The treasure ship continued northward, while Western Kunlun had already departed ahead of them.
Before leaving, True Person Brightheart had specially come to bid farewell.
Now, only the three sects of Taihua Sect, Three Immortals Island, and Fangcun Mountain Sect of the Righteous Dao remained traveling together.
Another five days passed.
Fangcun Mountain Sect sent someone to visit. It was unexpectedly an old acquaintance—Duanmu Xiwei, Hall Master of Herb Hall, one of Fangcun Mountain's three halls, who had once led you and a group of disciples to the Heavenly Emperor's Treasury in the East Sea. She held a position of great authority.
"Greetings, Sect Master Chen, Fairy Jinghong."
"I had long wished to come pay my respects, but trivial affairs kept me occupied until today."
As a former Fangcun Mountain disciple, you sensed something subtle in this. Fangcun Mountain and Western Kunlun had always been allied sects, yet Duanmu Xiwei had waited until True Person Brightheart departed before appearing. The implications were worth savoring.
You welcomed them into the hall and saw that Duanmu Xiwei had brought two men and one woman with her, all familiar faces.
The first was Heavenly Mansion Star Sun Miao from back then. As the sect master's direct disciple, Sun Miao had now risen to become an elder of Cloud-Reaching Peak's Discipline Hall, with a strong chance of inheriting the position of peak master in the future.
The second was Qi Ling of Little Green Peak. She was now a renowned prodigy of Fangcun Mountain, and her brilliance even surpassed Sun Miao's.
The third was Yuan Shujian of Dragon Head Peak. Back then, Senior Brother Yuan had often looked after you. Now, he possessed a few more traces of maturity and held an important position within Fangcun Mountain.
In the blink of an eye, forty