Fantasy: Immortality Begins with Absorbing Demons

Chapter 342 The Middleman (Part 1)

At the banquet, upon seeing Han Yi raise his glass, Fang Chengqi also raised his glass with a gentle smile and drank it all in one gulp.

Afterwards, Fang Chengqi walked back and forth between the tables, offering toasts. Everyone raised their glasses in return, and with some outgoing people taking the initiative to chat about other interesting things, the dull atmosphere of the banquet eased a little.

A lively and outgoing person like this is indispensable at a dinner party, creating a lively atmosphere.

After a few rounds of drinks, Fang Chengqi returned to his seat. This was where the elite disciples of the Nine-Bend Academy were seated; Zhong Han, Yang Wei, and others were all here.

Meanwhile, the other tables began to chat amongst themselves.

"Brother Han, it's been a long time."

Sitting to Han Yi's left was none other than Sun Zheng, a disciple who had entered the academy at the same time as him.

Han Yi was quite impressed with this person, after all, only the rich would care about buying such expensive, beautiful but useless embroidered gold robes.

"Yes, Brother Sun, it's been a long time. How have you been lately?" he replied casually.

“Sigh, not good at all…” Sun Zheng sighed. “Before I joined the sect, I was proud of my family’s modest wealth, but now I’ve discovered that after cultivating true skills, that little bit of wealth is nothing at all, it’s a bottomless pit…”

Han Yi glanced at him, wondering what he had been through. His clothes were much simpler now, and he was no longer the showy person he had been when they first met.

"I exhausted my family's wealth just to barely break through to the first level of the True Skill... The thought that there are nine levels in the True Skill, and I have to break through to the fourth level within three years, or I will have to leave the inner courtyard... It's so difficult..." Sun Zheng raised his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp, his face full of bitterness.

"How are you, Brother Han?" he asked Han Yi.

"I've only just broken through... and it's almost emptied my savings." Han Yi sighed.

The two fell silent for a moment.

There were only six people at Han Yi's table. The two men opposite him didn't know each other and just kept drinking and eating in silence.

The two girls on my right were whispering to each other, I don't know what they were talking about.

The atmosphere at the dinner table, which had just started to liven up a bit, cooled down again.

"You're Han Yi?" a girl at the banquet suddenly asked.

She was about twenty-three or twenty-four years old, wearing a light white gauze dress. She had regular features and a graceful appearance. Her makeup was very light, but it was obviously carefully done, giving her a particularly refined look.

This woman's name was Sun Ruoqing. She had entered the sect a few years earlier than Han Yi and was at the fifth level of true skill, so she could barely be considered his senior sister.

Actually, at the beginning of the banquet, Sun Ruoqing and her girlfriends introduced themselves with great enthusiasm.

However, the other four people at the table were mostly ascetics like Han Yi, who focused on their cultivation and were not good at socializing. So they either kept their heads down, eating and drinking, or remained silent.

After getting a rebuff from her friend, Sun Ruoqing stopped speaking up.

"What, Senior Sister Sun, have you heard of me?" Han Yi put down his chopsticks and looked up at Sun Ruoqing.

"Of course." Sun Ruoqing covered her mouth and chuckled, intentionally or unintentionally moving closer to Han Yi. "Huang Rong and I are best friends, and I've heard her mention you. I heard you killed Long Shezi of the Green Robe Alliance, not bad, Junior Brother Han." Her voice was a little cloying, and a special fragrance wafted from her.

Han Yi frowned slightly and shifted his body almost imperceptibly.

"Huang Rong?" He smiled. "It's just a rumor, a coincidence, don't take it seriously."

“I don’t think it’s just a rumor.” Sun Ruoqing seemed to have additional intelligence channels. “I also have several friends in the Demon Hunting Association who hold important positions. Before Long Shezi died, I asked around and he only fought against your team.”

She seemed quite interested in Han Yi and moved closer: "The other two in your team... I'm not saying this to be mean, but they really don't have the ability. After thinking about it, only Junior Brother Han has the skill to beat Long Shezi to the point of near death..."

"Well, maybe Long Shezi was just unlucky and ran into a righteous expert in the wild again." Han Yi ignored her and kept stuffing meat into his mouth. This Fang Chengqi, as expected of a member of the Fang family, is very wealthy. Even the ingredients used for the banquet at Tianxiang Tower are top-quality demon beast meat.

And it continued uninterrupted, continuously being poured onto the table.

Han Yi didn't stand on ceremony. Like a mouse that had just entered a rice jar, he stuffed the freshly served food and wine into his mouth while it was still hot.

The Heaven-Mending Technique requires this kind of high-quality, blood-nourishing food to accelerate progress.

He had a vague feeling that if the Heaven-Mending Technique could advance to the next stage, it would have a very strong positive effect on his body.

"I see..." Sun Ruoqing nodded thoughtfully, as if she had overheard the conversation between Han Yi and Sun Zheng earlier. "It seems that Junior Brother Han is also troubled by the lack of cultivation resources."

"Who isn't like that?" Han Yi retorted.

“That’s true. The further you progress in true cultivation, the more resources you need. Often, you expend a lot of resources but gain nothing.” Sun Ruoqing nodded in agreement. “Junior Brother Han, I remember your cultivation level… before you entered the sect, you were a Second-Level Martial Master?”

"good."

"Hmm, have you mastered the first level of the true skill?"

"It just so happens that I just broke through."

"Hmm, not bad." Sun Ruoqing raised an eyebrow. "You should have entered in the last batch... that means you've been in the beginner's class for half a year. To have mastered the first level in half a year is not fast or slow, which is considered above average. Your potential is quite good."

"Senior sister, thank you."

“Junior Brother Han, if I remember correctly, you came from Pingzhou to escape the demonic calamity. You were all alone and had no family ties.”

"Yes."

“Pingzhou… I’ve been there before. The scenery is nice, and the landscape and environment are well-preserved. But the martial arts philosophy there… I can’t say I’m impressed.” Sun Ruoqing looked at Han Yi with a smile. “Junior Brother Han, since you became a martial arts master in Pingzhou, you must have been a dual-skilled martial arts master before you entered the sect.”

"You've mastered the first level of true skill, but if you want to progress to the second, third, and so on... you'll likely have to dissipate your power. Dissipating power will damage your body's foundation... Have you thought about what to do next?"

Han Yi was somewhat surprised.

It's not surprising that Senior Sister Sun Ruoqing knows his name; perhaps she got the information from Huang Rong.

But many things that followed, such as his place of origin, his experiences before entering the school, his family situation, etc., would not have been mentioned so readily unless he had deliberately inquired about them and kept them in mind.

This immediately gave him a strange sense of closeness.