There was no need to say anything else.
The conversation between the two disciples remained confined to a certain scope.
The disciple with the bitter smile did not reveal his aura, yet he truly possessed the aura of the Purple Mansion Realm. He did not continue speaking.
He merely added inwardly, It was fine if he had been in seclusion for years. Last time, there was still an avatar projection present, but when he personally presides over the competition after next, there can't possibly still be an avatar, can there?
His background was naturally extraordinary, and he too bore the aura of the Purple Mansion Realm. Certain internal secrets could only be learned upon reaching the Purple Mansion Realm.
As for those below the Purple Mansion Realm, at most they had heard that elders often went into seclusion to cultivate, and then paid it no further mind. After all, elders were far too distant from them. The people they usually dealt with were mostly senior disciples or stewards.
This disciple sighed inwardly. After all, he too was one of those who wished to enter the Inner Academy.
The Profound Heaven Dao Academy's rules for presiding over the Outer Sect Grand Competition had never changed. The three chief elders of the Outer Academy managed all Outer Academy affairs, a rule set down on the very day the Dao Academy was founded. The time before that could no longer be traced, but it had lasted for at least ten thousand years.
This ironclad decree was said to have been carved into the prohibitions by generation after generation of the Dao Academy. Even if someone wished to change it, it would not be so easy.
No disciple knew why this was so, but without question, every rotation of presiding elders lasted as little