Even as he thought this, Fu Yuan, the mountain-guarding elder, had already summoned a flying sword nurtured within his Qi Mansion with a metallic ring.
But just as Fu Yuan was about to send the flying sword shooting toward the young cultivator, the young man sweeping toward him like a gale suddenly spoke:
"Xu Taiping of the Azure Profound Sect, entering!"
At the sound, Fu Yuan first started, then froze, before raising his brows and shouting sharply:
"Delusion, come back!"
No sooner had he spoken than the flying sword he had summoned abruptly reversed its point amid a piercing sword cry and flew back to him.
Boom!
Almost simultaneously, the young cultivator landed on the Sword Platform like a blue cloud swept along by a gale.
This sudden turn left the stands surrounding the Sword Platform deathly silent.
The Azure Profound Sect disciples, in particular, stood frozen in the stands as though struck senseless, their eyes unblinking.
Amid this uncanny silence, the young cultivator on the platform, a saber hanging at his waist, suddenly cupped his hands toward the mountain-guarding elder Fu Yuan.
"This disciple, Xu Taiping of the Azure Profound Sect, pays his respects to Elder Fu Yuan of the Nine Prefectures."
At these words, the deathly silent stands abruptly erupted into a deafening uproar.
The Azure Profound Sect disciples looked at one another, still wearing expressions of utter disbelief.
Finally, drawing on courage amassed over eight lifetimes, Liang Zhu asked Sect Master Zhao Qian and Dugu Qingxiao in front of her in a trembling voice:
"S-Sect Master... M-Master, is... is that really Junior Martial Uncle?"
Sect Master Zhao Qian and Dugu Qingxiao might mistake another cultivator's aura, but there was no possibility of either mistaking Xu Taiping's!
"Hss... hoo..."
Dugu Qingxiao took a deep breath, then slowly released