The name of the Seven Sunset Techniques was now known to everyone in the martial world. Seeing that only four of them had come to the Golden Wave Pavilion today, the crowd realized that, aside from the Swiftwind Guardian Pang Liangji, who had washed his hands in a golden basin and retired from the Rivers and Lakes, neither their eldest, the Green-Robed Wanderer, nor their seventh, the Silk-and-Gauze Gentleman, had come.
Chen Shigu had gone his own way all his life. He had never formally founded a school, nor called himself a sect leader. His martial attainments could be called unrivaled beneath heaven, yet he regarded the reputation and prestige most prized by people of the Rivers and Lakes as so much dung, and styled himself a grave robber.
After his death, the Rivers and Lakes tacitly recognized the Green-Robed Wanderer, first in their ranking, as the head of the Setting Sun Courtyard. Later, the Donkey-Riding Lady had won fame across the land in a single battle. The First Seat willingly led her donkey, while the other six masters supported her from behind and finished off her opponents. That red-clad girl had already become the Setting Sun Courtyard's new symbol.
Now, none of those empowered to make decisions on behalf of the Setting Sun Courtyard were present. The second, third, fourth, and fifth members sat down with such brazen ease that the leaders of the other schools were briefly at a loss as to how to greet them. Humbled and self-effacing, Huiding's fellow elder Huijue, the Abbot of the White Camel Temple, rose first, pressed his palms together, and bowed to Xu Baozhen.
"I have long admired your great name, Sect Leader Xu of the Louguan School. To meet you today is truly good fortune earned over three lifetimes. This