"Now look at that blonde woman." Yu Xiaogang turned his attack on Qian Renxue, his voice especially disdainful. "She actually dared to impersonate His Highness the Crown Prince. What utter disrespect."
"Someone who doesn't dare show her true face must be a sneaky, deceitful nobody in her daily life. How could she compare to Little San? If you ask me, she'll be driven out of the Primordial Sect before long."
Qian Renxue had no idea someone was speaking ill of her. She was following the crowd onto a platform at the entrance to the Primordial Sect.
She looked around. Most of those present were from the younger generation, apparently no older than fifteen. The discovery made Qian Renxue frown.
Could the Primordial Sect have an age requirement for selecting disciples?
But since she was already here, she might as well see how the Primordial Sect recruited people. She continued examining her surroundings.
White jade pillars carved with cloud patterns surrounded the platform. A white-robed cultivator sat atop each one, men and women, old and young, their gazes sweeping over the crowd.
They must be the elders of this faction, Qian Renxue thought. The white robes they wore were much the same, differing only in some of their decorative patterns.
The nine white jade pillars subtly reflected nine as the highest of numbers, and also represented the nine peaks of the Primordial Sect.
Eight of the nine white jade pillars were already occupied, but there was still no sign of anyone taking a seat on the last one.
The elders showed no surprise that the ninth pillar was empty, as though they had long since grown used to it.
"It seems no one from Sword-Seeking Peak will come this year either." Yao Qingtang, an elder of Pill Peak, looked at the white jade pillar platform representing Sword-Seeking Peak and shook their head helplessly.
"That's a good thing. Every time Sword-Seeking Peak recruits disciples, they take the very best and don't leave us a chance," Mo Changfeng, an elder of Artifact Peak, retorted irritably.
"The last one Sword-Seeking Peak recruited was Lingtian, wasn't he?" an elder from another peak suddenly said. The elders instantly fell silent, their eyes fixed on the speaker.
The elder who had spoken was Liu Hao of Beast Taming Peak. He was hunched over and counted among the Primordial Sect's old hands.
"Old Haozi, do you have to bring up the one pot that won't boil?" Mo Changfeng said indignantly.
Liu Hao chuckled. "Still hung up on what happened back then? You just failed to snatch him from Junior Sister Xie. What's there to keep dwelling on? After Junior Sister Xie left the sect to travel, it's not as if you never taught him."
"How could that be the same?" Yao Qingtang said helplessly. "No matter how much we taught him, we were only teachers, not his master."
Liu Hao rolled his eyes. "You're just jealous of Junior Sister Xie. You're all so old, yet unlike me, you can't let it go. I don't care at all."
"Bullshit." Mo Changfeng spoke up at once, looking at Liu Hao with disdain. "That's not what you said ten years ago when that brat Lingtian left your stinking Beast Taming Peak."
"Then was then, and now is now. I'm different now." Liu Hao shook his head, looking like a dead pig unafraid of scalding water. It thoroughly disgusted the other peak masters.
"What are you seniors chatting about?" A lazy voice suddenly cut into the elders' conversation.
Everyone looked up to see a streak of azure light breaking through the mist between the clouds. It landed, revealing a figure.
He was a young man who looked to be in his early twenties, dressed in a neat azure Daoist robe. His dark hair was loosely bound with a plain jade hairpin, and two stray locks fell across his forehead.
Beneath his feet was a longsword marked with black patterns. When the wind blew, his sleeves and robes fluttered, stirring even the clouds and mist around him. He was an immortal descended from the heavens!
The young man lightly tapped his toes and landed steadily atop the ninth white jade cloud pillar, which had stood empty for so long. He cupped his hands and smiled at the elders. "Greetings, martial uncles and aunts."
Yao Qingtang, the Pill Peak elder, was the first to recover. Stroking their beard, they asked in surprise, "Lingtian? What brings you here? Has Junior Sister Xie returned?"
The other elders were surprised too, and all began asking questions at once. Ye Lingtian spread his hands helplessly before explaining, "My master, that hands-off boss, still hasn't returned. The sect master sent me."
"He said Sword-Seeking Peak hasn't recruited a new disciple in fifty years, so he told me to oversee this recruitment and bring one back no matter what."
"Otherwise, he'll make me leave the sect and travel." Ye Lingtian shrugged. "You martial uncles and aunts know me. I hate trouble more than anything, so here I am."
The elders understood at once.
The entire exchange had taken place through voice transmission between the elders, so Qian Renxue, standing among the newcomers, could not hear a word.
She had frozen on the spot when the young man arrived riding his sword. In all her years, she had spent decades undercover in Heaven Dou and seen the princes and nobles of the Heaven Dou Empire and the talented young elites of Spirit Hall. What sort of person had she not seen?
Yet never had she seen anyone so unworldly and sublime, as though all the spiritual Qi of the immortal mountain had gathered in him. Even his slightest frown or smile made Qian Renxue's heart skip a beat for no apparent reason.
Her embarrassment and irritation at having her disguise as a man exposed had long since flown beyond the ninth heaven. Her fingers unconsciously tightened around the hem of her robe, and even her breathing grew softer.
When the people of Douluo Continent saw this, the entire continent collectively sucked in a breath of cold air.
In Shrek Square, Ning Rongrong covered her mouth, unable to recover her senses for a long time. "My heavens," she murmured in astonishment. "How can he be so handsome? In all my life, I've never seen a man this handsome."
"Little Ao, I'm sorry, but he really is so handsome."
Ning Rongrong felt full of guilt, but her eyes never left the heavenly screen. For someone obsessed with good looks, Ye Lingtian's destructive power was simply too great.
Even Liu Erlong could not help freezing on the spot, and watching her, Yu Xiaogang, who stood beside her, could not suppress the resentment rising in his heart.
But when he tried to say something, he could not get the words out. Ye Lingtian had only just appeared; what could he say? He could only close his mouth, full of resentment.
In Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong also stopped what she was doing. Her gaze fell on the azure-clad youth on the heavenly screen, and her eyes grew distant.
Chrysanthemum Ghost Douluo, standing behind her, exchanged glances, not daring to breathe too loudly.
Meanwhile, Qian Daoliu was watching his granddaughter's expression. But when he saw her staring wide-eyed, his face immediately darkened.
Atop the jade pillars, after the elders and Ye Lingtian exchanged a few pleasantries, it was nearly time.
"Since Sword-Seeking Peak sent Lingtian as its representative this time, why don't we let him preside over this Ascension Assembly?" Mo Changfeng suddenly proposed.
The elders all nodded without a moment's thought. Whether for public or private reasons, it was indeed fitting for Ye Lingtian to preside.
"Huh?" Ye Lingtian, who had only come to go through the motions, could not help questioning the suggestion. Unfortunately, the other elders had already agreed, so he could only take the stage.
"I've been set up..." Ye Lingtian sighed helplessly. "All right, I'll do it."