Chapter 138: The Fragrance Appreciation Banquet

For the first time in nearly a decade, Noble Consort Cui hosted a palace banquet. More significantly, it was an incense-tasting banquet of great importance, and she spared no effort to ensure the event was both opulent and lively.

The banquet was held in the Pavilion of Soaring Phoenix within the Hanyuan Hall, where the female guests, all dressed in their most dazzling finery, gathered in a sea of color.

Before the main seats stood a long table draped in crimson velvet. Upon it, exquisite imperial tri-colored treasure-patterned plates held various wooden boxes, each containing an incense tower wrapped in white silk. Beside every incense offering sat a colorful card inscribed with its details.

Bolstered by a series of magical feats such as "Empowered Spellcasting" and "Heightened Spellcasting," his prismatic spray surged like the monstrous waves of a vast ocean, causing the very heavens and earth to lose their brilliance and shrouding the entire battlefield in a blinding, kaleidoscopic light.

Mou Cheng was stunned, thinking to himself, "What did I just do? Was this man of such strong character moved by me?"

However, when a superior speaks, subordinates must run. Even without knowing the objective, fleeing immediately was the only sensible course of action.

Taihao Duo, Meng Hong, Shen Gong Yanxu, and several other clan leaders stood behind the sacrificial offerings—Peng Sheng, Bo Fang, and the others. With a swift movement of their blades, a massive boar's head and several human heads fell in succession. Blood gushed from the severed necks, flooding the sacrificial altar.

"What?" Liang Cuo thought he had misheard. With a single "farewell," Xiao Huaijin seemed ready to abandon the rescue of Wanxiang. He hurriedly knelt, pleading, "Your Highness, though the Princess Consort may be willful, she acts entirely out of a sense of righteousness."

Some dragons never enter a state of twilight; they pass from the peak of health as ancient dragons to death by old age in a single night.

After they had eaten their fill, he walked with her along the long street. Wanxiang’s face was obscured by a veil, a sight that couldn't help but remind one of the girl in red who had snatched the top prize on the seventeenth day of the first lunar month.

"I am aware of this matter. If we were not here, we would certainly ensure he feels as welcome as if he were in his own home."

Yet, upon clashing with Li You, he felt the terrifying explosive power contained within the man’s body. It was as if a volcano, ready to erupt, lay hidden within his sturdy, bear-like frame, the strength surging from his knotted muscles as scorching and violent as molten lava.

The desolate drought dragon and the skeletal giant grappled together. In terms of raw strength alone, the skeletal giant was no match for the drought dragon, but it possessed the advantage of agility. Like an ape, it leaped onto the dragon’s back, its massive, sharp claws tearing through the scales with a screeching sound and leaving deep, gaping wounds along the creature's spine.

For years, to fend off her father’s attempts to set her up on blind dates, she had used Gu Tao as a shield.

Inside the bedchamber, Yuan Xun drank a bowl of wine alone when Wen Chengliang arrived to report that the Right Consort, Zheng Qiao, had come to pay her respects. As Zheng Qiao was nearing her delivery date, Yuan Xun felt a sense of concern. Hearing the report, he ordered her to be brought inside.

"Understood!" the butler nodded. The situation was indeed critical, leaving no room for further words.

Seeing the Emperor wake, Liang Shiqing hurried forward to check his pulse. A moment later, he retrieved silver needles from his medical kit and began the acupuncture treatment for Yuan Hong.

At first, Ye Xiaoyao had not noticed, but upon closer inspection, wasn't that Liu Na shucking corn in the field?

Huo Qiqi did not remain idle with her dagger. Lacking internal energy, she was nonetheless a formidable close-quarters combatant. The Third Prince stared at her in astonishment, as if seeing her for the first time, his mouth hanging open wide enough to fit an egg.

They had been husband and wife for many years. He believed that, aside from the guilt he felt toward Lan Li regarding the matters of his third brother over the past six months, his heart and mind were entirely hers.

Upon hearing the news about Lin He from the Tong woman that day, Gao Yi had been filled with terror. Now, hearing her speak this way, he felt a sense of relief wash over him.

"Sister Miao, wait for me!" Xu Molan called out, tapping her toes against the ground and chasing after Xuan Miao.

Lin Mu used the momentum to leap onto the back of the Gui Ming. The beast turned its head to look at him, then lifted its pillar-like legs. With a single stride, it covered hundreds of feet, leaving the burning Tianling Sect far behind.