Dai He took Lin Mu to one of the side areas, that had a few tables set up. There were several guests sitting there, talking to each other. Lin Mu took a look and could tell that all of them seemed to have met each other recently took from their subtle behavior.
"Honored guests, please meet Daoist Mu Lin. This is also his first banquet as well as his first Tournament of the Guardian beasts." Dai He spoke after coming to stand between the tables
A good host would know which guests to introduce to who. After all, even if there were many guests invited that were all promising competitors, there were still difference in their status and belonging.
Thus one had to match them with similar guests, at least for the start. It wasn't obligatory that one must only talk to guests that were similar to them. This was simply so that the guests would find it comfortable to mingle.
For people who had never taken part in the tournament before, a gathering like this would be rather new and they might find it a bit awkward to talk to others. Thus the host had gathered them this way.
First they could get acquainted with each other, and then talk to the other guests. There were no restrictions after all.
"Greetings Daoist Mu Lin." Some of the people greeted freely.
"Hello." Some were a little shy but still greeted.
And then there were a few that simply didn't say anything and looked at him blankly.
Lin Mu didn't mind their actions and simply greeted them the same.
He cupped his hands and spoke, "greetings to you all too. I hope we all have fun today."
"Haha, we sure will." One of the men sitting on the table replied enthusiastically and stood up. "Please join us," he gestured to the empty spot on the table.
"I'll take that up then." Lin Mu said before puling the chair and sitting down while the host left to attend to the new guests.
Little Shrubby peeked his head out from below the table and looked at the people too. The sight of his head elicited a few reactions from the two women that were sitting on the table as well.
"AH~ Is brother Mu Lin a beast tamer too?" one of the women asked.
Lin Mu looked at her, finding her to be in her mid twenties appearance wise. But from her cultivation base, he was sure that she was at least a couple thousand years old.
'Third Tribulation Stage of the Immortal realm… Hmm, that seems to be the average for a lot of people here.' Lin Mu said having sensed the energy fluctuations in the palace.
While there were some strong cultivators here, the highest was still the fifth Tribulation Stage of the Immortal realm. Lin Mu didn't know if there were some hiding their power, or if they were simply not in attendance.
Despite that though, the number of strong people gathered here was rather huge. After all, these weren't the average immortals, but talented ones. All of them were able to fight those that were a stage above them at the very least.
For the time being though, Lin Mu focused on the woman that had spoken.
She was definitely beautiful and knew that too. Lin Mu could tell this from the hint of confidence she had on her face.
"Yes I am." Lin Mu nodded his head. "This is Little Shrubby, one of my tamed beasts." He didn't forget to introduce Little Shrubby either.
~meow~
Little Shrubby too responded before jumping up on the table.
"Aww! He's sweet and cute." The woman couldn't help but say, while the second woman looked on with an interested expression too.
"Ah! No wonder Daoist Mu Lin's cultivation base is so low." A new person spoke this time.
Lin Mu could feel a hint of arrogance in their voice and found it to be coming from the table next to them. There was a younger man gazing at them now.
"If you are a specialized beast tamer, no wonder you don't cultivate yourself that much." The man said with a calm face, but the intended insult within it was clear.
The others sitting at the table could sense it too and a few of them became irked.
Before Lin Mu could respond though, the second woman spoke up.
"Hah! There are different paths people take, Li Lao. People need to cultivate according to their compatibility."
"Ahaha! Ming Aolian, as peppy as ever." The man named Li Lao chuckled. "That might be so, but even the beast seems to be a little too weak, doesn't it? Look at it, its a kitten suitable for a woman's bosom. Hardly a man would keep something like this." He couldn't help but mock.
~GROWL~
Little Shrubby didn't take kindly to that, his fur flaring up as a low growl escaped his mouth.
"Aw! Look at the little kitten being angry. Still so cute." Li Lao only got more excited.
"Li Lao!" the two women exclaimed together.
Both of them were beast tamers and one of them was even specialized in it. To them, insulting one's tamed beasts was the same as insulting them. They couldn't take this calmly. It also seemed like they knew Li Lao from before and had some enmity too.
"What? I just said the truth." Li Lao didn't back down. "Look, that beast is even smaller than your tamed beasts. Can it even do anything? It doesn't even seem to be an immortal beast, its merely a spirit beast." He continued.
"That doesn't give you the right to act like this!" Ming Aolian responded.
~GROWL~
Little Shrubby was also getting more agitated, as his growl became louder. Not just that, but even his body seemed a bit bigger. People didn't notice this, or even if they did, they would think that it was just his fur puffing up more.
"I can't help if the truth hurts so much for you people." Li Lao said with a nonchalant attitude.
~CREAK~
The two women stood up from their seats, their chairs creaking against the floorboards.
"You!" they were just about to shout again when something happened.
~SHUA~
An aura suddenly spread around them. The ones that felt the aura, shivered unconsciously and soon felt goosebumps after a few moments.
This was felt by those that were sitting along with Lin Mu. But the ones that were on the table next to him, or more specifically where Li Lao were sitting felt something greater. To them, it was as if a great pressure was being applied to them and breathing became difficult.
Li Lao stopped speaking, or more accurately he couldn't speak due to the pressure he was feeling.
"This…" The man who had enthusiastically greeted Lin Mu was staring at him with a bewildered expression.
A Tyrannical Aura was radiating off Lin Mu's body, and could already be seen around him. The more it increased, the difficult it got for others. After a couple of seconds, they even found the flow of Qi becoming troubled.
"And here I thought this was going to be a calm banquet." Lin Mu muttered, his voice only heard by the ones near him.
He turned his head towards Li Lao, making the man shiver.
Lin Mu's expression was eerily calm and yet, the aura rolling off him was anything but that.
'This… this doesn't make sense…' Li Lao thought. 'His cultivation base is merely at the First Tribulation Stage of the Immortal realm. He's two stages below me!' he couldn't comprehended it.
"I think… I should correct Daoist Li Lao." Lin Mu spoke calmly, which only amplified the pressure that others felt. "I am indeed a Beast Tamer, but that is not my specialty." Lin Mu revealed.
By now the others on his table had grasped what Lin Mu was getting too.
"As for my cultivation… it is not focused on a single path." Lin Mu continued and took a step forward.
"But if I were to say, what I am the best at, it would be… Body cultivation." Lin Mu stated, as the Tyrannical Aura rushed over to Li Lao.
The man was drowned in the wave, and fell to the floor.
"You… You… you can't… You can't attack others like this!" one of the people sitting near Li Lao's spoke, apparently a friend.
"Attack? Did I even attack?" Lin Mu pointed to himself and asked the one's sitting at his table. "Have I even touched him yet?" he questioned.
~gulp~
The other's swallowed their saliva nervously.
"Of course not!" the man who had greeted Lin Mu enthusiastically said hurriedly. "I think Daoist Li Lao is simply too weak that he cannot even bear the aura of a fellow cultivator."
"Is that right?" Lin Mu raised a brow.
"Yes! Yes!" Ming Aolian and the other woman did the same while the rest of the tables nodded.
"Daoist Mu Lin has done nothing. It is Daoist Li Lao who has fallen on his own." They quickly accepted.
