“Please be seated.” Looking at Huan Zong’s expressionless face, An He decided to give up pursuing the question further. He turned to the peak lords and sect masters present and said: “Fellow daoists, this young master is my late master’s life-saving benefactor.”

“Greetings, dao friend.” Whether they knew each other or not, all the cultivators present were very friendly and courteous to Huan Zong and the other two. First, they wanted to give An He face; second, Huan Zong’s background was clearly not simple.

In their eyes, Huan Zong’s expressionless face meant he was unfathomably mysterious, and his silence meant he carried himself with the bearing of an expert. In summary—extremely mysterious and not to be offended.

An He introduced the identity of each guest present to Huan Zong.

“This is the manor master of Wuwei Manor, Zhenren Baian.”

“You are Zhenren Baian, renowned for your exquisite culinary skills and entering the dao through cooking?” Hearing the three words “Wuwei Manor,” Kong Hou’s eyes instantly became as bright as stars. She had heard from the senior sisters in the sect’s dining hall that although Wuwei Manor was small, all the cultivators inside were very skilled at cooking. Especially the manor master Zhenren Baian—the delicacies he created could sometimes allow cultivators sudden enlightenment and increased cultivation, and make female cultivators’ complexions even more beautiful. Over the past century, the sect master had tried many times to befriend Zhenren Baian, but unfortunately Zhenren Baian didn’t seem interested in befriending their sect master. He had even complained that Yunhua Sect’s dishes had only flavor but no soul, forcing the sect master to return disappointed, unable to voice his thoughts about affiliation.

The sect’s disciples were all disappointed by this result, but inwardly they still held faint hope about recruiting Wuwei Manor. Every disciple going out for training would be reminded by their senior brothers and sisters that if they encountered Wuwei Manor disciples being bullied by others, they should bravely help if they had the ability. What if, after feeling grateful, they became willing to affiliate under Yunhua Sect’s name?

“I have long admired your great name, Zhenren. Seeing you today, you truly embody an immortal bearing—your reputation is well-deserved.” Kong Hou stood and performed a junior’s salute to Zhenren Baian. Many people had a fixed impression of chefs—that they were fat or greasy. However, this Zhenren Baian was different. He was thin, wore light blue robes, his hair and beard were silver-white, and his entire being exuded an immortal air.

Faced with Kong Hou’s enthusiastic attitude, Zhenren Baian was quite puzzled. Cultivators in the cultivation world mostly entered the dao through mainstream methods like artifact-refining, pill-refining, beast-taming, talisman-drawing, internal qi cultivation, external weapon cultivation, and so on. For someone like him who entered the dao through cooking, his cultivation wasn’t high and his usefulness wasn’t great. His status in the cultivation world was quite humble. It had been a long time since he’d encountered a junior who admired him so sincerely and genuinely—and she was even a likeable young lady.

Could it be that some elder in the young lady’s family had told her some nonsensical rumors that she believed, leading her to have such a beautiful misunderstanding about him?

“Xianzi is too kind.” Though Zhenren Baian couldn’t guess Kong Hou’s identity, he was very courteous to her. He saw that the hairpins and ornaments she wore were all magical or divine artifacts, and her robes were enhanced with countless layers of talisman markings. She must be a disciple of status from some great sect. Though he was a manor master, Wuwei Manor was a small sect—they truly couldn’t afford to offend such figures.

“It is Zhenren who is too modest.” Since there were still others present and this wasn’t an occasion for casual chat, Kong Hou felt embarrassed to talk too long with Zhenren Baian. She could only give him a brilliant smile after sitting down.

This smile was so well-behaved and pleasing that Zhenren Baian couldn’t help but smile back at her.

An He, sitting in the main seat, had very complicated feelings. This little beauty could be so enthusiastic even toward an old man like Baian—why was she so indifferent toward him? Though inwardly conflicted, he still had to persist in introducing the other people present to Huan Zong.

These sects all had connections with Hefeng Sect. Some were relatively outgoing sects, while others Kong Hou had never heard of. However, everyone was polite and courteous with each other, so the atmosphere didn’t become awkward.

“This is a personal disciple of Liuguang Sect, Dao Friend Xiao Dong.” Hefeng Sect was an affiliated sect of Liuguang Sect. Since they were holding the bicentennial Hundred Flowers Dance Festival, Liuguang Sect would certainly send someone. This was also why so many sect masters were present today—what if Liuguang Sect took a liking to them?

Then everyone saw this Liuguang Sect disciple, who had barely spoken since arriving, stand up and walk before the mysterious dao friend, performing a junior’s salute to him: “Disciple Xiao Dong pays respects to martial uncle.”

Mar—martial uncle?

Everyone froze. No wonder this mysterious dao friend had such a cold expression and spoke so little—he was actually a sword cultivator from Liuguang Sect. That made perfect sense. That Dao Friend Xiao Dong treated him with such courtesy showed the mysterious dao friend held a high position in Liuguang Sect.

Learning Huan Zong’s identity, everyone quickly recalled their earlier behavior—had they performed perfectly?

“Young master, this is a disciple from Wangjian Peak.” Lin Hu guessed that Huan Zong probably couldn’t remember the faces and names of the sect’s many juniors. Using voice transmission, he told him, “He’s a new disciple recruited in the past thirty years. His talent is outstanding—he’s already at Heart Stirring stage cultivation.”

Huan Zong raised an eyebrow. Exceptionally talented?

He glanced sideways at Kong Hou, somewhat disagreeing with Lin Hu’s assessment. Kong Hou was only sixteen years old and already at Heart Stirring stage cultivation. How could Xiao Dong’s cultivation speed be considered outstanding?

Lin Hu: “…”

At times like this, he always felt communication with the young master was difficult. A sword cultivator like this who didn’t understand worldly matters probably had quite a misunderstanding about things like aptitude.

Xiao Dong was somewhat excited. He had only seen this martial uncle once before, ten years ago during the grand ceremony when he was accepted as a personal disciple of Wangjian Peak. Because this martial uncle’s appearance was truly too outstanding, having seen him just that once, he had remembered him.

Since then, he had never seen this martial uncle again. He had heard this martial uncle was the most talented cultivator in the entire cultivation world over the past few centuries, with a steadfast dao heart and diligent cultivation. He was a model for disciples in the sect to learn from. He never expected to actually see this venerable elder here today.

Facing Huan Zong’s handsome face, Xiao Dong felt the words “venerable elder” were somewhat inappropriate. But his vocabulary was truly limited—in his excitement, he simply couldn’t think of better words.

With his shallow cultivation, he still couldn’t control his emotions well. The excitement on his face was almost impossible to hide. But remembering the sect’s teachings, he still tried his best to suppress his upturned lips.

“Not bad.” For Lin Hu’s sake in mentioning outstanding talent, Huan Zong still nodded slightly at this junior and praised him with a sentence. Though this sentence only had two words, it was enough to make the young disciple bloom with joy, not knowing where to put his hands and feet.

“This is Kong Hou Xianzi, a talented disciple of Peak Lord Wangtong from Yunhua Sect. You may address her as martial uncle.” Huan Zong indicated the disciple should greet Kong Hou. When juniors met elders, proper etiquette could not be neglected in the slightest.

“Junior Xiao Dong pays respects to Martial Uncle Kong Hou.” Xiao Dong sneaked a peek at Kong Hou. This beautiful martial uncle… seemed younger than him?

“No need for excessive courtesy.” Kong Hou raised her hand in a lifting gesture and placed a brocade pouch in his hand. “Cultivate well and don’t slack off.”

“Yes, this junior respectfully follows martial uncle’s teachings.” Xiao Dong respectfully performed a salute, then cupped his fists and bowed to Huan Zong before returning to his seat.

“So the two of you are actually Xianzhang Huan Zong of Liuguang Sect and Xianzi Kong Hou of Yunhua Sect. Our respects, our respects.” The various sect masters and peak lords stood to salute again. They had heard that some days ago, when Qingfeng Sect disciples encountered pursuing evil cultivators, it was precisely Daoist Huan Zong and Xianzi Kong Hou who saved them. News of the two’s righteous deed had long spread throughout the entire cultivation world. Now seeing them in person, everyone couldn’t help but heap praise.

Wuwei Manor’s manor master Zhenren Baian had somewhat complicated feelings. He hadn’t expected this young lady was actually a Yunhua Sect disciple. His impression of Yunhua Sect could be summed up in one sentence: Yunhua Sect disciples had saved disciples from his manor several times, and each was enthusiastic and sincere, very likeable. But their sect master was somewhat strange, always mentioning Yunhua Sect’s dining hall in front of him, then after mentioning it, asking what culinary dao Wuwei Manor excelled at.

He knew great sects had hidden dragons and crouching tigers with many talented disciples, but to even compete with small sects like theirs in culinary dao was too competitive. A few years ago, when the other came again under the name of discussing the dao but with the reality of showing off their culinary dao, he finally couldn’t bear it and directly said that what Yunhua Sect’s dining hall made had no soul and couldn’t be considered culinary dao. Since then, this manor master had finally quieted down.

Originally he had worried this action would bring Yunhua Sect’s retaliation and specifically told disciples to be careful of Yunhua Sect people. Who knew that after waiting several years, Yunhua Sect showed no reaction. When disciples out training encountered Yunhua Sect disciples, they didn’t receive any difficulties from the other side. On the contrary, they were saved by them again when in danger.

It seemed that though Yunhua Sect’s manor master liked to show off a bit, his heart was fairly broad—he had no intention of retaliating against a small sect like theirs.

Zhenren Baian’s feelings were complicated, and An He’s feelings weren’t much better. No wonder shortly after their master was rescued that year, Hefeng Sect successfully affiliated under Liuguang Sect’s banner—probably this Zhenren Huan Zong had contributed to that. As the saying goes, leaning against a great tree provides good shade. After Hefeng Sect affiliated with Liuguang Sect, they no longer had to worry daily about other sects’ schemes and could vigorously develop the tourism industry. Now in the entire cultivation world, who didn’t know about their Hefeng Sect?

What Hefeng Sect owed Zhenren Huan Zong—how was it only a life-saving grace?

And this Xianzi Kong Hou—when he saw her at the city gate that day, he had only thought this young lady was young but bold enough to expose the evil cultivator’s scheme. He hadn’t expected she was a great sect disciple with experts accompanying her, not just recklessly brave.

When out traveling and encountering sudden incidents with no cultivator in charge, if disciples of the Ten Great Sects had the ability to fight enemies, they should naturally help. This was an unspoken and unwritten rule within the Ten Great Sects. It was precisely because of this that the cultivation world’s atmosphere had improved considerably.

Xianzi Kong Hou was still so young yet already had such awareness—truly worthy of being a personal disciple raised by a great sect. Just her eye for men was terrible. What part of him couldn’t compare to that old man Zhenren Baian?

“Sect Master, the flower immortals are ready. Should the dance festival begin now?” A junior martial brother asked softly by his ear. Why was senior martial brother staring at Xianzi Kong Hou like that? Hadn’t he noticed Zhenren Huan Zong’s expression getting worse?

“Yes.” An He nodded and picked up the tea on the table to toast the guests.

The junior martial brother turned to secretly observe Huan Zong’s softened expression, breathed a sigh of relief, and raised his hand to signal the flower festival to begin.

The wind rose, and large fresh flowers drifted down from the sky. Colorfully dressed immortal ladies holding flower bouquets descended from above. Peonies bloomed magnificently on stage. The immortal ladies lightly stepped on painted boards with their toes, dancing with the wind—so beautiful that people forgot this was the mortal realm and not the heavenly palace.

Beautiful, indescribably beautiful.

Kong Hou watched without blinking. When the flower immortals transformed into flying celestial maidens and departed treading on flowers, she still couldn’t come to her senses.

“Even if someone said they truly were celestial maidens descended from the heavenly palace, I would believe it.” Kong Hou finally came back to herself after a long while. She turned to look at Huan Zong, who still wore that neither pleased nor angry expression.

“Huan Zong?” Kong Hou said quietly. “You don’t like this performance?”

Huan Zong poured Kong Hou a cup of hot tea and shook his head: “I like it. It’s quite good.”

His mouth said he liked it, but his expression was honest. Kong Hou picked up the tea and took a sip—not as delicious as tea Huan Zong personally brewed.

“The peony immortal lady was majestic and elegant, the peach blossom immortal lady was gorgeously beautiful, the lotus flower immortal lady was transcendent and noble…” Setting down the teacup, Kong Hou sighed. “Such beautiful young ladies exist in this world.”

Huan Zong: “…”

In his view, good-looking men and women were all the same without much difference, so for a moment, he didn’t know how to respond to Kong Hou’s words.

The performance continued. Kong Hou spoke quietly with Huan Zong, but her attention remained on the performance stage. When she saw beautiful women, she would be amazed. When she saw rare flowers, she would exclaim in admiration. It seemed in her eyes, nothing wasn’t beautiful, nothing wasn’t good. Infected by her mood, Huan Zong stared at a pot of dark green flowers, trying hard to find its beauty. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much talent in this area and ultimately gained nothing.

“Zhenren Huan Zong.” An He raised his teacup and toasted Huan Zong from afar. “Many thanks, Zhenren.”

“Sect Master is too courteous.” Huan Zong picked up his teacup and took a sip.

Seeing him drink the tea, An He turned toward Kong Hou: “Previously I didn’t know the young lady was actually Xianzi Kong Hou of Yunhua Sect. If there was any inadequate hospitality, I ask Xianzi to be understanding.”

“Sect Master is too courteous. Your esteemed location has good scenery, good people, and delicious fish—truly makes one reluctant to leave.” Kong Hou raised her teacup to return the toast. “Many thanks to Sect Master for today’s gracious hospitality.”

“That Xianzi could come already makes our humble sect shine with splendor.” An He drank the tea, secretly sighing inwardly—cute young ladies were still more likeable.

Seeing An He take the lead, the other cultivators all toasted as well. Though Zhenren Huan Zong only touched his lips before stopping, they were all very satisfied. After returning, they could boast to other cultivators that they had drunk tea and enjoyed scenery together with personal disciples of Liuguang Sect and Yunhua Sect.

Fortunately, no matter how excited they felt inside, these cultivators sitting in the distinguished guest seats all behaved quite reservedly. The common people surrounding them watching the excitement wouldn’t have so many concerns about status. They not only watched the performance on stage but also looked at the guests in the distinguished guest seats.

“That’s the manor master of Wuwei Manor? I heard the food he makes is extremely delicious. I thought he’d be a round-headed, round-faced fat man, but unexpectedly he has such an immortal bearing.”

“Our Young Master An He still looks best and has the most elegant temperament.”

“Miss, are you serious?” A female cultivator from elsewhere strongly disagreed with this assessment and pointed at Huan Zong in the distinguished guest seats. “Clearly that man is better looking.”

“You’re talking nonsense. Young Master An He is the best looking.”

“The white-robed young master is truly unparalleled in handsomeness.”

“You dare insult Young Master An He?” The woman began rolling up her sleeves.

“Are we being reasonable or not? Which word was insulting him?” The visiting female cultivator, seeing this woman actually wanted to fight her, also rolled up her sleeves. Aesthetic preferences were something one couldn’t easily yield on.

“Senior martial sister, forget it, forget it.” The fellow junior brothers and sisters traveling with her held her back. “This is Yan City territory. We’ll be at a disadvantage if we quarrel with her.”

“Anyone with eyes can see that white-robed young master is better looking, right?!” In her agitation, the female cultivator even let some of her hometown accent slip out. “You tell me—doesn’t she have a problem with her brain?”

“Senior martial sister, since you know she has a problem with her brain, why argue with her?” Two junior martial sisters grabbed her arms. “Change seats. Have you forgotten the divination you cast before going out today? The hexagram said you shouldn’t quarrel with anyone today.”

Hearing this, the female cultivator immediately backed down. She glared resentfully at the local woman, then was dragged by her junior martial sisters to the right side to switch seats with a fellow junior martial brother.

“Hong Ling, what does it look like to quarrel over small matters when out traveling?” The female cultivator’s senior martial sister quietly scolded her. Mindful that many people were present, she didn’t say more.

“I’m sorry, Senior Martial Sister Ge Jin. I was wrong.” The female cultivator named Hong Ling lowered her head and mumbled, “I won’t be so impulsive next time.”

“Good that you know you’re wrong.” Senior Martial Sister Ge Jin nodded, then bent down to whisper in her ear: “But you’re not wrong—that white-robed young master is indeed better looking.”

“I knew senior martial sister’s taste was as good as mine.” Hong Ling immediately cheered up.

“She’s a Yan City native. It’s human nature to favor their own sect master.” Ge Jin lifted her chin. Her slender fingers touched the divination bones at her waist. These past days she had been constantly uneasy but couldn’t divine anything useful. The hexagram only vaguely showed that if she encountered a noble person, she could turn misfortune into fortune.

But where was this noble person? Male or female, old or young—she couldn’t divine any of it.

After the Hundred Flowers Dance Festival ended, the tourists in the viewing area all stood to leave, but their group alone sat steadily as mountains. A Hefeng Sect disciple maintaining order not far away watched them warily. These people weren’t moving—what did they want to do?

Just as he was about to step forward to inquire, one of the purple-robed female cultivators took several divination bones white as mutton-fat jade from her waist. The Hefeng Sect disciple stopped. Cultivators who practiced divination all had their own habits and strongly disliked being interrupted while divining. Though he didn’t know which sect these cultivators were from, he’d better not go disturb them.

Not understanding divination arts, he watched the purple-robed female cultivator shake the divination bones back and forth. After stopping, she said solemnly: “East.”

What east? Could it be there was someone they wanted to find in the east?

He saw these cultivators all stand up together and walk directly eastward without even looking back. Only then did the Hefeng Sect disciple react—so when the purple-robed female cultivator said “east,” she meant to walk eastward.

Divination masters even had to cast hexagrams for which direction to walk?

He had heard of one sect with such strange habits. It seemed to be called… Jixiang Pavilion?

“Stop.” Ge Jin saw the path ahead blocked by a wall. She took out the divination bones and cast again. “North.”

“Senior martial sister, can this really help us avoid the great misfortune in our hexagram?” Hong Ling followed behind Ge Jin walking north. “Why don’t we seek help from Hefeng Sect?”

“What reason would we give? Say we divined that we might possibly encounter some danger in the future, so we ask your esteemed sect to send experts to escort us back?” Ge Jin countered. “If you were Sect Master An, would you believe it?”

Hong Ling sheepishly shook her head.

“If there’s really no other way…” Ge Jin stopped and put away the divination bones. “We’ll bring some valuable items to visit Hefeng Sect, saying it’s to celebrate the successful opening of the Hundred Flowers Dance Festival. Hefeng Sect will certainly be courteous—like inviting us to stay briefly. That way we can temporarily lodge at Hefeng Sect and have our pavilion master seek help from the main sect, waiting for the main sect’s people to escort us back.”

“Won’t that… be a bit embarrassing?” A junior martial brother asked quietly.

“There are only five of us. Do you think life is more important or face?” Ge Jin rummaged through her storage bag and pulled out several boxes of medicinal materials, packing them in brocade boxes. “Let’s go to Hefeng Sect.”

Hong Ling covered her face and followed. Both face and honor were precious, but life was worth more. Anyway, there were five people—she wasn’t the only one losing face.

As soon as the Hundred Flowers Dance Festival ended, An He invited the distinguished guests to a banquet at Hefeng Sect. Huan Zong initially wanted to decline, but when he heard An He say the banquet had invited Yan City’s most famous chef who was best at preparing fish, his peripheral vision fell on Kong Hou and he nodded slightly in agreement.

Seeing Huan Zong accept his invitation, An He quickly had people prepare and ordered disciples to bring out the previously prepared carriages to escort everyone back to Hefeng Sect.

Arriving at Hefeng Sect, as soon as Kong Hou entered the main gate, she was captivated by the scenery inside. Everything was truly exquisite and refined, every step was scenery and artistic conception.

Seeing Kong Hou interested in the scenery inside, Huan Zong deliberately slowed his pace to accompany her in looking. Xiao Dong, walking ahead, saw his martial uncle walking slowly and quickly returned to walk behind Huan Zong. Other cultivators who wanted to appreciate the scenery but were too embarrassed to let others discover this secretly sighed in relief and all slowed their steps.

This way it wouldn’t appear they were unsophisticated—rather, it was because everyone walked too slowly that they could only appreciate the scenery.

An He, walking ahead, felt somewhat puzzled. Had the fish from their Yan City already lost all influence? The fish for this banquet all came from the inner sect’s spirit qi pool, their bodies rich with abundant spiritual energy. Eating them was extremely beneficial to cultivators’ spiritual platforms. Normally he couldn’t bear to eat them himself. Only because the benefactor was present did he have people catch a few.

He was eager to show the benefactor his determination to repay the favor—why were these people walking so slowly?