Though puzzled, Lu Ye could not neglect proper courtesy. His expression turned solemn at once as he clasped his fists and bowed. "Lu Ye of Three Realms Island greets you, Senior Nine Radiance!"
The great hall was silent. Chu Shen stopped speaking, Aunt Yue stood quietly to one side, and Nine Radiance said nothing.
Yet Lu Ye could sense a gaze fixed upon him from ahead. Strangely, he did not know why, but that stare made him feel distinctly uncomfortable, as though someone who bore him some hostility were coldly watching him.
He could not help frowning.
Nine Radiance harbored hostility toward him? That seemed unlikely. So far, he had only met Nine Radiance once, outside Myriad Phenomena Island a few days ago. Where could such hostility have come from? It could not be because of Chu Shen, could it? Yet if he called it an illusion, that did not seem right either.
As he pondered, Nine Radiance's voice came from ahead. "No need for such formalities."
That sensation abruptly vanished without a trace.
"Sit," Nine Radiance said again.
Lu Ye quietly took a seat to the side. A female cultivator entered from outside and served tea. Lu Ye took a sip, set down his teacup, then turned toward Nine Radiance and said, "Senior, I came here so abruptly this time mainly to offer you my thanks. A few days ago, outside Myriad Phenomena Island—"
Before he could finish, Nine Radiance cut him off. "What happened outside Myriad Phenomena Island was merely a coincidence. That day, I had gone to visit an old friend, and when I was preparing to leave, I happened to pass by."
The old friend she spoke of was undoubtedly Mu Qing. Yet from Lu Ye's observation that day, he had not seen any particularly deep