"An interesting kid."
Tianheng Mountain.
Within a mountain great hall where clear waters surged and immortal mist curled, a figure whose features could not be seen slowly opened his eyes.
Those profound eyes, deep as the starry sky, held a trace of surprise.
This man was Daoist Ming Xin, the Cave True Great Power elder dispatched by the Cloud Water Sect to the Tianheng Sea Region to oversee and protect the spirit stone mine veins on Tianheng Island.
In truth,
Daoist Ming Xin had a good relationship with Daoist Ming Shui, Zhang Qingyuan's nominal master. Not only were they both cultivators of the Cloud Water Sect's Ming generation, they also had considerable private friendship.
More than twenty years ago, within the Spirit Sea Sword Sect Ruins in the Zhoushan Sea Domain, Daoist Ming Shui had secretly ambushed Ouyang Qianqiu, the Vast Sea Sect Cave True Cultivator who had invaded the South Sea. Daoist Ming Xin had accompanied him.
The depth of their friendship was plain to see.
As early as the moment Zhang Qingyuan stepped onto Tianheng Island, Daoist Ming Xin had already sensed his arrival.
Yet,
Daoist Ming Xin's treatment of this disciple of his old friend—a man now famous throughout the Yuzhou Cultivation World, acclaimed as the greatest genius beneath Qi Yiming in three hundred years—was somewhat strange.
He had been secretly watching and observing Zhang Qingyuan's actions all along, yet he had never spoken up, nor had he summoned him over to offer him guidance.
Just like an unfamiliar bystander.
"What is it, Master?"
The disciple who had been standing respectfully at the side saw his master's unusual reaction and asked.
"Nothing. I merely saw an interesting kid."
Daoist Ming Xin shook his head.
Over these past days, from his observations, Zhang Qingyuan seemed to have been