The Quest for Immortality

While Mo Hua was surreptitiously assessing Shang Che, Shang Che didn’t spare Mo Hua a single glance.

This was the Gu Family’s family banquet, with many disciples and quite a few children present.

Shang Che, holding a high position and significant power, naturally would not inquire about each and every one.

He was whispering something to the Gu Family Master by his side.

The Gu Family Master, named Gu Shouyan, looked somewhat older, with thick eyebrows and sharp eyes, and his expression was very strong and stubborn.

He once served as the Court Leader of the Taoist Court within the Qianxue State Boundary, possessing great power and formidable prestige.

Shang Che and Gu Shouyan, the two Family Masters, wore solemn expressions, and it was unclear what they were discussing.

Because a Sound Isolation Formation was employed, Mo Hua could not hear them.

Not only around the high platform where the two Family Masters were seated but even at the banquet table where he was, there were at least Third Grade Sound Isolation Formations set up.

These formations separated the Gu Family’s direct lineage, Elders, and Honored Guests from the ordinary disciples outside.

Mo Hua couldn’t hear the noise outside.

The outside disciples couldn’t hear what these Elders were discussing either.

Enjoying the company of clan members while also not disturbing each other.

Mo Hua surveyed the other attendees and noticed that in addition to Gu Family cultivators, there were also many unfamiliar faces.

These cultivators, one and all with haughty faces and privileged bearings, also had extraordinary cultivation levels.

They were likely the ”Honored Guests” of the Gu Family, and most were probably Elders of the Shangguan Family.

They were seated according to their status and cultivation levels, organized in an orderly manner.

Mo Hua scanned the seating arrangement from top to bottom, muttering to himself.

The greater the family, the more customs mattered; what seemed to be a common family feast had many intricacies in seating arrangements, not allowing for the slightest negligence.

With the family Patriarch absent, the highest seats naturally belonged to the two Family Masters.

Below them were the Powerful Elders with deep cultivation.

Next were the core disciples of the direct lineage, or in other words, the candidates for the next Family Master.

Afterward, based on bloodline, status, cultivation, and so forth, seats were arranged sequentially, probably also considering the relationships among the guests.

Those with good relations would be seated together to ensure both hosts and guests enjoyed the banquet to the fullest.

Those with feuds were seated apart to prevent trouble from arising.

Mo Hua spotted Shangguan Yi.

Shangguan Yi was seated in an upstream position, close to the Family Masters, because he was from the direct lineage of the Shangguan Family and also a candidate for the next Family Master.

On the Gu Family side, Elder Gu Hong who often shared sweets with Mo Hua also occupied an upper seat.

As a direct lineage Elder, she had a high status, venerable experience, and her cultivation level was also quite remarkable.

Mo Hua glanced down further and saw Gu Changhuai.

Uncle Gu sat in a middle upstream position.

Although he was from the direct lineage, his parents had passed away early, and he had no support within the clan. Even though his talents were good, his character was too aloof, thus his seat was only slightly above average.

However, this was still quite good.

There were many not as fortunate as him.

For example, Mo Hua himself.

Mo Hua looked down and realized his own seat was in a middle downstream position.

This was quite normal.

After all, he was here to scrounge a meal.

Being a Loose Cultivator with no power, no backing, and a substandard Spiritual Root, he had not a sliver of kinship with the Gu Family, and couldn’t connect even if he tried.

To have a seat at such a family banquet was already good fortune; one could not be choosy.

But...

Mo Hua turned his head to glance at Yu Er and Aunt Wan beside him, his brows slightly furrowed.

His attendance at the family banquet was, on one hand, due to his decent relationship with the Gu Family, but most importantly, it was probably because of Aunt Wan and Yu Er’s influence.

But why, in such an important family banquet, were Aunt Wan and Yu Er’s seats only slightly above average in quality?

Something was amiss here.

Aunt Wan was from the Wenren Family’s direct lineage and was the wife of Uncle Shangguan Yi, married through a proper and honored match.

And Yu Er was the direct descendant and grandson of the Shangguan Family Master.

In such a family banquet, their seating so far to the rear was quite curious...

Mo Hua turned his head to look around again.

Yu Er, being young, knew nothing of the clan’s status distinctions and the banquet’s seating specifics, merely holding his chopsticks with excitement, eagerly waiting for the feast to begin.

Aunt Wan probably understood the situation, but her eyes were filled only with her child.

As long as Yu Er could be safe and happy by her side, she did not mind the rankings and seatings of the family.

Mo Hua frowned in thought, when suddenly his Divine Sense stirred, detecting several gazes.

”Is someone watching me?”

Mo Hua looked back discreetly and realised it was not so.

These gazes were all directed towards Aunt Wan and Yu Er beside him.

One of those gazes belonged to Shangguan Yi.

Shangguan Yi, despite sitting at an upper seat, was obviously somewhat preoccupied, intermittently glancing downward, gazing at his beloved wife and son, his eyes filled with longing and a touch of melancholy.

For a grown man, he looked somewhat pitiful...

Mo Hua shook his head.

Another was Uncle Gu.

His gaze towards Aunt Wan and Yu Er was mostly one of concern.

Of course, he also noticed Mo Hua, sitting beside Yu Er.

Mo Hua winked at him.

Gu Changhuai snorted lightly and turned away, raising his wine cup to drink on his own.

These two gazes were well-intentioned.

The rest of the gazes came from the group of Elders from the Shangguan Family.

Their gazes, though not malicious, were certainly lacking in warmth; they were cold, indifferent, filled with scrutiny and criticism, accompanied by hushed whispers.

Mo Hua sighed softly.

There is no feast without end.

The machinations and scheming within a family clan really were too troublesome.

But soon, the family banquet began, and Mo Hua cast these thoughts aside.

Delicacies upon delicacies were brought to the table.

Flying fowls and Spirit Beasts, exotic fruits and fine dishes.

Fish, shrimp, pork, and jiaolong, chicken, goose, luan birds.

Alluring in color, aroma, and flavor, they whetted one’s appetite.

Although the Gu Family was not of Fifth Grade, it was still a prestigious Great Family, and the family’s annual banquet, though not overly extravagant, was definitely bountiful.