Every cultivator's gaze instantly settled on the unremarkable, dark, skinny cultivator beside Daoist Qiushi. Even "unremarkable" was rather too generous; shifty-eyed and rat-faced would have been more fitting. In the cultivation world, where good looks were the norm, such an appearance could only mean one thing: he belonged to the ascetic tradition that pursued substance and disdained all artificial embellishment.
Otherwise, surely even that slight hunch could have been corrected?
Hou Niao stepped forward. "Hao Ren, a good man who delights in helping others. Serving everyone is my honor."
Whispers began below. This choice came as a surprise to most. Hadn't there been three candidates? How had they now dwindled to one? Just why had the other two withdrawn?
A good man? No one had heard of this person in the Jinxiu Xiuzhen Realm. There were two or three hundred True Disciples present, and over their decades of traveling the continent, they had scarcely missed a single nook or cranny. If none of them knew him, that could only mean he was discreet and mysterious-or had always traveled under an assumed name.
Yet they had never seen an outstanding figure with such an appearance either. In a cultivation world teeming with handsome men, features like these stood out more than anything.
Someone voiced his doubts. "Is this fellow Daoist Hao Ren truly in the Heavenly Connection Natural Realm?"
Qiu Shi smiled faintly. "Of course. However idle Tianxin Pavilion might be, we would never find a Golden Core Upper Cultivator to stand in. Fellow Daoists from every sect are here, as are Golden Core friends from across the continent. One glance would tell you whether it was true or false. Could we possibly fool several hundred pairs of eyes?"
Someone else expressed concern. "Why must it be in the Orchid Fragrance