Inside the Rising Sun Palace, the ambiance was quite lively and pretty with grand decorations hanging around, and everything just seemed to sparkle, just like the noble and luxurious clothes the people inside were wearing.
It wouldn't be a lie to say that every Annual Rising Sun Convention was the grandest event. Even a wedding in any empire wouldn't attract such a large crowd or involve so many important people.
All the prodigal geniuses were gathered together as well, making new 'useful' friends and trying to make alliances or woo the beauties they had kept an eye on.
Of course, this included wooing Lily and Yuria, who was garnering so much attention, most of the youngsters were crowded around these two while ignoring the other noble beauties, much to their anger.
The other women couldn't stomach watching these two girls getting all the attention from the men and could only look on with green faces.
Lily was literally wishing that she could just fly out of here and escape from this pretty cage. She was tired of these noblemen and geniuses trying to court her when she already had someone.
But Olivia Rong was not giving her any break and was forcibly keeping her close and showing her off to everyone as if she was some treasure that had yet to be obtained by anyone.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Suddenly, the young men who were busy trying to talk to Lily quickly stepped aside as a tall and handsome man dressed in grand blue robes with dragon embroidery stepped forward. His aura was boundless, his eyes seemingly perceptive of everything, though his expression seemed as calm as water.
The reason everybody made way for him and even put on their best expressions and smiles was that this man was none other than the strongest man on the continent, the Xeton Emperor, and the one person Lily was afraid of the most.
She knew this man was the one who indirectly killed her father and even the one trying to take away her future.
Olivia Rong immediately put on her best smile as she subtly bowed and greeted, "Greetings, Xeton Emperor. It's a pleasure to have you grace us with your presence."
Olivia pressed Lily's back, and Lily decided to keep up pretenses lest she makes him suspicious. And so she gave him a courteous bow and greeted him with a smile, "Lily is honored to meet Your Majesty here."
Ruthren subtly smiled as he looked at Lily with a fixed gaze and said in a regal tone, "It has not been so long since the last time I saw you, but it seems like the gods have blessed you with a beauty that seems to shine more and more with the passing of each day. Even your cultivation has been on a sharp rise to the point I feel the geniuses from my empire would feel ashamed. I should tell them to learn from you as an example, and this even includes my own son, of course," Despite his tone sounding like a senior admiring a junior, it did nothing to reveal the true astonishment he had regarding Lily's rapid rise in cultivation over the past few months.
Just a year or more ago, she was only at the Spirit Ethereal Realm, and now she was at the Heaven Realm!
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})This made him again think about her special and unique constitution as he rubbed his fingers behind his back in a slightly impatient manner.
"Your Majesty praises Lily too much. I am still nowhere near the level I want to be," Lily said in a low polite voice, though it was indeed true that she still felt that she had a long way to go to feel truly satisfied.
"As modest as ever, but that is why you are worthy of the title, 'Celestial Princess'...a fairy that descended straight from the world of gods. I can only imagine how hard it must have been for you to learn about how that nefarious traitor once served you. Who knows what all he must have done to try and sabotage your empire. Maybe it is the will of the heavens he left your empire soon instead of lingering around..."
Even though the Xeton Emperor maintained his calm tone, Lily could feel a hidden force behind his voice that made her feel like her heart might tremble. However, her will didn't falter as she answered back with a soft nod, "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. But Lily has long since forgotten about those things and only looks forward to the future."
The Xeton Emperor's narrowed his eyes as he nodded with a smile of admiration, "As expected of the Celestial Princess. Now, let's give her some space to mingle with the young people here, Empress. I am going to make the announcement after all," Ruthren said with a certain glint in his eyes as Olivia's eyes shone with a veiled glint as she nodded with a smile, "Of course. Lily, be good, okay? I will be over there just in case you need me."
Olivia was acting like a gentle stepmother so that everybody could see how nice she was to Lily despite her not being her own daughter. It was quite a big deal when someone of her status was treating someone of not her own blood like a daughter.
Lily nodded with a smile, but inwardly she felt suspicious about what kind of announcement Ruthren was planning to make. For some reason, she felt that his announcement might not mean anything good in the end.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"}) The moment the two left, the young men again crowded around Lily.
However, unlike Lily, Yuria was busy playing pranks on these men, trying to woo her without letting them know it was her. These pranks involved making their pants slide down in front of everyone, making them quickly leave the spot with embarrassed faces.
Yuria then saw how Lily was almost getting suffocated and decided to help out her fellow sister.
"Did you know that when I was born, a monk once prophesied that I would one day marry a fairy with beauty that could put the stars and moon to shame? He also said I would become a genius who would one day soar through the heavens and ride atop dragons. And indeed, I became the unrivaled genius of the Gale Empire," A young man looking around 20 years old with handsome and sharp looks said with a supercilious smile as he bragged before Lily to impress her.
He was Luthan Mu, the top genius and ranked number one in the Soaring Sky Rankings of the Gale Empire. Everyone or most of the people in the Gale Empire knew him, and he was even famous in the other empires as well to the point even Lily had heard about him.
But right now, she was increasingly feeling suffocated by his presence and words instead of feeling impressed.
If Luthan had an inkling of Lily's true cultivation, he would never dare to brag before her like this. In fact, he would hide his head in a hole out of feeling ashamed.
However, right when Luthan was busy trying to impress Lily, suddenly he noticed something sliding down his legs and also felt so many gazes landing on him at the same time.
He felt a bad feeling as he looked down only to have his eyes widen upon seeing that his pants fell down, showing only his underwear!
"AAAH!!"
