The Shining Star Above The Heaven-Chapter 967: Repeated Humiliation!
Veron had already heard about how young Aldrian was, but it still gave him a sense of surprise when he finally saw Aldrian at this moment. The information he had gathered about Aldrian recently was limited.
He had heard that Aldrian rose to become an emperor even though he had not yet reached twenty. Aldrian was also hailed as a powerful cultivator who possessed absurd power, power that even those at the peak pseudo immortal stage could only hope to reach.
All of this was achieved with a cultivation level that was "only" at low pseudo immortal establishment stage, making him the youngest cultivator in history to reach that stage.
He was the man who gained fame and trust among the powers of the Central Star Cluster through his own strength. He was also the one who enabled the powers of the Central Star Cluster to liberate the Northern Star Cluster from the devils, something that could not be achieved in the past.
Veron had already sent his own men to gather more information about Aldrian by sending them directly to the Ancient Blue Gate World. However, they still needed a long time to obtain any useful information, as the distance was great and they had not even reached the place yet.
Although many of the stories about Aldrian were difficult even for him to believe, he still gave them the benefit of the doubt.
Moreover, after Aldrian’s presence allowed the Blue Pearl World to win their war, Veron did not want to underestimate an unknown man whose full capabilities he did not yet understand.
That was why he had to be careful, and why he wanted to meet Aldrian. If what those stories said were all true, and the Blue Pearl World truly had someone like Aldrian as their backing, then it would change the map of power in the White Ring Star Cluster.
That kind of monster needed to be prevented from forming a connection with the Blue Pearl World and even becoming their support. The fact that Aldrian willingly helped the Blue Pearl World must have meant that the Alfemin family had given him something valuable enough for him to spend his time joining their war.
They needed to try to meet Aldrian and personally confirm the truth about him, while also disrupting any relationship the Alfemin family had with Aldrian. It would be far better if he could instead build a connection with Aldrian and draw him closer to the Luvian family.
However, he truly did not expect Aldrian to ignore his presence without hesitation. He glanced at Aldrian’s figure as it passed by him without even looking at him.
Veron felt humiliation and shame. He had never seen someone so arrogant that they would dare to ignore his presence, a peak pseudo immortal cultivator.
The others from the Blue Pearl World’s camp, who saw Veron being ignored by Aldrian and made to look like a fool, giggled and smiled mockingly. Even with such a simple posture from Aldrian, it made them feel truly satisfied.
That arrogant bastard needed to be put in his place sometimes.
The others from Veron’s camp felt secondhand embarrassment as they watched how Aldrian treated Veron’s greeting. They gritted their teeth and wanted to berate Aldrian. However, remembering why they had come here, they refrained from doing anything against him. The absurd rumors and stories about Aldrian also deterred them from doing anything excessive.
Patriarch Geodard and Alric smiled as they watched how Aldrian treated that bastard, and they felt deeply satisfied inside. They wanted to jab at their pride, and Aldrian had already done that for them.
Patriarch Geodard and Alric then approached Aldrian, and after they reached him, they slightly lowered their heads.
"Welcome, Your Majesty. Thank you for taking your busy time to visit this banquet," Patriarch Geodard said as he also looked at Sylphia and the others.
Aldrian finally showed a smile. "I apologize for not informing you of my arrival earlier today. I simply wanted to enjoy the city with my wives first before coming here. I hope Sir Alric and Patriarch Geodard do not find my actions offensive."
"Aish, what is the problem with that? There is nothing we feel offended about. Your Majesty simply wanted to enjoy the city with your wives. I only hope you enjoyed it and liked it here," Patriarch Geodard replied before letting out a sigh.
"But I truly apologize that Your Majesty has to come only to see this kind of scene at the banquet. I had already prepared the best arrangements to greet Your Majesty so that you could be more comfortable here, but I truly did not expect so many stray dogs to come to the banquet and cause chaos. Allow me to chase them out first, Your Majesty. Then we can enjoy the banquet after the mess is cleared."
"That’s alright. I understand, but let us not dwell on it. This is supposed to be a joyous time, after all. Let me fix it for you," Aldrian said.
Before anyone could react, all the shattered glass and the scattered dishes disappeared from sight. The hall became clean once more.
This caused everyone to feel astonished and impressed by what Aldrian had just done. They did not sense anything when all the things that made the scene look messy vanished from their sight.
Aldrian then looked at Veron and his group.
"Would you please leave this place? Your presence here is disturbing the banquet. I would appreciate it if you could leave on your own. That would be far better than having to go through a method of humiliation, right?"
Hearing this, Veron frowned, and the expressions of those behind him darkened. Aldrian truly did not regard them at all. He did not take their status seriously and acted as if he could chase them out whenever he pleased.
Although they had come to this banquet to cause trouble and to observe Aldrian, the repeated humiliation they had suffered since earlier nearly pushed them to their limits. Even Veron himself finally began to show his displeasure.
"Emperor Aldrian, even if you are a special guest of this banquet, you cannot simply chase us out. We are also nobles who came with good intentions. It was Patriarch Geodard and the people here who failed to receive our goodwill and instead showed hostile intent," one of the men in Veron’s group said.
Aldrian glanced at him.
"I don’t see any problem with that. It is the host’s right to show hostility toward you. Did you not hear what Patriarch Geodard said? According to him, you are stray dogs, unworthy of this place and deserving to be chased out. Yet you shamelessly insist on staying despite not being invited."
"And who are you to speak such shameless reasoning and still act as if it were righteous? Do you hold the highest position here? Do I need to listen to your opinion?" Aldrian continued calmly. "I should applaud your confidence for saying something so ridiculous without even a hint of embarrassment. If I were not being merciful at this moment, I would have already slapped your face and sent you to oblivion for uttering such stupidity."
"Pfft!"
Many wanted to laugh, but they held it in. Aldrian truly did not regard them at all. It was as if he were berating a group of scoundrels.
The man’s face turned red as he nearly lost control. His aura flared violently around him.
"You—"
"Hold it."
Veron suddenly spoke, signaling with his hand for him to stand down.
The man looked at Veron, his fury on the verge of exploding. "But—"
However, he froze when he met Veron’s cold gaze, which immediately caused his fury to recede. He seemed to realize what he had almost done if he had allowed his anger to take over. Still, he gritted his teeth and looked at Aldrian with restrained fury.
Aldrian continued to look at him without much expression, then shifted his gaze to Veron, who was also looking in his direction. From the bulging veins on Veron’s neck and the reddened skin, Aldrian knew that Veron himself was also holding back his fury.
He inwardly smirked, feeling impressed by the man’s patience. To endure repeated humiliation since earlier revealed about his character.
It seemed that, as a noble, he did not only harbor an "I am higher than thou" mentality. He was capable of thinking tactically and maintaining his calm under humiliation.
Veron took a deep breath and finally showed a smile.
"Alright. If Your Majesty says so, we will leave. Still, we offer our congratulations to all of you for winning the war. We hope that we can continue to build our relationship in the future. Please excuse us."
After saying that, he turned around and walked away.
The others in his group, who were clearly dissatisfied and still wanted to stay, finally followed Veron as well. Their expressions of fury and displeasure were truly a delight for the invited guests present.
Even after arriving in a grand manner with many powerful cultivators, they still had to tuck their tails and leave after Aldrian spoke.
This was a show of strength! Strength ruled above all else!
Even those people who seemed not to care about the authority of the powers of this world hesitated to clash with Aldrian the Great.
Seeing that all the nuisances had already left, Patriarch Geodard revealed a smile as he looked toward the others.
"My apologies for the slight disturbance, but fret not. We had already anticipated the chaos and made preparations for it." After he said that, many maids and waiters entered the hall, bringing with them new dishes and drinks.
"Please enjoy the banquet and all the entertainment we have prepared for tonight. Let us celebrate our victory!"
