Chapter 678: Eleven Years Ago
Eleven years ago, Kongshan Sect.
The sky was azure blue, a gentle breeze drifted by, and two or three white cranes darted through the clouds above the mountain peaks. Everything was tranquil and serene.
And yet, on this incredibly peaceful day, among the Three Mountains and Four Peaks of Kongshan Sect, a total of seven major peaks, six of them stood completely empty and deserted.
Within those six major peaks, only a handful of disciples who were required to remain behind on the peaks were present. Even the Four Supreme Courts of Kongshan Sect had no Grand Elders stationed within them.
Only Qingchan Peak was abuzz with the clamor of voices.
Especially in front of the Caijun Tower on Qingchan Peak.
Several cultivators clad in the daoist robes of Qingchan Peak stood off to the side, murmuring softly to one another. Their voices were kept extremely low, and the expressions on their faces were quite grave.
Moreover, these Qingchan Peak cultivators huddled together in whispered conversation all appeared to be well along in years, roughly forty to fifty years of age. Even the youngest among them looked to be about thirty-five or thirty-six from the outside, and two of them already had graying hair.
From their attire and the tokens hanging from their waists, it was easy to identify these Qingchan Peak cultivators as elders of Qingchan Peak.
"It should be around today, right?"
"That's probably right. Otherwise, Supreme Martial Pacification Elder He wouldn't have gathered the elders and disciples of all the other peaks to Qingchan Peak."
"Sigh. Even though I knew this day would come sooner or later, still..."
Despite having long since prepared themselves mentally, now that the moment was truly about to arrive, these elders of Kongshan Sect still felt suffocated by pressure and anxiety.
Suddenly, these several Qingchan Peak elders all raised their heads and looked toward the southern direction.
There, a young girl dressed in white robes with cascading dark hair like a waterfall was striding purposefully toward the Caijun Tower.
Seeing this, the Qingchan Peak elders immediately adjusted their footing, forming a line just as the young girl was about to reach them, and simultaneously bowed respectfully in her direction:
"Qingchan Peak, Alchemy Hall Elder Zhang Junjie, pays respects to Elder Chu!"
"Qingchan Peak, Merit Hall Elder Meng Sicong, pays respects to Elder Chu!"
"Qingchan Peak, Enforcement Hall Elder Qi Yao, pays respects to Elder Chu!"
The young girl walking toward the Caijun Tower was none other than the Guardian of the Dao of Du Cang Mountain, hailed as one of the initial Three Heroes of Du Cang Mountain, the Offering Elder of Qingchan Peak in Kongshan Sect, Chu Xiyao.
Chu Xiyao's gaze swept over the Qingchan Peak elders who were bowing toward her, and she merely gave a slight nod before brushing past them.
"It's been so long since I last saw Elder Chu. Time hasn't left a single mark on her."
The Qingchan Peak Alchemy Hall elder named Zhang Junjie remarked with such emotion.
"If you could step into the Myriad Transformations Realm at her age, you'd still look like you were in the prime of your youth too."
Qingchan Peak Merit Hall Elder Meng Sicong followed up.
"You think I need you to tell me that?"
Zhang Junjie cast another glance in Meng Sicong's direction before continuing:
"Still, the way I look now, seeming a bit more steady and composed, isn't so bad either."
"Who's to say otherwise?"
The Qingchan Peak elders who had just brushed past Chu Xiyao were, in fact, all cultivators of the same generation as her.
Back when Chu Xiyao participated in the Heavenly Summit Mountain Dao Inquiry, she had been nineteen years old.
Now, Chu Xiyao was already over seventy.
Although this Myriad Transformations Realm cultivator's appearance still resembled her nineteen-year-old self, with time having left no trace upon her, the passage of time on the Chenping Continent was nevertheless real and undeniable.
Fifty years had passed.
The Qingchan Peak disciples who had once been of the same generation as Chu Xiyao had now all grown into the current backbone of Qingchan Peak.
Times had changed.
Chu Xiyao continued walking toward the Caijun Tower, and then she spotted the most imposing figure among the crowd of pure white daoist robes.
"Elder Zhong."
Chu Xiyao walked up to that burly cultivator with the "Qingchan Sword Master" token hanging at his waist and gave a slight bow toward this very sturdy cultivator.
"Ah, Elder Chu has returned."
The current Sword Master Elder of Qingchan Peak slowly turned around, facing Chu Xiyao.
This person was none other than the eldest disciple under the current Sect Leader of Kongshan Sect, Yun Yichen, the eldest senior brother of Yue Chi, Lin Qifeng, and others, Zhong Yin.
Zhong Yin's current cultivation had already reached the peak of the Myriad Transformations Realm, though breaking through to the Upper Three Realms would probably still take some time.
After all, the path he cultivated was completely different from that of the vast majority of cultivators in this world.
Currently, Zhong Yin had cultivated a total of nine thousand eight hundred and seventy-six strands of innate true energy, and all nine thousand eight hundred and seventy-six strands had already been poured into every inch of bone and muscle within his body.
With Elder Zhong Yin's current physique, he could crush a Sixth Realm great demonic beast with nothing but his formidable physical body alone.
One should know that under equal cultivation levels, demonic beasts generally had an advantage over human cultivators in one-on-one combat.
But Zhong Yin was different.
If his cultivation advanced even further and he truly stepped into the Upper Three Realms, Zhong Yin would likely become a "monster" capable of instilling fear even in other Unity realm cultivators.
Despite Zhong Yin's incomparably fierce physical strength, that did not mean he was simple-minded.
In fact, Zhong Yin's intellect could absolutely rank within the top three among the twenty-eight Peak Elders across the Three Mountains and Four Peaks, the seven major peaks of Kongshan Sect.
Otherwise, Patriarch Kong would not have trusted him so deeply as to transfer the current Kongshan Sect Leader's eldest disciple from Kongyuan Mountain to Qingchan Peak and appoint him as the Sword Master Elder of Qingchan Peak.
"Yes, I've heard."
Chu Xiyao replied.
Upon hearing this, the Sword Master Elder of Qingchan Peak, Zhong Yin, simply nodded and then said:
"Right now, Supreme Martial Pacification Elder He and the sect's Grand Elders are all inside the Caijun Tower. A week ago, Patriarch Kong had already summoned He Zongzhou and spoke with him for roughly six hours or more. I suspect Patriarch Kong was..."
Zhong Yin stopped right there and did not continue further.
Although he did not finish his sentence, Chu Xiyao clearly understood what Zhong Yin meant.
Around a week ago, Patriarch Kong had already begun giving He Zongzhou his final instructions regarding matters after his death.
Chu Xiyao shifted her gaze toward the direction of the Caijun Tower.
Back then, the reason Qingchan Peak had built this Caijun Tower was to commemorate the third Ascended Steward of Kongshan Sect, the one who had once brought the sect to its pinnacle and even vaguely towered above the other four great sects.
And the most ironic twist of all was that Patriarch Kong would ultimately fall within this very tower that had originally been built to commemorate him.