The Jin family's birthday banquet finally began.
The guests gathered together, surrounded by distinguished friends. Gu Nan, however, still sat alone at the corner table, like a destitute companion.
However, the truly perceptive people would never think so.
This didn't require any knowledge of Gu Nan's identity. Anyone who could occupy a single table alone in such a banquet, with no one else daring to approach—this fact in itself was worth pondering.
When everyone had enough to eat and drink, the birthday girl of today's banquet, Miss Jin, finally made her appearance.
She stood in the center of the venue and spoke with composure and assurance, thanking most of the people present—just like the most conventional banquet speech.
But at the end, she suddenly changed the subject.
"In addition to thanking everyone for coming to celebrate my birthday, there is one more matter to address today." Jin Dian had a faint smile, but her words gave many people a bad feeling.
"My close sister, Miao'er, had a slight misunderstanding with a friend earlier. It just so happens that the gentleman in question is also present today…"
As soon as Jin Dian raised her hand, the lights in the hall began to slowly shift and soon fell on Gu Nan's location, instantly making him the center of attention.
Jin Dian's father Jin Qin, who had greeted the two Gu family siblings earlier, was currently below the stage. His expression suddenly sank.
What was even more awkward for the Jin family's patriarch was that Gu Nian was standing right beside him, watching the scene with great interest.
He hurriedly clarified, "Eldest Miss, someone must've deliberately instigated this matter. This is a misunderstanding!"
Gu Nian waved her hand and laughed lightly. "Mr. Jin, there's no need to be nervous. I don't mind. It's just that if you don't put a stop to this farce quickly, I'm afraid that your beloved daughter… will be in danger."
Cold sweat began to slide down Jin Qin's forehead. Just when he wanted to climb the stage to stop Jin Dian, another person placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Old Jin, why worry about it?" The newcomer was a sturdy young man who looked seventy or eighty percent similar to Long Quan. "With Eldest Miss around, I'm sure that Gu Nan would never dare to be so wanton."
This man was Long Quan's older brother, Long Yi. Although he himself was not a seed candidate with the potential to step into Prodigious Realm, he was nevertheless a young master of the Long family with considerable standing and could be said to be one of the representatives of the Long family's younger generation.
The seed candidates were busy burying their heads in bitter cultivation; how could they have the time to attend such a reception?
"Young Master Long…" Jin Qin's heart was slightly reassured. At the same time, he also cast his gaze at Gu Nian.
Gu Nian, however, shrugged. "Don't look at me. I can't control him."
Long Yi's expression immediately darkened, and Jin Qin's cold sweat flowed down again.
While they were talking below, onstage, Jin Dian had already summarized the feud between the two, "Miao'er has always been a little blunt and undiplomatic with her words and offended Mr. Gu Nan. Here, I will first apologize on behalf of Miao'er."
Jin Dian adopted a humble attitude as soon as she started, while the surrounding crowd was entirely silent, as if no one had heard her last sentence.
The corners of her mouth curled slightly, and she immediately continued, "But Mr. Gu, you used violence on a lady like Miao'er just because of your martial arts cultivation. Shouldn't you also apologize for that?"
When Jin Dian's words fell, it was like the prelude to a war had been unveiled. Loud condemnations immediately rang out around them.
"She's right, apologize!"
"You're a man, yet you actually dared to use violence against Miss Shi. Do you have any shame?"
"Ha, a century-old family like the Gu family actually produced this kind of person. What a disgrace!"
Countless accusations and invective surrounded Gu Nan in an instant.
The people that Jin Dian could persuade were naturally young masters from families she was acquainted with, so their statuses were also comparable to her own. Thus, most of them didn't know the specifics about Gu Nan.
And right now, none of them even thought about investigating further.
Jin Dian's words were very clever. She had already placed herself on a moral high ground, completely oppressing the other party with the momentum of the situation and the audience.
'Even if that person can fight, what can he do? Can he beat up everyone here?'
Everyone understood that the law wouldn't be able punish the entire public. As long as enough people spoke up, Gu Nan wouldn't be able to do anything.
There were also people who recognized Gu Nan's identity and hurriedly tried to pull their companions back, but unfortunately, they were too late.
Gu Nan just sat in his seat, completely unmoved.
A young man couldn't stand to watch anymore. He strode forward and stopped in front of Gu Nan, looking down at him condescendingly.
"Gu Nan, right?" This youth seemed to be the crowd's representative. He said coldly, "Give me some face. Go apologize to Miss Shi, and this matter will be forgotten. Otherwise, even if you are a member of the Gu family…"
Gu Nan, who had been ignoring the crowd up until now, finally turned his head when he heard such a sentence.
Everyone just saw him wave his hand. A black shadow suddenly rose up from the ground and turned into a gigantic black palm, which slapped the youth hard and sent him flying away.
This slap was so powerful that the young man flew from one corner of the venue all the way to the podium, smashing through two layers of glass windows in quick succession before landing at Jin Dian's feet.
Shards of glass were embedded in his face, and his left arm, which was hit directly, had twisted ninety degrees. He cut an extremely miserable figure.
Jin Dian's face was full of bewilderment. She didn't even realize what had just happened until she saw the tragic state of the young man on the ground and suddenly screamed.
But her scream soon came to an abrupt end, because she felt a sudden darkness in front of her. When she looked up, Gu Nan was already standing in front of her.
"Don't… Don't come over!" Miss Jin had lost all of her formerly imposing mannerism. Her small face was incomparably pale as she repeatedly backed up.
Someone below the stage roared, "Gu Nan, don't bully intolerably!"
"That's right! We have so many families here, you dare…"
Before those words even fell, black shadows simultaneously rose up behind the ones who spoke out, and giant hands grabbed them and threw them onto the stage.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
There were several consecutive sounds of glass being shattered, and several more unconscious people appeared at Jin Dian's feet.
Gu Nan slowly turned his head and showed an inexplicable smile towards those onstage. Although he didn't speak, everyone understood his meaning— 'I dare.'
There were still some people who wanted to speak out, but they were pulled back by the people around them, who revealed Gu Nan's identity through whispers.
One by one, the ones who wanted to speak out lost all color in their faces and hurriedly sat upright with lingering fear in their hearts.
'So he's that one… Fortunately, I didn't speak out.'
"Young Master Nan, Young Master Nan…" Only then did Jin Qin hurriedly run up to the stage and bow repeatedly in apology. "It's all my daughter's fault. Young Master Nan, please give me some face…"
"This person also wanted me to give him face." Gu Nan smiled as he pointed down at the first youth he slapped away, who was still lying on the ground even now. "See what happened to him?"
Faced with such a blunt threat, Jin Qin's heart sank a little. For a moment, he didn't know what to say.
He became the head of his family only through money and status. When had he ever seen someone completely unreasonable like Gu Nan?
"What about me? I wonder if Young Master Nan can give me some face?" A voice traveled over slowly.
The crowd turned their heads towards the new voice and saw Long Yi wearing a smile as he slowly walked up to the stage.
Gu Nan's methods were too ruthless. Most of the people below the stage were angry, but they didn't dare speak out. But when they saw Long Yi's appearance, hope arose in their hearts.
'He's also from the three great families. This person won't be able to act brazenly anymore, right?'
Crash!
The next moment, the giant hand appeared, and the last piece of glass was also smashed to pieces. Classmate Long Yi joined the rest and fell onto the stage.
"Who's this?" Gu Nan asked Jin Qin, who was beside him.
Devotee's Game System Inspired Note
» This section of the chapter is a Fan based created system to mock-up or simulate the 'Status Information' of our MC - Gu Nan. This implies that you are free to skip reading this and continue your journey onto the next chapter.
» All catalog data below is a summary of various information achieved by Gu Nan that corresponds till the end of the related chapter and is compiled into a singular 'Status Screen.' Additionally, the invented system below would continue to evolve as we progress and learn more about the novel itself.
MC's Status Information
Name: Gu Nan
Current Location: Jin family's birthday banquet, Ruby Fish Star
Current Soul Location: N/A
Status: ⟪ Evil God ⟫
Advancement Direction: Agility Type
Current Evil God Rank: Tier 3
Equivalent/Current Martial Art: Prodigious Realm
◈ Comprehension of Innate ability: Infinitesimal Stage
Chosen Core Skill: The Law of Shadow
Current Evil God Temple Quest:
→ Main Mission Objective/s:
-— Evil Event: Ruby Fish Star's Martial Arts Competition. - Evil God Temple Issued
◈ Status: On Going
→ Side Quest Objective:
-— None. - N/A
◈ Status: N/A
Current Evil Points: 1500
Overall Evil Points: 3775, Overall Evil Value: 97
Core Skill Acquired
— Shadow. ｢Also known precisely as 'The law of Shadow' - its one of the highest-ranked laws in the game. Skill 'Power of Shadows' LVL +1｣
Normal Skills Acquired:
— Locked ｢N/A｣
— Locked ｢N/A｣
— Locked ｢N/A｣
Exclusive Skills Acquired:
— Deceitful Steps. [ Passive Ability ] ｢Movement Speed increased by 30%. Attack Speed increased by 50%｣
— Power of Shadows. [ LVL 2 ] ｢Allows the players to activate the skill "Hidden Shadows" at LVL 1 and unlocks the skill "Shadow Form" at LVL 2..｣
▸Hidden Shadows. ｢The power to manipulate shadows to a fine degree.｣
▸Shadow Form. ｢An incomparable handy skill that allows the player to manipulate shadows to create things, like weapons and armor. At the highest level of mastery, it could even create a humanoid clone.｣
Equipment being worn
→ Armor
-— Dawn Sage's Robe. ｢Basic level defense. If you are not attacked within 3 seconds, you will receive the "Praise of Dawn" effect.｣
→ Weapon
-— Four Element Crossbow. ｢A Tier 2 crossbow weapon that can generate four types of elemental arrows—earth, water, wind, and fire—based on the user's needs and does not need to load arrows.｣
→ Accessories - Facial Accessories, Necklace, Earrings
-— Observer Eyepiece. ｢An eyepiece that have a fixed Tier 2 magic 'Insight' inscribe in it.｣
-— Dragon Heart Pendant. ｢Allows players to activate the skill "Dragon Power". This skill cannot be upgraded｣
-— Shadow Earrings. ｢Skill 'Power of Shadows' LVL +1｣
Equipment Skills Acquired:
-— Insight. [ Passive Ability ] ｢Ability to obtain high-precision data analysis when looking at people or objects.｣
-— Dragon Power. ｢Greatly enhances the player's strength and physique. Duration: 5 seconds. Cooldown: 5 minutes｣
-— Praise of Dawn. [ Passive Ability ] ｢Increases self-healing ability by 300%｣
Item/s owned:
→ None.