Though
The black-robed man standing beside the Long family patriarch, however, regarded him with a trace of surprise, his lips moving slightly several times.
A voice transmission immediately sounded in the Long family patriarch's ear:
"Brother Long, what you just said means..."
"Brother Hui, do you remember that mysterious ape-like demon cultivator who fought me at Nine Immortal Mountain?" The Long family patriarch's voice transmission was equally clear in the black-robed man's ears.
"Of course I remember. Didn't Brother Long believe it might be a demon cultivator who came from the Holy Island?" The black-robed man's expression shifted slightly.
"Heh heh, indeed so! But after the fact, I conducted a thorough investigation and learned that the ape had come looking for a Qi Condensation junior who had been mistakenly brought into the Long family. And that junior happens to be none other than this 'Fellow Daoist Han's' In-Name Disciple."
"Such a thing actually exists! Does Brother Long believe this man has connections to the Holy Island?" The black-robed man sucked in a breath of cold air, unable to refrain from muttering.
"Perhaps he does, or perhaps he merely has some private connection to that ape. Even I can't say for certain. But one thing is clear — with the demonic calamity descending, the Long family would do well to avoid unnecessary trouble. Though his cultivation may not amount to much in your eyes or mine, the fact that he was able to advance to the Deity Transformation stage so quickly suggests he is no ordinary early-stage cultivator. He either possesses some extraordinary divine ability, or carries some wondrous treasure on his person," the Long family patriarch replied calmly.
"Based on what Brother Long says, the Long family truly shouldn't make enemies of him lightly at a time like this. But in the grand ceremony shortly, if we clash with the Gu family, are we supposed to hold back against him?" The black-robed man nodded first, but then furrowed his brow as he transmitted his voice.
"That won't be necessary. The True Spirit Grand Ceremony should proceed as it naturally should — we fight as we would. If we do happen to encounter this man, there's no need to hold back. On the contrary, it would be a good opportunity to see what his true strength is. If he really does possess extraordinary divine abilities, then when the time comes for that matter, we could potentially include him as well," the Long family patriarch replied without hesitation.
"Mm, Brother Hui understands what you mean. Leave the ranking bouts in the ceremony to me." The black-robed man let out a low chuckle, and then there were no further transmissions.
The Long family patriarch kept his eyes slightly closed, his face utterly devoid of expression, as though the preceding conversation had never taken place.
On the other side, Fairy Xiaofeng and Elder Xiao were also startled by
Though the Gu and Long families were on bad terms, Han Li's manner of showing such little respect to the Long family patriarch still left the two of them — who felt keenly that they had no Supreme Elder backing them — deeply worried.
But seeing that the Long family patriarch had surprisingly not seized upon the matter to make a fuss, they felt both relieved and somewhat bewildered.
Han Li, for his part, maintained his composed expression throughout, revealing nothing about the intentions behind his actions.
However, in the eyes of the other smaller and mid-sized families, he had taken on an air of unfathomable depth, and some could not help but discuss matters related to him.
...
"Oh my! Ying'er, this Fellow Daoist Han who saved you back then certainly has quite the nerve — daring to stand up to the Long family's old monster as a mere early-stage cultivator. It seems he either truly possesses extraordinary divine abilities or has some powerful backing. No wonder even my little Ying'er couldn't catch his eye." The speaker was a female cultivator among a group seated in the front rows, belonging to one of the True Spirit families.
This group sat next to the Long family and several other cultivators, and like the Gu family, the majority were women.
The speaker sat at the very front of this group — a young girl who appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen years of age, wearing a robe of five-colored feathers, her face bearing a cheerful smile.
On either side of the young girl sat a beautiful young woman of twenty-seven or twenty-eight and an old woman with gray-white hair and beard.
"Patriarch, Ying'er's appearance is nothing special. That she failed to catch Senior Han's eye is hardly surprising." Another young woman in white standing behind the beautiful young woman turned crimson the moment she heard those words, and replied with some stammering.
It was none other than
Her resemblance to the feathered-robe girl was striking — five or six out of ten features nearly identical.
"Is that so? But I think my little Ying'er is adorable no matter how you look at her. It seems this Han boy has rather poor taste. Otherwise, if he would only join our Ye family, not only would he enjoy tremendous benefits, he could also marry the granddaughter I dote on most." The feathered-robe girl giggled lightly, her voice as crisp and pleasant as an oriole's song, drawing the attention of everyone nearby.
Though a restriction technique had been deployed so that cultivators from other families could not hear her words, the gazes of nearby clan members alone were enough to make Ye Ying's face flush as red as blood. She didn't dare respond further to her patriarch's words and lowered her lovely head as far as it would go.
"Mother, stop teasing the girl. Really, you always insist on deliberately provoking Ying'er every single time." The beautiful young woman beside her couldn't help but speak up with a gentle rebuke toward the young girl.
"Hee hee, what's strange about that? Among all the juniors, only this girl Ying'er bears a passing resemblance to how I looked in my youth. It's just that her temperament is far too different — I naturally need to give her some personal guidance. Otherwise, a perfectly beautiful girl walking around every day cold as a block of wood would be dreadfully boring." The feathered-robe girl shook her head with a nonchalant air.
Hearing the young girl's response, the beautiful young woman — who from her bearing was clearly an extremely dignified and composed person — could only let out a bitter smile, and had nothing more to say.