Chapter 1186: Seven Absolute Mountain Birthday Celebration

"Let me guess: that prince is a man of great talent and vision, and he must harbor even greater ambitions in his heart. He probably wants to seize control of the Yingzhou Continent. In exchange, he can help you get the reward you're looking for."

Xu Yang shook his head with a bitter smile. "There's truly nothing that can escape your keen eye, little girl. You're right; I've reached an agreement with the Fifth Prince. He'll be our eyes, and we'll be his hands. Only through this method can we have a shortcut to our destination. Otherwise, I genuinely worry that after another ten or eight years of struggle, we might never see Long Kun and the others, especially since this Yingzhou Continent isn't our world at all."

Xiao Hua, however, remained calm. She didn't care where she was; as long as Xu Yang was by her side, she was willing to spend her entire life in Splendid Villa. After all, having lived for so many years, what mattered most to Xiao Hua was simply having the people she cared about near her. From a worldly perspective, she had long since achieved a state of inner serenity, free from desires. Her greatest wish was only to remain with the person she loved.

"As long as you believe this plan is feasible, I naturally have no objections and will fully support you. Besides, no matter how ambitious and talented that prince is, he can't outsmart you. He merely seeks to gain power and status in this mundane world. We can certainly meet his demands, as long as we can find the entrance to Wuyue Heaven. Everything else is secondary."

Now that the Third Prince was under the Fifth Prince's control, the entire Splendid Villa became the base and resting point for Xu Yang's Eight Gates Team. After resting there for about a week and a half, the Fifth Prince organized the team and led everyone to Seven-Absolutes Mountain towards the end of the month.

It's worth noting that most members of the Eight Gates Team rarely appeared publicly on the Yingzhou Continent. After all, they were death-row inmates imprisoned in the dungeon of Alluring City, having not seen daylight for decades. Among cultivators, those who could recognize them were already extremely rare. Therefore, they didn't need to change their appearance at all.

Only Xu Yang himself used a disguise technique. Aside from Xiao Hua, the other team members had to pause for a few seconds to recognize him, which was still a bit unsettling. After all, Xu Yang's disguise technique was completely different from ordinary makeup. It involved transforming him from head to toe, even altering his voice and mannerisms dramatically.

Along the way, they encountered many martial artists and people from all walks of life, all heading to Seven-Absolutes Mountain under various pretexts to congratulate the Fourth Prince's birth mother on her birthday.

Speaking of the Fourth Prince's birth mother, Consort Chen, she had her moments of glory in her youth. However, later, after some unknown palace intrigues, she was inexplicably banished from the palace by the Emperor. Fortunately, the Fourth Prince was dutiful and had properly settled his mother all these years. Moreover, with the assistance of the Sword Forge, the Fourth Prince's strength was solidly among the top three of the seven great princes.

However, due to his mother's influence, his imperial father had not favored him much over the years. Unless it was something extraordinary, the imperial palace rarely granted an audience to the Fourth Prince, allowing him to develop his power freely outside. Perhaps because of this, the Fourth Prince's influence was largely connected with the unrefined martial arts world and various factions outside. Consequently, among the seven lines of princes, his martial arts faction was the strongest.

In contrast, the First and Second Princes' main forces were primarily concentrated within the palace.

"Holy cow, is this Seven-Absolutes Mountain? It's incredibly lively! I've never seen the true Sword Palace of the World before. My eyes have truly been opened today. Such a majestic mountain peak really looks like a sharp sword piercing the heavens and the earth."

The young scout raised his small head, gazing up at the majestic peak. Everyone was currently at the foot of this Sword Sect mountain. Looking up at the cloud-piercing summit, they felt incredibly distant from the Sword Sect's highest point.

"If it weren't for following Boss Xu Yang, I'd probably think I'd never be qualified to ascend to the peak of this Sword Sect in my lifetime! Hahaha, Boss, we're really benefiting from your presence!"

Members of the Eight Gates Team began showering Xu Yang with praise. Xu Yang simply smiled in response. His attention remained almost entirely focused on the groups of martial artists passing by. However, he found it uninteresting that after observing for so long, he hadn't spotted any top-tier experts whose strength impressed him.

However, this monotonous situation was quickly broken. When the Fifth Prince led the Eight Gates Team to the main hall at the highest peak of Seven-Absolutes Mountain, they discovered hundreds of energy fluctuations from top-tier experts in the vast square built on the mountainside.

Of course, these individuals couldn't all be from the same faction. Almost all of them were personal bodyguards who had accompanied the other great princes. Only these people could be considered the true first-tier masters on the entire Yingzhou Continent.

"Oh my god, look at those people! Their aura is too powerful, isn't it? I bet one sword stroke could instantly kill me!" Ah Wen couldn't help but murmur. Hearing him, those around them quickly looked in the direction he pointed. Indeed, they soon saw a burly man carrying a massive black iron sword. Standing beside him was a middle-aged man in splendid robes, clutching a glistening, translucent Dragon-Taming Pearl.

"That man is the First Prince; my elder brother is also the foremost among the seven great princes of the current dynasty," the Fifth Prince secretly transmitted to Xu Yang, beginning to identify the top-tier experts standing in the square.

As expected, being close relatives of the Fourth Prince and among the seven great princes, these various princes and their accompanying retinues were treated as guests of the highest honor. The Fourth Prince's trusted confidants personally escorted them one by one into the main hall, seating them at the innermost tables as if they were family.

Xu Yang and the others looked around, noting that today's birthday banquet consisted of a full three hundred tables. A gathering of this scale was quite rare across the entire Yingzhou Continent.

The reason the Fourth Prince held such a high-profile birthday banquet for his mother this time was largely related to the recent opening of the Sword Forge Sect. Out of the three hundred tables of guests—friends and relatives—nearly seventy percent were martial arts masters who had come specifically for the Sword Forge Sect's opening.

As for those from the lower echelons of society, some didn't even qualify to attend the banquet. They hurried up the mountain to deliver their congratulatory gifts and then quickly departed.

It had to be admitted that by attending this banquet today, Xu Yang had gained a clear understanding of the major powers in the Central Domain and the atmosphere of the cultivation world.

No unpleasant incidents occurred during the banquet. After all, those present were top-tier experts with reputations on the Yingzhou Continent, or highly influential young lords and princes. Anyone who dared to cause trouble in such a setting today would be making an enemy of the entire Sword Sect.