As a renowned restaurant, dining on the three upper floors of Wangxianlou, especially the top floor, is a prestigious experience that ordinary people, even if they have money, cannot afford.
In this world, only the strong have status, and martial arts are the means to change one's destiny.
Hearing the Wangxianlou manager's enthusiasm, Li Ming couldn't help but feel suspicious and subconsciously became wary. After all, he had just been tricked by the Qi family, so he was inevitably a little sensitive.
It's important to know that Wangxianlou doesn't just operate in Cangyang County; it also has businesses in Cangzhou and even several neighboring prefectures. You can imagine how powerful the forces behind it are.
Wang Chong, who was following behind, seemed to have thought of something and quickly came over to give Li Ming a hint, urging Li Ming to agree quickly.
Seeing this, Li Ming didn't think much of it and cupped his hands, saying:
"Thank you very much, Manager Guan."
"You're too kind, but I do have a small request."
Manager Guan also smiled and said.
"What are the requirements?"
"That is, this meal was actually arranged by a young master who had long admired Lord Li's reputation and wanted to make his acquaintance. He specifically asked me to invite Lord Li to a meal."
Manager Guan directly revealed the reason.
Hearing this, Li Ming nodded, thinking to himself, "This guy must be rich. I have to invite him to have a meal here just to meet him."
However, since things had come to this point, he naturally wouldn't refuse anymore.
Li Ming said in a deep voice, "Very well, it is a great joy for me to make another friend."
"please……"
Led by the restaurant manager, Li Ming and his companions arrived at a private room on the top floor of Wangxian Tower, a place with an excellent location.
Every decoration around was a priceless antique, and the air was filled with a refreshing fragrance. From the window, one could see the entire city of Cangyang.
Wang Chong and his companions were quite excited. Even though they came from good backgrounds, they had never had the chance to eat on the rooftop before.
"I never expected to have such good luck following Brother Li."
"Haha, Brother Li's influence is really useful."
Seeing that the person behind him hadn't appeared yet, Li Ming asked in a low voice, "Do you know what's going on here?"
Upon hearing Li Ming's question, Wang Chong also whispered:
"This Wangxian Tower is actually backed by the Guan family of Cangzhou. They are very powerful, with a Martial Saint Ancestor in charge. I heard they are at odds with the Qi family. I guess they want to befriend Brother Li?"
"The Guan family?"
Li Ming seemed to be deep in thought.
In Cangzhou, there are five prominent families, among which the Guan and Qi families are well-known. Although they may not be the most prestigious in the world, they are still quite famous in Cangzhou.
In Cangyang County, this would be considered a case of overwhelming power.
The Guan family patriarch is rumored to be a senior member of the Six Doors.
Not long after.
At the banquet, one dish after another was served, all of them with an extraordinary appearance. The aroma alone was enough to whet one's appetite. The ingredients were also extraordinary, consisting of rare and superior exotic beast meat or processed spiritual plants.
Judging from the chef hired behind the scenes, he was also a martial arts master with superb knife skills and extremely precise control over the heat. In Li Ming's opinion, cooking was not much different from alchemy, or even more difficult. After all, a delicious dish needs to have an excellent taste and the medicinal properties of the spiritual plants need to be neutralized, which is a very technical skill.
Such talent is highly valued by many powerful forces.
Among the entries Li Ming had previously acquired was a white-level [Cooking Skills]. In his previous life, he might have been able to become a restaurant head chef, but in this world, it was nothing special.
As the group chatted, a young man dressed in a black brocade robe with an extraordinary air suddenly entered the private room, carrying two jugs of wine.
He stepped forward, placed the two impressively presented jugs of wine on the table, and bowed, saying:
"Guan Xin of the Guan family of Cangzhou greets Brother Li."
Upon hearing this person's name, the constables at the table were all taken aback.
The current direct descendant of the Guan family, and also the most outstanding member of the Guan family, has actually come to Cangyang County?
Then they all looked at Li Ming. Could it be that the other party's purpose was Li Ming?
"The Guan family, Guan Xin..."
Upon hearing this, Li Ming's gaze lingered on him for a moment.
With his excellent memory, Li Ming remembered that the other party was also a genius on the Human Ranking. In the previous update of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, the other party also suddenly rose to the top and ranked seventy-second.
Moreover, the Tianji Pavilion was relatively conservative in its rating because the opponent's record was not outstanding.
Name: Guan Xin
[Realm Level: Golden Core Ninth Level]
[Entries: Primordial Yang Spirit Body (Pale Red), Blood Jade King Bone (Pale Red), Azure Dragon Blade (Blue), True Meaning of the Blade (Blue), Intelligence (Blue), Courage (Blue), Blade Obsession (Blue), Integrity (White), Generosity (White)]
With an awakened spirit and physical attributes only slightly inferior to his, it seems the other party holds a very high position in the Guan family.
Li Ming silently admired him. The other person's age should not be much different from his own, which was a huge leap compared to the other geniuses of the same age he had encountered before.
Faced with the other party speaking first, Li Ming naturally didn't put on airs and returned the greeting:
"So it's Brother Guan, I've heard so much about you."
"They're all just relying on their family's reputation. They're far inferior to Brother Li. When I saw Brother Li defeat the Refining God Grandmaster on the Canglan River, I was thrilled and felt ashamed of myself."
Guan Xin was very cheerful and straightforward, without any affectation.
To be honest, he really admired Li Ming. To be able to fight his way up from a remote small town with just a knife and his fists, with such a reputation, was something that ordinary people wouldn't even dare to dream of.
Even he, who has come this far, owes his success to the Guan family's formidable strength, which laid a foundation that is difficult for ordinary people to achieve.
Among the many forces in the martial arts world, many harbor ill will towards the imperial court, while the Guan family is very close to the court, with many of its elders serving in the Six Doors.
"Brother Guan, you flatter me."
Li Ming chuckled lightly.
While he has received some help from the system, his own efforts have also been indispensable in getting to where he is today.
"Brother Li, you easily defeated Cao Lang this time and even killed him. Your reputation in the martial arts world must be even higher now. I was originally thinking of sparring with you, Brother Li, but now it seems I should pass."
Guan Xin gave a wry smile.
"I will not humiliate myself further."
He was actually quite arrogant, and there weren't many people who could truly convince him, but Li Ming was one of them.
He might win by any means necessary, relying on gifts from his elders, but he would rather not have the reputation gained that way.
Therefore, Guan Xin pointed to the two jugs of wine on the table and said:
"These two jugs of wine are called 'Forget-Me-Not,' ranking among the top-grade fourth-rank spirit wines. If you gentlemen don't mind, how about we share a drink together?"
"good!"
Li Ming nodded.
This is a fourth-grade spirit wine; the price of a single pot is dozens of times more precious than this entire meal.
It was quite obvious that the other party wanted to befriend him.
These two jugs of wine are quite valuable. Even a small cup of wine would likely boost the cultivation level of an ordinary Golden Core cultivator after they refined the energy within. One sip could be equivalent to ten days of arduous cultivation.
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