Over the next few days, Welcome Guest Peak grew much quieter.
Elder Sang Yanping took Chen Qing, Shen Xiuyong, and the others to visit several sects that had long been on good terms with the Wutai Sect. They exchanged information and learned more rumors and inside details about the selection.
Afterward, the Wutai Sect members spent most of their time at their lodgings and rarely went out.
Nie Shanshan, Yan Yaoyang, and the others knew full well that their cultivation still lagged behind the foremost prodigies. They scarcely stepped outside, burying themselves in bitter cultivation and hoping to make even the slightest further progress before the selection.
Li Wang, on the other hand, could not resist the lure of Tianbao City's splendor. He dragged several equally curious junior brothers into Tianbao Giant City to broaden their horizons.
When they returned, every one of them was glowing with excitement, exclaiming endlessly over the city's lavish scenes and countless rare treasures. They especially could not stop praising the famed Hundred Flowers Pavilion. Though they had not dared venture inside, merely gazing from afar at its singing orioles, dancing swallows, and blaze of lights had already left their hearts racing and their souls swaying.
However, Nie Shanshan soon learned of it and reported the matter to Elder Chu Jinyun.
Chu Jinyun summoned Li Wang and the others and gave them a stern lecture, warning them that this place was no trifling matter. They were not to let its prosperity dazzle their eyes, neglect important business, or even invite disaster.
Li Wang and the others immediately became like eggplants beaten by frost, heads hanging low. From then on, they behaved far more honestly and no longer dared go out casually.
That day, Chen Qing was meditating quietly in his room when a measured knock