Soon, led by Liang Lihua, the group arrived at the banquet hall on the third floor of the hotel.
Because the identities of Young Master Qin and his companions were rather special, Liang Lihua specifically arranged a private room for them instead of having them dine in the main hall with the other guests.
The private room was quite spacious, featuring a very large round table that had more than enough room to seat Young Master Qin's group.
Not long after they sat down, an old man leaning on a walking cane walked in through the door, supported by a middle-aged woman.
It was Yuan Guoliang.
The middle-aged woman beside him was his daughter, Liang Lihua's wife, Yuan Cuilan.
Both of them had learned a few things about Young Master Qin from Liang Lihua, so they didn't dare to show any slight or neglect.
"Welcome, Young Master Qin. Your presence here truly makes me feel overwhelmed by the favor," Old Master Yuan Guoliang said with a hearty chuckle as he walked up to Young Master Qin and extended his hand.
Young Master Qin shook his hand and smiled, "You are too polite, Old Master. Please, have a seat."
After chatting for a moment, he found his impression of Yuan Guoliang to be quite good. The man had once been a high-ranking provincial official. Although he was now retired and eighty years old, his body was still robust, free from any major illnesses.
"Buzz!"
With a flip of his palm, Young Master Qin brought out a jade pendant. He smiled and said, "Old Master, I came in a hurry today and didn't specially prepare anything. Please accept this as a congratulatory gift, and I hope you won't disdain it."
"You must be joking, Young Master Qin. How could I possibly disdain a gift from you?"
Yuan Guoliang swallowed hard, receiving the jade pendant with a face full of burning excitement.
He had heard Wang Yousheng mention before that Young Master Qin's jade pendants were extraordinary. Wearing one not only prolonged life but also acted as an amulet, rendering one immune even to bullets.
This was a truly grand gift!
A gift that no amount of money could buy!
"Dad."
Right at this moment, two figures walked into the private room from outside.
It was a middle-aged man and woman.
The woman was named Yuan Cuiying, the younger sister of Liang Lihua's wife, Yuan Cuilan. She had married into 'Hang Province' many years ago.
The man who appeared with her was named Song Jianpeng. The Song Family was currently the wealthiest family in Hang Province. However, most of the family's businesses were still managed by Old Master Song. Song Jianpeng was only in charge of a small portion and hadn't truly taken over power yet.
"Cuiying, why are you only arriving now? Dad is celebrating his eightieth birthday; shouldn't you have come back a day early?" Yuan Cuilan frowned, expressing some dissatisfaction with the late arrival of Yuan Cuiying and her husband.
Today was the main banquet. Last night, the whole family had gathered at home to warm up the birthday celebration for the Old Master. Everyone had arrived except for this couple, who were nowhere to be seen.
"Sister, we were just too busy with business, please don't take offense. Aren't we here now?"
Before Yuan Cuiying could speak, Song Jianpeng stepped forward and let out a nonchalant chuckle.
He then pulled Yuan Cuiying over and greeted the Old Master and Liang Lihua respectively, "Dad, Brother-in-law."
The Old Master was an elder and today's birthday star, so naturally, Song Jianpeng had to approach him first.
Liang Lihua was the second-in-command of Dong Province. Even Song Jianpeng didn't dare to be negligent toward him.
"It's good that you're back. Being a little late is fine, take a seat," the Old Master smiled and nodded.
Just as he was about to direct them to the empty seats further down, he saw that Song Jianpeng had already turned to look at Young Master Qin and said, "Please make room."
As soon as these words left his mouth, the entire room instantly fell silent, and everyone frowned.
Yet, Song Jianpeng clearly failed to notice the shift in the atmosphere.
In his view, among everyone present, the Old Master sat in the seat of honor, and the second-in-command Liang Lihua sat on the Old Master's left. Therefore, naturally, only he had the qualifications to sit in the seat on the right.
He didn't recognize Young Master Qin, but he figured it must be some junior member of the family.
"You two, get the hell over there and sit!"
Old Master Yuan Guoliang instantly flew into a rage. Once he recovered from the shock, he hurriedly roared at Song Jianpeng and Yuan Cuiying.
"Dad, what are you doing?"
Song Jianpeng was momentarily stunned by the yell. Instead, it was Yuan Cuiying who reacted first, her face showing anger. "We came all the way back here to celebrate your birthday, and Jianpeng didn't do anything wrong. He just asked this junior to make room. Why are you getting so angry?"
Regardless, she couldn't understand it.
Was this junior deeply favored by the Old Master?
Otherwise, why would he be able to sit right next to the Old Master?
But in her memory, she couldn't recall ever seeing such a junior.
Could it be that she hadn't been back in so long since marrying out that she simply hadn't met him?
"Cuiying, this is Young Master Qin from Xi Province. He is not a junior of our family..."
Yuan Cuilan hurriedly pulled her younger sister aside, afraid that she might say the wrong thing and offend Young Master Qin, which would be disastrous.
"Young Master Qin?"
Both Yuan Cuiying and Song Jianpeng froze for a moment.
Was there such a prominent figure in the country?
Xi Province?
A remote backwater—what kind of top-tier young master could come from there?
Moreover, at the end of the day, this was just a young man. The Song Family was the wealthiest in Hang Province. As the future heir, Song Jianpeng didn't believe he couldn't even compare to a mere youngster.
"Dad, we are indeed a bit late this time, but there's no need for you to act like this. If we are truly not welcome, Cuiying and I will just leave."
Song Jianpeng cared deeply about his pride. He believed he deserved to sit in that seat; otherwise, he would rather leave than sit anywhere else.
In his eyes, this was the respect and treatment he rightfully deserved.
If Young Master Qin were some major leader, that would be one thing. But making him sit below a young man was something Song Jianpeng couldn't accept.
He felt this showed a lack of regard from the Old Master toward him, and even toward the Song Family!
"Then get the hell out right now!" the Old Master coldly snorted.
He was indeed somewhat angry, but mostly, he wanted to drive his daughter and son-in-law out first, saving them from saying anything else that might upset Young Master Qin.
"Fine, we'll leave!"
Yuan Cuiying's temper flared as well. She grabbed Song Jianpeng and turned around, walking straight out of the private room.
The Old Master gave Yuan Cuilan a look, signaling her to follow them.
Understanding his intention, Yuan Cuilan followed them out.
Outside the private room, Yuan Cuiying said angrily, "Sister, what exactly does Dad mean by this? We were just a little late..."
"It's not about that."
Yuan Cuilan shook her head sternly. "Dad is angry mainly because you two just offended Young Master Qin."
"Just what is the background of this Young Master Qin?" Song Jianpeng seemed to finally realize that something was wrong, his brow furrowing slightly.
"I don't know the exact details either; I only know a little bit. And it's not that I don't want to tell you, but Young Master Qin's identity is rather special, and I cannot disclose it without permission."
Yuan Cuilan spoke seriously, "But all you need to know is that even if the Song, Yuan, and Liang families were added together, we still couldn't afford to offend Young Master Qin!"

ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!

【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)

transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”

pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"