"Your Highness, are you referring to Elder Yue Chi of Kongyuan Mountain's personal disciple, Senior Brother Zhao Bin?"
Chen Yan spoke slowly.
"Exactly!"
The Cloud Prince replied.
"I know him. Senior Brother Zhao usually takes good care of me."
Chen Yan said.
"So that's how it is."
The Cloud Prince nodded:
"Immortal Master Zhao visited my manor six years ago. At that time, I was seriously ill and on the verge of death. It was a pill gifted by Immortal Master Zhao that saved my life."
So there was such a backstory.
Then, the Cloud Prince continued asking:
"Might I ask what relationship Immortal Master Chen has with Immortal Master Zhao?"
"Elder Yue Chi is my martial uncle, so I have frequent interactions with Senior Brother Zhao."
Chen Yan replied.
Hearing this, the Cloud Prince's pupils slightly contracted. He naturally knew that Elder Yue Chi was the current sect leader Yun Yichen's personal disciple. If Yue Chi was this young man's martial uncle, that meant...
"Might I ask who Immortal Master Chen studies under?"
"Lin Qifeng."
"Elder Lin?"
The Cloud Prince smiled:
"Seeing Immortal Master Chen wearing Kongyuan Mountain's daoist robes, Elder Lin must have been promoted back to Kongyuan Mountain. This is truly wonderful, absolutely wonderful!"
Although Cloud Prince Qin Ming was merely a mortal, he was after all the prince of Taiyun City.
And Taiyun City was the secular city closest to Kongshan Sect, so the Cloud Prince had considerable understanding of Kongshan Sect, especially its outer court.
After all, interactions between the sect and mortal dynasties completely relied on Kongshan Sect's outer court, which even stationed an outer court manager in Taiyun City.
As for Zhao Bin saving the Cloud Prince, that was simply a coincidence that occurred when he was passing through Taiyun City.
"Promoted? Dismissed!"
Before Chen Yan could respond, Qian Xun standing behind him spoke up first.
His cheeks were still slightly red and somewhat swollen.
"Qian Xun."
Lu Li slowly said:
"Show some respect to your senior from the same sect."
Qian Xun had directly called Lin Qifeng by his full name. Lin Qifeng was sect leader Yun Yichen's personal disciple and also a Qi Sea Realm cultivator. Both his status and strength far surpassed Qian Xun by several levels.
"Senior Lu, what respect does a bastard who colluded with disciples to cheat in the outer court competition and even caused the death of a sect prodigy deserve?"
Qian Xun said, with a flash of ruthlessness and sarcasm in his eyes:
"That kind of scum should just die on Kongyuan Mountain's back cliff!"
"Qian Xun, stop causing trouble in the prince's manor!"
Zheng Fei finally couldn't take it anymore and spoke up to stop Qian Xun.
"A mere outer court ant, what right do you have to speak loudly to me!"
Saying this, Qian Xun stepped forward and straightened his collar, making the wave patterns on his chest more prominent.
Lu Li's expression began turning cold.
Even when Lu Li used Kongshan Finger to kill Chen Yan in previous cycles, his expression wasn't as cold as it was now.
"Esteemed Immortal Master, are you a disciple of Yuanhua Mountain?"
The Cloud Prince remained expressionless, merely smiling as he spoke toward Qian Xun's direction.
"Exactly."
Qian Xun raised his head proudly, with arrogance showing between his eyebrows.
"Might I ask which elder this Immortal Master studies under?"
The Cloud Prince continued asking.
Hearing this, Qian Xun first froze slightly, then continued:
"I don't have a master for now."
"That's strange. Why hasn't the Immortal Master found a master yet?"
"..."
Qian Xun didn't immediately respond, only opening his mouth.
"It's not that he doesn't want to find a master, it's because nobody wants him."
Zheng Fei nearby said quietly.
"Pfft!"
Li Xiuxiu also laughed.
Qian Xun's face quickly flushed red, even redder than when Chen Yan had slapped him earlier.
The Cloud Prince merely smiled while watching all this, pretending he knew nothing.
In fact, he had been stirring the pot the entire time.
"All of you go out first. I'll handle the remaining matters with His Highness and the Princess."
Lu Li said calmly.
"Yes."
Chen Yan took the lead in responding.
"Steward Yang, take these Immortal Masters to rest and prepare the manor's finest tea and pastries."
The Cloud Prince instructed.
"Yes."
Steward Yang replied.
Chen Yan, Zheng Fei, Li Xiuxiu, and Qian Xun followed Steward Yang out of the main hall.
Along the way, Qian Xun's face was so dark it seemed water could drip from it. It was unclear what he was thinking.
Only after Steward Yang brought everyone to a courtyard and left did Qian Xun suddenly stand before Zheng Fei, who had just sat near a stone platform.
"Get up."
Qian Xun glared viciously at Zheng Fei.
"What do you want?"
Zheng Fei frowned, looking quite displeased at Qian Xun.
"Sparring."
Qian Xun said.
"Why should I spar with you? Go cool off somewhere else!"
Zheng Fei sneered.
Qian Xun, mocked once again, finally couldn't take it. He raised a palm and struck toward Zheng Fei's face.
Zheng Fei quickly dodged to the side, rolling twice on the ground before standing up.
"Boom!"
The stone platform where Zheng Fei had been sitting was instantly crushed to dust.
"Are you crazy?"
Cold sweat flowed down Zheng Fei's neck. He clearly knew that if he hadn't dodged and taken that hit, he likely wouldn't have survived.
Qian Xun had genuinely intended to kill.
Tidal Wave Palm.
Chen Yan recognized that technique. Back in his first life, he had performed the same sect mission with a Yuanhua Mountain disciple. That mission was to clear out demons lurking near a town.
That Yuanhua Mountain disciple had used this move. It was said this technique was a required spell for Yuanhua Mountain cultivators, and could only be used after practicing the Kongshan Art modified by Yuanhua Mountain.
Because the energy circulation method of Tidal Wave Palm was extremely unique. Although its power was astonishingly great, it easily damaged meridians.
"Outer court ant, what are you being so arrogant about? A waste who'll never break through to the Martial Spring Realm!"
Qian Xun lifted his foot and kicked toward Zheng Fei's direction.
Zheng Fei quickly dodged again, rolling twice on the ground before scrambling up.
It wasn't that he didn't want to fight back, but that he genuinely couldn't win.
Although both were at the early Qi Circulation Realm, as an inner disciple, the spells Qian Xun usually practiced and his training methods were vastly different from Zheng Fei's.
If outer court disciples truly encountered inner disciples, the disadvantage was much greater than imagined.
Chen Yan was greatly shocked. This was the first time since transmigrating to this world, across numerous cycles, that he had discovered—
Could there really be someone so brain-dead in this world?
"Senior Brother Chen!"
Li Xiuxiu nearby watched the current situation with anxiety.
She couldn't defeat Zheng Fei to begin with, let alone Qian Xun:
"I'll go find Instructor Lu!"
"Don't."
Chen Yan said:
"I'll handle it."
In the next instant, Chen Yan's spiritual sense moved, and a black thread merged into the shadow beneath his feet.