On the eighth day.
The waters near Peach Blossom Island departed from their usual calm.
Jade-green waves rippled across the sea as lights of every hue converged, finally descending before a landing on the eastern side of Peach Blossom Island.
The landing was small, built from just a few blocks of bluestone.
A ferryman wearing a broad bamboo hat stood on a reef at its edge, seemingly one with the surrounding waves.
Over a dozen cultivators were already waiting, each looking distinguished in bearing and profound in cultivation.
They were clearly outstanding figures of the Eastern Sea's younger generation.
One wore a dark green Daoist robe with winding snake patterns embroidered on the cuffs and had a handsome face.
He gazed at Peach Blossom Island's main peak, which loomed indistinctly amid distant clouds and mist, seemingly moved.
Then he glanced at the ferryman and said with a smile, "Peach Blossom Island invited us to a banquet, so why won't you let us enter?"
"This hardly counts as hospitality."
His name was Han Changsheng, a late-stage Golden Core cultivator from Spirit Snake Island, a sect of the Eastern Sea.
Though spoken in jest, who among those present could fail to hear his dissatisfaction?
An neither servile nor overbearing voice came from beneath the bamboo hat.
"Please be patient, True Person Han."
The ferryman said, "The island master instructed me to wait until sunset before guiding you seniors onto the island.
"At that point, Peach Blossom Island will also close its gates. Seniors who arrive late will miss the island master's generous hospitality.
"
Though many still harbored complaints after hearing this, they were all prominent young talents of the Eastern Sea and possessed at least this much grace.
Han Changsheng merely raised his eyebrows and said nothing more.
Thus, those waiting