After the outer sect disciple who came to report had left, a subtle silence fell over the hall.
Lin Mo and Zhou Jinyun each had their own worries.
Footsteps approached from afar, neither hurried nor slow.
Until two figures appeared together at the entrance, the outdoor light suddenly blocked by the blue and white silhouettes.
The first to step into the hall was Su Hongzhen.
He still wore his blue daoist robes, with the Xun-Li Sword hanging at his waist. Yet, despite being the champion of this year's Heavenly Summit Mountain Dao Inquiry, he carried not a shred of arrogance befitting the foremost among the younger generation of disciples. The aura he exuded was no different from when he had first set foot on Heavenly Summit Mountain.
That, in itself, was a rare and precious thing.
Then, stepping slightly behind him into the hall, was the handsome young man dressed in a plain white daoist robe, immaculate and dust-free.
Zhou Jinyun's gaze landed on Chen Yan.
Yet more important than these were the changes in Senior Chen's temperament.
Even four years ago, when Senior Chen simultaneously activated three Immortal Artifacts to confront Imperial Law Elder Shang and the two Divine Ability Realm great powers, Elder Li and Elder Yang, he had still been calm and composed, as steady as if everything was completely under his control.
But now, Senior Chen was different.
Even though Zhou Jinyun was only just nineteen years old in actual age, she could still see the blazing restlessness radiating from Senior Chen at this moment.
Could it be that something happened during these four years?
With this confusion weighing on her, Zhou Jinyun shifted her gaze toward Su Hongzhen.
Su Hongzhen was also looking at her.
Zhou Jinyun instinctively wanted to look away, but then she thought that if she did avoid his gaze, it might make Little Su think she had done something guilty.
So she forcibly suppressed her urge to look away and simply met Little Su's eyes.
Su Hongzhen just smiled slightly in Zhou Jinyun's direction and nodded.
Zhou Jinyun was stunned for a moment. She clenched her fists before pretending to be composed, then looked away from Su Hongzhen.
Little Su... hadn't changed much.
He had just grown up a bit, and no longer looked like a child.
For some reason, Zhou Jinyun suddenly recalled the scene from back in Jiangdu Prefecture, when she had witnessed Little Su, still young and covered in wounds, being beaten by those hooligans in the alley.
Time really flew.
Although Zhou Jinyun herself was still not yet twenty, she was genuinely feeling a sense of nostalgia.
"Champion Su! Congratulations, congratulations! Your victory in the Heavenly Summit Mountain Dao Inquiry is well-deserved. It's just a pity that you couldn't obtain the inheritance of Heavenly Summit Mountain from the Heavenly Summit Palace... Ah, well. Nearly sixty thousand years have passed, and I've yet to hear of any champion of Heavenly Summit Mountain who gained anything from the Heavenly Summit Palace."
Elder Lin Mo quickly walked toward Su Hongzhen. This True Dharma Elder of the Time-Stealing Tower and a great power at the Myriad Transformations Realm—his status needed no elaboration. Across the entire Chenping Continent, no matter where he went, everyone had to show Elder Lin Mo at least some respect.
For his cultivation, and even more so for his position.
At this moment, Elder Lin Mo's proactive approach toward Su Hongzhen, along with his praise and comforting words to the blue-robed swordsman, was clearly a gesture of goodwill.
For a Peak Elder of Mirage Palace to show such favor was enough to reflect the weight of Su Hongzhen's performance in this Heavenly Summit Mountain Dao Inquiry.
"Elder Lin."
Faced with Lin Mo's enthusiasm, Su Hongzhen simply smiled.
"Good, good."
Not receiving much response, Lin Mo still smiled very contentedly. Then his gaze fell on the handsome young man in the plain white daoist robe standing beside Su Hongzhen.
This young man seemed a little... restless.
Lin Mo thought to himself, but he did not voice what was on his mind. Instead, he observed Chen Yan, who stood at Su Hongzhen's side.
He couldn't even see this young man's cultivation level?
Elder Lin Mo felt a slight shock in his heart. Could it be that this person was a great power of the upper three realms?
But it didn't seem quite right. For a great power of the upper three realms to visit the Water Mirror Pavilion in such a manner would somewhat demean their dignity.
Could it be that he had taken some kind of pill that could temporarily conceal his cultivation?
But taking a pill to conceal cultivation would only draw more attention... He really couldn't figure it out.
So Lin Mo slowly turned his head, once again fixing his gaze on Su Hongzhen, and asked:
"And this young friend is..."
"He's my big brother, Elder Lin."
Su Hongzhen replied.
"Oh! So it's Champion Su's big brother!"
Lin Mo's face lit up with feigned realization. Then, turning toward Chen Yan, he continued asking:
"May I ask how this young friend is called?"
"Chen Yan."
Chen Yan, when asked his name, replied simply with those two words.
"Mhm..."
Elder Lin Mo responded with that one sound, but his expression had become noticeably more serious and colder than before.
Because in his eyes, this young man named Chen Yan seemed somewhat too ungrateful.
He, a True Dharma Elder of the Time-Stealing Tower in Mirage Palace, a great power at the Myriad Transformations Realm, had given him enough face and spoken to him so courteously, yet this was the attitude he got in return...
Was it because of his relationship with Su Hongzhen?
That was truly taking liberties too far.
"Although you're brothers, you have different surnames?"
Elder Lin Mo's voice was cold, and he subtly exerted some pressure in Chen Yan's direction.
At this moment, both Su Hongzhen and Zhou Jinyun, who were inside the hall, felt their meridians' true qi begin to flow sluggishly and their breathing become difficult due to the pressure Elder Lin Mo was applying to Chen Yan.
But for Chen Yan, whose true cultivation was at the peak of the Unity Realm, Lin Mo's paltry pressure was less than a mosquito bite—it barely tickled. Still, it annoyed him slightly.
"Get out."
Chen Yan said coldly.
"...What?"
Elder Lin Mo was taken aback. As the True Dharma Elder of the Time-Stealing Tower, his authority within Mirage Palace needed no elaboration, and this Water Mirror Pavilion was even Mirage Palace's territory on Heavenly Summit Mountain.
And yet, you told him to get out?
This was completely upside down!
Lin Mo also clearly realized that the handsome young man in the plain white daoist robe before him was not simple in terms of cultivation.
To withstand his pressure so effortlessly meant that this person's cultivation was at least at the Myriad Transformations Realm. If he hadn't taken some pill to conceal his cultivation...
Then this cultivator named Chen Yan was definitely a great power of the upper three realms.