"Junior Brother Yue came too."
Fuli Zi was surprised, finding this quite unexpected.
He remembered that this Junior Brother Yue Ziqi had only recently been promoted to True Disciple and was in seclusion, contemplating his True Art.
Yet he had actually left Mingcang Great Marsh to attend the Hong Water Dharma Assembly. It seemed he, too, wanted to compete for a Talisman Edict and seek an opportunity on the Great Dao.
As everyone knew, the Great Talisman Sect and the Xiantian Sect were both towering powers, facing one another across north and south. The former dominated Mingcang Great Marsh, while the latter stood above Hong Water. For this assembly, both had dispatched their True Disciples to compete for the limited number of Talisman Edicts for Gathering Grotto Continent.
Among the Great Talisman Sect's Ten Great True Disciples, "old hands" like Fuli Zi and Lou Zhenxiao were actually nearing the time to relinquish their positions.
The "Junior Brother Yue" he had mentioned was a recently promoted junior.
At grand assemblies like this, where reputations were made, the younger generation usually shouldered the main burden, while the veterans stood by to support them.
Lou Zhenxiao oversaw the overall situation between north and south. He had to keep watch over Xuanchanzi of the Zhongyi Sect, lest another unforeseen development allow the man to leap off the chessboard.
Naturally, the task of supporting the juniors had fallen to Fuli Zi.
"Greetings, Senior Brother Fu."
The lean-faced young Daoist in a black-cloud python robe offered a Daoist salute and smiled at Fuli Zi.
"Besides me, Senior Brother Yu and Junior Sister Xu have also come."
Fuli Zi also rose and returned the salute.
"Gathering Grotto Continent is jointly controlled by the Eight Sects. Each time it opens, no more than sixteen Talisman Edicts are released.