Chapter Eighty-Nine: Visitors from the Inner Sect (Second update upon release; seeking your first subscription)

The only one who came back from the grand contest in first place and still had to be punished was Little Green Mountain.

Lin Ze stretched and looked again at the scripture in his hands.

The method for calculating the standings was complicated, much like the points system from his former life.

Little Green Mountain had quietly climbed from the very bottom to sixty-third place, and the record beside it was blindingly conspicuous.

Three disciples had taken part in the grand contest.

Their results were first in the E-Phase, first in the A-Chen, and first in the D-Final.

Just because there were sixty rounds of disciples did not mean that the distinction carried little weight. One had to know that more than a hundred mountain sects had entered, along with countless ordinary disciples. Together, they numbered over thirty thousand.

At the very least, within these ten years, these sixty were the greatest prodigies standing at the summit. In the eyes of any sect, they were irresistible talents; to have three of them at once was an achievement other mountain peaks could hardly even dare to imagine.

More importantly, Little Green Mountain had only sent three people in total.

Lin Ze did not care much about such empty honors.

But someone did.

For example, the five elders standing at the crest of the mountain path, staring coldly at him.

Unable to endure that barrage of looks, he sighed and said, “I’ll treat you to a meal.”

The elders’ expressions eased at once.

Walking over at an unhurried pace, Crane Forest said with an envious grunt, “Elder Lin, you’ve really kept it hidden well.”

They had all thought Su Bai Lu was the other side’s trump card. Unexpectedly, after hearing Yang Shulong and the others speak, the disciple named Wang Yao proved flawless as well, perhaps even stronger.

Their own mountain sects were still lingering near the bottom, while Lin Ze’s Little Green Mountain had already surged into the sixties and become a middle-ranking sect.

When they first learned the news, the few of them had been so stunned they could not speak. Only now had they finally recovered somewhat.

“I still don’t know where you found these promising youngsters,” Pan Yang said as he sat down without ceremony. He grabbed a wild fruit and began biting into it with a loud crack-crack-crack, venting his feelings. The whole thing sounded like pure fantasy, yet it had happened right before their eyes.

The other side had come to the Eastern Mountain Sect for barely three months. Rather than saying it was due to his skillful guidance, Pan Yang would rather believe that those boys were extraordinary to begin with.

Perhaps when they had come last time, those disciples had concealed their cultivation?

After all, everyone had only glanced casually and had not investigated carefully. On top of that, Little Green Mountain seemed to have run into plenty of trouble, so it was only normal for Elder Lin to be cautious.

Lin Ze smiled but did not explain.

These old men were kindhearted; at most they complained on the surface, and would not really let it create a rift.

At that moment, two more figures came up the mountain path.

When they made out the newcomers’ attire, the elders all froze. The half a wild fruit in Pan Yang’s hand even plopped to the ground. He hurriedly wiped the corners of his mouth with his sleeve, then rose somewhat stiffly to salute as a junior, all of them calling out in unison:

“Senior Yellow Dragon.”

“Senior Qin.”

Both were dressed in black robes, with gold trim embroidered along the cuffs and hems. It was a style that was plainly old-fashioned, even tacky, yet for some reason it carried a weight of profound dignity.

The female cultivator was Qin Hong Xiu. She had changed out of her usual hooded black clothes. Her delicate, lovely face was expressionless, and the aura about her was entirely unlike before; at last she seemed more like a senior cultivator.

The other was the inner sect elder who had appeared earlier in the D-Final hall, the True Immortal Yellow Dragon.

Yes... the supplier of Foundation Establishment Pills.

Compared with Lin Ze’s calm, the other five elders were almost anxious.

Though they belonged to the same sect, the inner sect and outer sect were entirely different systems. Unless some major matter arose, one could go decades without once seeing each other.

For that very reason, they addressed him as senior, rather than elder or some other title.

Why would such a distinguished figure come to Little Green Mountain?

That was also what Lin Ze wanted to ask.

As he was thinking, he saw Qin Hong Xiu secretly wink at him, and he could not help feeling a little helpless.

Fine then. So that earlier air of an eminent master had all been put on.

Lin Ze understood the meaning of that glance: his junior aunt was telling him that she too had no idea, so the one truly in charge today must be the True Immortal Yellow Dragon.

As expected, Yellow Dragon raised a hand slightly toward the air. “Fellow daoists, there is no need for such courtesy.”

The inner sect had never regarded itself as the superior of the various peaks, only as part of a simple relationship of supply and demand.

The peaks provided fresh blood, while the inner sect sheltered the Eastern Mountain Immortal Sect.

Under the eyes of the assembled elders, Yellow Dragon strolled over at a measured pace. Just as the others were too tense to breathe, he lowered his head, and a smile suddenly appeared on his face.

“You are Elder Lin?”

Lin Ze realized something was off and only then stood up from his chair.

Because he had seen the other man so many times in the simulator, he had actually and unconsciously treated himself as a bystander, never once making a move to rise from beginning to end.

Even leaving aside rank, purely in terms of cultivation, a Foundation Establishment cultivator facing a Golden Core True Immortal should not have been so casual.

He had certainly not meant it, but there was no way to explain that, so he could only tug at the corner of his mouth somewhat stiffly.

He could not exactly say, I really do not want to see you stroking your beard again.

Seeing Lin Ze’s unsparing expression, Qin Hong Xiu turned her face aside and secretly held back a laugh.

Crane Forest and the others were not nearly so bold; sweat had already begun to bead on their foreheads.

Unexpectedly, Yellow Dragon seemed not to care. If cultivators all had such petty tempers, then with their long lives of several hundred years, would they not have long since been angered to death?

He turned to look at the surrounding scenery and nodded enviously. “Not bad. Better than this old man’s cave dwelling.”

Seeing that the conversation was drifting ever farther off course, Qin Hong Xiu clicked her tongue impatiently. She could not stand this outfit any longer, and there was no point in wearing a cold face just to look impressive. “Spit it out if you have something to say. Stop beating around the bush.”

Yellow Dragon was choked for a moment.

But he knew this divine killing star’s temper: fearless of heaven and earth, and even her own Master Nascent Soul rarely bothered with her. Much less himself.

“In that case, this old man shall keep it brief.”

He looked back at Lin Ze, smiling broadly. “I have come today to ask Elder Lin for a person.”

Before the words had even faded, Lin Ze’s expression changed slightly.

The others were likewise startled. When had the inner sect ever needed to use the word ask?

Forget ordinary disciples—even they, as elders, would all jump at any chance to enter the inner sect and take a look.

Only, no one knew which lucky soul had won the other side’s favor.

Qin Hong Xiu was also somewhat surprised. She had encountered Yellow Dragon in the sky. Seeing him head to Little Green Mountain, she had followed along, without knowing what exactly he intended to do.

Ask for a person?

Could it be... She thought of the child she had met earlier at the abandoned medicine mountain. The child was obedient in appearance, and the intelligence in those brows and eyes was especially pleasing. At a glance, it was clear he was promising material, only unfortunately unsuited to swordsmanship. She herself was not the sort of cultivator who liked to take disciples under her wing, so she had not paid it much mind.

Was Yellow Dragon after Xiao Bao?

When Lin Ze had seized the little fox earlier, the coldness on his face had left Qin Hong Xiu with a vivid memory.

For that child, he could even do something as ordinarily despised by cultivators as cutting weeds and removing roots. Today’s matter was probably not so simple.