Holding the Sword

More than eighty sages and headmasters from the academies still had to attend an internal meeting at the Temple of Literature.

Apart from a handful of outsiders who would continue attending, everyone else had to remain in Pan Shui County Town and other nearby places for the time being, awaiting the temple's arrangements.

Half the people from the previous meeting were absent from this smaller one, but more than a dozen inconspicuous new faces had appeared, mostly young people. Among them were a Young Celestial Master of Dragon Tiger Mountain, a Yellow Purple Noble, and Lin Junbi of the Shao Yuan Dynasty.

Chen Ping'an was nowhere to be found. The other four participants attending as sword cultivators of the Sword Qi Great Wall were all present.

They were still some distance from the temple gates. Perhaps the Sage of Ritual had arranged that deliberately. Three meetings in succession called for a chance to catch one's breath and chat along the way, rather than keep everyone's nerves taut throughout.

A Liang wrung his hands in regret and looked at Zuo You and Qi Tingji beside him with open disdain. "I'm not like you two. Couldn't they count me as half a Fourteen Realms cultivator?"

Lu Zhi sneered. "When I break through, I'll treat it as a celebration of your Realm Drop."

A Liang rubbed his chin and nodded slowly. "One goes up, one goes down. Sounds like a fair trade."

Lu Zhi's face turned icy. Her vicious punch sent A Liang spinning through the air. By the time he staggered to his feet, he had taken off his Confucian robe.

With that Great Dao Suppression Charm gone, the rest would be Brother A Liang's Small World. None of the sages were around, after all. The burden was his to shoulder; he