The Hour Has Come

Snow Flame Sect lay at the convergence of three flame veins in the Monster Beast Mountain Range. Apart from the wind and snow raging through the outer mountains, fine snow drifted year-round over the central eighteen main peaks, melting the instant it touched the ground. It was rare to see any snow piled up on the mountains.

Sky-Reaching Peak, the tallest of the main peaks at the very center, had not seen snowfall for decades. The last time it snowed had been before the Sect-State War.

Yet last night, heavy snow had whirled through the air.

By morning, the snow had cleared and the sky had brightened.

A layer of snow had actually appeared along the northern ridge of Sky-Reaching Peak!

The surrounding mountains were blanketed in silver, like layer upon layer of clouds reflecting the warm sunlight.

—When something was out of the ordinary, there had to be something sinister afoot.

As it happened, today was the Partner Recognition Ceremony of Master Yuhu, the Pill Elder.

Things had become mysterious.

For this New Dao Companion Sect Tour Ceremony, the usual custom of touring the mountains to receive gifts had been changed. Instead, it would be held on Sky-Reaching Peak, where the Sect Leader's residence and the sect's Council Hall were located.

A li above the grand mountain gate halfway up the mountain stood an enormous round platform of bluish stone, half suspended in midair.

This was the venue for this Sect Tour Ceremony—

Mountain Gate Plaza.

At the center of the plaza was a huge circular Flame Platform, three zhang wide.

The platform connected to the earthfire. Magma bubbled forth and flowed into underground tributaries, forming a cycle.

Today was a day of great celebration for Snow Flame Sect, and a magma fountain display had actually been activated in the center of the Flame Platform.

The surging magma that shot into the sky roasted Mountain Gate Plaza until it felt as warm as spring, setting the mood perfectly.

That morning, before the Sect Tour Ceremony had even begun, the plaza was already packed with Inner Sect disciples from the various main peaks.

The snowy mountains in the distance cooled the eyes, while the Blazing Spring in the plaza heated their bodies and beaded sweat across their foreheads.

What made the inner fire burn even hotter was Elder Yuhu's errand disciple Dao companion...

Especially those male disciples who fancied themselves gifted and handsome. Their hearts could not settle, and they gathered together in heated discussion.

"Even Sky-Reaching Peak has snowed. It is clear Elder Yuhu has gone too far this time—this is Heaven's wrath."

"I think that is your wrath, isn't it? You only hate that the elder's Dao companion isn't you."

"As if you aren't angry yourself?"

"And what could anger do? The rage of a Qi Refining cultivator can only mean going barefoot and bareheaded, smashing his head against the ground. What fucking use is that?"

"No matter what, taking an errand disciple as a companion truly disgraces the sect's prestige. The Sect Leader may find it difficult to dissuade her out of consideration for her feelings, but the Discipline Hall will not stand idly by."

"Just wait and see. This Sect Tour Ceremony will surely leave that little errand disciple condemned by a thousand men, swallowing spit that has been flung in his face."

"What you are talking about is all trivial. Having his beloved stolen away at swordpoint by a mere errand disciple, that Sect Overseer will certainly not remain indifferent. There will be a good show to watch."

"Have you heard the news from the Errand Disciple Quarters? They say that a few days ago, this errand disciple was possessed, killed a steward in retaliation, and the matter was only resolved after Senior Sister Mu Yun stepped in."

"He was not really possessed, was he? After all, this fellow now ranks first on the list of people in our sect most likely to be possessed. It would be perfectly normal if he were."

"What nonsense are you all spouting? How could anyone below Spirit Severing possess another body? Besides, possession is a first-grade forbidden art strictly banned by the Dao Alliance. The punishment is execution!"

"You are getting more and more outrageous. Look, after the snow cleared, isn't the weather quite nice? Perhaps the Pill Elder's unconventional act of taking a companion is following the Dao of Heaven, with some deeper meaning behind it?"

"Enough. It is a good thing for those of us watching the show. Without these absurd incidents, cultivating every day would be unbearably dull."

"Look! The elders are coming!"

All the disciples turned east in unison.

A tall, lean elderly master of ceremonies, his beard and hair gray-white and his posture ramrod straight, slowly entered Mountain Gate Plaza.

With a wave of his hand, he withdrew the Blazing Spring and arranged sixteen chairs around the Flame Platform.

The sixteen chairs corresponded to Snow Flame Sect's sixteen main-peak elders, excluding the Sect Leader and the Pill Elder.

As for the Sect Leader, he generally stood.

"The hour has come. Let the elders take their seats!"

The old master of ceremonies' sonorous voice rose and fell like evening drums and morning bells, echoing endlessly across the eighteen main peaks.

As though summoning...

Over the next half hour, apart from the Myriad Laws Elder, who was in secluded cultivation, the elders of the remaining peaks arrived at Mountain Gate Plaza one after another with their Core Disciples.

Among the seventeen elders of the main peaks, the Discipline Elder was effectively half a spokesperson for the Dao Alliance and theoretically held the greatest authority.

The other five elders of the highest standing were the Sword-Wielding Elder, the Myriad Laws Elder, the Artifact Forging Elder, the Beast Taming Elder, and the Pill Elder.

True Person Zhe Hui, the Beast Taming Elder, was a woman with a peacock-feather coiffure atop her head and fine wrinkles covering her face, yet she still possessed countless charms.

"Even Senior Brother Gongshuzi has come... As expected, Junior Sister Yu Hu has made a commotion large enough not only to make heaven and earth change color, and alter a ceremony tradition that has lasted for centuries at a word, but even to bring you out of seclusion."

The Gongshuzi she mentioned was Snow Flame Sect's Artifact Forging Elder, a hunched old man with dim eyes and a sword case on his back.

It was said that the sword case contained everything except swords.

Gongshuzi spent all year in deep seclusion polishing spirit artifacts and rarely attended sect events such as Sect Tour Ceremonies.

"By the Sect Leader's order, this old man had no choice but to obey."

The old man let out a long sigh. In his advanced age, he was like a tree about to wither, as though only a tiny flame deep within his eyes sustained his life.

"Then why is the Sect Leader nowhere to be seen?"

The speaker was a round, towering fat old man, majestic as a mountain.

His hair was black, his complexion ruddy, and his appearance neat, though his voice carried a faint scent of wine.

He was none other than Snow Flame Sect's Sword-Wielding Elder—

Wei Shanjun.

True Person Zhe Hui covered her mouth and chuckled.

"It would not do if he cried on an occasion like this. Senior Brother Sect Leader is probably somewhere playing the flute to ease his heart. He will only dare come after calming down, lest he feel awkward upon seeing the newlyweds."

"Junior Sister, mind your words."

The one who spoke this time was a middle-aged man who never smiled, his face bearing a restrained ferocity.

His features seemed carved from stone, yet there was no trace of handsomeness in them. He gave off an eerie, terrifying air.

He was this sect's Discipline Elder—

Zhong Fuzi.

"Do not measure a gentleman's belly with your own petty heart. The very person who decided to hold this grand event was Senior Brother Sect Leader."

True Person Zhe Hui looked around, but the Sect Leader was still nowhere in sight.

"No matter what, wasting the precious Sect Master's Order on a married woman truly disgraces the sect's prestige."

After that, the elders discussed the Sect Leader, the Pill Elder, the mysterious Myriad Laws Elder, and even Demons, Monsters, Ghosts, and Goblins.

Only when it came to Xiao Bai himself did all the elders fall collectively silent.

There was no other reason. This matter was simply too strange.

An errand disciple by status, Fetal Breath Cultivation, a Balanced Five Elements Physique...

Logically speaking, Elder Yuhu, who had always been icy and pure as jade and kept others at arm's length, was not the sort of woman to act casually.

She had even rejected the powerful and upright Sect Master True Person, as well as the young and accomplished Sect Overseer, heir to a famous lineage.

Yet now she had taken an errand disciple as her companion.

And Sky-Reaching Peak had abruptly been struck by heavy snow, which did not appear to be the work of any spell.

The matter seemed even stranger...

The elders could not judge the situation either. They needed to inspect him personally before they could understand her intentions.

Just as the elders sank into silence, a melodious flute melody drifted in from the horizon.

"When speaking ill of Senior Brother, could you lower your voices a little? Even the Mountain Protecting Array heard every word, Junior Sister Zhe Hui."