"Zimo, please take a seat quickly!"
Duan Ruijie stood up with a smile, taking two steps forward toward the door as he spoke.
"Second Young Master Duan, long time no see!"
Facing this young master from the Duan family of Yunyang City, Xing Zimo appeared noticeably more reserved than usual.
Because the other party was, in the truest sense, an Immortal Master, a young master born into an immortal cultivation family.
He was completely on a different level compared to Xing Zimo, a mere mortal born into a martial arts family.
And the reason Duan Ruijie would treat Xing Zimo with such courtesy was for one reason only—
It was all due to the face of Xing Zi'ang.
"How has Master Xing's health been recently?"
"Grandfather's health is still quite robust."
Xing Zimo replied.
"That's good, that's good..."
Duan Ruijie sighed with such sentiment, and then he looked toward Chen Yan sitting beside Xing Zimo:
"Zimo, who is this?"
Xing Zimo slightly lifted his chin, giving a subtle hint.
Then Chen Yan spoke up:
"I am Yan Chen, greetings to Immortal Master Duan."
Upon hearing this, Duan Ruijie immediately waved his hands, saying with a smile:
"Ah, how could a young brat like me, who only entered the Body Forging Realm a few years ago, possibly deserve to be called an Immortal Master?"
"Immortal Master Duan is being too modest."
Chen Yan continued.
"If we're truly talking about someone who deserves to be called an Immortal Master, it would probably have to be Xing Zi'ang, Upper Immortal Xing!"
Duan Ruijie said:
"Upper Immortal Xing is a cultivator from the Biqiu Sect! Since ancient times until now, how many Immortal Masters from the Biqiu Sect has Yunyang City ever produced?"
The Biqiu Sect was the most powerful immortal cultivation sect within Jin'an Country.
From the sect leader to the disciples, the sect had over a thousand people in total, including over two hundred inner sect disciples, with the rest being outer sect disciples.
A sect of this size naturally didn't have Grand Elders. It was said that even the current sect leader of the Biqiu Sect, who was also the strongest cultivator in the sect at present, was only at the Qi Sea Realm.
In fact, a Qi Sea Realm cultivator was indeed already powerful enough to walk sideways through this world.
Provided you didn't talk about the Five Great Sects.
If any immortal cultivation sect had a Spirit Connection Realm cultivator overseeing it, they could receive an invitation to the Dao Inquiry Assembly of Chenping Continent.
During the last Dao Inquiry Assembly of Chenping Continent, out of tens of thousands of immortal cultivation sects across the entire Chenping Continent, only a little over eight hundred sects were qualified to participate.
And most of those eight hundred sects also suffered heavy losses during the Heavenly Summit Mountain Cataclysm.
"Speaking of the Biqiu Sect..."
Duan Ruijie gently tapped the table twice with his knuckle:
"Zimo, I heard some time ago that the Biqiu Sect seems to have started opening its mountain to recruit disciples again. I wonder if Upper Immortal Xing has any news about this?"
This was his real purpose.
"Cousin mentioned this matter to the family, saying that this time the Biqiu Sect's mountain opening to recruit disciples will admit twenty inner sect disciples in total, and an unspecified number of outer court disciples."
Xing Zimo said:
"As for other matters, that I don't know."
He wasn't a fool, naturally he wouldn't reveal everything Xing Zi'ang had told the Xing family.
"A while ago, I heard that Sect Leader Gongsun of the Biqiu Sect's cultivation had recently advanced a bit further. Given time, he might even have hope of breaking through to the Spirit Connection Realm..."
Duan Ruijie said:
"If Sect Leader Gongsun progresses smoothly, wouldn't Upper Immortal Xing have a very good chance of securing a spot for the Heavenly Summit Mountain Dao Inquiry?"
He was probing for information about Xing Zi'ang's current cultivation realm.
"That kind of matter, I really wouldn't know."
Xing Zimo said.
"Speaking of the Dao Inquiry Assembly of Chenping Continent, one has to mention that world-shaking Heavenly Summit Mountain Cataclysm from four years ago..."
Duan Ruijie sighed with emotion.
Beside them, Chen Yan's face remained expressionless, but his heart was roiling with turbulent waves.
Since his rebirth this time, up until now, he hadn't learned anything about the current state of the Kongshan Sect.
"Heavenly Summit Mountain Cataclysm?"
Xing Zimo showed a puzzled expression. As a mortal, he clearly didn't know what Duan Ruijie was talking about.
"More than half of the contemporary geniuses of Chenping Continent perished in the Heavenly Summit Mountain Cataclysm. Even the Five Great Sects suffered damage to their vitality."
Duan Ruijie said:
"If we really had to say which of the Five Great Sects suffered the most severe losses during that Heavenly Summit Mountain Cataclysm, it would definitely have to be the Kongshan Sect..."
Chen Yan, who had personally experienced it, just listened quietly on the side.
"Kongshan Sect?"
Xing Zimo's reaction remained confused. This had completely exceeded his scope of understanding.
To him, the Biqiu Sect was already the most top-tier immortal cultivation sect in this world.
"It's one of the most top-tier Five Great Sects of Chenping Continent. Usually, my favorite thing to do is go to the Yulai Pavilion in the capital to listen to the storytellers there tell tales."
Duan Ruijie said.
Yulai Pavilion—Chen Yan had heard of this sect. It could be considered a first-rate sect on Chenping Continent.
Heard that this sect suddenly rose to prominence over a hundred years ago, established single-handedly by a quite powerful Unity Realm rogue cultivator.
The reason for its rapid development was also simple: because this sect was extremely wealthy. It was said its total current assets amounted to hundreds of millions of spirit stones.
And its method of amassing wealth wasn't through spirit fields or mineral resources, but through information.
The Yulai Pavilion would collect all kinds of major events and anecdotes from the cultivation world of Chenping Continent, then compile these events into storytelling formats.
Then, they would have these stories told in the teahouses distributed throughout various places on Chenping Continent.
The main audience were rogue cultivators of the Lower Three Realms, and the scions of immortal cultivation families.
The entrance fee wasn't much, just two low-grade spirit stones.
But just with this alone, the Yulai Pavilion's net profit every year reached millions of high-grade spirit stones.
Although it couldn't compare to the scale of the Five Great Sects, it was enough for the Yulai Pavilion to squeeze into the bottom ranks of the first-rate sects.
"Haven't heard of the Kongshan Sect, then you should at least know about the Star Heaven Sect, right?"
Duan Ruijie said.
Xing Zimo still shook his head.
It was still the same statement: Xing Zimo was just a mortal.
Duan Ruijie sighed:
"Tens of thousands of years ago, after the Heavenly Summit Mountain was destroyed overnight, the new order of Chenping Continent was quickly taken over and led by the Five Great Sects.
"And the Kongshan Sect and the Star Heaven Sect are two of those Five Great Sects."
"So that's how it is."
Xing Zimo was also quite interested in these matters of the cultivation world:
"Then what happened to the Kongshan Sect during the Heavenly Summit Mountain Cataclysm?"
"Two Sixth Realm great powers perished, along with two Chief Disciples."
Duan Ruijie said:
"However, misfortune never comes singly. Just three years ago, right after the Heavenly Summit Mountain Cataclysm ended, the Kongshan Sect encountered another Outer Court Cataclysm, and another Chief Disciple died in that calamity.
"The Kongshan Sect has seven major peaks. In just four short years, they lost three Chief Disciples. The world truly is unpredictable..."
Chen Yan certainly knew exactly which disciple died in the Outer Court Cataclysm.
"However, last time I went to the teahouse, I also heard some new news about the Kongshan Sect."
Duan Ruijie said.
"What news?"
Xing Zimo asked.
"Mingxiao Peak of the Kongshan Sect has elected a new Chief Disciple of Mingxiao Peak."
As he spoke, Duan Ruijie paused slightly.
"It's said the Chief Disciple of Mingxiao Peak is called something, what was it..."
Duan Ruijie thought, then suddenly clapped his hands:
"I remember now! The current Chief Disciple of Mingxiao Peak of the Kongshan Sect is called Cheng Ziying!"