Reversing the Milky Way

Just then, one of the people present suddenly spoke up: "Thank you for your kindness, Fourth Princess. However, my Starfall Pavilion has strict rules that even in the struggle for the throne, my Starfall Pavilion cannot participate."

The speaker was Gu Xinglan.

"Sect Master Gu is too kind. Of course, who on this continent doesn't know the power of the Starfall Pavilion? However, once Sect Master Gu opens his Heavenly Vein, if he doesn't mind, I will naturally help him break through to the Tonghai Realm."

"Then I thank the Fourth Princess in advance."

"Alright, now that this matter has been settled, there's no need for further discussion." With that, Bai Muxuan immediately stood up, picked up a cup of spirit wine, and raised it to everyone in front of him. Upon seeing this, everyone else also stood up and responded in the same manner.

“In that case, the rest is to take advantage of this banquet to find some skilled rogue cultivators.” After saying that, Xia Qinglian looked at the projection bead that was projecting the scene outside the venue.

Outside the main hall, Bai Cheng sat at a stone table, gazing at the wine cauldron in the center. During this time, many cultivators had begun to try condensing the wine, and many had already discerned the black-clad man's method. The most important factor wasn't the power of the spiritual energy used in the attack, but rather the attributes of the spiritual energy mixed in during the condensation process.

Most of the people present possessed a single-attribute spiritual energy constitution, which could only sustain the mechanism for a few seconds. Only by combining two types of spiritual energy could the mechanism's opening time be significantly extended. The more spiritual energy attributes were combined, the longer the mechanism could remain open. The man in black, seemingly condensing only a small amount of spiritual energy, had in fact condensed three different attribute spiritual energies.

Bai Cheng also saw this, but he could only manifest one kind of spiritual power, and his current level was not enough to project the spiritual power within his body such a long distance.

As the cultivators at his table began to try it, they all ladled out a considerable amount of spiritual wine from the cauldron in the middle. However, most people only ladled out half a cup of spiritual wine, while only a few ladled out a full cup. And the only person at the table who could fill two cups like the man in black before was him.

As time slowly passed, Bai Cheng was soon the only one left at his table who hadn't started trying.

"Hahaha, you're the only one missing, kid. Why aren't you making your move yet? How about giving me your chance instead?!"

A cultivator glanced at Bai Cheng with a mocking look. He knew that Bai Cheng, at his current level, couldn't possibly unleash spiritual power for a long-range attack. Bai Cheng, however, remained calm after hearing this. He had already devised a feasible method in his mind, though he wasn't sure if it would be against the rules.

Although he can't release his spiritual power that far now, he can use a weapon as a medium to infuse his spiritual power into it and then touch the weapon to the cauldron in the center of the stone table. However, he doesn't know if he can succeed in doing so, and even if he does, he doesn't know if it violates the rules.

So Bai Cheng was holding a spoon in one hand while staring intently at the cauldron in the center of the table.

Seeing this, everyone started to laugh at Bai Cheng.

"Hehe, in my opinion, this kid probably won't get to drink this spirit wine today."

"Haha, not bad. I think you should hurry up and go downstairs after you finish eating. There are still a lot of people queuing up behind you."

"That's right. Since you're just wasting your time here anyway, you might as well stop making a fool of yourself."

After the man finished speaking, many of the cultivators present burst into laughter.

In contrast, Bai Cheng did not take his words to heart.

Immediately afterwards, the man patted his round belly with satisfaction and said, "Fellow Daoists, I shall take my leave now."

After saying that, the man stood up, laughing loudly, and walked out of the Bai residence.

After he left, the guards of the Bai residence led the new cultivators to the spot where he had been sitting. At the same time, the maids began to clear away the empty plates, and soon new dishes were served.

As time passed, some of the cultivators present began to leave one after another, and new cultivators took their place.

Just as Bai Cheng was still in a daze, a voice rang out behind him.

"Young master, in order to prevent some people from standing in their seats and not leaving, we have a rule here that each person cannot stay in their seat for more than one hour."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng felt a surge of anxiety.

'Has two hours already passed? Time really flies.'

Bai Cheng took a deep breath, then slowly raised the iron ladle he was holding. He closed his eyes, mobilized all his spiritual energy, and gathered it into the ladle. As the ladle emitted golden arcs of electricity, the cultivators sitting beside him noticed his action and turned to look at him.

The man in black beside Bai Cheng was startled, his eyes sharp as he looked at Bai Cheng as if he had noticed something. Bai Cheng, on the other hand, focused his spiritual energy on the iron ladle and then looked intently at the cauldron in the center of the stone table.

'That man in black used more than one type of spiritual power, while I can only use one right now. I don't know if I can open the mechanism, but judging from the previous demonstration, as long as I touch the surface of the cauldron with my own spiritual power, the mechanism should open. It has nothing to do with the amount of spiritual power. Since the Bai family patriarch said he would drink with everyone, that means everyone should be able to drink; it's just a matter of how much.'

After much deliberation, Bai Cheng suddenly threw the spoon in his hand into the cauldron in the middle.

Meanwhile, many people around were watching this scene, and many of them were waiting for Bai Cheng to make a fool of himself. They did not believe that Bai Cheng could activate the mechanism hole in the middle of the cauldron.

And so, before everyone's eyes, the spoon, wreathed in golden arcs of electricity, struck the cauldron in the center of the stone table, producing a crisp sound that rang in everyone's ears. As the golden arcs of electricity faded, the patterns on the surface of the cauldron quickly lit up.

Upon seeing this, the expressions of the others also became serious.

"This kid?! He actually used this method to touch the cauldron in the middle of the stone table?!"

Soon, under everyone's watchful eyes, the patterns on the surface of the cauldron rapidly converged into a single dot—a sign that the mechanism was about to open. Bai Cheng, still in the motion of tossing the spoon, saw this and quickly tried to pick up his wine cup. However, just as he reached for it, he realized he couldn't reach the cauldron in the center of the table. In desperation, he grabbed his large eating bowl and forcefully pushed it onto the stone table, placing it in the center.

At that moment, the mechanism on the surface of the cauldron opened, and the flowing spirit wine was poured into the bowl below.

Bai Cheng's eyes lit up when he saw this.

"Great! It actually works!"

Meanwhile, the onlookers around gasped in amazement, while some whispered disdain.

"Damn, what kind of luck does this kid have?!"

"With such cultivation level, he can actually open the mechanism hole?!"

"Don't worry, in my opinion, this mechanism will close soon."

As the surrounding people began to gossip and discuss, time passed second by second, but the mechanism showed no sign of closing. As the rich spiritual wine continued to flow out, Bai Cheng's large bowl for eating was already more than half submerged.

At this point, the expressions of the other onlookers also grew increasingly grim.

"This! How is this possible?! This wine cup can only hold a maximum of four ounces of spirit wine, and it has clearly overflowed that limit, yet the mechanism shows no sign of stopping!"

At this moment, the man in black was also looking at the cauldron in the center of the stone table with great interest. As time passed, the mechanism slowly closed after continuously flowing out spiritual wine and filling Bai Cheng's bowl.

At this moment, Bai Cheng's bowl was almost full, and the rich spiritual energy emanating from it emitted a visible halo that continuously spread along with the aroma of the wine. Upon witnessing this scene, many of the other cultivators had bloodshot eyes. They stared at Bai Cheng with ferocious expressions, their resentment seemingly ready to explode at any moment. If looks could kill, Bai Cheng would have been killed countless times by now.

Bai Cheng looked around at the situation, his expression becoming extremely solemn. He hadn't expected his spiritual power to hold so much spirit wine; his original thought was that he would only be able to hold a little, but he hadn't expected to hold so much. Now it seemed that Bai Cheng holding so much spirit wine made many people feel uncomfortable, because most of them had only held about half a cup, which was about two ounces, while Bai Cheng's bowl looked to be more than a pound.

However, Bai Cheng now faces a major problem: how to retrieve the bowl from the center of the stone table, as his current spiritual energy is insufficient to activate his physical body. Just then, a voice suddenly rang out from the crowd of onlookers.

"Impossible! This kid definitely cheated! Few of us can fill a cup with spirit wine, but this kid filled a whole bowl, and he's not even at the Qi Condensation stage. Who would believe this if word got out?!"

As soon as the man spoke, the surrounding crowd immediately responded.

“That’s right. Logically speaking, this kid shouldn’t even have a seat, but he’s sitting here. This is clearly the Bai family protecting him. He must have tampered with the wine when it was being served! Besides, the rules don’t explicitly state that you can use external objects to help you.”

As soon as these words were spoken, many cultivators echoed them.

"That's right!..."

Upon seeing this scene, Bai Cheng was somewhat alarmed, but he wasn't too worried. He was seated at the table by Bai Fengze, and this was a banquet hosted by the Bai family. The Bai family had the final say, and given his current status as a disciple of the Bai family, attending a banquet within the Bai family shouldn't be a big deal.

Just then, the Bai family maid, who had been observing the situation, suddenly spoke up as if she had received some instruction: "Everyone, this person was invited to this banquet by our Bai family, and his actions are perfectly proper. As for cheating, that's utter nonsense. If he had tampered with anything, all of you cultivators present should have noticed. Therefore, this young friend did not cheat. As for using external objects, they were merely tools to transfer his spiritual power."

Upon hearing this, the surrounding discussions ceased abruptly, a situation that Bai Cheng witnessed firsthand.

At this moment, inside the banquet hall, everyone was discussing the scene displayed above the projection beads.

"So, he's the Bai Cheng you were talking about?"

Bai Muxuan's eyes were fixed on Bai Cheng on the screen, the same maid he had just spoken to via telepathy.

Bai Muwan stepped forward and said, "That's right, Grandpa, he's the person that Uncle took in outside."

Upon hearing this, everyone present looked somewhat surprised.

Zhou Yunshen: "Mu Wan, I remember your uncle disappeared twenty years ago, didn't he?"

Bai Zhentian: "Sect Leader Zhou, my elder brother returned to the clan last year, but very few people know about it."

Zhou Yunshen: "What? Is that so? Could it be related to what happened in Yujia Village last year?"

Bai Muxuan nodded: "That's right. I only learned about this after I came out of seclusion. I wanted to take this opportunity to announce it today."

Yan Wuhen: "But why didn't I see Fellow Daoist Chuanhai at the banquet today?"

Bai Muxuan: "Although Chuan Hai has been found, for some reason his cultivation level has dropped severely. He is currently recovering in a secret room in the Bai family ancestral hall, and it is unknown when he will be able to recover his cultivation level."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Bai Muxuan in surprise. Immediately afterwards, various expressions of condolence followed, and major forces also expressed their concern.

Xu Yuanshan: "But speaking of which, this person named Bai Cheng seems familiar, doesn't he?"

Xu Lie whispered in his ear, "Father, this is the man who defeated Qin Ming in last year's Wuling Town competition."

Xu Yuanshan frowned slightly and looked towards the Qin family among the guests. At this moment, Qin Ming was sitting next to Qin Jiuyang.

"Speaking of Qin Ming, if I remember correctly, he is already eighteen years old this year, right? Judging from his appearance, he seems to be about to break through to the Qi Condensation Realm. I wonder what secret method the Qin family used to force an eighteen-year-old boy to step into the Qi Condensation Realm."

After speaking, Xu Yuanshan's gaze towards Qin Ming revealed a hint of seriousness.

At this moment, Bai Cheng, who was sitting at an outer table, was staring intently at the center of the stone table. Just as he was thinking about how to take the bowl back from the middle of the table, the man in black next to him suddenly stretched out two fingers and then slowly slid Bai Cheng's bowl in front of him.