Long River Eternity

When Yang An heard Gong Gong's words, his heart suddenly tightened. He quickly recalled every detail of the four people's entry into the Water God Palace, trying to find any clues that might reveal their identity. However, no matter how hard he recalled, he could not find anything suspicious.

Could it be that Gonggong was just bluffing and testing himself?

No! Yang An suddenly thought, since Gonggong had already investigated whether he had a protector, he must also have all the details of their challenge. Perhaps it was because he mentioned that Chiyou had drained the True Fire from the Golden Crow that Gonggong became suspicious?

Yang An's heart was in turmoil, but he still wore a calm smile on his face: "Master Gonggong is really a joke. Our sect is just a small sect, and my master has just broken through to the master realm. How could he be your old friend?"

"Really? Then how did you know that Jinwu played a trick on Kuafu and that Chiyou finally took away the sun's true fire? Even I don't know the inside story of this matter." Gonggong's eyes became sharper, staring at Yang An and asking again.

Sure enough, Gonggong became suspicious because of the matter of the Golden Crow.

Yang An thought for a moment, then replied, "A month ago, we were traveling in the Eastern Wasteland and happened to see the Golden Crow luring Kuafu to chase him. Then, from afar, we saw the Golden Crow being chased by Lord Chi You all the way to the Fusang tree, where a ray of his true solar fire was finally drawn away. I thought that with such a serious incident happening, the Eastern Wasteland demons would definitely try to silence or even kill them to cover up the scandal. So, we immediately left the Eastern Wasteland and headed to the Northern Sea."

"Haha, so that's how it is. My friend, you really understand the principle of seeking good fortune and avoiding disaster. Come, drink some wine and eat some meat." Gonggong still stared at Yang An, and after a moment of silence, he suddenly changed his serious expression, laughed and raised his glass to invite him.

Seeing that he had temporarily appeased Gonggong, Yang An secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Gonggong no longer questioned him, but turned to Shi Gang and the others to chat about some irrelevant topics.

He then turned his gaze towards the dishes on the table, and a sense of doubt filled his heart. Although the dishes on the table could be described as delicacies from the land and the sea, they were merely common ingredients found on the market, not even the most premium delicacies.

In fact, ever since Fuxi had sent them to review Gonggong's accounts, Yang An had already preconceived the idea that Gonggong must be suspicious. But if Gonggong truly had embezzled taxes, why would the dishes he offered them be of such a low standard? Not to mention dragon liver and phoenix marrow, it would have to be at least a rare ingredient not found on the market. After all, Gonggong was hosting a banquet for geniuses to recruit them, so he naturally wanted to demonstrate his strength.

The fact that he sent the Black Emperor to pick up everyone shows that Gonggong takes this banquet very seriously and will definitely use the best ingredients to entertain everyone. Is Gonggong really okay?

Yang An stared at the dishes on the table and fell into deep thought.

Gong Gong noticed Yang An's strange behavior and asked, "Young friend Yang, why are you staring at the dishes in a daze? Is it not to your liking?"

Hearing Gong Gong's question, Yang An came back to his senses and said with a little embarrassment: "To be honest, I was born in a poor family. After entering the sect, I was obsessed with cultivation. I have never seen such exquisite delicacies. I didn't know how to start eating."

Ye Tingxue and Shi Gang almost couldn't hold back their laughter as they listened to Yang An's serious nonsense.

Gonggong was quite impressed after hearing this. He laughed heartily and said, "Haha, young friend, you practice so hard, no wonder you have such strength now. In this respect, you are quite similar to my useless disciple. But his talent is not as good as yours. He was able to get first place on the Beiming Ranking, but only ranked seventh on the Pangu Ranking. Unlike you, you easily made the top ten after just one challenge. Entering the top five or even the top three is just around the corner."

"Number one in Beiming? So Xiangliu is your disciple." Shi Gang said with a little surprise.

"That's right, it's Xiangliu. My disciple stays in the Water God Palace every day, and at most goes to Tianshui City to challenge the rankings. He has a somewhat withdrawn personality. It's a good thing that you guys are here today. Maybe you young people can get along well with each other. I'll call him over. What do you think?" Gonggong smiled and asked for the opinions of Yang An and the others.

After a brief exchange at the banquet, Gonggong's generous character greatly changed everyone's impression of him. He was no longer the water god who broke the pillar of heaven to vent his anger after being defeated, nor was he the target of Fuxi's investigation of tax accounts. Instead, he was the wise lord of a region and a hospitable and amiable elder.

Naturally, everyone would not spoil Gonggong's fun, and readily agreed to Gonggong's suggestion.

So Gonggong asked Heidi to call Xiangliu over. They continued to drink and wait for Xiangliu to arrive.

Not long after, the Black Emperor brought back a young man in white clothes and white hair.

When the young man came to the edge of the pool, the Black Emperor waved his hand, and a table of the same delicacies as everyone else's appeared on the ice platform next to Shi Gang.

At this time, Gonggong smiled and said to Xiangliu: "Xiangliu, please take a seat."

"Yes, Master." Xiangliu bowed and agreed, then jumped onto the ice platform and slowly sat down.

Seeing Xiangliu sitting down, Gonggong introduced Yang An and the other three to Xiangliu one by one.

When Xiangliu heard that Ye Tingxue was a Heavenly Soul Body, a hint of surprise flashed across his face. Finally, when he heard that Ye Tingxue was a Chaos Body Yang An, Xiangliu stood up and said in an unhappy tone: "Are you the Chaos Body Yang An who defeated Youwen today?"

Yang An was also confused when he saw Xiang Liu's big reaction, but he still stood up and said calmly: "It is me."

"Since you are in Beiming, why don't you challenge me, the number one on the Beiming list, instead of challenging Youwen, that useless playboy. Do you look down on the Beiming list, or do you dare not?" Xiangliu said provocatively.

"Xiangliu, Yang An is a distinguished guest, you must not be rude to him." Gonggong frowned and scolded Xiangliu when he saw his aggressive attitude.

Hearing Gonggong's reprimand, Xiangliu bowed and said, "Master, he only defeated that loser Youwen. He didn't even have the courage to challenge me. How could he become a distinguished guest of the Water God Palace? Is it just because of his rare physique?"

"you..."

Just as Gonggong was about to continue his scolding, Yang An interrupted him, saying, "Master Gonggong, I think Brother Xiangliu is right. I haven't even reached the top of the Beiming Ranking. I really don't have the face to accept your invitation. I will go to the East Gate to continue the challenge."

It wasn't that Yang An couldn't handle the provocation, but Xiang Liu had already said so much. If he didn't accept the challenge, even if Gong Gong wouldn't say anything, he would still look down on Yang An in his heart, which would be detrimental to gaining Gong Gong's trust and would affect future investigations. Furthermore, with Xiang Liu being an unstable factor, if he wasn't convinced, there was no guarantee that there would be any accidents during the investigation.

If Yang An had not been surrounded and blocked by a large number of spectators after challenging Yoo-min, he would have wanted to continue challenging stronger opponents.

At this time, Xiang Liu said, "There's no need to go to the East Gate. You can spar here. The rankings are no different from a game to me. You can't really get hurt in them, and you basically can't die. It won't stimulate your potential at all. It's not comparable to the challenges in real life."

Yang An agreed without hesitation: "In that case, please ask Brother Xiangliu to find a place."