Starting Unlimited Evolution from Grinding

After fussing about for a while, the banquet finally began. The people gathered around him each found their seats in the hall, so none of them could pester Lin Mo anymore.

Soon after, the Emperor of the Roxez Empire entered with the Royal Astrologer, and they began exchanging the usual ceremonial remarks. It was all the same formal, empty rhetoric, and the speech dragged on so long that Lin Mo nearly dozed off.

It’s worth noting that the seat Lin Mo had been given was extremely prominent, virtually the most prestigious spot in the entire banquet hall. It was a display of significant honor.

Of course, this had been deliberately arranged by the Roxez Empire.

In theory, seats like that are usually reserved for those with the most distinguished statuses, and even a royal duke family like the Oxivis clan, a business powerhouse, would be a bit short of qualifying. Seats designed to be on par with the imperial family himself can either go to the empire’s royal household or to top-tier forces like the Church or the Adventurers' Association. No inexperienced young man should normally be worthy of such a place.

Unless that young man is as “abnormal” as Lin Mo…

A person who has surpassed their previous understanding cannot be judged by ordinary conventions or restrained by them.

In fact, none of the attendees thought there was anything wrong with Lin Mo sitting there.

Those so-called young talents who had been somewhat resentful before the incident were now all subdued; one by one they had lost the confidence and arrogance they used to display.

If Lin Mo had only been a bit stronger than them—for example, if they were early Transcendent Level and Lin Mo were mid Transcendent Level, or even late Transcendent Level—they might still think they had a chance to surpass him.

Or at least, even if they admitted he was stronger, they wouldn’t feel he was overwhelmingly stronger to the point of total submission.

But the gap between them now was clearly far beyond catch-up.

This was not the difference between early and late Transcendent Level, but the span of an entire major tier, perhaps even approaching two tiers.

People his age were generally only just reaching Transcendent Level, and some hadn’t even hit that yet.

But Lin Mo?

What had happened on the battlefield earlier—even if they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes—had reached them through their elders.

The strength he displayed was real Heroic Realm power, and not ordinary Heroic Realm power: it was at a level almost comparable to their elders.

That thoroughly shattered the mental defenses of those boys and girls who saw themselves as prodigies.

After all, besides talent, what they took pride in most was their status—the fact that their elders had reached late or peak Heroic Realm and stood at the top across the continent.

Their personal ambitions, their most daring expectations for the future, were basically to reach and inherit the positions of those elders, to stand like them at the pinnacle of the continent.

Lin Mo, however, had reached that height easily at the same age.

This completely broke the psychological barrier those talents had built; they now placed Lin Mo in an entirely different dimension.

To put it bluntly, this person had become so impressive that he could no longer be compared to them, so they simply treated him as someone outside their competition. Nobody bothered to contend with someone of that caliber.

Thus, the looks people cast at Yan Han were no longer challenging, questioning, or eager to test; they had become respectful distance, astonished admiration.

If people of the same age felt this way, the reaction from the elders was even stronger.

After half a lifetime of striving, relying on their families’ powerful influence and their own outstanding talent, they painfully cultivated and sharpened themselves to reach their current level. Yet this other person, at twenty years old, without family backing or abundant resources, had already reached or even exceeded what they had worked half their lives to attain.

Faced with such a surreal reality, there was no resentment, no wild astonishment, no envy—whatever the emotion, there was no doubt left about that young man. They placed him on a plane parallel to or even far above themselves.

If someone could reach such heights at that age, what would they become with a few more years?

Nobody knew the answer for sure, but judging from current trends, he might reach the continent’s top-tier ranks within a few years. His strength could surpass most peak Heroic Realm experts, reaching the same level as the Church’s Holy Son.

Even more frighteningly, with the kind of terrifying, almost unreasonable talent he displayed, in a few years he might even break through what people called the “Sighing Wall”—a barrier regarded as nearly insurmountable.

Imagine a Legendary Realm expert in his twenties...

Just thinking about it made one’s scalp tingle.

The Emperor of the Roxez Empire’s speech was indeed long, and the content was relatively vague and tedious, but that’s how formal occasions usually go. These old hands were long used to it, but for the younger crowd the wait became rather agonizing.

So before long, some of the young talents began to lose focus and yawn.

At times like this, their elders typically responded kindly...with a smack to the back of their heads.

“Sit up straight and listen. No manners at all...”

“You’re an adult, and I still have to worry about you?”

“When I was your age...”

And so on, such remarks kept coming.

Most young people would endure it, put on an act, nodding on the surface while letting the scolding slide right through.

But some were stubborn and would retort, “But Lin Mo is dozing off too!”

The inevitable reply was another smack.

“You compare yourself to him? If you actually had Lin Mo’s talent and power, you wouldn’t be sitting—you’d be standing on the table, or even riding on my shoulders!”

For these elders, seeing outstanding youngsters always triggered subconscious comparisons with their own children.

If their children could outperform them, they would feel relieved and pleased.

If not, and the other child was exceptional, the larger the gap, the more uncomfortable they felt.

In such situations, everything you do becomes a fault; they’ll look for reasons to criticize.

Being inattentive at a banquet is a major taboo, and mentioning Lin Mo then was like lifting the lid on a sore spot. If not for the dinner, someone might have been cuffed on the spot.

Finally, mercifully, the Emperor finished his long-winded speech and the banquet formally began. Rich dishes and expensive vintages were brought to the tables one after another. Every dish had been prepared by at least master-level chefs, using top-grade ingredients—hardly anything below Epic Level.

A banquet of this caliber was truly delightful to consume!

Most of the other guests spent their time chatting and socializing, barely seeming to notice the delicious food. Lin Mo, however, couldn’t be bothered with etiquette and began to gorge himself.

Ellie was the same—she’d never been subtle, simple-minded and hearty in her eating, indifferent to appearances.

By contrast, Finnie and Lena ate more properly, taking small bites.

Lena, being a Chef, ate while tasting and studying, even taking out a notebook to jot notes.

Flora appeared more mature; although she was eating, she was clearly paying attention to the surroundings, keeping an eye on the movements of various influential parties.

Notably, Nuolun sat at the neighboring table. The Oxivis Family’s presence, while slightly lower than Lin Mo’s table, was still top-tier at the banquet.

The girl seemed unwilling to meet Lin Mo’s eyes now. Lin Mo watched her with interest, and whenever their gazes met briefly, she would quickly look away and not dare to hold his eye contact.

Interesting, very interesting...

Unfortunately, the easygoing atmosphere didn’t last long.

Soon the adults around began to approach him for conversation.

The first to come was the chairman of the Imperial Capital branch of the Adventurers' Association in the Roxez Empire.

As the head of the capital branch, he was a prominent figure at the association’s headquarters and concurrently served as a vice chairman at the Adventurers' Association HQ—one of the four deputy chairmen.

He was unquestionably among the top five figures within the entire Adventurers' Association.

He didn’t discuss anything overly serious or formal with Lin Mo, but instead engaged in light, everyday chat. The man was witty and humorous, and their conversation was pleasant.

After talking a while, he excused himself and went to greet others. He likely just wanted to make a friendly introduction; after all, Lin Mo was a registered adventurer, and an organization like the Adventurers' Association didn’t need overly elaborate acquaintance-building.

The next visitor surprised Lin Mo.

It wasn’t a member of the Roxez royal family or some noble scion, but the Royal Astrologer he had seen on the battlefield before.

Facing this genuine Legendary Realm expert, Lin Mo remained courteous.

The Royal Astrologer was equally polite, smiling as he clinked glasses and then opened the topic by discussing the battlefield events.

“Speaking of which, I have had some contact with young Lin Mo before.”

“Oh?”

Lin Mo paused, “How so?”

“Let me introduce myself. Besides being the Royal Astrologer of the Roxez Empire, I am currently the chairman of the Mage Association on this continent.”

Lin Mo suddenly understood.

So that’s it...

When he had first shown promise in the Violet Empire, he had previously received an invitation from the Mage Association.

“I heard about the events in the Violet Empire and learned some information about you, Young Lin Mo. I immediately wanted to invite you over for a visit, but there wasn’t a suitable opportunity until now. If you would honor us, would you come to discuss matters of magic?”

Lin Mo found the proposal appealing.

This wasn’t meaningless socializing that he would find troublesome; it was an invitation to study magical knowledge and techniques, which he was genuinely interested in.

Moreover, he currently needed a large number of lower-level skills to support his rapid leveling and to continue expanding his skill pool. The Mage Association was undoubtedly the best source for gaining many magic skills.

The Mage Association, as a non-official fellowship, gathered many of the continent’s top mages. There were more than one Legendary Realm figure among them—some even stronger than the Royal Astrologer in front of him, except those people refused to take on responsibilities, which is why the chairman title rested with this man.

Discussing spells and techniques with such top-tier experts would likely yield considerable gains even for Lin Mo.

So without hesitation, Lin Mo accepted the invitation at once.

“All right, all right!”

The Royal Astrologer beamed. “Then let’s not delay. How about tomorrow? I’ll notify those old fellows and have them come over by teleportation matrix tomorrow...”

After arranging this, the Royal Astrologer didn’t linger. He exchanged a few more pleasantries and then took his leave.

Lin Mo, however, found it hard to relax. A continued string of social interactions followed, and he couldn’t be too perfunctory—these were top forces, and he might need to ask favors of them later.

The busy engagements dragged on until deep into the night before the banquet finally broke up.

Lin Mo returned to the accommodation arranged by the Roxez court and collapsed onto the bed, too lazy even to wash. He waved a hand and used Cleansing Flow to clean his body, then turned over and slept.

This left those on duty today bewildered.

“You’re going to sleep already? What about our dinner?”

But they didn’t want to disturb Lin Mo’s rest, so they reluctantly rested as well.

However, the things that needed to be dealt with could not be avoided forever.

So the next morning, Lin Mo woke up with a familiar feeling.

Looking up, sure enough, it was Sherfilia.

Scenes like this had become common.

Lin Mo helplessly patted her head, then slapped his own cheek to wake himself up and pull himself together.

Debts must be repaid.

Around late morning, or rather around 10:30, he changed his clothes and walked out of his room.

After a simple meal, it was time to go to the Mage Association for the appointment.

Meanwhile, at the Mage Association, several elders arrived one after another via the teleportation matrix, each looking energetic and glowing with health.

Seeing the Royal Astrologer, they hurried over and patted his shoulder. “Not bad, not bad. Finally accomplished something. That boy...ahem, when will Young Lin Mo arrive?”

The Royal Astrologer’s mouth twitched as he rolled his eyes in helplessness.

Getting those old fellows to help arrange things was impossible to contact—when it came to good matters, each of them was more eager than the others.

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