"Dispelling rumors?"
In the teahouse, the cultivators drinking tea and exchanging news great and small all stopped what they were doing.
The speaker was a middle-aged rogue cultivator at the seventh or eighth layer of Qi Refining, though he looked rather wealthier than the average cultivator at the tenth layer of Qi Refining. He even wore a first-tier supreme-grade defensive Law Artifact.
Seeing everyone turn toward him, he showed no nervousness at all and spoke animatedly:
"The palace master of Zhenling Palace said that True Lord Zhang was indeed injured before, but he recovered long ago and is now in secluded cultivation."
"In three to five years at most, True Lord Zhang will come out of seclusion, so everyone should stop spreading wild rumors."
At these words, however, derisive laughter rose throughout the teahouse.
"You believe that?"
"If Zhang Daobai really was fine, why didn't he come out when Zhenling Palace held that funeral? Three Gold Core True Persons had died!"
"He couldn't even show his face, yet they dare say he's fine?"
"Exactly. People from the other three great sects were all there, but he still didn't appear. He was probably afraid someone would see through him..."
Of course, not everyone scoffed. Some could not help speaking up firmly in his defense:
"You can't put it that way either. Since the palace master of Zhenling Palace said he'd definitely emerge in three to five years, surely the master of an entire palace wouldn't lie. Otherwise, wouldn't everyone slap his face with it when the time came?"
"If you ask me, Zhang Daobai probably hasn't recovered from his injuries, which is why they're deliberately leaving themselves some breathing room."
The cultivators offered all manner of opinions, and Wang Ba grew thoughtful as well.
Both explanations made sense, and for the