Lu Canglan also sensed something was wrong. His entire face turned liver-colored.
The Young Master of the White Fish Society, Dongfang Sheng?
This Yang Cheng could call someone like that "brother"? And just earlier, he'd been threatening to crush him like an ant? A chill shot straight from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.
Huang Guinian's calm, senior-expert demeanor vanished completely. His clouded old eyes were now filled with disbelief and doubt.
The same went for Huang Yuan, He Rongping, and everyone else who had previously criticized Yang Cheng or mocked him behind his back. Now, each of them looked like ducks with their throats gripped—silent, pale, and drenched in cold sweat.
In complete contrast, Chen Xuanshan and Chen Juefeng exchanged glances. Aside from relief, their eyes were filled with shock.
They had always known Yang Cheng was extraordinary, but they hadn't expected him to be this terrifying—even someone like the Young Master of the White Fish Society was on friendly terms with him.
The entire hall fell so silent that you could hear a pin drop. Only the heavy breathing and pounding hearts echoed in the room.
"Senior Yu."
Just then, a voice broke the dead silence. It was laced with unwillingness and doubt.
Huang Yuan finally couldn't hold in the fear and frustration inside. He pointed at Yang Cheng, voice slightly shrill from agitation.
"Don't you think your words are a bit exaggerated?"
He tried to poke a hole in the logic. "We admit Yang Cheng is talented—no one's denying that. But talent is one thing. Whether that talent can actually turn into power strong enough to dominate others, that's a whole different story."
"Right now, he's flaunting a little talent and acting like he's above everyone. Arrogant beyond reason. He looks down on every family in the Southern Domain. Lu Guan was crippled, and the Lu, Huang, and Lin families were all insulted by him. Senior Yu, don't you think he's way too arrogant, way too overbearing? Does the White Fish Society really endorse this kind of behavior?"
Huang Yuan had basically gone all in with that speech. He was trying to paint Yang Cheng as a common enemy of the Southern Domain. He wanted to use the weight of the "great families" to pressure Yu Zhongxu and subtly question the White Fish Society's stance.
But the moment his voice fell, Yu Zhongxu's expression instantly darkened. It was like a layer of frost had settled across his face.
His gaze turned razor-sharp as he looked at Huang Yuan coldly. That single glance made Huang Yuan's heart lurch hard.
"Which family are you from?" Yu Zhongxu's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a chilling edge. "Is this a place where you get to speak?"
Huang Guinian's heart nearly jumped out of his chest. He cursed his grandson's stupidity and rushed forward.
"Elder Yu, please calm your anger. This is my fault for not disciplining him well! He's my worthless grandson—Huang Yuan."
He glared fiercely at Huang Yuan. "Well? What are you waiting for? Apologize to Elder Yu!"
Huang Yuan felt frozen under Yu Zhongxu's icy gaze. His whole body went cold. On top of that, being scolded by his grandfather made him feel utterly humiliated.
That suffocating feeling made it hard to breathe. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Yu Zhongxu didn't even wait for an apology. He turned to Huang Guinian.
"Huang Guinian, your Huang family has at least a little standing in the Southern Domain. But this grandson of yours? Doesn't even know basic manners?"
"With elders discussing serious matters here, a clueless junior like him dares to cut in? Talk nonsense? Judge right and wrong however he pleases? This is the so-called family discipline of the Huang clan? What a joke!"
"Yes, yes, Elder Yu is absolutely right. I'll definitely discipline him strictly when we get home!"
Cold sweat broke out across Huang Guinian's forehead. All he could do was nod repeatedly.
At that moment, Huang Yuan felt like a complete clown.
Just moments ago, he still dreamed of competing with Yang Cheng. He even believed the Huang clan's status could suppress him.
But now, the difference in how Yu Zhongxu treated them was like night and day.
He spoke to Yang Cheng with courtesy—almost with a hint of respect.
But when it came to him? It was like yelling at a stray dog. He wasn't even allowed to speak.
He finally realized with painful clarity: in the eyes of someone like Yu Zhongxu, a true powerhouse, he, Huang Yuan, and Yang Cheng weren't even in the same league.
They weren't even close to being comparable.
The overwhelming shame and stark contrast made Huang Yuan wish he could crawl into a hole and disappear.
Yu Zhongxu couldn't be bothered to look at his defeated state. His gaze swept over the many expressions in the hall before landing coldly on Lu Canglan and Huang Guinian, whose faces were equally dark. His tone returned to that high-and-mighty calm, now laced with an even sharper layer of sarcasm.
"His Highness Yang Cheng's talent and potential are so extraordinary, I can't be bothered wasting more words on the likes of you. Those who understand will naturally understand. And those who don't? Explaining it is like playing the zither to a cow—pointless."
He paused for a moment, as if thinking of a more fitting comparison. Then he said bluntly, with no effort to disguise his contempt:
"Maybe let me put it even simpler. It's like a frog reigning over a pile of trash at the bottom of a well. It can never understand the world of divine dragons soaring through the skies. How can a third-rate disciple barely scraping through graduation at a garbage academy even begin to imagine the realm touched by monsters at the top of a god-level academy?"
His words cut sharper than blades, slashing across the faces of everyone from the Southern Domain clans.
But Yu Zhongxu didn't care about saving face.
The Huang clan, the Lu clan, the Lin clan?
Maybe they could still scare a few minor powers in the Southern Domain. But in the eyes of the White Fish Society, which ruled the Western Region, they were nothing more than slightly larger piles of garbage.
He knew these clans all too well.
Their inheritances were weak, foundations shallow. If they managed to birth one or two mediocre Dao bodies, they'd beat drums and parade it as a world-shaking event.
As for their so-called "divine realm" experts—most were just barely built up over long years of hoarding resources. Yin God realm? That was already their permanent ceiling.
Even sadder, these clans had a frog-in-a-well mindset. They were so used to measuring everything with their own narrow standards.
In their eyes, a "normal Dao body" was already a big deal. So what if someone had a "top-tier Dao body"? Stronger, sure—but how much stronger? Twice? Three times?
They simply couldn't grasp the truth. The gap between a normal Dao body and a top-tier Dao body was wider than the gap between a normal person and a normal Dao body.
"It's like an ordinary person who'll never leave the ground, looking up at the stars," Yu Zhongxu's voice now carried a cold, piercing clarity. "He might naively think the sun hanging in the sky is only as far from the earth as the view from a mountaintop."
"But in reality? That distance is a million times, ten million times, even over a billion times greater."
"You… you all are those pitiful ordinary people. And His Highness Yang Cheng..."
He turned to Yang Cheng, and in his gaze was a rare trace of reverence.
"He is the blazing sun whose true height you will never comprehend."
"Hiss—!"
Someone in the crowd couldn't hold back anymore. The last thread of their mental defenses snapped, and they sucked in a cold breath.
The banquet hall fell into total silence again.
So quiet, it was deafening.
Only the harsh, uneven breathing of those present echoed under the ceiling.
Huang Yuan's face had gone pale. His body trembled uncontrollably. His heart and mind were in complete disarray.