Long Sun Mountain, main peak.
Today was the He Family's biennial internal tournament.
Three high platforms had been temporarily erected in the mountain's training grounds, their surroundings planted thick with colorful banners that snapped loudly in the mountain wind.
A dense crowd filled the space below the platforms. Every He Family disciple under twenty had arrived, and even some branch disciples who had been managing the family's assets elsewhere had been recalled in advance.
The so-called internal tournament was limited to young disciples under twenty, intended to uncover promising talents worthy of the family's focused cultivation.
This was also a reform championed by the First Elder. Back when the He Family revered bloodlines above all else, there had been no such thing.
However, the tournament had yet to begin. The family disciples were currently drawing lots one after another.
Beside the training grounds stood a century-old camphor tree, graceful as a canopy. Beneath its shade gathered more than ten young disciples who had not yet drawn their lots, whispering among themselves.
"Tell me, do you think He Ziyang will come this time?"
A solidly built youth lowered his voice and glanced toward the mountain path.
"What face does he have to show here?" A sharp-faced youth beside him sneered. "Back then, when that female sword cultivator from the Mysterious Heaven Sect publicly accepted him as a nominal disciple, how many people were green with envy?
"And what happened? He went to Heaven Capital Mountain for over three years, supposedly cultivating under the Mansion Lord, yet when he came back, he was only at the second layer of Qi Refinement—not even comparable to my cousin from a branch line!"
"You can't put it that way." Another, slightly older youth shook his head. "I heard the elders discussing it in private. They