to five people, with many even having only a master and his disciple attending the banquet. Interspersed among them were various martial arts celebrities and scions of prominent figures from the capital.

The inner circle was sparser, and the figures of the Thirty-Three Sword Sects began to appear among them. Pei Ye recognized many of them—the one that resembled Daoism was Qingcheng, the one with blue and white clothes was Huashan, the one with a familiar face was Xiaoyunshan, and the one next to it that was similar was naturally Dayunshan.

Then there were Diancang, Taihang... Pei Ye's eyes suddenly stopped, and he saw Kongtong. Kong Lanting, Guan Qianyan, and Zhang Jingbi were among them, but the one in the lead was a man Pei Ye had never seen before. He had bronze skin, deep-set features, and looked to be about the same age as Zhu Ge'er.

At this moment, as if sensing Pei Ye's gaze, the three of them looked over as well. They were stunned for a moment, and then simultaneously showed expressions of surprise. Guan Qianyan almost jumped up and waved.

Seeing his old friends at this moment made Pei Ye feel quite warm, and he waved to them with a smile. The young man looked over, and then his junior brothers and sisters behind him stepped forward and said a few words to him, and he also nodded and smiled in this direction.

Tianshan, Kunlun, Taoism, and the Sword Cultivation Academy itself are all within this circle, while further inwards, there are only six other places.

There were about a dozen people in each group, and Pei Ye didn't recognize almost any of them. Some were aloof, some were calm, and some were cold... Soon his gaze stopped and settled on a silent man with long hair and a sword on his back—he had never seen this face before, but he remembered this person.

The face of the Xuanhu in the Illusionary Tower represents the power of the Youdu lineage in the North Sea Prefecture.

But Chen Quan didn't sit next to him.

In the very center, there were several small tables huddled together, quite conspicuous, where six young people were seated.

Chen Quan was one of them.

Pei Ye had never seen the other four before, but the last figure seemed strangely familiar to him—a woman with hair in a hairpin and a long dress, with a fair complexion, eyes like autumn water, and two slender eyebrows that drooped slightly, looking both ethereal and delicate.

Her posture was very upright and graceful, but she was like a statue, with her eyes fixed straight ahead, holding the sword and bowing her head, not moving at all.

Pei Ye frowned and stared at her for a while, but before he could think any further, a figure in a white dress appeared in his field of vision, along with a voice as melodious as tinkling jade pendants: "Young Master Pei, we meet again."

Pei Ye looked up and saw Shi Zanxue's beautiful smiling face.

She was dressed especially beautifully today—but of course, there was still no trace of her being dressed up—and placed a pot of sake on Pei Ye's table: "Young Master Pei, I've been so busy today. I was supposed to greet you at the gate, but I didn't expect you weren't in the Sword Cultivation Academy's group, so I missed you—here, good wine. There are only ten pots in the garden today, so please forgive me."

This was no exaggeration. When the swordsmen entered early in the morning, they saw this woman waiting at the door, asking about the whereabouts of the young swordsman Pei Ye. Jiang Yin'er replied that Pei Ye would come later, and then she left.

Pei Ye chuckled in surprise: "What's the point of apologizing for this—Miss Shi, do you have a strange urge to apologize to people?"

Shi Zanxue opened her eyes wide and laughed angrily: "Young Master Pei, can't you say something nice? Who has this strange addiction? If you don't want to drink it, just give it back to me."

Pei Ye quickly pressed down: "There's no reason to go back on your word."

The woman stopped feigning anger, glanced at Li Tishui beside her, but did not ask Pei Ye. She simply bowed respectfully, and Li Tishui nodded back to her.

Then Shi Zanxue squatted down temporarily by the table, getting closer: "Young Master Pei, a seat has been reserved for you over there, will you sit here?"

She gestured to the positions of the young people in the very center.

"...I'll just sit here, I don't know anyone here."

Shi Zanxue nodded and explained, "This sword banquet is mainly for gathering, not for competition. The process is also very simple. Because of the large number of people, there are no rules. We just follow the order from small sects to large sects. Whoever wants to go up and spar can go up. The winner can stay if they want. We will fight round after round, so that the swordsmen can all show their faces and everyone can enjoy the show."

"Hmm, I see. So what's our order?"

Shi Zanxue thought for a moment: "The Sword Cultivation Academy should have eighty-nine members, and now it has reached seventeen. However, this is not very accurate. When it reaches thirty-three sword sects, there will be only a few left on the field. Each sword sect will be familiar with each other, and everyone will spar with each other, so there probably won't be any particular order anymore."

She pointed to the invitations on Pei Ye's table: "There is a rule that limits the number of times each person can participate. The invitations are marked with gold lines; one line means one participation, two lines mean two participations... Young Master Pei, these aren't gold lines..."

"...They won't let me play?"

Shi Zanxue smiled: "These two words together mean 'all are permitted.' Young Master Pei can step in whenever he wants, and I think everyone will be happy to see that." "...Miss Shi, I'm not used to you being so polite and gentle to me now," Pei Ye said. "It's as if I've become something special."

“Young Master Pei is truly remarkable now,” Shi Zanxue smiled. “And wasn’t I kind to Young Master Pei before?”

Pei Ye thought for a moment and said, "That's true. Miss Shi, you used to treat me the same way. Maybe I was just being presumptuous."

Shi Zanxue smiled, then leaned closer and whispered, "Perhaps I will treat Young Hero Pei even more specially in the future."

These words were almost ambiguous. Pei Ye glared at her, but the woman had already gotten up from the table and left under Li Tishui's interested gaze.

“They also have a honey trap,” Li Tishui muttered to himself, then thought for a moment, “Luckily, we have one too.”

Pei Ye's wide eyes then turned to her again.

……

The garden is not very big, but it is not small either. Since it is located on the outer edge, you need to be on higher ground to see the whole view.

After all, it was the Tianshan Sword Banquet, so the Jianghu Sword Sect naturally had the main stage. The disciples from Shenjing who were attending the banquet were placed slightly behind. They could only try to approach their favorite swordsmen after the banquet ended and everyone was strolling and chatting in the garden.

Fortunately, Chairman Cui holds a high position and has a two-story pavilion to occupy. Its corridor connects to the annex building and extends into the garden, making it a perfect spot for viewing the scenery.

With the new Vice President Li's extensive connections, the number of members of the fan club who entered the park reached an astonishing twenty-three. Everyone gathered together early in the morning, and then Vice President Li personally waited at the door, led them here, chatted for a while, and then left.

Then they watched as disciples from various sword sects entered the garden one after another, constantly searching for the figure of Young Hero Pei Ye.

To be honest, although everyone knew what he looked like, no one had ever actually seen this young hero in person. While seeing so many new disciples of the Sword Sect and one after another of the long-known figures was interesting enough, everyone was still most eagerly anticipating the appearance of Young Hero Pei Ye.

After some people figured out where to sit, they debated where Pei Ye, the young hero, would sit when he arrived. It was mainly a debate between the fervent supporters and the rational analysts.

Now, more than twenty girls are standing side by side on the railing, looking in the same direction.

A scholar and a young master were squeezed into a corner. Normally, one would angrily criticize the other for being extravagant and the other would despise the other for being pedantic. But now, the two leaned against each other in silence.

The chatter of girls must be a very strong paint in the world of sound, capable of overshadowing most light and pale colors. Fortunately, it is quite bright and easier to tolerate than others.

Just now, as the sun rose higher, that figure finally appeared in sight unexpectedly.

Everyone was incredibly excited at first sight, as this was the first time they had seen the true face of Young Hero Pei Ye. Although they were some distance away, he was exactly the same as the one in the painting. He was dressed simply, with a clear and handsome face, a pair of bright, light brown eyes, a sword in his hand, and a beautiful little black cat on his shoulder.

He walked step by step toward his seat, and everyone was very excited.

A young swordsman named Pei Ye who can move.

But soon someone asked, "Who is the person next to Young Hero Pei Ye?"

So everyone fell silent. People on the left looked to the right, and people on the right looked to the left, all staring at Chairman Cui in the middle.

At this moment, the seemingly omniscient Chairman Cui frowned and rested his chin on his hand: "A friend, perhaps... Young Master Pei Ye is skilled with his sword and has many friends who admire him."

So everyone nodded in agreement.

Then, seeing Young Master Pei Ye walk in, the sword students all smiled and offered him a seat, which made everyone even happier. They couldn't help but discuss Young Master Pei Ye's status in the Sword Academy and in the martial arts world. The living Young Master Pei Ye was indeed a very novel thing for the enthusiasts. Everyone was observing and discussing carefully, not only observing Young Master Pei Ye, but also trying to identify Young Master Pei Ye's friends.

Then everyone saw who Pei Ye was best friends with. After he sat down and exchanged a few pleasantries, he quickly met the gaze of a girl in the front row who was eagerly waiting. The two smiled at each other very kindly, and there seemed to be some eye contact between them.

The girl was so beautiful that everyone looked from left to right and from right to left, and couldn't help but ask again, "Who is that?"

"Does Young Hero Pei Ye have a lover?"

"They seem very close."

Cui Zhaoye calmly said, "Don't make wild guesses. That's Jiang Yin'er, the 'Little White Dragon,' my good friend. She and Young Hero Pei Ye are old friends, like siblings."

"Oh." Everyone was embarrassed by the misunderstanding.

But soon, Pei Ye, the young hero, greeted the other side with a smile.

Everyone turned their attention to the opposite side of the pond and saw a girl who almost jumped up.

"...And who is that?" Everyone looked at the president again.

"..." Cui Zhaoye frowned, "Who...is it from Kongtong?"

Even Chairman Cui couldn't answer, so everyone fell silent, quietly watching Young Master Pei in the distance.

Then, very quickly, a pale white dress stopped next to the boy.

She was beautiful and ethereal, with jade pendants on her ears. She handed a pot of wine to the young hero Pei Ye, then squatted down. The two chatted and laughed intimately for a while, and one could vaguely see the woman's reproachful expression.

"President Cui, who is that?"

Cui Zhaoye remained silent for a moment, his brows furrowed: "Tianshan... a beautiful maiden from Tianshan... not Shuangcheng, not Gongzi, not Feiqiong..."

After a moment of silence in the attic, the young lady from the official family, who was dressed quite nicely today, suddenly whispered, "President Cui, you said, you said that before the Vermilion Bird Sword gambling that day... did Young Hero Pei Ye really not go drinking and womanizing?"

Everyone was silent.

Qu Xin, who was lying on the edge of the garden, said in a flat voice, "If you're really bored, Young Master Pei can drink wine and women if he wants, stay in brothels if he wants, and sleep with whichever girl he wants. He'll still be the best swordsman in the capital."

Her expression was calm, and her tone was resolute; she was truly a loyal member of the enthusiasts' group, known for her unwavering loyalty in the face of adversity.

Cui Zhaoye almost blurted out "Yes!" in agreement.

(End of this chapter)