Above the Black Nether Mountain Range.
A white-browed elder looked kind and benevolent, yet his sword light was sharp as he blocked Chen Ping'an's path.
Chen Ping'an wore the robes of a Confucian scholar. His gaze swept over the long sword in the other's hand, his expression gentle and his bearing refined.
"Fellow Daoist, what is the meaning of this?"
Not a tough nut! Sword Hiding Elder's heart immediately settled.
He had not appeared here without reason. At the earlier Cloud Mountain Convention, he had perceived something unusual in Red Peak True Person of the Horizontal Mountain Sect and could not help paying him closer attention.
Then, before the convention had even ended, the other man had hurriedly departed. A thought could not help arising in his heart.
Whether today or in the past, the relationship between the Heart Inquiry Sword Pavilion and the Horizontal Mountain Sect had never been harmonious. In the past, they could still maintain the bare minimum of courtesy, but now, since the Celestial Grand Ceremony for Linyuan, even that thin layer of decorum between them had gradually shown signs of being torn apart.
Linyuan and he had come to the Northern Mountain Pass for the Cloud Mountain Convention and all the subsequent arrangements, all to bolster the Heart Inquiry Sword Pavilion's prestige.
With the Horizontal Mountain Sect currently in decline, they intended to squeeze its room for profit to the greatest possible extent.
That was the purpose of their visit.
Now that Red Peak True Person of the Horizontal Mountain Sect was acting strangely, he naturally could not ignore it.
The Horizontal Mountain Sect had cultivated its foundation for many years. Though its momentum had shown signs of waning lately, it was no fish on the chopping block, waiting for them to carve it up.