The lights were dim, and glasses clinked.

The smell of gunpowder from the war still lingered in the city. Lin Jingge sniffed and could still clearly smell the aftertaste.

The noble families and others were naturally grateful to Lin Jingge. Lin Jingge and the people of Phoenix Valley had put in the main effort in this banquet, making it quite grand.

To demonstrate their status, this group of aristocratic families spared no expense, bringing out several of their most treasured possessions and even inviting those reclusive old men from the capital to come and enjoy their company.

These old guys were once powerful figures in their youth, but now that they're old, their cultivation is stuck at a bottleneck and they won't let go of any opportunity to break through.

These items brought out by the aristocratic families are worth giving face to.

"Thanks to Miss Lin for saving us from this great chaos in the capital, I, on behalf of all the people of the city, raise a toast to you!"

Lin Jingge looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the speaker had white hair and beard and wore a loose Taoist robe, giving him a somewhat otherworldly and otherworldly appearance.

As he spoke, the man raised his glass high, the glass hovering in mid-air, seemingly waiting for her response.

At the same time, the private conversations at the banquet also stopped, as most of the prominent families, represented by the Imperial Prime Minister's Mansion, had given advance notice to their respective clansmen.

The royal family was wiped out two years ago, and the royal seal has never appeared since. Therefore, there is no candidate for a new royal family. Currently, the most powerful entity in the imperial city is the Prime Minister's residence.

For a moment, the banquet was so quiet that you could hear everyone breathing.

Lin Jingge has always been indifferent to worldly affairs, so she felt somewhat uncomfortable at such a lively and lavish banquet.

She ate a few bites of food haphazardly, but before she could even swallow them, she had to deal with this tricky situation.

"You flatter me, senior."

Lin Jingge raised her wine glass, nodded slightly in the air, and then drank the wine in her glass in one gulp.

"This junior will drink first as a sign of respect."

The mellow liquor went down my throat, scalding hot and spicy.

It's a flavor that Lin Jingge doesn't like.

“Miss Lin, this is the Grand Elder Wang of the Imperial City’s Prime Minister’s Residence. He is a late-stage Spirit Sect cultivator and doesn’t usually meet people. This time, he heard that you resolved the demonic energy in the Imperial City and saved the people from suffering, so he took the initiative to ask to meet you.”

The man who spoke stroked the few strands of mustache on his chin and said to Lin Jingge with a smile.

Will you take the initiative to see me?

Lin Jingge did not understand what the other party meant.

"I, the old man Wang Taishang, was once the number one genius in the capital when I was young, and I could even outshine the direct descendants of the royal family!"

"Now you're nearing the end of your life, so let's not dwell on your past glories. I see you're young, yet you care deeply for the people, and your cultivation is truly remarkable..."

The old man in the Taoist robe suddenly turned sharp.

"Let me ask you this: are you willing to become my disciple and inherit my mantle?"

Becoming an apprentice?

Lin Jingge was about to refuse without even thinking.

She has entered the Southern Academy and is therefore a student there. Many teachers in the Southern Academy can be her teachers. In all the world, no one can surpass the teachers of the Southern Academy to be her master!

However, she saw the expectant look in his eyes, and her originally decisive refusal became more tactful.

"I am grateful for your kindness, senior. I have no intention of becoming your apprentice at the moment. I hope you will understand."

Lin Jingge's cultivation level is already at the mid-stage of the Spirit Sect realm. With the help of the Heavenly Book, she believes that she will be able to reach the late-stage realm in a short period of time.

Although this Elder Wang was once a genius, he is so old now, and his cultivation level is only slightly higher than hers. It seems that either he is not talented enough or his cultivation method is wrong.

And yet he still wants to take on apprentices and pass on his mantle?

Are you sure you're not misleading people?

To Lin Jingge's dismay, it seemed that most of the aristocratic families in the capital were hoping she would agree.

Could it be that this Empress Dowager Wang has something extraordinary about him?

After Lin Jingge declined Wang Taishang's offer to take her as a disciple, she drank several more cups of wine offered by others.

She used her spiritual power to dispel most of the alcohol's effects, leaving only a slight tipsy feeling for herself to savor.

Beside her, Liu Yan was also half-drunk. The two chatted casually, and they happened to talk about the old master Wang who wanted to take on a disciple.

It turns out that the Wang family of the Prime Minister's residence has inherited a method for prolonging life.

You need to know what kind of place the Imperial City is. The Imperial City is a place where the powerful and wealthy gather. If you walk down the street and throw a brick, you can easily hit an official.

Even cultivators cannot escape worldly concerns when living in the secular world.

Once you have power, money, and status, and all the suffering in the world is smoothed out, you naturally want to stay in this world a little longer.

To prolong life is to defy the King of Hell.

Such methods, which go against the natural order, should never have been born into this world.

However, since it has already been born, it has a reason to exist.

Therefore, the Wang family's ancestor established the rule of having only one son per family.

Wang Taishang has never taken on any disciples over the years. One reason is that he wants to focus on cultivation and break through his bottleneck, but the more important reason is because of the unique, one-of-a-kind method he possesses.

It can be said that if the Emperor wanted to take on disciples, the line of people wanting to become his disciples would be so long that it could circle the entire imperial city three times over.

Who would have thought that Lin Jingge would actually refuse!

"Jingge, you made the right choice!"

"We cultivators must follow our hearts. Why would you, at such a young age, take an old good-for-nothing as your master?"

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!