The barefoot, sword-hugging man in hemp robes slowly raised his head and swept a cold glance over the girl.
When she drew near, his lips parted, just as he was about to speak. "You..."
The next moment, Jiang Yuechu walked straight past him and stopped before the bluestone.
Ignoring the icy, bone-piercing gazes around her, she merely halted, clasped her hands, and gave the old man seated cross-legged atop the bluestone an exceptionally proper bow.
"Something personal held me up. I came late."
"..."
The area around the bluestone instantly fell deathly silent.
Everyone stared at the girl, traces of anger in their eyes.
What was the meaning of this?
Could it be that, seeing their master had lost all his cultivation, she believed he no longer deserved the respect due to him?!
Yet in response to her words, Qin Zhisui upon the bluestone said nothing, sinking instead into a long silence.
After a long while, he gently shook his head. "It's all right. Find a place and sit down first."
"Master!"
The barefoot, sword-hugging man in hemp robes abruptly rose to his feet.
His stiff features were covered in frost.
Immediately afterward, several more figures rose as one.
In an instant, the tranquil, peaceful rear mountain of Crouching Ox Ridge became suffocating.
The auras of several Myriad Phenomena Heaven Realm cultivators spread through the air, faintly pressing down upon the girl.
Withered leaves whirled through the air as the wind roared.
The hemp-robed man stared at the calm-faced Jiang Yuechu and suppressed his fury as he said coldly, "We do not know what considerations Master had in keeping such an arrogant fool."
"But today is her first sermon, and she arrives fashionably late, treating the rules of Crouching Ox Ridge as nothing and showing not the slightest reverence for