Elder Zhong Yin was asking Chu Xiyao to step into the limelight.
As the top seed for the Heavenly Summit Mountain Dao Inquiry, she was naturally also the face of the Kongshan Sect for this Dao Inquiry Assembly of Chenping Continent.
Suddenly, Chen Yan noticed Martial Uncle Yue Chi standing beside Elder Zhong Yin, smiling as he looked at him.
Also smiling brightly was Liu Yantang, Martial Aunt Liu, on the other side of Elder Zhong Yin.
"You go too."
Martial Uncle Yue Chi said.
"Huh?"
Chen Yan showed a startled expression, then he looked towards the direction of his grand martial uncle, Zhong Yin.
Zhong Yin didn't speak, just nodded.
Chen Yan didn't like doing this kind of showy, public-facing work, but stepping into the limelight was also a responsibility he should bear as the Chief Disciple of Kongyuan Mountain.
So he could only brace himself and walk towards the bow of the ferry.
"Don't lose face."
As Chen Yan passed by Liu Yantang, she lightly patted his shoulder as if joking.
"What's so face-losing about this..."
Chen Yan muttered under his breath.
When he took his position at the bow, right beside Chu Xiyao, a brief silence of a few breaths fell over Heavenly Summit Mountain.
"Who is that handsome youth beside Fairy Chu?"
"Are you stupid? Don't you see the gilded cloud crane patterns on his sleeve? That's the mark of a direct-line disciple of Kongshan Sect, from Kongyuan Mountain. And he can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Qingchan Chief Disciple. Isn't his identity obvious enough?"
"Who?"
"Must be the Chief Disciple of Kongyuan Mountain, you fool!"
"Of course I know he's the Chief Disciple of Kongyuan Mountain, but who is the Chief Disciple of Kongyuan Mountain?"
"It's..."
The young cultivator who had just been answering questions for others faltered slightly.
He really didn't know who the Chief Disciple of Kongyuan Mountain was.
"Chen Yan."
Beside that young cultivator, a youth wearing a deep cyan Daoist robe, with red lips and white teeth, sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, said this:
"Eighteen years old this year. Just a year ago, he was still an outer sect disciple of Kongshan Sect. Then he suddenly became the personal disciple of Lin Qifeng, who was the outer court elder of Kongshan Sect at the time. Later, due to some incident, Lin Qifeng was dismissed from his post, and Chen Yan followed his master back to Kongyuan Mountain. Building upon the Kongshan Sect's foundational mental cultivation method, the Kongshan Art, he created the Purple Mansion Kongshan Art. Relying on this achievement, he became the Chief Disciple of Kongyuan Mountain in one fell swoop."
"Hey, brother, you seem to know Chen Yan quite well."
"Just heard a bit about his deeds, that's all."
"Speaking of which, brother, what was the 'incident' you just mentioned?"
Hearing this, the youth in the deep cyan Daoist robe slowly turned his head, smiling as he looked at the young cultivator:
"You want to know?"
"Just a bit curious."
"If you were to learn about the scandal of a direct-line Chief Disciple of Kongshan Sect, what do you think the cultivators of Kongshan Sect would do to you?"
The youth in the deep cyan Daoist robe said with a smile.
The young cultivator was slightly stunned, then his face rapidly turned pale.
When he came to his senses and looked again towards the youth in the deep cyan Daoist robe, he found the youth had long since disappeared without a trace.
"Wait, deep cyan Daoist robe, and the dark color on the collar..."
The young cultivator muttered to himself, then his pupils constricted sharply:
"Mirage Palace!"
...
The Kongshan Sect's ferry slowly descended onto the dock of Heavenly Summit Mountain.
After the fall of Heavenly Summit Mountain, the dock of Heavenly Summit Mountain has been maintained in rotation by the Five Great Sects, changing every fifty years.
This year is the fortieth year that Wind Ravine Valley has been responsible for maintaining the dock.
"Wind Ravine Valley disciple Zhao Hongtu, pays respects to all seniors and fellow Daoists of Kongshan Sect!"
A cultivator wearing a sky-blue Daoist robe, looking about thirty years old, quickly stepped forward, a full-faced, fawning smile on his face as he bowed to the Kongshan Sect cultivators disembarking from the ferry.
The Kongshan Sect delegation of seventy-four people slowly walked down the gangplank.
"Mmm."
The leader, Elder Zhong Yin, merely gave a slight nod as he passed by.
He didn't even give a proper glance to the Wind Ravine Valley disciple named Zhao Hongtu, thus completely ignoring Zhao Hongtu's courtesy and leading the group behind him straight out of the dock area.
As they passed by Zhao Hongtu, one Kongshan Sect disciple merely swept his eyes over him briefly.
Zhao Hongtu immediately offered up an ingratiating smile.
This was perfectly normal.
Because Zhao Hongtu's status was merely that of a dock steward dispatched to Heavenly Summit Mountain by Wind Ravine Valley, and not even an inner sect steward, just an outer sect steward of Wind Ravine Valley.
Zhong Yin, as the esteemed Delegation Envoy of the Kongshan Sect, and also the current sect leader's eldest disciple, the Dignity Elder of the direct-line Kongyuan Mountain, the gap in status and position was simply too vast.
In such a setting, if Zhong Yin dared to give Zhao Hongtu a proper look, it would be losing face for Kongshan Sect.
Even the disciples following behind Zhong Yin were all inner sect prodigies of Kongshan Sect, completely not on the same level as Zhao Hongtu.
Zhao Hongtu obviously understood this as well. Therefore, when he was ignored by the Kongshan Sect delegation, he didn't feel the slightest bit awkward, much less angry. He just kept bowing respectfully until the Kongshan Sect cultivators had walked far away.
Then, Zhao Hongtu looked towards the direction of the dock.
Another ferry arrived, though its size wasn't even one-twentieth of the Kongshan Sect's ferry.
A dozen or so cultivators disembarked from that ferry.
Zhao Hongtu gave the dozen or so cultivators a cursory glance, immediately straightened his back, and walked over lazily:
"Hey, you lot! Which sect are you from!"
Among the dozen or so cultivators, the leader was a Qi Sea Realm elder. Seeing the Wind Ravine Valley Daoist robe on Zhao Hongtu, he immediately showed a fearful expression:
"This senior, how should we address you?"
"My surname is Zhao. I'm currently the steward of this dock."
"So it's Steward Zhao. This junior is Zhang Zhuang, the discipline elder of the Beiyuan Sect from the northwest of Chenping Continent. This is our invitation..."
Zhang Zhuang respectfully handed the invitation in his arms towards Zhao Hongtu.
Zhao Hongtu snatched the invitation from Zhang Zhuang's hand, glanced at it a few times, then stuffed it back into Zhang Zhuang's hand:
"Go on."
"Thank you, Steward Zhao. Steward Zhao has worked hard. If there is an opportunity, this junior would like to invite Steward Zhao for a drink..."
"Go, go, go. Hurry up and leave."
Zhao Hongtu's expression quickly switched to one of impatience.
A flicker of embarrassment crossed Zhang Zhuang's face, which then quickly turned into an ingratiating smile:
"Alright, we'll leave right away..."
Immediately, Zhang Zhuang led the Beiyuan Sect disciples behind him to quickly leave the dock.
"Elder Zhang, that guy surnamed Zhao was just too insulting. Why did you..."
A disciple behind Zhang Zhuang said indignantly.
"Shh! What are you trying to do!"
Zhang Zhuang immediately scolded:
"Steward Zhao is a disciple of Wind Ravine Valley! Have you trained your brain to mush after all these years of cultivation in the sect?"
"But..."
All of this was heard perfectly clearly by Zhao Hongtu.
Zhao Hongtu didn't take any of it to heart, neither the words of that Beiyuan Sect discipline elder, nor the words of the disciple he brought.
He just gave a rather disdainful laugh, then spat on the ground:
"Tch, a pack of ignorant wild dogs."