Elder Viper commanded, slamming the base of his staff against the stone floor. "During their stay, you will be polite, accommodating, and not engage them in unsanctioned duels. And above all else..."
The Elder’s yellow eyes narrowed in slits.
"...you will absolutely, under no circumstances, mock, provoke, or disrespect the pretty boy in the red robes. Do not touch his cookware. Do not insult his fan. If he asks for ingredients, you will provide them. Am I understood?"
Senior Brother Kui’s jaw tightened.
The blood-crazed pride of the elite rebelled against the warning. To be told to cower before a soft-looking chef was a humiliation he could not swallow.
"Understood, Elder," Kui lied smoothly, bowing his head to hide the rebellious, arrogant sneer forming on his lips.
Elder Viper looked at him. The old poison master had lived for four centuries. He could spot a lie from a mile away. He saw the hubris, the impending, unavoidable urge of the youths to "test" the visitors.
Normally, Elder Viper would have disciplined him on the spot. He would have used a paralyzing toxin to ensure compliance.
But as the sweet, lingering taste of the honey-roasted walnut faded from his palate, a different, entertaining thought crossed the Elder’s mind.
’I warned them,’ Elder Viper’s internal monologue shrugged blithely. ’I explicitly told them not to touch the stove. If they decide to stick their hands in the boiling oil... it is no longer my administrative problem.’
"Very well," Elder Viper hissed, standing up and smoothing his robes, washing his hands of the impending disaster. "The welcome banquet commences at sundown in the Grand Hall. Ensure you are washed and presentable. Dismissed."
As the Elder left the subterranean chamber, the disciples instantly huddled together.
"The Elder has grown soft in his old age," Kui sneered, spitting into the fire. "He has been blinded by whatever parlor tricks the Celestial Sword Sect showed him. A pretty boy with a spatula cannot command monsters. It is a bluff. An illusion to intimidate us."
"What is the plan, Senior Brother?" a junior disciple asked, cracking his knuckles. "Do we challenge them at the banquet?"
"No," Kui grinned, a dark, toxic, battle-crazed light in his eyes. "We do not challenge the monsters. We expose the fraud. Tonight, at the banquet, I will personally ’toast’ the great Vanguard Leader. We will see how the delicate chef handles the raw, unfiltered pressure of a true Azure Dragon warrior. Once the pretty boy breaks, the illusion will shatter, and the monsters will lose their leash."
It was a flawless, foolproof, entirely logical plan based on a complete and total misread of the power dynamics.
They were fully preparing to walk directly into the jaws of the Apex Anomaly.
***
The Grand Hall of the Azure Dragon Sect was a cavernous chamber carved from glowing green stalactites. Long, low obsidian tables were arranged in a U-shape, laden with exotic, questionable local delicacies, glowing purple mushrooms, roasted centipede skewers, and flagons of steaming, venom-infused wine.
The disciples and elders were seated on the right flank.
The guests of the Celestial Sword Sect was seated on the left.
The visual contrast between the two groups was the source of immense second-hand embarrassment for anyone who actually knew the truth.
The Azure Dragon disciples were sitting with rigid, impeccable martial posture. They were glaring across the hall, exuding aggressive, battle-crazed killing intent, attempting to physically intimidate their guests with their raw, toxic auras.
The Vanguard Retinue, immune to the intimidation, looked like they were attending a hostage negotiation.
They were immaculate.
They wore their formal, freshly pressed Vanguard robes. But they were sitting so perfectly still that they looked like statues. They didn’t speak or touch the food. They kept their hands folded neatly in their laps, their eyes darting nervously toward the head of the table.
Sitting at the absolute head of the Vanguard flank, relaxed, was Lin Ji’an.
She had foregone the formal robes in favor of her comfortable, customized Szechuan Red combat silk, leaning back casually on a plush velvet cushion. She was currently swirling a cup of the local wine, sniffing it with deep judgmental skepticism.
"Too much arsenic, not enough cardamom," Ji’an muttered under her breath, setting the cup down in disgust.
To her right, Xie Wangchen sat with the terrifying, unblinking stillness of a gargoyle, his ruby eyes scanning the disciples as if calculating the exactseco nds required to freeze their blood. To her left, Shen Zechuan was politely, happily eating the roasted centipede skewers, entirely unbothered by the venom.
Across the hall, Senior Brother Kui watched the pretty boy in red dismiss the local wine.
’The arrogance,’ Kui fumed, his grip tightening on his cup. ’He sits there like a spoiled emperor, rejecting our hospitality, while his bodyguards sit in terrified silence, clearly exhausted from carrying his palanquin all day.’
Kui stood up.
He deliberately flared his peak-stage Golden Core aura. A wave of Qi pulsed outward, rattling the cups on the tables. He stepped out from behind the tables and marched directly into the center of the grand hall.
The room fell silent. The elders watched, making no move to stop him. This was the traditional "testing" of the guests.
Kui stopped exactly ten paces from Ji’an’s table. He held a heavy iron flagon filled to the brim with glowing, highly concentrated Viper’s Breath wine, a brew known to incapacitate even seasoned cultivators if they lacked the proper internal filtration.
"Vanguard Leader Lin!" Kui’s voice boomed, aggressive, loud, and dripping with condescending challenge.
Ji’an didn’t sit up or look startled. She simply tilted her head, resting her chin on her fist, looking at the aura-flaring youth with a look of lazy boredom.
"Can I help you?" Ji’an drawled, her baritone perfectly smooth, unbothered by his spiritual pressure.
Kui’s eye twitched, but he maintained his arrogant sneer.
"It is custom in the Eastern Basin to offer a toast to our esteemed guests!" Kui declared loudly. "A toast to test the fortitude of the visiting commander"