Yan Ling and Liang Chen split up, Yan Ling switching room, now occupying the one to the right of Liang Chen's, rather than the one to his left. Liang Chen returned to his own room, sitting on the bed that no longer had any of its sheets. He closed his eyes again and continued observing the entire castle area, but this time he changed it up a little.
Rather than observing everyone using the electricity in their bodies, something that required all of his focus as it observed everyone, he instead spread out an incredibly weak version of his poison, dusting the entire castle area with it. This was similar to what he had done when he spied on Liu Daning and his men, but slightly different.
Back then, he used the poison as his eyes, allowing him to see everything that happened in the mansion. But this time, he only spread it out and kept a faint connection with it. The connection was too weak to allow him to see everything that was going on around the poison, but it was enough to let him feel the approximate strength of everyone who came in contact with it.
Like this, he would know the moment someone new entered the castle area, what their strength was, and the general direction of their movements. It still took a toll on his mind and Qi, but far less than the version he used against Liu Daning did, so with a bit of mental straining, he could keep it active while moving.
The night slowly passed, Liang Chen keeping a close watch on everything. He thought that Yan Ling was sleeping, but he noticed that whenever he noticed some strange movements, Yan Ling also reacted to them, so it seemed like she had her own way of keeping watch over the castle area and make sure that no one snuck up on the Song siblings.
Morning arrived without incident, a servant cautiously knocking on Liang Chen's door to notify him that breakfast would soon be served. After receiving a response from Liang Chen, four female servants entered the room, keeping their heads respectfully lowered. They carried a robe made from deep blue silk, so it seemed like they had received an order to help Liang Chen get dressed. They stepped forward to carry out their orders, but Liang Chen waved them away.
"No need to help me, I can dress myself, you can return."
The four females quickly gave a respectful bow and then left the room, heaving what they believed to be stealthy sighs of relief. Liang Chen looked at the silken robe, which was surprisingly cool to the touch. Other than the blue silk that it was made of, there were golden threads embroidered into it, forming the image of several ferocious shark-like leviathans, the insignia of the Bai clan.
Liang Chen swiftly unrobed and put on the new robe. It was a bit too large for him, but it automatically shrunk after he put it on, turning into a size that fit his body perfectly. He already looked like a handsome scholar, but once he put on the blue and golden robe, his charm was brought out even more. Thanks to his somewhat sharp and upwards angled eyebrows, he now took on a more princely air, brought out even further by the calm look in his eyes.
He walked to the side of the room and inspected himself in the large square crystal mirror that adorned the wall. After giving a slight nod, he turned around and left the room, meeting up with the already waiting Yan Ling. Since he had been able to tell that she was using some technique to observe the entire castle area, she too of course had been able to tell that he did so. Because of this, she hadn't bothered to knock, as she knew that Liang Chen likely already knew that she was waiting outside his room.
Yan Ling had also been given a blue and golden silk robe, just like Liang Chen. Hers was a bit tighter than his, emphasizing her slim waist and curved hips, as well as doing its best to hide her somewhat pitiable chest. While Liang Chen was looking at Yan Ling, she was sweeping him up and down with her gaze, giving a slight nod.
"So even a brute like you can be made up to look like a decent person with the right clothing, how magical."
Liang Chen didn't give her a proper response, clicking his tongue and flicking her forehead before she had the time to react. He then nodded in the direction of the exit, starting to walk as he ignored her standard complaints about how he was using his superior cultivation to bully her.
Standing outside the building and waiting for them was the somewhat chubby and brown-haired Steward Zhan. He hurriedly bowed when he saw Liang Chen and Yan Ling, quickly beckoning towards the large oval-shaped building they had entered the day before.
"Please follow me, breakfast is ready for the Young Masters."
The two followed Steward Zhan, once again entering the oval-shaped building and following the carpet to the circular hall that held the long table. The 11 Song siblings were respectfully standing at the side of the table, along with several servants clad in black uniforms. Everyone bowed when Liang Chen and Yan Ling entered the room, the slim and blue-haired Song Bowen beckoning towards the two seats of honor, one on each end of the table.
"Please take a seat, our chefs have prepared a wonderful breakfast for you."
Liang Chen sat down in one of the seats of honor, but Yan Ling only glanced at the other spot for a short second before turning away and sitting down on the chair next to Liang Chen's. Why would she sit so far away when the only person here she could talk freely with was Liang Chen?
The Song siblings quickly adjusted, Song Bowen giving a few quiet orders to his siblings. Song Bowen and the two oldest sisters, a blonde hair and curvaceous woman named Song Hanying, and the somewhat slimmer but more graceful blue-haired Song Hanxue, sitting down on the seats closest to Liang Chen and Yan Ling.
The three other brothers and the five other girls weren't as thick-skinned as Song Bowen and the elder sisters, so they flushed red when they looked at Liang Chen and Yan Ling, remembering the events of the previous night. Song Bowen made sure to avoid mentioning the previous night, flattering Liang Chen and Yan Ling while the first course of the breakfast, a creamy soup, was being served.
"You must forgive my bad manners, I completely forgot to thank you for coming to protect us. With your strength, I am certain that no assassins will be able to harm us. I am even somewhat hoping that some will show up, just so that they can learn how foolish it was of them to stand against you. Who knows, you might even get to teach our soldiers and captains a thing or two by having them join you in battle."
Song Bowen chuckled lightly, wearing a flattering smile in hopes of pleasing Liang Chen and Yan Ling. But Liang Chen wasn't used to flattery and Yan Ling didn't like it, so neither of them reacted as he hoped, both of them only giving a lukewarm response. Yan Ling slowly tasted the soup, sweeping the soldiers who guarded the room with a quick glance, before tilting her head at Song Bowen.
"What's the strength of your soldiers and captains like?"
This was the first time Yan Ling had taken the lead in starting a conversation, pleasing Song Bowen. He quickly answered, raising his head and somewhat puffing out his chest in pride.
"Our soldiers are between the middle stage of the Mortal Tower realm and the early stage of the Houtian Tower realm. All our captains have reached the early stage of the Xiantian tower realm, with the generals having reached the middle stage."
The soldiers and captains were put through a tough training regime, which was what allowed the nation to have such a strong army. In other nations, captains might only have reached the Houtian Tower realm, with many of their soldiers not even having started cultivation. But faced with Song Bowen's prideful expression, Yan Ling only gave a dismissive wave of their hand, pointing at Liang Chen with her thumb.
"In that case, they should just stay away from the battles. Anyone below the Heaven's Gate realm, unless they have some special means like Little Freak here, are useless in battles against those who have entered the Heaven's gate realm."
Her words quickly deflated Song Bowen, but she didn't say them to be rude. Each new cultivation realm was far stronger than the previous one, so only people with excellent strength and various techniques could fight those in a higher cultivation realm. But how could the soldiers and captains of a mere nation like this have access to such techniques?
Yan Ling was confident that if they were to face a single cultivator at the early stage of the Heaven's Gat realm, that cultivator would be able to at least drag around 25% of the nation's army with him to the grave. Such was the truth of cultivation, anyone at a lower realm was close to being an ant.
This fact was the main factor behind her giving Liang Chen the name Little Freak, as only a true freak could kill people at a cultivation realm much higher than his own. After Song Bowen deflated from hearing the truth, Yan Ling continued to press on, her gaze sweeping over the entire hall, as if she could see through the walls and look upon the other buildings that surrounded them.
"And also, do you have any idea how many people might die if we were to start fighting here? The entire castle area might be turned into ruins if Little Freak starts going wild, most if not all of the servants and soldiers would die at that point. It would be far better if no assassins showed up and we could complete this mission quietly."
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Yan Ling enjoyed playing around and could even be called selfish, but she still detested dragging other innocents who couldn't protect themselves into her battles. Song Bowen knew when to pull back, so he quickly put on a humbled expression and gave Yan Ling a deep nod.
"It seems like I grossly underestimated not only the strength of the possible assassins, but even yours. Please forgive me, let us hope we can avoid any battles. But if it should come to blows, I will make sure that we all engrave your tremendous strength into our minds, so that we have a goal to strive towards."
He acted humble, but he didn't forget to throw in some flattery to please the two. Yan Ling merely gave a nonchalant nod of her head, not bothering too much with Song Bowen's honeyed words.
The first course was quickly finished and cleaned away, the second dish arriving, the servants carefully placing down the plates. The second dish was a light fish dish which was quickly devoured, replaced by the third dish, a small noddle dish. As the servants placed down the plates, Yan Ling glanced at them, before once again turning towards Song Bowen, who was desperately trying to come up with conversation topics that could interest her.
"Your servants, they seem to be afraid of something. Has anything happened?"
Some of the servants were able to hide it, but others were a bit pale, while others were sweating or trembling. It wasn't that bad with the servants that were handing the food to Yan Ling, but she noticed that the servants who were bringing food to Liang Chen were having a harder time hiding it.
Song Bowen's eyes flashed with a quick light, his eyebrow ticking up slightly without him noticing it. He quickly waved the servants away, putting on an apologetic expression, his eyes landing on Liang Chen.
"You must forgive them, they rarely get to interact with people of your level. And while they may not be able to grasp just how mighty your esteemed sect is, they are quite familiar with the Mortal Titan list. And since this Young Master was given several honorable titles and was even given an honorary mention, they are rather awed at his presence."
Liang Chen's honorary mention on the Mortal Titan list, the ranking list of the 100 strongest Heaven's Gate cultivators on this planet, didn't mean much in the Storm Wolf sect, which had several thousand cultivators of this level. But to normal people who weren't part of any of the large sects, this honorary mention was enough to instantly propel Liang Chen to fame, and even some infamy because of his titles and deeds.
Yan Ling seemed to only just now remember about the honorary mention, turning towards Liang Chen with an expression that was a mixture between smugness and teasing, chuckling lightly.
"Right, that was a thing wasn't it? What were your titles again? I believe it was Scourge King, Bloody Lightning, and Blood Tide? Rather fitting titles for a Little Freak like you, truly appropriate."
Faced with Yan Ling's expression, as well as her mention of his titles, which could only be called embarrassing, Liang Chen could only click his tongue.
"Tch, so even you got to hear about it."
Knowing Yan Ling's personality, he was certain that she was never going to let him hear the end of it. And just like he thought, Yan Ling responded by laughing even louder, her expression growing even smugger.
"Nihihi, don't think I'll let you live it down."
She couldn't beat him in strength just yet, but at least she hadn't been given such embarrassing titles that made him seem like a cruel villain. The two continued to chat, occasionally responding to Song Bowen or one of the elder sisters.
The Song siblings quickly realized that Liang Chen and Yan Ling weren't too interested in the topics they brought out, so when the ninth course was brought out, Song Bowen quickly introduced it, hoping that it would at least produce a spark of interest.
"Ah, desserts are arriving. This is the specialty of our chefs, a special type of pudding made using the milk from the Icesoul Bison's that only live here, I hope it pleases you."
The pudding was shaped like a star and was light yellow in color, the faint scent of lemons and vanilla hanging around it. The Song siblings grabbed their spoons and put some of the silky soft pudding on it, swiftly bringing it to their mouths, before they were suddenly interrupted by Liang Chen.
"I wouldn't eat it if I were you, it's poisoned."
Liang Chen held up the plate, closely observing the pudding that was jiggling on it. The sensation was somewhat faint, but he could clearly feel that there was poison inside all the puddings. The Song siblings lowered their spoons, Song Bowen finding it a bit hard to believe it, tilting his head.
"Poisoned, are you sure?"
Liang Chen hadn't even tasted the pudding, so how could he know that there was poison in it? But Yan Ling was keenly aware that Liang Chen was very sensitive to poison, so she immediately dropped her spoon, her eyes narrowing.
"Do you know who poisoned it?"
It seemed like they had been a bit too casual, forgetting to take into account that the assassins wouldn't necessarily be people with high cultivation. Liang Chen closed his eyes, strengthening the connection he had with the poison that he had spread around the entire castle area, turning it into eyes for him.
He swiftly found a slim man clad in a gray chefs uniform, the man's fingers carried the sensation of poison, so he should have been the one who poisoned the dessert. But the man was already dead, purple puss oozing out from his seven orifices. Liang Chen gave the rest of the castle area a quick sweep, checking every room, ignoring the pain that appeared in his head. But he didn't find any other signs of poison, so he opened his eyes and shook his head, delivering the news.
"Too late, he's already killed himself. He must have ended his life right after poisoning the desserts."
Liang Chen took out some pills from his interspatial ring, swallowing them to quickly restore himself to peak condition. With this assassination attempt failing, another one might swiftly follow it, a more direct one.
Liang Chen's fears were quickly proven correct, several presences entering the castle area and coming into contact with the poison he was using to keep guard. Yan Ling also seemed to detect them, her face turning grave as she stood up.
"Congratulations, Song Bowen. The battle you wished for has arrived, and it seems like it's going to be a grand one. Evacuate everyone."