42 Duel part 1

Li Jing knew that Teng Fen will observe all of his movements and expressions. The best way to deal with this was to act as natural as possible.

"Since your clan is the best alchemy clan of the kingdom, do you also specialize in making pills?" Asked Teng Fen.

"I know the basics but I never tried to make a pill. What about you?" Answered Li Jing.

Teng Fen was very good at reading people and saw that Li Jing didn't lie. Since the few people who knew the recipe of the Qi Condensing Pill were all genius Immortal Alchemists did that mean that Li Jing should be removed from the suspect list? No, it wasn't enough to be sure.

"Alchemy is just a hobby for me." He said, smirking.

Hearing this, Li Jing mentally rolled his eyes. In the web novel, Teng Fen always said to others that alchemy was just a hobby for him although he could easily create rank-10 pills.

"By the way, I apologize for not stopping Hong Mei the last time. I hope she didn't do anything stupid." Said Li Jing, to change the topic of their conversation.

Both of them glanced at Hong Mei who was sitting not far from them on their right. She looked angry when she noticed them.

"This little girl is too arrogant for her own good." Said Teng Fen.

"I totally agree." Said Li Jing, smiling.

"Aren't you friend with her?" Asked Teng Fen.

"Not at all. I just met her once, a few minutes before we bumped into you."

"I see."

"The members of the Zhao clan have arrived!" Suddenly exclaimed a servant.

Li Jing saw three people walking towards the king. An old man, who was the patriarch of the Zhao clan, Zhao Chang Zou. A middle-aged man, who was the leader of the clan, Zhao Jian. And a young boy, who was the heir of the Zhao clan, Zhao Yimou.

Zhao Yimou had mid-long black hair and small black eyes. The smile on his face gave him a sympathetic and honest look. He was wearing a white robe with black patterns embroidered on it that gave him a noble aura.

Seeing him, Li Jing almost winced. He used to call Zhao Yimou the 'creepy two-faced guy' when he read the web novel because he always smiled and was nice to everyone but actually he was very scheming and twisted!

The Zhao clan was the strongest Great Clan in the kingdom so all eyes were on them when the three men greeted the king. After that, Zhao Yimou sat next to Hong Mei.

"Everyone, thank you for coming. The banquet can now start!" The king exclaimed, holding a glass of wine in his hand.

Once the king finished drinking it, everyone took the glass of wine in front of them and drank it while offering their congratulations. Then, music started and the servants brought various food.

In this world, there was no minimum legal age to drink alcohol and since cultivators had a strong constitution, even kids could drink without becoming drunk.

It was the first time in two lives that Li Jing was drinking wine and he thought that it didn't taste that bad. This wine was sweet and its aroma was fruity.

"Such a low-quality wine…" Said Teng Fen looking at Li Jing.

"Oh? I really like it." Said Li Jing.

"You never tasted a high-quality wine to say that." Said Teng Fen.

"Actually, it's my first time drinking wine." Said Li Jing.

Once again, Teng Fen saw that Li Jing was not lying…

Three hours later, the guests began to get bored. Most of them were experienced cultivators so they liked the action and not the music, the graceful dances, or the good food.

During these three hours, Teng Fen and Li Jing only made small talk and mostly listen to the conversations around them. People in this kind of event liked to gossip and one could learn a lot by listening to them.

Suddenly, one of the old men stood up and turned towards the king.

"Your Majesty, why don't we let the young generation exchange pointers to entertain us?" He suggested.

"Good idea! Shao Qun, announce the rules!" Exclaimed the king.

Shao Qun was the king's personal steward. Hearing his king's order he immediately announced:

"Yes, Your Majesty! If any of you wish to fight, walk to the front of the garden and announce your name and age. Only two young of the same age can fight each other and seriously injuring your opponent is prohibited. Lastly, the winner continues to fight until he loses or until there is no more opponent of his age."

The Royal Garden was large enough to let many people compete, so during the fighting there was no risk of breaking the tableware.

Of course, every young man and woman wanted to participate because it was a unique opportunity for them to show their talent in front of every powerful person in the kingdom.

A short moment after Shao Qun's announcement, one of the young men suddenly got up and walked towards the front of the garden.

"I, Xiao Ming of the Xiao clan, twenty-one years old, wish to exchange pointers." He said, cupping his hands politely.

"I, Yi Fan of the Yi family, twenty-one years old, wish to exchange pointers with you." Another young man said, walking towards Xiao Ming.

The two young men bowed, then ran towards each other and started exchanging multiple blows.

Li Jing watched them fight with a watchful eye, he could learn a lot by analyzing other people's fights. He still had some time before his fight against Teng Fen since the four heirs of the Great Clans will have to fight after everyone else.

A few minutes later, Xiao Ming won the fight by dodging his opponent's punch and pinning him on the ground.

Everyone cheered loudly and applauded.

"Both of them are very talented!" Exclaimed the king.

Next, a girl got up and walked to the front of the garden.

"I, Zhou Mu Yin of the Zhou clan, twenty-one years old, wish to exchange pointers with you." She said to Xiao Ming.

…

The fights continued one after another until everyone but the heirs of the Great Clans fought.

Since the four heirs were the only ones who didn't fight, all eyes were on them. Everyone knew that although the four Great Clans were allied, they were actually always competing with each other. This time, it was the perfect opportunity to see which heir was the strongest.

Actually, they all knew who will win since they all noticed that the heir of the Li clan was in the fifth level of the Qi Gathering realm while the others were between the second and the fourth level. They were not really surprised by Li Jing's high cultivation realm because they assumed that he should have received an extravagant number of Qi Condensing Pills from his clan.

"You four are the last participants. Who wants to go first?" Said Shao Qun.

"Wait, let's change the rules. Since there is a large disparity between their cultivation realms, let them fight in two against two." Announced the king.

"As you wish, Your Majesty. Then, the last battle will be Zhao Yimou and Hong Mei against Teng Fen and Li Jing!"

Zhao Yimou was in the fourth level of the Qi Gathering realm, Hong Mei was in the third level, Teng Fen was in the second level and Li Jing was in the fifth level. This way, the fight would be balanced.

For his part, Li Jing was really surprised, it would seem that his presence has changed the story!