Chapter 823: The Main Show Begins This motive had to have something to do with Sky City’s expansion, but Liu Jie was not familiar with the faction society. He had not been analyzing Sky City’s expansion like he used to. Instead, he had been spending all his time outside of training working on the white-clothed followers plan. Since he would not be able to help Lin Yuan with anything later outside the palace, Liu Jie decided to perform his role as Lin Yuan’s shield and sword to protect him during the Guard Ye Banquet. Liu Jie and Lin Yuan followed Sun Ningxiang through the stone pillars to enter the area outside of the Midnight Palace. Lin Yuan knew about Condense Fairy Orchard’s dangerous situation, but he did not expect someone to jump Sun Ningxiang the moment she stepped foot into the area outside the Midnight Palace. Every faction that participated in the Guard Ye Banquet wore clothes that had icons of their factions. It was rare to see someone like Lin Yuan whose clothes did not have the icons of any factions. Lin Yuan recognized who the two men in front of the Sun Ningxiang were from the icons on their spirit qi clothes. These two men had very similar appearances and had distinctive noses and eyebrows. Lin Yuan could tell that they were either brothers or cousins from their appearances. But given the way they stood, it seemed that the two similar-looking young men had completely different status rankings. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮 Lin Yuan could not help but touch his chin. The show is starting so quickly! The main character has also stepped onto the stage. That’s quick. The two men standing in front of Sun Ningxiang and the man that Sun Ningxiang had bumped into were wearing purple spirit qi clothes. Lin Yuan had seen the purple spirit qi clothes before. It was Connected Beast Park’s famous standard Hundred Beasts New Sprouts uniform. The full collar of sprouts on the man’s Hundred Beasts New Sprouts uniform indicated that the man was one of the main members of the Miao family’s younger generation of direct descendants. The young man next to the man wearing the Hundred Beasts New Sprouts uniform was wearing a standard Creation Master uniform. The man’s Creation Master long robes had a small ‘Zheng’ written on the collar. From the information about the Zheng family that Wen Yu had collected, it was clear that this young man was the Second Young Master of the Zheng family with whom Lin Yuan was currently feuding. The area outside the Midnight Palace had different arches, and the various leaders of the veteran factions and top factions headed into the palace while the younger generation remained outside to mingle. Thus, the young man wearing the Hundred Beasts New Sprouts uniform did not bother to filter his speech. “Hehe, Sun Ningxiang. You’ve been avoiding me and the discussion about the collaboration between Connected Beast Park and Condense Fairy Orchard. Now that we’re standing face to face, I don’t think you can avoid me anymore.” He whistled softly and looked extremely cavalier. Most of the younger generation that remained outside the Midnight Palace had come to make connections. After all, there were not many chances for the younger generation of major factions to gather. However, some of them came to join in the excitement. When they saw a commotion occurring, many disciples of veteran factions rushed up. It was rare to be able to see the direct descendants of top factions being made fun of. Lin Yuan saw that one of the people who had rushed up to join the crowd was the Young Master of the Sea Bliss Clan, Qi Haitao. Lin Yuan had thought to himself that the show’s main character had appeared, but now, the supporting characters had also appeared. Sun Ningxiang watched the throngs of disciples from veteran factions and some direct descendants of top factions who wanted to gawk at the commotion approaching her. She breathed in deeply and said, “Miao Zhuo, Condense Fairy Orchard has always conducted ourselves by our principles. If anyone sincerely wants to work with us, we definitely won’t say no.” Miao Zhuo’s face fell. Although Sun Ningxiang had been indirect about it, her words clearly meant to say that Condense Fairy Orchard had been avoiding a discussion because Connected Beast Park was not sincere about wanting to work with Condense Fairy Orchard. When it came to such matters, people usually kept their actual feelings to themselves instead of saying so directly. By saying it directly, Sun Ningxiang had announced that Connected Beast Park was not sincere when it came to their collaborations. With so many disciples from veteran factions and top factions around, Sun Ningxiang’s words had shot a hole in Connected Beast Park’s public reliability. Just as Miao Zhuo was about to launch a rebuttal, Sun Ningxiang continued, “I, Sun Ningxiang, am the head of Condense Fairy Orchard. I’m the leader of an elite faction. You are just one of the more favored members of the Miao family’s younger generation. Can you decide on the direction in which Connected Beast Park will progress from now on? Or can you decide how Connected Beast Park’s Creation Master resources are allocated? If not, what right do you have to stand before me to discuss a collaboration? Your father should be the one to seek me out for negotiation personally.” Sun Ningxiang’s words made Miao Zhuo’s expression darken tremendously. He glared fiercely at Sun Ningxiang and sneered. “As a faction, Condense Fairy Orchard is on its last legs. You can’t even compare to veteran factions at this point. You—” Sun Ningxiang sternly cut in before Miao Zhuo could finish speaking. She sharply swept her surroundings before exclaiming, “Did you just say that my Condense Fairy Orchard can’t even compare to a veteran faction? With so many people from veteran factions here, you can ask any of them. See if any of them dare to say that their faction is stronger than Condense Fairy Orchard. Or why don’t you ask if the Zheng family thinks of themselves as more powerful than the Sun family?” Sun Ningxiang had turned her charisma to the maximum and was firmly standing toe to toe against Miao Zhuo. But while she spoke, Sun Ningxiang’s fist remained clenched as tightly as a vice as she willed herself to maintain the charisma she was exuding. If she allowed her charisma to weaken, the top factions that were watching would think that she was incapable and Condense Fairy Orchard would be in even greater danger. At that moment, Miao Zhuo felt that Sun Ningxiang had cornered him. After all, Condense Fairy Orchard still had a thearch-class expert, which was why Connected Beast Park had not dared to come down strongly on Condense Fairy Orchard. Condense Fairy Orchard would remain above veteran factions regardless of what happened to them with a thearch-class expert. Miao Zhuo was not stupid enough to drag his cousin Zheng Kaiyuan down with him in such a situation. Miao Zhuo’s eyes suddenly lit up, and he pointed toward Lin Yuan.