Hearing Ling Hui’s reminder, Huan Zong turned to look at Kong Hou, his eyes like a thin mist over a spring pond, carrying a mysterious beauty.
“Senior Sister Ling Hui, Huan Zong is my good friend. Between us, we don’t concern ourselves with such formalities.” Kong Hou pulled Huan Zong to stand together in a corner and asked quietly, “Why aren’t you together with Martial Uncle Song He and the others?”
“Martial Uncle and the others need to socialize with people from other sects.” Huan Zong said to Kong Hou, “You know I’ve never liked talking much with outsiders.”
One phrase—”you know”—expressed all the trust and intimacy between them. How could Kong Hou bear to criticize him? The two found a spot with a good view together and watched Cheng Yi complete all the ceremony’s rituals.
When Cheng Yi thanked the guests, he even spoke a few extra sentences to Huan Zong, though he didn’t mention anything about Huan Zong concealing his identity.
After the grand ceremony came the sumptuous and refined banquet. In other matters, Yunhua Sect might not necessarily match other sects, but when it came to feasts, even if the other nine of the ten great sects joined forces, they couldn’t beat Yunhua Sect.
Kong Hou brought Huan Zong to sit together with Senior Brothers and Sisters like Tan Feng, Wu Chuan, and Ling Hui. Yunhua Sect’s greatest characteristic was that they had witnessed much excitement and had very high acceptance of new things, so before long, they were able to interact normally with Huan Zong.
The most shocked among them was none other than Tan Feng. Tan Feng’s original ideal was to become a brilliantly talented sword cultivator—the person who inspired this idea was Huan Zong. However, his natural talent in the sword dao was truly limited. Though he still stubbornly struggled to call himself a sword cultivator now, he was actually following the qi cultivation path. Despite this back-and-forth struggle, at not yet two hundred years old, he had already reached Golden Core Fifth Stage cultivation—clearly showing that those favored by the heavenly dao could always act without fear.
Huan Zong thought Yunhua Sect disciples would ask him many questions about cultivation or the sword dao. Who knew that from the time he sat down until the banquet ended, no one brought up this topic? Instead, when discussing local customs and delicious food from various places, everyone was beaming with joy and laughter.
“Senior Brothers and Sisters all have easy-going personalities, perhaps more casual than your esteemed sect’s disciples, who are so steady.” Kong Hou said quietly to Huan Zong. “But they’re all very kind-hearted people.”
Huan Zong smiled and nodded: “En.”
A hundred years ago, he probably would have thought these Yunhua Sect cultivators were neglecting their duties and not seeking progress. However, the current him only felt that Yunhua Sect disciples were sincere and lived candidly.
Perhaps when one’s state of mind was different, one’s views on things would also undergo tremendous changes.
“Master, why is Junior Brother sitting over there with Yunhua Sect’s core disciples?” Canghai pretended to lower his head to drink tea and said quietly to Song He. “People from Jiufeng Sect have already looked over there several times.”
“Let them be.” Song He looked toward the table where Huan Zong sat. His grand-nephew, who rarely spoke even a few sentences in ten years, was lowering his head and saying something to Miss Kong Hou of Yunhua Sect, making the young woman’s face full of smiles. No matter how you looked at it, he didn’t seem like a taciturn person.
So there was no such thing as someone who didn’t like to talk—they just hadn’t met someone who made them want to speak. But thinking about how no one within several generations of Yunhua Sect had become cultivation partners, Song He felt somewhat troubled. His grand-nephew had finally found a girl he liked—what if the girl didn’t have such intentions? What would his grand-nephew do then?
As sword cultivators, they didn’t easily develop feelings, but once they did, it was earth-shattering and unwavering until death. He feared his grand-nephew couldn’t pass the hurdle of romantic love. Who would want to see lovers separated when they could watch them stay together?
“Brother Song He, come, try our Yunhua Sect’s special black bone soup.” Wang Tong beckoned Song He to eat, the smile on his face impossible to conceal. Today was Cheng Yi’s Nascent Soul formation ceremony, and Wang Tong, as Cheng Yi’s master, was naturally in high spirits.
“Thank you, Brother Wang Tong.” Song He picked up the soup bowl and took a sip, immediately feeling comfortable in body and mind. Yunhua Sect really knew how to enjoy themselves—being able to make ingredients this delicious was simply miraculous.
As the protagonist of this ceremony, Cheng Yi sat beside Wang Tong. Praise from all directions almost surrounded him. Some even said his talent compared to Zhong Xi’s. The matter of Huan Zong being Daoist Zhong Xi hadn’t been spread by Jiufeng Sect, and Yunhua Sect people hadn’t advertised it everywhere either, so many still didn’t know that the recently renowned Daoist Huan Zong was the legendary once-in-a-millennium cultivation genius Zhong Xi.
Praising Cheng Yi’s talent as comparable to Zhong Xi’s was both praise for Cheng Yi and flattery toward Zhong Xi—originally good words. But with Zhong Xi himself present, it seemed somewhat awkward.
The disciples at Kong Hou’s table secretly glanced at Huan Zong. Huan Zong acted as if he hadn’t heard these words and took out a dish of spirit fruits from his storage ring to place on the table: “After everyone has eaten, have some spirit fruits to refresh your palate.”
These spirit fruits were all extremely precious treasures. As the saying goes, taking someone’s hand makes yours short, eating someone’s food makes your mouth soft. After finishing a dish of spirit fruits, Yunhua Sect disciples looked at Huan Zong even more warmly. It was all because outsiders spread rumors about Daoist Zhong Xi as if he were an emotionless fake person, causing them to have many misunderstandings about him. Looking today, Daoist Zhong Xi was clearly a very elegant and easy-to-get-along-with man. He didn’t have the arrogance and coldness they imagined—he just spoke less.
When the banquet ended, Kong Hou had to send the guests back to their courtyards with other disciples. She stood and said to Huan Zong: “Huan Zong, I have something I want to discuss with you later. Wait for me in the courtyard.”
Thinking Kong Hou might stay on Yunhua Mountain, Huan Zong’s heart sank, but he nodded slightly at her.
“Making Daoist Zhong Xi wait for you in the courtyard—you really have some nerve.” As they exited the main hall, Ling Hui whispered in Kong Hou’s ear. “Those who don’t know might think it’s a husband instructing his little wife.”
Kong Hou reached out to pinch Ling Hui’s waist but she nimbly dodged. Kong Hou could do nothing about her and could only walk to the people from Qingfeng Sect. “Miss Ye, it’s been a long time.”
“Greetings, Fairy Kong Hou.” Seeing Kong Hou, Ye Fei’s face showed a smile. “Some time ago, I heard that Fairy had already advanced to Heart Stirring stage cultivation. Congratulations, congratulations.”
“Thank you.” Kong Hou led the way. “Thank you all for traveling such a long distance to attend Senior Brother’s Nascent Soul formation ceremony.”
“You’re too polite. That Immortal Cheng Yi’s cultivation has reached the Nascent Soul realm—this is fortunate for our entire cultivation world.”
Qingfeng Sect had recently grown much closer to Yunhua Sect, and their congratulatory gifts were especially generous. Ye Fei had even heard from the Sect Master that their sect intended to affiliate with Yunhua Sect. It was just that Yunhua Sect wasn’t an orthodox sword cultivation sect, so the Sect Master couldn’t decide yet.
“The gemstone on your sword is really beautiful.” Kong Hou noticed the precious sword in Ye Fei’s hand. There was a gemstone on it emitting a brilliant red color, as passionate as fire—beautiful but not vulgar.
“Really?” Ye Fei said happily. “This gemstone cost me nearly a hundred years of savings, but it was really too beautiful—I could only grit my teeth and buy it.”
“Beautiful treasures won’t come again if you miss them. It’s worth gritting your teeth to buy.” Kong Hou said. “It’s better than missing it and letting it fall into someone else’s hands.”
“That’s right.” Ye Fei nodded. “Better than falling into someone else’s hands.”
After sending Qingfeng Sect’s disciples back to their courtyard, Kong Hou walked slowly along the sect’s bluestone path, thinking deeply about what Ye Fei had just said.
If you missed a good thing, would it become someone else’s?
She didn’t know why, but this phrase made her heart uneasy, always feeling there was something she couldn’t let go of—empty and unable to find peace.
Halfway along, she encountered Yuanji Sect’s Sect Master, Daoist Shuangqing. Kong Hou politely greeted him. Though his attitude was normal, Kong Hou could tell his mood wasn’t good. Seeing he hadn’t brought other disciples with him, Kong Hou called over a male disciple to escort Daoist Shuangqing back to his courtyard.
She hadn’t walked far when a disciple in a light blue robe ran out and nearly collided with Kong Hou. Kong Hou dodged aside before recognizing this was a beautiful youth with refined features.
“Are you… Junior Brother Gui Lin?” Kong Hou saw his hair was somewhat disheveled and his clothes wrinkled, as if he’d been bullied. Her expression immediately became serious. Within Yunhua Sect, mutual suppression among sect members was forbidden. “What happened?”
Gui Lin hadn’t expected a core disciple would take this path. He shook his head: “Greetings, Senior Sister Kong Hou. I’m fine. It’s just that I still have to attend a mental cultivation class at Learning Sea Hall this afternoon. I lost track of time while meditating, and when I ran, I panicked and fell on the mountain path.”
“Mental cultivation class is important, but you must also cherish your own body.” Kong Hou saw he’d fallen pitifully—his fair little face had even scraped off a layer of skin. She searched in her storage ring, found a bottle of external injury ointment, and handed it to him. “Take this medicine and apply it. If you’re still uncomfortable tomorrow morning, go find senior brothers and sisters at Chenxia Peak and have them check you.”
“Thank you, Senior Sister.” Gui Lin clutched the medicine bottle tightly and raised his head to steal a glance at Kong Hou. “Senior Sister… you…”
“Hmm?” Kong Hou saw the little junior brother’s nervous appearance and made her smile look even gentler. “What is it?”
“You and…” Gui Lin tilted his head slightly and saw the man walking out from the distant path. He shook his head. “It’s nothing major. It’s just that these past days, I’ve eaten a lot of delicious food you sent back, and the other senior brothers and sisters and I are all very grateful to you.”
“What’s there to be grateful for?” Kong Hou laughed. “As fellow sect disciples, being polite about such things makes it seem distant. It’s getting late—go to your mental cultivation class. Tell the steward about falling down, and he won’t blame you.”
“Yes, thank you, Senior Sister.” Gui Lin bowed to Kong Hou and ran off at a trot.
As he ran past the white-robed man, his steps paused slightly. He bowed to him and quickened his pace to run away.
“Huan Zong, why did you come?” Kong Hou saw Huan Zong and walked to his side.
“You never came back, so I looked around the area.” Huan Zong turned to glance at Gui Lin, who had already run far away. “That young man just now—is he also a disciple of your esteemed sect?”
“En, he’s a newly admitted disciple from last year. His natural talent is quite good.” Seeing Huan Zong, that inexplicable emptiness in Kong Hou’s heart disappeared. She looked at Huan Zong somewhat embarrassed. “I was just thinking about some things and forgot the time. Don’t be angry.”
“I won’t be angry with you.” Huan Zong lowered his head to look at her, his gaze becoming increasingly tender. “I just came out to walk around casually. I didn’t expect to encounter you.”
Kong Hou’s heart settled slightly: “Huan Zong, what do you think of our Yunhua Sect?”
Huan Zong nodded: “A very good place. It makes one… feel at ease.”
“Then… then… could you stay here and accompany me for half a year?”
“Half a year?”
Looking at Huan Zong’s raised eyebrows, Kong Hou felt she was really making an unreasonable demand.