The Rise of a Master: It Starts With Rejection

Felix and his friends gathered in a luxurious private room at an upscale restaurant in Yartford that night.

"Everybody, please try the pasta. I hired professional chefs to cook it for all of you."

Madeline called a group of waiters over. Her pasta was renowned for being delicious.

After tasting it, Melissa, who loved eating pasta and fondue, exclaimed in surprise, "Wow! It tastes great, Maddy. When are you going to open a franchise in Gray City? I'll miss this terribly." Madeline smiled. "Since you said that, I'll open one soon."

Though Ronan looked like a simple and honest person, he was actually pretty quick-witted. So, he swiftly said, "Can you teach me how to cook it, Maddy? If Melissa craves it in the future, I can cook that for her." Hearing that, Felix replied, "Shut up! That is Maddy's secret recipe. How could she give it to you? Let's drink instead."

Realizing that Jack was drinking juice, Felix asked, "Are you a woman, Jack? Do you have that 'time of the month' when you can't drink beer, too?"

Everyone laughed, making Jack a little awkward.

He answered, "Please be more understanding. I have an important meeting later on, so I can't drink beer."

Meanwhile, Vanessa told Felix, "Why can't you two be more upfront with one another? You two are friends. Jack has already resigned from his previous job and is managing his own company now.

"The organization has been officially registered, and he's waiting to land his first business deal. This meeting is very important for that."

Felix didn't know about that at all.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were starting your own company? You're something else."

Yet, Jack didn't know what to say. He managed to establish good connections with others because of Felix's help, so he didn't want to bother the latter unnecessarily.

Just then, Ryan interjected, "Jack, are you going to the banquet organized by Ocean at midnight?"

Jack questioned curiously, "How did you know?"

Then, George smiled and joined in the conversation, "Ocean is a talented man, and the Whit family is the second most prestigious family in Dragonia. Of course, we would know what's going on there." This made Felix confused. He asked, "What's this got to do with Jack?"

"Jack's company is involved in the trading business, right? If he wants to be successful in his endeavors, he has to be acquainted with the Whit family first, or things will go wrong for him. Since he can't drink while he's with us, I could guess the reason easily," George replied.

Jack laughed bitterly. "That's right, but I'm not sure if I can attend Ocean's banquet tonight."

On the other hand, Vanessa couldn't help but reply, "You keep dawdling. Didn't we trouble Felix a lot in the past? Are you going to decline the invitation? Felix, to enter Ocean's banquet, we have to fulfill a few weird conditions first and bring a powerful martial artist with us.

"They will give every visitor a test at the entrance. If we pass their test, we can enter the place. But, if we can't pass it, we'll be asked to leave. So, he wants to ask if he could bring you with him." "Was there a rule like this?" Felix wondered and readily agreed.noveldrama

"Alright, Jack. You're too polite. Look at Vanessa. Why are you still hesitating at this point? Aren't we friends?"

As he patted Felix's shoulder, Jack had a complicated expression on his face.

Nala piped up, "Be careful, Felix.

Ocean's banquet is a pretense. He wants to invite a few martial artists who attended the Martial Artist Competition in the past to gauge his powers. At the same time, he wishes to eliminate a few useless martial artists."

Nodding, Felix fell silent and continued drinking his beer.