The celebrations officially began.
Dancers took the stage, entertaining everyone with their fluid movements, with musicians playing music, and coordinating with the dancers.
Food and drinks were served to the guests in their galleries by the royal maids, meanwhile, the common crowd was served food by the royal butler, who made the food and drinks float in the air.
Anyone who wanted to eat and drink could reach out their hands towards the item and it would glide to their hands.
Socializing was kept for the latter since in front of the emperor, maintaining order was a must.
You couldn't simply go and greet people, that would ensue chaos in the arena.
After the dance performance was over, actors took the stage, enacting famous events from the emperor's life.
He was glorified in their acts, making use of the creative liberty to show him in a much greater light.
Similar to the dragon emperor, his legend of making friends with the Blue lightning bull was famous throughout the empire.
On the stage, a small child played the role of the blue lightning bull who was being hunted by cultivators when the emperor's younger self, a young actor playing the emperor, appeared and saved the bull from the cultivators, ultimately making friends with it.
Next, two more legends about him were performed before the actors took their leave among the sound of claps and praise.
"In this next event, I invite the guests to present their gifts to the emperor!" The grand minister spoke, standing up from the throne seat, his voice loud and clear.
The first to take this opportunity was the first prince, Fang Tianren.
He flew out of the gallery, a wooden box floating beside him.
Ascending the stage, he held the box in his hand and spoke confidently: "Father, you are the emperor and there is nothing you can't acquire, however, this son of yours would like to present..."
He took a pause, showing the box and slowly opening it, he spoke: "This churin lotus!"
From the box, a soft, golden light spilled forth, illuminating the stage.
Nestled within was a radiant lotus, its petals shimmering with an otherworldly beauty, a large amount of qi gushing out of it.
"Woah! A churin lotus? Just how did he acquire one? Isn't it only found in another empire?"
The crowd erupted in awe and surprise at his gift.
Even the emperor was intrigued.
"A wonderful gift. As expected of the first prince!" The grand minister praised, nodding at him to leave the stage.
The gift was presented and if he wanted any comments from the emperor, he could greet him in the socializing event.
The prince gave a respectful bow in honor of the emperor before returning to his gallery.
As soon as the first prince left the stage, the second prince flew out of his gallery with a larger box.
He seemed almost excited at presenting his gift.
"Father, This son of yours has waited for this day for years so that I can finally present you with a gift that you'd really like"
He turned his gaze to the box, opening it in a hurry.
"Father, I gift you the eight-star pill of lightning!"
As soon as the box opened a thunder sound escaped the pill residing in it. It was blue with no blemishes with little cloud-shaped marks on it.
Even the emperor's eyes twitched a little as soon as he heard the name of the pill.
He practiced the lightning path and this pill of lightning was supposed to raise one's attainment in the lightning path, though by a little, however, for an emperor realm expert, a little was in no sense less.
Moreover, refining an 8-star pill would require a high number of Alchemy masters, coordinating with each other to steal the secrets of lightning path from the heavens and trap them in the pill.
It was too rare of a pill and could be considered a treasure of the empire. Even in the empire's treasury, there would be no more than 5 pills similar to this.
The crowd was in uproar.
"What? The pill of lightning?"
"That too, a 8-star pill?"
"Just how did the second prince acquire such an item?" Original content can be found at Novᴇl_Fire(.)net
"This is the best gift that the emperor could receive on his birthday."
"Indeed, At first I thought the first prince would win in the gifts, however, It seems I underestimated the second prince too much."
"To think the second prince had such a gift prepared for this day, It appears having money is really an advantage."
Even the first prince gritted his teeth in his gallery: "Just how did he get that? If I had known, I'd have prepared an even better gift, tsk!"
On the other hand, the third princess sighed in defeat: "Sigh, my gift will look much worse if I went to present it now. What can even surpass the pill of lightning?"
The other princes and princesses had somewhat similar reactions.
"Ahem!" The Grand Minister, acted to clear his throat, silencing the noise that had erupted.
"You've exceeded my expectations, your highness!" The Grand Minister smiled. "You can leave now. I'd like to engage in a conversation after this event is over."
The second prince nodded before taking his leave, content with the reactions and praises he received for the gift.
He had paid a huge price in the black market of the neighboring empire to acquire this pill.
Waiting for a decade to present this pill was worth it,
He thought internally, flying back to his gallery.
However, after he had left, no one ascended the stage.
The Grand minister, noticing that no one had taken the stage, announced: "The next guest can present his gift!"
However, no one came forward.
"How would my gift look if I went now? I'll be laughed off and compared to the second prince"
Almost every remaining prince and princess had the same thought running through their heads, making them nervous and unable to take the stage.
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(A/N - Thanks for reading. ^..^)