Chu Xiyao.
Judging from her reaction, even though he hadn't restrained his true qi in the slightest, nor used the Hidden Immortal Art to conceal it, she clearly hadn't recognized who he was.
This was perfectly normal.
In Chu Xiyao's eyes, Chen Yan had long since perished in the Outer Court Cataclysm sixteen years ago.
And even if Chen Yan were still alive, he absolutely could not be some Myriad Transformations Realm cultivator.
Chen Yan also had no interest in exposing his identity before this familiar face.
Old acquaintances, now strangers.
He simply took a few extra moments to look at Chu Xiyao's face first. Though she still retained the appearance of a young maiden from days past, the present Chu Xiyao was not the slightest bit like the immature girl from seventeen years ago, instead possessing a much more composed air.
This also made her ethereal, aloof temperament feel several degrees more profound.
Chen Yan gave a slight nod, then followed behind Chu Xiyao, walking towards the direction of Caijun Tower.
He lowered his gaze slightly, sweeping a glance over the token at Chu Xiyao's waist.
"The Scripture Hall?"
Chen Yan, walking behind Chu Xiyao, asked.
"Yes, Senior has keen eyes. This junior currently holds the unworthy position of Scripture Hall Elder on Qingchan Peak."
"To shoulder such a heavy responsibility at your age is truly rare."
Chen Yan nodded.
"Senior praises me too highly. It is merely this junior's good fortune to have earned Elder Zhong's appreciation and support."
Chu Xiyao replied.
This was no falsehood. As a disciple of Fu Qian's faction, the fact that Chu Xiyao could still hold a position on the current Qingchan Peak truly had to be thanked to the appreciation of the current Qingchan Peak Sword Master Elder, Zhong Yin.
Otherwise, when Patriarch Kong purged Fu Qian, she would certainly have been marginalized.
Although seventeen years ago, she was the Chief Disciple of Qingchan Peak, the world's acknowledged top female cultivator second only to Qin Qingyu, and had even achieved quite impressive results at the Heavenly Summit Mountain Dao Inquiry.
But a cultivation sect of Kongshan Sect's scale was never short of geniuses.
Li Haowen from Yuanhua Mountain was the best example.
...
Chen Yan stood within the main hall of Caijun Tower, looking up at the meditation cushion on the main dais.
"This disciple takes his leave."
Chu Xiyao, standing to the side, bowed with utmost reverence towards the young man sitting cross-legged on the cushion, his eyes lightly closed. Then she quietly turned and left, her footsteps silent, departing this Caijun Tower which now symbolized the highest authority within Kongshan Sect.
"So, how does it feel to return to Kongshan Sect?"
Lu Li, or rather Kong Yang, slowly opened his eyes, looking towards Chen Yan's location in the great hall.
His voice was not loud, yet it echoed clearly within the empty hall, carrying a kind of calmness that seemed to see through everything.
"Compared to sixteen years ago, there aren't any major changes. It's just that the disciples within the sect seem much more tense than they were back then."
Chen Yan answered, then bowed towards Kong Yang on the cushion.
"Disciple Chen Yan pays his respects to True Person Kong."
"It's because the Kongshan Sect of the past was too lax. For so many years, the Chenping Continent has never seen a situation where seven Immortal Ascension Realm cultivators appeared simultaneously. And judging from the current state of affairs, the relationships between the major sects are growing increasingly tense as well. Full-scale war is merely a spark away."
Kong Yang, sitting on the cushion, said calmly.
"Especially now, the situation on the Chenping Continent is beginning to grow even more perilous. It has even begun to reach a point where I can no longer guarantee the promise I made back then."
Within ten years, he would not kill Chen Yan.
If the current Kong Yang could no longer continue to guarantee the promise he made back then, then connecting this with what Mr. You had once told him, a possibility surfaced in Chen Yan's mind.
And this possibility caused a slight change in his facial expression.
"Correct. It is exactly what you are thinking."
Kong Yang lifted his chin slightly as he spoke.
"That young girl who was following you back then has Ascended to Immortality."
Hearing this news, Chen Yan's heart did not stir with too many ripples.
Because over the past two-plus years, he had already made sufficient mental preparations.
That young girl he regarded as a younger sister had now become an insignificant fragment of a dream belonging to that Immortal Ascension Realm great power who presided over Heavenly Summit Mountain over seventy thousand years ago.
Seeing that Chen Yan, standing in the great hall, did not show any obvious emotional fluctuations on his face, Kong Yang lowered his gaze slightly.
"For some reason, I have always felt that Chief Disciple Chen's demeanor is severely mismatched with your age... Whether in terms of depth or mental state, that Fu Qian in Cangwu Residence is completely incomparable to you."
"True Person Kong praises me too highly."
Chen Yan replied.
"It is by no means excessive praise. I have thoroughly reviewed all the records concerning you within the sect. From your humble beginnings in the Outer Court, to entering Kongyuan Mountain as a disciple of Yun Yichen's disciple, attaining the position of Chief Disciple, then to that earth-shattering calamity at Heavenly Summit Mountain, and even your various actions before the Outer Court's destruction..."
As he spoke, Kong Yang paused briefly.
"Each and every incident, your choices, your responses, were all so precise it was startling, so perfectly apt that it makes one feel everything was completely under control."
It truly was completely under control.
"To the extent that I even began to suspect that Chief Disciple Chen might also be the reincarnation of some past great power. But I attempted to deduce your cause and effect... You have no connection to the past, and your future is even more unfathomable."
Kong Yang continued.
"Might I ask the purpose of the True Person summoning me today?"
Chen Yan steered the topic back to the present.
"I merely wanted to see that calamitous star of yours, to ensure you don't cause trouble within my Kongshan Sect."
Kong Yang said.
The karmic backlash from over sixty thousand years was something his Caijun could not afford to provoke.
"This junior was just planning to depart immediately."
Chen Yan replied.
"So, during your time in my Kongshan Sect today, did you find what you were looking for?"
Kong Yang asked.
Hearing this, Chen Yan simply shook his head.
"I know what you came to Kongshan Sect to find. Patriarch Yan's Dao Basis, isn't that right?"
Kong Yang continued.
Patriarch Yan, Patriarch Kong.
Such forms of address were originally honorifics used by disciples within the sect for Immortal Ascension Realm cultivators of their sect.
Yan Yunhe, as Kongshan Sect's first Immortal Ascension Realm cultivator, could be said to have single-handedly elevated Kongshan Sect from a second-rate sect in the northwestern region of the Chenping Continent to a Top-Tier Sect within the entire Chenping Continent.
Among Kongshan Sect's three Immortal Ascension Realm cultivators, Yan Yunhe was the one most revered and esteemed by the sect's disciples.
Including True Person Minghua from Yuanhua Mountain, and Kong Yang himself, all held Yan Yunhe in great respect.
It was precisely because of this that, even though Kong Yang was also an Immortal Ascension Realm cultivator, he would still directly refer to Yan Yunhe as "Patriarch Yan."
"...That is correct."
Chen Yan admitted his objective.
Since Kong Yang had already asked in this manner, continuing to conceal it held little meaning.
Kong Yang's expression was devoid of joy or sorrow as he slowly said:
"If one's cultivation technique shares the same origin, perhaps by comprehending the Dao Basis, one could to some extent increase the probability of Ascending to Immortality. But you, a mere Myriad Transformations Realm cultivator, what are your intentions in seeking Patriarch Yan's Dao Basis?"