When the people of Little Green Peak arrived, no disciples from the other lineages came to greet them, nor did any elders stop to talk. Their cold reception made it plain that the other lineages had pushed them aside.
The disciples took it in stride. After all these years, they were used to it.
Since Qi Ling, Lü Qingyu, Xiao Wan'er, Shen Qingyu, and the other female disciples had begun to shine, women had come to outnumber men on the peak by an ever wider margin. Fortunately, as a newly established lineage, they had yet to suffer infighting or cuts to their allotted resources. If anything, its four hundred disciples had grown closer.
The male disciples in particular saw their senior sisters cutting a path through thorns ahead of them, and each quietly threw himself into training.
You often heard the junior brothers urging themselves on with the words, "Revive Little Green Peak."
Even so, the outside world did not bend to their wishes. Little Green Peak still came last in the contests between lineages.
Seeing them enter this way, Nie Qingzhu privately breathed a sigh of relief. Had they arrived aboard a magical treasure, they would only have invited more needless ridicule.
As an elder of the peak, she had to bear the pressure from outside while constantly protecting her disciples' hearts set on seeking the Dao.
After all, the heart of Dao came first in cultivation. Cloud-Reaching Peak had held the top spot year after year not only because of its abundant resources, but because every disciple there had light in their eyes. Their bearing, as though none but they could prevail, was something the other lineages truly could not match.
Nie Qingzhu swept her gaze across the venue. She only hoped Little Green Peak would get through