At the edge of the west side, several richly dressed Western Region Nobles were conversing in low voices.
At their head were Alhan, the Third Princess of the Chechi Kingdom, and Wu Ya, the First Princess of the Wusun Kingdom.
A little farther away, several middle-aged men dressed as merchants from small Western Regions Countries had gathered together. Though plainly dressed, they wore jade at their waists and thumb rings on their fingers, clearly men of considerable wealth.
They murmured among themselves, their gazes occasionally flicking toward the eminent Buddhist monks.
The east side was mostly occupied by Buddhist disciples.
Young Samyamas stood in groups of three or five, while several middle-aged Martial Monks wore brown or gray robes.
Chen Qing even spotted two familiar faces among them. They were the two Guardian Martial Monks who had stood beside Master Jingtai a few days ago, and they gave Chen Qing a slight nod in greeting.
On the stone steps to the North Side, several Sumeru Temple administrative monks stood solemnly, maintaining order.
Farther away, more monks and worshippers who had heard the news and rushed over from the Wuzhe Conference's main venue were steadily gathering here. Though their numbers were not excessive, there were nearly a hundred of them, forming a semicircle around the Vajra Platform.
"Look, that's Chen Qing from the Tianbao Supreme Sect!"
"So young... Is he really going to challenge the Vajra Platform?"
"I heard he's the Tianbao Supreme Sect's second-ranked true disciple, a genius of the Spear Dao!"
"No matter how formidable he is, he follows an outside path. How could the Vajra Platform be so easily challenged? Over all these years, how many have succeeded?"
"Master Jingkong actually agreed to reopen the Vajra Platform. That's rather unusual..."
The buzz of discussion filled the air like