Meanwhile.
At the Deepwater Pier that Zhongshan Island had built at enormous expense, all the Zhong Clan's key figures had already arrived to wait in advance.
Among them was the Zhong Clan's current patriarch, Zhong Wannian.
He was not yet sixty this year, in the prime of his life. Beneath his luxurious brocade robes, his frame stood tall and sturdy. Calm and dignified, he naturally possessed the bearing of one steering a great aristocratic clan.
Yet today, he was not standing in the place of honor, for the Zhong Clan's pillar of support, Celestial ancestor Zhong Xiangyang, was also at the pier.
Among Celestial ancestors, Zhong Xiangyang was considered relatively old. His face already carried a trace of declining age. Even so, his bearing remained as vast as the sea before him, possessing a weighty steadiness that seemed capable of encompassing all things. No one dared underestimate him in the slightest.
At this moment, he stood at the very front of the welcoming party, his hands clasped behind his back as he gazed at the large ship gradually approaching.
Besides them, the most important figure was Zhong Xingwang. By seniority, he was Zhong Wannian's granduncle. Back then, as the third son of the direct line, his poor aptitude had sent him to the Academy to gild his credentials.
However, back when Zhong Xingwang had been at the Academy, he had merely been one unremarkable student among the masses.
He had been the sort who waved flags and cheered from below the arena whenever those Lesser Heavenly Prodigies or Heavenly Prodigy senior brothers and sisters displayed their brilliance atop it, his face full of excitement and admiration.
Before long, the massive merchant ship slowly docked at Zhongshan Island's Deepwater Pier, and Wang Shouzhe's group descended along the prepared gangway.
"Welcome! Welcome!"