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**
The Elder standing beside him was someone Lin Feng recognized — one of the Three Leaders of the Pill Tower, Xuan Kongzi.
At this moment, however, the two of them were chatting happily. From time to time, light laughter drifted out between them. From this scene alone, it was impossible to tell they had been at odds before.
"Clan Leader, Lin Feng and Young Master Dan Xuan have arrived."
After entering the main hall, Cao Dong bowed with a squint-eyed smile toward the middle-aged man seated at the head, speaking respectfully. After saying that, he slowly retreated.
His job was simply to receive important guests outside and bring them in. Now that he had brought Lin Feng and Dan Xuan into the main hall, it was naturally time for him to return outside — he couldn't neglect his primary duty.
When the names were announced, the two men at the front immediately stopped their conversation and looked over.
"Junior Lin Feng greets the Cao Clan's Clan Leader."
Seeing the middle-aged man's gaze, Lin Feng cupped his fists. Cao Dong's behavior already made it obvious.
The middle-aged man seated on the main seat was the star of today's gathering — the Clan Leader of the Cao Clan. As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Feng turned to Xuan Kongzi, cupped his fists slightly, and gave a polite, expressionless greeting.
Although he very much wanted to kill this old man — the one who had helped Xiao Yan try to take his life — Xuan Kongzi was still, after all, a representative of the Pill Tower.
If Lin Feng were openly disrespectful, it would give the Pill Tower a perfect excuse to make things difficult for him. After all, in any major faction, no leader likes seeing their senior members disrespected.
Xuan Kongzi naturally understood all this. So, after Lin Feng's greeting, he simply nodded lightly in response. At the same time, his wariness toward Lin Feng grew even more. If Lin Feng had been rude or shouted at him, he might've actually enjoyed it.
Because then he could've used his position as Pill Tower Leader to reprimand Lin Feng — making him lose face inside and out.
After returning to the Pill Tower, he could easily use the incident as leverage to ruin Lin Feng's reputation among the upper ranks. But now? Lin Feng hadn't stepped out of line at all. Instead, he managed to hide all his emotions and politely greet him.
A genius with talent and schemes… such an enemy must not be allowed to exist.
"Lin Feng… isn't he that Pill Gathering champion?"
"Should be. No way it's a coincidence — same name, similar age, and his cultivation is also at One-Star Dou Zun."
"Makes sense. I heard he can refine eight-colored eighth-tier pills — the kind that even Ban Sheng experts desperately want. When the banquet starts, we should go greet him."
Around them, the guests lowered their heads and whispered after hearing Lin Feng introduce himself.
After all, eight-colored eighth-tier pills — even across the whole Central Plains excluding some reclusive old monsters, there were probably fewer than a hundred alchemists who could refine them.
Lin Feng, someone who could refine pills valuable even to Ban Sheng experts, was not yet thirty. In a few hundred years, he might very well become a legendary Treasure Pill Grandmaster.
Who wouldn't want to befriend a talent like that?
But Lin Feng had no time to guess what others were thinking.
After speaking, he brushed his fingers across his storage ring and took out a transparent jade bottle. Inside the bottle, two faint yellow dust-like motes floated quietly, each carrying a gentle yet vivid spiritual aura.
"Clan Leader Cao, this junior came in a hurry today, so I wasn't able to prepare anything proper. This is just a small token of goodwill."
As he spoke, he held the jade bottle with both hands and walked toward the Cao Clan's Clan Leader.
"That is... Spirit Nourishment Powder?!"
Suddenly, some of the people seated on the chairs along both sides of the path cried out in shock the moment they saw the two faint yellow specks of light.
Although Spirit Nourishment Powder had already been lost since ancient times, it would occasionally be found in some ancient ruins.
Since it was something worthy enough for the Cao Clan's Clan Leader to keep inside the main hall, it was definitely not something ordinary. So after a brief moment of surprise, many people quickly recognized that unfamiliar-looking item.
As for the Cao Clan's Clan Leader, the moment he saw the Spirit Nourishment Powder, he also froze for a moment.
Even though this thing could no longer increase his soul strength in any meaningful way, if he incorporated it while refining pills, it could increase the spirituality of the pill.
For an eighth-tier pill that relied heavily on spirituality, this was an enormous advantage!
Of course, the reason he managed to stand out among his peers and become the head of the Cao Clan was because he was not simple. In less than the blink of an eye, he recovered from his brief daze.
He then reached out, took the jade bottle from Lin Feng's hand, and said with a warm smile, "Since it's my birthday, I've troubled you, a junior, to bring such a gift."
After speaking, he pointed to an empty seat closest to him and continued, "Don't just stand there. Sit."
"These things are nothing."
Hearing that, Lin Feng cupped his fist slightly and then withdrew, taking a seat off to the side. After the Clan Leader took his seat, Dan Xuan also stepped forward and presented the birthday gift he had prepared.
The Cao Clan's Clan Leader naturally accepted it with a bright smile, then asked Dan Xuan and the elder behind him to take their seats elsewhere.
During the period that followed, a few more people entered to offer birthday congratulations and presented their gifts. Of course, the reason there were so few was not because the large number of guests outside hadn't prepared gifts.
It was because their gifts were handed over to the Cao Clan members stationed outside specifically to accept offerings. Due to their status, they were not qualified to personally enter the main hall and converse directly with the Cao Clan's Clan Leader.
Naturally, after receiving their gifts, those Cao Clan attendants would record the names and items on a special scroll. Later on, the Cao Clan would send out return gifts accordingly. Generally speaking, they would never let their guests suffer a loss.
After quietly waiting for some time, Cao Dong suddenly entered from outside. He immediately saluted the Cao Clan's Clan Leader seated at the main seat and said, "Clan Leader, the banquet is ready."
"In that case, everyone, the banquet is now fully prepared. Please follow me."
Hearing this, the Cao Clan's Clan Leader stood up, cupped his hands slightly toward the crowd, and said.
After that, he turned toward Xuan Kongzi, the elder who was of an even older generation than him, and said, "Elder Xuan, please."
**
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