The Grand Elder's move stunned quite a few people outright.
Although an elder's personal disciple did not have the absolute right to inherit their position as a peak master's personal disciple did, they were still qualified to attend the Azure Tide Sect's major meetings.
Hong Ling and the others all looked puzzled. Only Ning Hai remained composed as he asked gently, "For you to take this disciple under your wing, Grand Elder, I imagine you must have had a fortuitous encounter of your own."
Ning Hai's words were actually a roundabout inquiry into this disciple's origins and how the Grand Elder had come to accept him.
Naturally, the Grand Elder caught Ning Hai's implication. Rather than dancing around the question, he sighed. "This lad has had quite a troubled life.
"He's a distant nephew of mine, and I picked him up from a small sect."
With that opening, quite a few people who had initially shown little interest turned their attention to the Grand Elder.
"A distant nephew? Picked him up?" Long Aotian shifted sideways and scrutinized the young man who had entered.
Judging by his age alone, he was indeed quite young, around Xia Jue's age, though the gap in their cultivation was rather large...
Then again, ordinary people could hardly compare with Xia Jue.
The Grand Elder nodded. "Yes. That small sect was called the Flower Spirit Sect. It was a small sect exceptionally skilled in formation arts.
"Unfortunately, formation arts require a great deal of investment in the early stages. They eventually disbanded because they lacked the resources to keep nurturing their formation cultivators.
"I hadn't intended to get involved, but then my distant cousin came looking for me. Only then did I learn that his son, A Qi, had been a member of the Flower Spirit