“The Silent Willow Valley presents their gift to the Second Prince!”
The youth in front of Li Shen shouted rather loudly before he threw down a saber on top of the pile of gifts.
This saber’s sheath was damaged, and from the lackluster blade sticking out of it, it looked nothing more than scrap metal.
Li Shen at all of the junk at his feet that was supposed to be gifts.
“The Four Seasons Academy presents a gift to the Second Prince!”
Another youth approached Li Shen and if looks could kill the glare he was giving him would have killed him a thousand times over.
The youth held a box and was about to through it on top of the pile, but he suddenly paused.
Li Shen was then dumbfounded when this youth took a medicinal herb out of the box that he immediately recognized it as a Fire Lily herb used to heal burns, but it was merely a Low Tier medicinal herb.
After taking out the well-intact herb, the youth then threw it on the ground before stomping on it a few times.
Li Shen’s eyes twitched as the youth’s footprints were left on the herb as it was being crushed, its juices and leaves flying everywhere.
Satisfied, the youth gave it one last stomp and kicked it towards the pile before walking away.
Yang Su who was off to the side couldn’t take the disrespect being shown to Li Shen anymore and he glared at that youth and stepped forward, but Lihua held him back before saying.
“Interfering now will only cause more trouble.”
Yang Su frowned and said.
“But look how they're acting.”
He and the rest looked at the youth and saw him receiving high fives from the surrounding youths in the crowd.
“Bastards!”
Fang Chen too couldn’t hold back and he moved to beat the crap out of that person but Fei Yin stopped him as well.
“Fei Yin, Lihua, why stop us? Can you just stand back and watch as these shameless bastards treat our Faction Leader like that?!”
Lihua frowned before saying.
“You men are all too hot-headed.”
Fei Yin wore a bitter smile at that and said.
“But I was on your side.”
Ignoring him, Lihua continued to say.
“It isn’t our place to do anything as even the Emperor has not said anything about their actions. Plus they’re technically not doing anything wrong. They're doing this as a protest because of his actions before, and since their challenges were denied if they were called out for it our Faction Leader would lose even more face.”
Yang Su clenched his fists as that was the only way he could calm himself down a bit. He knew Li Hua was right. Since the Emperor hasn’t said anything, then they as mere Academy disciples have no right to interfere.
What they did before was justified since they were Li Shen's subordinates and friends stepping up to protect him, but this was different, they weren’t challenging him and instead resorting to such petty actions.
In the crowd, Bai Xiaofung was glaring at those youths.
From next to him, his brother Huang Fu said.
“Calm down you little brat, this matter isn’t for you to interfere in.”
Bai Xiaofung shot a disgruntled look at him and said.
“You held me back when I was about to step forward with the others, why?”
Huang Fu frowned and said annoyed.
“Look you fool, you might be his friend but remember who you are. If you, the second Young Master of the Bai Clan had gone up there, then that would no more than saying we of the Bai Clan are siding with the Li Clan.”
“So? Aren’t we indebted to brother Shen? So what if we show our support for him?”
Hearing this, Huang Fu began feeling a headache coming on.
He had long realized his brother had no talent, or rather even common sense in scheming or understanding the power distribution and political agendas between each party.
The Bai Clan throwing their lot for Li Shen now when they didn’t even know what the Ming Clan has up their sleeves is no different than climbing onto a big ship while not knowing if the littler one has a cannon that could blow it to bits.
It’s simply too risky to choose a side now when things aren’t so clear.
Huang Fu wasn’t expecting his little brother to understand that so he simply said.
“Look, stop worrying about that trashy prince. He has the support of the Emperor, which is essentially the backing of his entire Clan. If he wanted to stop this disrespect being shown he just has to accept their challenges. He doesn’t need your puny help, it’ll only be a drop in a bucket.”
Bai Xiaofung let out a groan of displeasure but still opted to listen to his brother.
“Hey, have you contacted father?”
Bai Xiaofung suddenly asked.
Huang Fu nodded and said.
“I have. And so did the others. Things aren’t over yet, what that trashy prince did still has grounds for someone to hold him accountable, that’s why those people can get away with acting so petty. Simply, a storm is brewing.”
Hearing his Elder brother’s words, Bai Xiaofung got the sense it was foreshadowing something major happening soon.
Back at the end of the hall, a youth that looked to be in his early twenties wearing black robes, approached Li Shen.
‘Huh, this person seems familiar.’
Li Shen thought upon feeling this person’s aura.
Seeing the glimmer in Li Shen's eyes, the young man smiled and cupped his fists towards Li Shen before saying.
“It’s a pleasure to meet the Second Prince once again, I’m Huifen, the representative of the Mercenary Association.”
‘This voice…’
Li Shen's eyes narrowed.
‘It’s the same as the cloaked person back in the Huang Clan.’
Li Shen quickly composed himself after his surprise and responded.
“Hm, the pleasure is mine.”
Huifen observed Li Shen for a moment as if something on him had caught his interest.
After, he said.
“If I had known it was the Second Prince I saw that time I would have stopped to pay my respects.”
Li Shen shook his head before saying.
“No, there would have been no need to. It would have only inconvenienced you as you were dealing with your own affairs at the time.”
Some people in the crowd including Huang Fu were surprised to see Li Shen chatting so casually with Huifen.
‘Do they know each other? But why would that loner Huifen chat so casually with that trashy prince, he hardly speaks to any of us.’
Huang Fu thought that, but wasn’t the only one.
A few people of similar positions took notice of Huifen’s interaction with Li Shen.
Huifen could then be seen with a thoughtful expression on his face before he took out two items from his storage ring.
“Second Prince, please accept these two gifts. The first is a painting my Master wishes to give to you. It was done by a famous painter that goes by the name of Scare Crow. The second is from me personally, it is a VIP Membership card of the Mercenary Association.”
The first gift by the famous painter Scare Crow draw more than a few people’s attention, but the VIP Membership had people reeling back in shock.
Huang Fu looked at the black card in Huifen’s hands and his eyes popped open in stupefaction.
A commotion immediately erupted within the crowd, but it was mostly by the people in the older generation. The youths were looking around not understanding what was going on.
Even the Elders of the sects on the Star Bound Continent were shocked at Huifen giving Li Shen that black card.
Unlike the previous gifts that were thrown down, a servant off to the side came and collected the gifts from Huifen, who casually walked back to his group.
Li Shen saw the shocked looks on the crowds' faces and heard the commotion, but was equally confused as the youths.
Over at the table, his mother as well as everyone else had surprised looks on their face.
‘Why is everyone so shocked? Is it because of this?’
Li Shen took the black card from the servant and examined it.
It was made from some type of metal that Li Shen didn’t recognize, even with his extensive knowledge. But aside from the strange material it was made from it was ordinary, in fact, there weren’t any details on it.
It was completely blank.
‘Shen’er, how did you come to know that person?’
Li Shen suddenly heard his father’s voice in his head.
‘Hm? I merely saw him from a distance, it could hardly be considered me knowing him.’
‘…’
Li Shu went quiet for a moment before he said.
‘Shen’er, do you know what that card is?’
--
Looking around at people chattering all of a sudden, Bai Xiaofung frowned before he turned to his brother and asked.
“Elder brother, what is that black card, why is everyone so shocked by that person giving it to brother Shen?”
Huang Fu who had his mouth watering at the sight of that black card wiped away his drool and then said.
“That card has a profound significance. I’m sure you know of the Mercenary Association, right?”
Bai Xiaofung nodded.
“Well, that information is wrong.”
"Huh?"
Seeing his brother’s reaction, Huang Fu said.
“The Mercenary Association in documents and what they truly are is a complete contrast. On paper, they are just a group of thugs and rouge cultivators who join hands to create an association for people like them. Their depicted as a backwards organization that lose out to the Academy Alliance as well as the Seven Major Clans in strength and resources.”
“However…”
Huang Fu’s voice turned solemn.
“They’re a behemoth the likes of which neither the Academy Alliance nor our Seven Major Clans can rival alone.”
“What?!!”
Bai Xiaofung blurted out in shock and had difficulty comprehending that.
“No, that’s impossible, how can they be stronger than all Seven Major Clan’s Combine or even the Academy Alliance that is made up of the top ten Academies as well as the hundreds of smaller ones? That’s...”
“That’s just the reality and I don’t fault you to think it’s absurd. But there is a catch to their power. It is not only on our Maple Continent but it’s distributed across the Star Bound Continent too. Some mentioned of them being on the Water Bound and Fire Bound Continent could be heard floating around as well.”
--
‘So Shen’er, do you understand the strength the Mercenary Association Wields? Their resources and wealth might be split but they are in fact extremely powerful if they were able to pool it together.’
Li Shen sat there completely stump after hearing that the Mercenary Association was that much of a behemoth.
However, he didn’t understand one thing.
‘Father, exactly how does that relate to this black card?’
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