Star Odyssey

Chapter 793: Betrothal Gift

Qiong Shanhai glanced at the excited youth. “The Zhu family only has you, Zhu San, as their heir, so can you become a member of your wife’s family? Just forget about it and stop making a scene.” 

Zhu San hurriedly replied, “Uncle Qiong, I’m not messing around! Xi’er is mine, forever mine! I want to become a member of your family. I want to live with my wife!” 

But Qiong Shanhai no longer bothered with him.

Quite a few looked at Qiong Xi’er, wanting to see her reaction. However, what the crowd saw left them all speechless; Qiong Xi’er was currently in the middle of teasing Nana, and she was sporting a smile that was remarkably reminiscent of a playboy’s. 

The crowd was rendered speechless. 

“Uncle Qiong, give me a chance! I want to marry Xi’er!” Zhu San shouted loudly. 

Qiong Shanhai frowned. “That’s impossible.” 

Zhu San became dejected, and he helplessly looked at Qiong Xi’er. He then suddenly shouted, “Xi’er, I can’t take care of you, so take care of our twelve children.” 

The crowd became excited at this new development: twelve children?

Qiong Xi’er looked over and furiously replied, “What nonsense are you spouting?”

Zhu San had an innocent look on his face. “It can’t be hidden. Anyway, you aren’t-”

He suddenly paused with a smile plastered across his face.

Qiong Shanhai flew into a rage. “Get out of here!”

Zhu San was then tossed out of the Qiong’s Banquet.

Qiong Shanhai immediately tried to explain, but the crowd’s expressions were rather strange, as their suspicions were not impossible considering Qiong Xi’er’s masculine mannerisms. Also, this Zhu might actually be the victim, since this tomboy seemed to be rather casual towards male-female relationships. In fact, her arms had been wrapped around someone else just now. 

Qiong Xi’er was in no mood to tease Nana any longer, as Zhu San had infuriated her. 

Lu Yin was rather amused; that fellow was willing to do any unscrupulous things as long as he was able to wed Qiong Xi’er. On top of that, he seemed to be truly unafraid of death. 

Before much more time passed, the Qiong Family’s Banquet ended with a strange atmosphere.

Qiong Shanhai’s initially good mood was completely gone by the end of the banquet. If not for his apprehension towards the Zhu family, he had even considered throttling Zhu San.

Qiong Xi’er’s expression was not too great either, as she was also disgusted by Zhu San. All this time, she had been the one plotting against others, but she had actually been made a fool of by Zhu San. A shameless person was truly invincible. 

“Just wait for it. Today’s debt will be collected another time,” Taylor Phoenix threatened Lu Yin before leaving. 

Xiu Phoenix’s gaze was gloomy, and although he did not say anything, the implication of Taylor’s threat was evident. 

Lu Yin did not care, as he had already put the Dark Phoenix family on his blacklist. Although the clan was powerful, Lu Yin was not a weakling either, and the Hall of Honor would continue to support him. 

Taylor regretted that the Dark Phoenix family was located too far away from the Great Eastern Alliance. 

Wei Rong brought Angie over to speak with Lu Yin again. “Brother Lu, that was marvelous.”

Lu Yin’s voice was tranquil as he replied, “I just got another enemy for free. Brother Wei must be quite happy.” 

Wei Rong shook his head. “No, not that happy. Their attitude towards Brother Lu is about the same as their attitude towards me, though they currently don’t take me as seriously as they do Brother Lu. You may have noticed this, but during this Qiong’s Banquet, nobody really spoke with me from start to finish.” 

Lu Yin motioned towards Qiong Xi’er as he said to Wei Rong, “She hasn’t forgotten you, and her attention keeps returning to you.” 

“Has Brother Lu ever felt like the Outerverse is not very transparent? Are the people who came here truly the only Enlighters that belong to those various great powers? I don’t think that that’s the case. Rather, what we saw today should only be their public strength. Also, there’s still the Hall of Honor as well as the hidden powers. Brother Lu, we still have a long ways to go on our journey,” Wei Rong said with an emotional sigh. 

Lu Yin glanced over at Angie. “It would seem that you have the Umbral Butterfly Tribe in your grasp.” 

Angie’s brow arched up upon hearing Lu Yin’s words, as his tone did not sound very friendly.

Wei Rong put a hand on Angie’s shoulder. “The Neo-Vestige Sect should also already be in Brother Lu’s bag. We are just enjoying some mutual collaborations.”

The two left the Qiong’s Banquet and returned to the entrance, where Yan Yan and the others were waiting. There, Lu Yin saw someone familiar: Ah Mu. 

Angie had taken Ah Mu along on the attack on Sourcepeak Planet, and she had once again brought him with her on her trip to Millions City. It appeared that Ah Mu was rising up in the Umbral Butterfly Tribe’s ranks. 

The two of them acted as though they were strangers, and they merely exchanged glances before looking in different directions. 

“Brother Lu, have you considered becoming the Qiong family’s son-in-law?” Wei Rong asked as he looked at Lu Yin.  

Lu Yin glanced at Angie. “What if I say yes?”

Wei Rong thought about it and then seriously replied, “Then I’d be very happy.”

Lu Yin laughed. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I am also confident that you have absolutely no thoughts of joining her family. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be the Wei Rong that I know.” 

“There’s someone who’s very suitable to become their family’s son-in-law, and Qiong Xi’er’s personality would even control him.” Wei Rong smiled and looked at Lu Yin before saying, “Wang Wen.” 

Lu Yin’s eyes flashed, as Wei Rong seemed to be aware of everything. However, that was rather normal. Lu Yin’s encounters with Wang Wen were not a secret, and it was also quite normal for Lu Yin to have met Wang Wen. Thus, Wei Rong had long since known that the two youths knew each other. 

Soon after, the two separated, and the Ghost Monkey commented, “Seventh Bro, if it was up to me, I’d take care of this Wei Rong right now. I get the sense that he’s either plotting something right now or preparing to do so soon.” 

“This Qiong’s Banquet will temporarily prevent these parties from acting against each other. The Qiong family is attempting to use diplomacy before they use force, and we cannot be the first to make a move. Millions City has survived for many years without being conquered by any other power, and it has even fended off plots from the great powers of the Innerverse. Thus, their hidden foundation can’t be any less than that of Neo-Vestige Sect,” Lu Yin replied. 

“What hidden foundation? If you don’t tear it open, then nobody will ever know about it.” The monkey rolled his eyes.

Won’t know? Lu Yin’s gaze deepened, as he was aware of the city’s hidden power since rune lines could not be faked. The rune lines of Millions City were rather terrifying. 

News of what had happened during the Qiong’s Banquet quickly spread throughout Millions City, and countless were surprised at the Qiong family’s extravagance, though they were also astounded at Lu Yin’s strength. Still, the most shocking piece of news was that the Qiong family was looking for a son-in-law. 

In a short amount of time, countless young men were racking their brains to think of who they knew that could transmit their personal details to Qiong Shanhai, all of them hoping to be able to join the Qiong family. 

Although it was generally considered shameful for a groom to join the bride’s family, that greatly depended on the bride’s family. Millions City’s Qiong family was one of the Outerverse’s most powerful clans, and even the heirs of great powers from the Innerverse would feel proud to marry into such a family. The Qiong family only had one heir, Qiong Xi’er, and once someone married into the family, even if they would not be able to take control of the Qiong family’s enormous financial empire, their own child would eventually be able to do so. 

To many, this was a good opportunity to achieve instant success. 

In the City Master’s residence, Qiong Xi’er disinterestedly flipped through some photos of candidates, as they had all sent over their resumes. She looked through them for a while, but eventually tossed all of them aside. “A bunch of trash. Not a single one of them can compare to Nana, but they want to marry into my family? No way!” 

Qiong Shanhai said, “Xi’er, there are very few youths in the Outerverse who can catch your eye. Are there really none here that catch your fancy?” 

Qiong Xi’er thought about it before replying, “None.”

“What about that Lu Yin? You seem to find him pleasing to the eye,” Qiong Shanhai asked.

Qiong Xi’er was amused. “Do you think that he would marry into our family with his personality?”

“As long as you set your mind to such a thing.” Qiong Shanhai was confident.

Qiong Xi’er shook her head. “Lu Yin is not as simple as he seems to be on the surface. He has the Hall of Honor behind him, and also…” Qiong Xi’er suddenly grew serious before she continued, saying, “I have no confidence in being able to suppress him. This person’s ambition is too overbearing, and he also has the means and talent that support that ambition.” 

Qiong Shanhai was quite surprised by this response. From a young age, his daughter had never ever appraised someone this highly before. Even Wei Rong and Wang Wen, who were as famous as her, were only seen as opponents. However, this Lu Yin was evaluated to be even more outstanding than those two. 

Qiong Xi’er looked at her father. “If Lu Yin agrees to marry into our family, then who do you think will make the decisions for Millions City in the future?”

Qiong Shanhai’s eyes flashed. “Then just forget it.” 

At this moment, someone reported that the Zhu family patriarch, Zhu Jie, had arrived for a visit.

Qiong Shanhai felt that this visit was rather odd. “Could he be here about the matter of Zhu San being tossed out of the Qiong Family’s Banquet?” 

Qiong Xi’er shook her head. “Shouldn’t be. I’ll head out first.”

Qiong Shanhai nodded.

Soon after, Zhu Jie stepped into the City Master residence’s sitting room, where he saw Qiong Shanhai.

Upon meeting, the first thing the Zhu patriarch did was immediately apologize. “City Master, my son caused you a great deal of trouble during the Qiong’s Banquet.” 

Qiong Shanhai smiled. “It’s fine. I watched that child grow up, and he has a decent personality. He’s just a little more playful than the rest. What matter has brought Brother Zhu here to see me this time?”

Zhu Jie retrieved a box from his cosmic ring and offered it to Qiong Shanhai. “Brother Qiong, please take a look.” 

Qiong Shanhai was curious, so he opened the box, only for a golden radiance to illuminate his face. He reflexively closed the lid and then blurted out, “True Insight!” 

Zhu Jie smiled. “Brother Qiong is sharp. That’s right—that is indeed True Insight.”

“Did your Zhu family find Deng Pu?” Qiong Shanhai was astonished. 

“It was he who sought us out and sold it to us. How about it? Brother Qiong, if you want it, it’s yours.” Zhu Jie smiled.

Qiong Shanhai’s eyes flickered. At this moment, there were many experts in Millions City who had come here just to obtain this True Insight. If he publicly auctioned it off, then not only would he be able to earn an immense profit, but he would also be able to resolve the matter that was currently plaguing him by preventing all the gathered experts from creating trouble within Millions City. This would be killing two birds with one stone. 

“Brother Zhu, could you please state your conditions?” Qiong Shanhai asked.

Zhu Jie’s tone grew solemn, and he became very serious. “True Insight is my Zhu family’s betrothal gift to your Qiong family. My son, Zhu San, wishes to wed Xi’er.”

Qiong Shanhai stared blankly at Zhu Jie for a moment, but then he very directly pushed the box back towards Zhu Jie. “My Qiong family is unable to accept this betrothal gift.”

“Brother Qiong, I only have but one son, and he’s the most precious thing in the world to me. The only desire he has is to wed Xi’er, and so I hope that Brother Qiong can give me some face. True Insight is merely one of the betrothal gifts, and if Brother Qiong is willing, then my Zhu family is willing to part with half of our wealth as the other part of the betrothal gift.”

Qiong Shanhai sighed. “Brother Zhu, my Qiong family only has one Xi’er as our heir. If we give her to you, then how will our Qiong family manage?” 

Zhu Jie quickly replied, “Brother Qiong is still young, and you are absolutely able to have another child.”

Qiong Shanhai shook his head. “There’s no need to speak any more words. If Brother Zhu is willing, then my Qiong family is willing to purchase True Insight for multiple times its value. Otherwise, we can simply forget about it.”

Zhu Jie saw Qiong Shanhai’s unwavering attitude, and he could only helplessly bid his host farewell.

Qiong Shanhai watched Zhu Jie’s departing figure, and his expression fell. Did this man truly think that Qiong Shanhai would fall for the excuse of Zhu San liking Xi’er? Once the two families were maritally joined, it would be impossible to predict who would rule Millions City in the future. He would rather marry Qiong Xi’er off to the eastern weaves than to the Zhu family. 

The next day, news of the Zhu family offering True Insight as a betrothal gift leaked out. Nobody believed these rumors at first, but then Zhu San went and announced it without restraint, supposedly to demonstrate his sincerity for Qiong Xi’er. That caused countless people to believe the news, and they accepted this as verification that True Insight was really with the Zhu family. 

Saul was the first to demand it from them, but he was summarily rejected by the Zhu family. They had their own Enlighter realm ancestors, and this was Millions City. Thus, they were not intimidated by Saul. 

After Saul, Hoffman, the Blaze Engineer, Villa Mistress Lian, and more took turns visiting the family. Even Cai Jianqiang and Wei Rong made a visit, but every last one of them was refused by the Zhu family. 

The Zhu family did not lack for money, and they were also unafraid of threats.

At this moment, the Zhu family’s estate had become the most watched place in all of Millions City, and countless people had surrounded the entrance to their home.