Kong Hou turned back and saw An He’s slightly anxious expression. She said quietly to Huan Zong: “Huan Zong, is Sect Master An hungry? He looks a bit anxious. Should we walk faster?”

“Nascent Soul stage cultivators have long reached the realm of inedia. Even if they don’t eat for a year, they can rely on the nourishment of heaven and earth’s spiritual energy to keep their bodies functioning normally without feeling hungry.” Huan Zong said, “Perhaps that’s just his natural expression. You need not mind it.” Though the cultivation world now wasn’t as chaotic as it was a thousand years ago, it still fundamentally emphasized the supremacy of the strong. Being too concerned about others’ thoughts and opinions was not beneficial to one’s mental state.

“Really?” Kong Hou was half-doubtful about Huan Zong’s explanation, but her footsteps quickened slightly.

The wooden tables prepared for the banquet were low tables carved with auspicious clouds and flowers. Two cushions were placed beside each table. A spirit-gathering array was activated throughout the great hall, making one feel refreshed upon entering.

“Distinguished guests, please be seated.” An He invited everyone to sit. Soon, colorfully dressed maidservants carried jade plates to the tables. The jade plates were covered with jade lids that sealed in spiritual energy. The maidservants walked extremely carefully, and this cautious attitude made the guests involuntarily sit up straight, curious about what rare treasure was in the jade plates.

“Our humble sect’s resources are meager. We have nothing good to entertain everyone. This dish consists of fish salvaged from our sect’s spiritual liquid pool. Because they grow extremely slowly, they have many bones and little meat. I hope the distinguished guests won’t find them lacking.” An He signaled the maidservants to remove the jade covers from the plates.

The instant the jade covers were lifted, refreshing spiritual energy scattered in all directions. The cultivators exclaimed in surprise: “These are actually Auspicious Cloud-Pattern Fish?” This type of fish had the miraculous effect of stabilizing qi and condensing the spirit. Ordinary people who ate them would have their years extended, and cultivators who ate them would have their spiritual platforms stabilized and their cultivation increased. They truly were rare treasures.

They hadn’t expected Sect Master An to be so generous as to bring out such precious fish to entertain guests.

Though the fish on the plate were only two or three finger-widths in size, every part of them was treasure. Even the scales and bone spurs on their bodies were precious medicinal catalysts.

On the jade plate was a fish with its bones and head already removed, along with two small bowls of fish soup. If not for the excellent upbringing of everyone present, they probably couldn’t help but immediately pick up the bowls and gulp down the fish soup.

Among those who could step onto the cultivation path, who truly didn’t care about lifespan and cultivation?

“Everyone, please enjoy.” Having seen everyone’s shock and delight, An He was finally satisfied. “If there is any inadequacy in the hospitality, I ask everyone to be understanding.”

Having brought out Auspicious Cloud-Pattern Fish to entertain them—if they still complained about inadequate hospitality, they would truly be too shameless. Sipping the fish soup in small mouthfuls, the cultivators slowly converted the spiritual energy the fish soup brought into their bodies, and couldn’t help but sigh that Sect Master An was truly too hospitable and welcoming.

An He turned to look at Huan Zong and Kong Hou sitting together. Compared to the other cultivators, Zhenren Huan Zong’s reaction was very bland. He used chopsticks to lightly pick up a small piece of meat from the fish’s back, tasted it, then used another pair of unused chopsticks to pick up belly meat and place it in Xianzi Kong Hou’s bowl.

Xianzi Kong Hou picked up the fish belly meat and put it in her mouth. The two exchanged a glance, and a rare smile appeared on Zhenren Huan Zong’s face. An He picked up the fish soup on the table and took a sip, secretly wondering—could the two be conversing through voice transmission?

Just as he was puzzled, Zhenren Huan Zong suddenly raised his head, and their gazes met. That cool and icy gaze made him feel cold from head to toe. He hurriedly withdrew his overly curious gaze. An He’s heart was filled with even more shock and suspicion—what was the relationship between Zhenren Huan Zong and Miss Kong Hou?

Over these years, he had never heard of any Liuguang Sect personal disciple becoming dao companions with a Yunhua Sect disciple. It wasn’t that their statuses didn’t match, but rather that in the eyes of everyone in the cultivation world, disciples from these two sects truly had nothing in common.

When Liuguang Sect was mentioned, the first things people thought of were white robes like snow, coldness like accumulated snow on mountain peaks, people colder than their swords, profound and diligent cultivation, and extremely disciplined lives. But whenever Yunhua Sect was mentioned, what people first thought of was always their lazy lifestyle, their protective nature, and their impenetrable unity.

For disciples wanting to join a sect, the first thing they needed to pass was the Path to Immortality. Each sect’s Path to Immortality array formation emphasized different things—some valued talent, some valued dao heart, some even valued aesthetics, while Yunhua Sect valued the human heart.

Not dao heart but human heart. Only disciples whose character traits matched Yunhua Sect could pass through Yunhua Sect’s Path to Immortality. Perhaps precisely because of this, Yunhua Sect might not become the cultivation world’s number one sect, but due to their unity, the entire cultivation world dared not underestimate them—including Liuguang Sect.

But not daring to underestimate them was one thing. The two sects’ disciples’ personalities were completely opposite, like heading south while driving north. Their only common point was probably that sometimes their genders were the same. Now these two even had opposite genders. What mysterious force had made their relationship so close?

Not only was An He very shocked, but Xiao Dong, sitting with Lin Hu, was also quite unsettled inside. The martial uncle who was lofty as the bright moon in the sky would actually serve food and pour tea for friends in private? Even more terrifying, he saw martial uncle smile—smile!

He turned to look at Lin Hu. When martial uncle was with Senior Lin in private, did he treat him this way too?

“Don’t look at me.” Lin Hu told him through voice transmission, “I’m just a servant who knows nothing.”

Xiao Dong: “…”

Act—actually, Senior Lin also seemed not quite normal.

The fish soup entering his belly transformed into spiritual liquid nourishing the spiritual platform. After drinking one mouthful, Kong Hou couldn’t bear to drink more. She turned to Huan Zong and said: “This fish soup can nourish the spiritual platform.” She pushed the bowl toward Huan Zong. “I’ll give you my bowl too.”

Watching the young lady push the bowl, about the size of a woman’s fist, before him, Huan Zong felt somewhat dazed.

This was his first experience in life—this feeling of discovering something good and saving it from between one’s teeth to leave for him made him feel somewhat at a loss. But his heart softened into a puddle.

She was still so young, only sixteen or seventeen years old. She hadn’t traveled through the entire cultivation world and didn’t even know how many good things there were in the cultivation world, how many magical secret realms existed, yet she had saved this bowl of fish soup she considered a good thing for him.

Huan Zong recalled what his mother said to him before she died long, long ago.

“Huan Zong, don’t believe those rumors outside. You’re not dull, much less a fool. You just don’t understand emotions. Remember this: if someone treats you so well that they try hard to save the best things for you, then they truly like you.”

“What is ‘the best’?” He didn’t understand. Looking at his mother on the phoenix couch, her expression haggard, so thin only her skeleton remained, he didn’t know what a sad expression should look like.

“There are many most beautiful things in the world. Huan Zong, you just need to understand—those who love food giving up delicacies for you, those who love money giving up wealth for you, those who love beauty giving up all the world’s beauties for you, those who love power giving up their ambitions for you—these are their best things.”

“Huan Zong, my child. Your mother hopes that many, many people will love you, and that you will also learn to love others.”

After mother passed away, he followed his master to Liuguang Sect. Many people revered him, doted on him, envied him, even were jealous of him, but there was no one willing to save food for him as mother had mentioned.

He still hadn’t learned how to love others. He imagined what an innocent youth should look like when interacting with ordinary people, even writing down his imagined scenarios, but no one liked the stories he wrote.

A skilled brush easily produces flourishing prose; story books reveal true feelings. Unable to learn emotions, he also couldn’t write a good story.

When he learned someone liked the stories he wrote, he was delighted. That day outside Yong City’s bookstore, after hearing the conversation between the young lady and the bookstore owner, he lied for the first time in his life.

He hadn’t gone to the bookstore to buy books, but rather wanted to see clearly what the person buying books looked like.

It turned out to be a young lady with a small nose and mouth but large eyes. Her blinking eyes looking at him reminded him of the stars he saw sitting alone in the palace hall as a child. So brilliant, so beautiful.

“Huan Zong, what’s wrong?” Kong Hou saw Huan Zong staring blankly at the fish soup she had pushed over and felt a bit embarrassed. “I only drank a little just now. When you drink it later, just don’t touch this spot.” She pointed to where her lips had touched. Earlier she had only thought this fish soup was good for Huan Zong but forgot the fish soup had already been drunk from once by her. If she made Huan Zong think she wanted to give him her leftovers, that wouldn’t be good.

“Kong Hou.” Huan Zong turned to look at Kong Hou, his pupils so black their depths couldn’t be seen.

The emotions in these eyes were too complex. Kong Hou couldn’t understand them, nor did she know how to understand them. She tugged at his sleeve hidden under the table. “Don’t like this fish?”

“Thank you.” Huan Zong picked up the fish soup Kong Hou pushed to him and drank it all in one go.

“You’re welcome.” Kong Hou shook her head, her eyes crinkling in a smile.

Martial nephew Xiao Dong, who had been secretly watching the two, sucked in a cold breath. Martial uncle… how could martial uncle do this? Though Auspicious Cloud-Pattern Fish was indeed a good thing, their Liuguang Sect also raised several dozen in their spiritual liquid pool. It wasn’t as if he wouldn’t be able to eat them in the future. How could he also drink the young lady’s soup?

How old was Xianzi Kong Hou? Just an innocent sixteen or seventeen-year-old young lady. Martial uncle—how could martial uncle bear to do this?

Xiao Dong’s inner faith tottered on the verge of collapse. He absolutely could not accept that his martial uncle, noble as snow, was actually a thick-skinned old man who mooched food and drink around young ladies.

Watching Xiao Dong’s expression of utter inability to accept reality, Lin Hu secretly shook his head. Still too young, insufficiently stable in character. If he knew that his own martial uncle not only drank the young lady’s fish soup, but also lied to the young lady claiming he could roast meat, took the young lady’s priceless Vermillion Red Fruit, and only obtained the Henggong Fish from Wuming Zhenren thanks to the young lady—wouldn’t his dao heart completely collapse?

When ordinarily very proper people became shameless, it was very difficult for others to discover their shamelessness.

With the Auspicious Cloud-Pattern Fish, the dishes served afterward lacked some amazement for the many cultivators. Eating these dishes while their minds were still thinking of the wonderful taste of the Cloud-Pattern Fish meant many of the later dishes were only touched with chopsticks twice before being removed.

Kong Hou ate quite happily. Not only did she eat with satisfaction, she also secretly told Huan Zong which parts of fish prepared different ways tasted better. Perhaps in the entire banquet hall, only their small table ate most earnestly.

When the banquet ended, An He invited the guests to stay in the sect. Most guests politely declined. An He didn’t press them and personally escorted them to the gate. When he saw Huan Zong, Xiao Dong, and the other two also preparing to leave, his attempts to keep them were somewhat more sincere than before.

“Many thanks for Sect Master’s gracious offer, but we already have lodgings in the inner city. How could we continue to impose?” Lin Hu declined An He’s invitation and followed Huan Zong’s departing steps.

“Farewell.” Kong Hou cupped her fists toward An He.

“Welcome Xianzi to visit our humble place again.”

“Kong Hou.” Huan Zong stopped and turned to look at Kong Hou, who was smiling at An He. “Let’s go.”

“Coming.” Kong Hou lifted her skirt hem and ran to catch up to Huan Zong’s side, smiling at him.

Huan Zong returned a not-very-obvious smile. He turned with an expressionless face, nodded slightly at An He, and left with large strides, taking Kong Hou with him.

An He felt that benefactor Zhenren Huan Zong didn’t seem to like him very much. Could this be… competitive awareness between handsome men? When he minded the benefactor’s excessively handsome appearance, was the benefactor actually also minding him?

Did this thing about same-sex repulsion also apply to the benefactor?

“Sect Master, Jixiang Pavilion disciples have arrived bearing gifts to visit and congratulate the successful opening of this Hundred Flowers Dance Festival.”

“Jixiang Pavilion?” An He frowned slightly. There didn’t seem to be any friendship between Hefeng Sect and Jixiang Pavilion?

“Invite them in.” Regardless of Jixiang Pavilion’s intentions, guests were guests, and he still needed to receive them personally.

Led by a Hefeng Sect personal disciple, Kong Hou and Huan Zong walked out of Hefeng Sect’s main gate.

“We respectfully send off Xianzhang and Xianzi.” The Hefeng Sect disciples gave the four of them a deep bow, very respectfully. Kong Hou was about to return the courtesy when she discovered four women and one man standing at the main gate entrance. Standing at the very front was a purple-robed female cultivator with a very beautiful appearance.

The five people also saw her. Kong Hou smiled and nodded at them.

The five people cupped their fists and performed a salute, clearly positioning themselves lower. Guessing these people might have seen them sitting in the distinguished guest seats from below the stage, which was why they were so courteous, Kong Hou didn’t think further and turned to Huan Zong: “Huan Zong, if we head to Jixiang Pavilion tomorrow, can we make it in time?”

“In my storage ring, I have a flying palace with extremely fast speed. Taking the flying palace to Jixiang Pavilion will take at most three hours. Right now no new messages have been transmitted, so perhaps the evil cultivators realized they’ve already alerted their prey and temporarily don’t dare make any new moves.” Huan Zong smiled. “Since arriving in Yan City, you’ve been meditating the whole time and haven’t properly explored here. This afternoon we’ll appreciate flowers together in Yan City and buy some things to send back. We’ll depart early tomorrow morning. How about it?”

“That… sounds good.” Kong Hou nodded. Having come to the famous Yan City yet not buying anything for the sect to bring back made Kong Hou feel like she was losing a huge sum of money.

“Fellow daoists, please forgive this one’s intrusion. Just now I overheard this xianzi say that you all are preparing to go to Jixiang Pavilion?” Cultivators whom An He treated as honored guests certainly had extraordinary status. That they were actually going to Jixiang Pavilion—this was truly too coincidental.

“It’s not that I intentionally eavesdropped on you two speaking. It’s just that I am a Jixiang Pavilion disciple. When hearing these three words, my reaction becomes especially sensitive, so I ask Xianzi and Xianzhang to forgive me.” Ge Jin took a deep breath and gathered her courage to say, “I wonder which sect Xianzhang and Xianzi are from, and what business brings you to our humble sect?”

She didn’t know if these people were the great misfortune shown in the hexagram or the noble person.

Huan Zong glanced at these four women and one man. Not discovering any traces of evil cultivation on them, he said no more. Jixiang Pavilion was an affiliated sect of Yunhua Sect—these people’s identities were safe.

“Greetings, fellow daoists. I am Kong Hou, a disciple of Yunhua Sect…”

“You’re Xianzi Kong Hou?!”