"The duo seem more like brothers than colleagues," Yang Qing noted as he took in the interaction between Vice dean Yu Long and Dean Zhu Lao.

The group soon made their way to the center of the hallway where with how these things go, Dean Zhu Lao was expected to make a speech so that the party could officially start.

It was only when talk of the commencement of the party began did Yang Qing notice there was something crucial missing in the room which he had grossly overlooked. In his mind, without it, the party might as well have not existed. It was more important than the host, the reason for the party, or even the guests or the venue. It was the one thing that held everything together. But try as he might he didn't spot an iota of it.

His brows creased as he started feeling hot all of a sudden with his palms getting sweaty.

"How could it miss? Isn't that 90% of the reason I came here? No, No maybe it will be brought in once the party officially kicks off but just in case.." Yang Qing decided to confront the issue after his internal debate.

"Huifang, is there no food?" Yang Qing gently asked with fearful apprehension.

"Ppsch, the dean is about to speak. Other than food can't you think about anything else?" Yu Huifang mockingly said as she ignored Yang Qing's languid look.

....

Center of the hallway

"Other than discussing dao I'm not very good at these things. So I will keep the speech short and simple like a breakthrough to the qi cultivation realm," said Dean Zhu Lao as he dryly laughed eyeing the crowd.

His cultivation humor had met a tough crowd as none laughed along with him with some only giving perfunctory smiles such as vice dean Yu Long and some of his former students who were within the crowd.

In the whole crowd, there were about three people who seemed to be genuinely enjoying it albeit for two of them it had nothing to do with the joke. The one who genuinely enjoyed the joke was the cold handsome vice warden which came as a shock to Yang Qing and Mao Yunru but the rest of the guests were none too shocked, they seemed to have expected it.

As for the remaining two, one of them was Yang Qing of course. His laugh wasn't because he found the joke funny but with the food situation potentially in jeopardy he might as well do his all to ensure his goal of milking Dean Zhu Lao's services for free succeeded.

His years of being a proud practitioner of fawning dao and shameless dao had come in handy. He knew the perfect balance of a laugh that wasn't too exaggerated but wasn't too low either but just enough to make the recipient of that laugh think they may actually be good.It seemed to have worked as Dean Zhu Lao's shrinking figure perked up to his and the vice warden's laugh. Though the majority of the room threw Yang Qing mocking looks.

He was well renowned for his shamelessness. The actions of a shameless person could never be trusted especially the good ones. There was usually a catch and with Yang Qing's stingy history, it didn't take them long to guess it except for Dean Zhu Lao who had been in seclusion for the past 50 years even before Yang Qing joined.

As for the last figure who laughed, it was the hall master of the formation hall. However, her laughter seemed to be of someone gloating at another's misfortune.

…

"Ahem as I was saying, I'm thankful that you all came for my welcome party, especially with the busy schedules and all. I'll make sure to repay back your kindness at a later date.

And a special thank you to brother Yu Long and sister Yu Hong for hosting it in your magnificent abode, I couldn't have wished for a better venue.

As you all know I was in seclusion because I had sudden insights that I wanted to focus on. I didn't expect it to take 50 years but as you all have personally experienced you never know with these things sometimes it lasts a day and other times it may last more than a century.

But all in all, I made plentiful gains which I would like to share with you all. Think of it as my gift of gratitude to you all.

Now let the party begin," Dean Zhu Lao cheeringly said as he raised his wine urn to the rest who raised theirs in cheers and gulped their wines down.

Yang Qing on the other hand couldn't help but reevaluate this absentee dean once more and he wasn't alone in this as both Yu Huifang and Mao Yunru threw strange looks the dean's way.

"I didn't think it was possible but there's actually someone who matches Yang Qing in shamelessness," Mao Yunru said in shock.

"I know...I didn't expect a renowned senior like him would be of the same ilk," Yu Huifang said equally shocked.

They found it hard to reconcile the creator of the gold-grade cultivation art, the shadow void steps, and the person before them. Everyone here had heard of the tales of why he was really absent for the past 50 years. It had nothing to do with getting a sudden burst of insight and had all to do with him getting caught by his wife sneaking out from their courtyard in the middle of the night and coming back late from gallivanting with friends.

But here he was perfectly acting with a straight face and an accompanying air of righteousness that showed a studious dedication to the dao. He didn't even flinch despite everyone present knowing the real story.

Yang Qing had a complicated expression as a frown formed on his face. If Dean Zhu Lao was as shameless as he seemed then that complicated matters. Only a fellow shameless dao practitioner would know the moves of a fellow daoist in that regard. It may not be easy to score free consultation among other things from Dean Zhu Lao as Yang Qing had planned. He may have to reevaluate his approach.

"Did he figure out my earlier laugh was a fake and went along with it to deflect the attention to me?" Yang Qing curiously thought.

It was at that moment he noticed Dean Zhu Lao throw a quick glance his way before he turned back to greet the guests around with a warm smile.

That glance though brief gave Yang Qing all the answers he needed. That glance had a cunning glint in it that seemed to say,

"Thanks for the save fellow practitioner."

"I was too careless. It was all so clear but I overlooked it. There is no way someone who created a cultivation art with the sole purpose of sneaking out is someone honest..tsk. I guess it will have to be a give and take with the sleazy dean," Yang Qing grumbled as his mood further sank when he noticed there was still no food.

"Huifang is there really no food at this party just wine?" Yang Qing pleadingly asked. Both his agendas for the day seemed to be going down the drain.

"I thought your true hunger was for the dao, not food. Isn't that what you told me yesterday?" a gentle teasing voice sounded.

When Yang Qing turned to the source he saw Meng Chao and another youthful-looking man with ocean-blue hair next to him. He had on white robes that had a faint assortment of herb smell on it.

"Senior Meng Chao, vice hall master Ren Shu nice to see you," Yang Qing hurriedly offered his greetings as he cupped his fists and warmly smiled. The earlier dejection and dread were erased instantly from his face.

"My hunger for the dao is what made me ask for food. By personally experiencing the mundane affairs such as enjoying food, I'm clearing my heart by making sure I'm in touch with my roots," Yang Qing righteously said as he puffed up his chest a bit.

"I don't know if you know this.." Yang Qing lowly whispered as if he was revealing some grand secret.

"But my ancestor's ancestor was quite the voracious eater which was where our body-refining ancestry started. We Yangs eat to pay homage.

In my family we always say to deny oneself is to blind yourself to the truth. I've stuck by that saying to this day," said Yang Qing as the Meng Chao and vice hall master Ren Shu had amused expressions on their faces.

"I didn't know there was something like that. I will have to ask your grandfather when I go back to the medicine valley," said vice hall master Ren Shu.

"There's ….THERE'S NO NEED to bother an old man with tales of the old days I'm not sure how much he can remember from back then with his waning age and memory problems," Yang Qing hurriedly said.

Vice hall master Ren Shu chose to ignore the blatant excuse Yang Qing came up with and not call him on it. His grandfather was 200 years old and was a peak foundation establishment expert who bar the unexpected usually had a life expectancy of 1,200 years.

Yang Qing's grandfather could probably remember the meal he had the day he crawled with exceptional detail due to the high memory cultivators had.

"Fine I won't ask…so have you placed any more thought on joining the medicine valley?

The hall master has said we can be flexible in your mode of payment and also we can come to an arrangement on your working schedule. All you need is to say yes. It's such a shame for your innate attribute of the peerless jade physique to be wasted in a courtroom. The medicine valley is where your talents will shine," said Vice hall master Ren Shu.