Chapter 62

"Congratulations, congratulations!"

At a refined inner-disciple courtyard on Nanyun Peak, a group of excited young men gathered, craning their necks to catch a glimpse inside.

Rustle!

Several young men and women with remarkable auras arrived, accompanied by servant disciples, immediately drawing a crowd. The disciples made way for them.

"The elite disciples Lu Wushuang, Shangguan Tianfeng, and Zhu Wuzhen, who rank second, sixth, and seventh, have actually come!"

Exclamations of amazement filled the air. These elite disciples were the rarest in the sect, all between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four.

Once they reached the age limit, if they broke through to the Solid Foundation Realm, they would no longer be elite disciples but would be the sect's key disciples for focused cultivation.

If they failed to break through by the age of twenty-four, they would lose their elite status and become protector or law-enforcement disciples.

"Senior Sister Lu Wushuang from the Main Courtyard presents fifteen lower-grade essence stones as a congratulatory gift!"

"Senior Shangguan Tianfeng from the Main Courtyard—"

"Senior from the Main Courtyard—"

As the servant disciples presented the gifts, the three—two men and one woman—calmly and composedly walked through the crowd, entering the courtyard without any sign of nervousness from the attention. The others could only wait outside, watching from a distance.

"Look!"

Someone shouted, and everyone turned to look.

"Yang Haotian!"

A young man in purple robes, with a handsome and refined appearance, a long sword at his waist, and a slightly youthful face, walked in, clearly already part of the elite disciples.

As a new elite disciple in the sect, at just fourteen years old, he was a top genius, and despite only being at the early True Cultivation Realm, his reputation far surpassed most of the elite disciples.

Even the few who had come before him were slightly inferior, for at fourteen years old, to be at the True Cultivation Realm was truly outstanding.

"Senior Brother Yang Haotian from the Main Courtyard presents a golden jade spirit sword as a congratulatory gift!"

Two exceptionally beautiful female disciples, with a look of arrogance, presented the gift as if it were for them.

Inside, there were already over a dozen people, both men and women, all around twenty years old, causing the crowd to envy them greatly.

Just as Yang Haotian was about to enter, four or five more figures arrived together.

"That's the previous elite disciple Song Gongluo and Liu Tingyu!"

The arrivals were none other than Song Gongluo, who had sent the summoning letter to Li Chen, and his role on the main peak was to issue the main courtyard's intentions to the advanced geniuses of each courtyard, followed by the main courtyard's formal summoning letter.

Originally, he thought Li Chen would gladly accept the summons, but he was unexpectedly held back by the two major figures for some reason, leaving him unable to say more.

This visit was also to issue summoning letters to the new geniuses of the South Courtyard. He didn't believe anyone would refuse the best cultivation resources of the main courtyard.

"Senior Brother Song, Senior Brother Liu!"

Even the proud Yang Haotian, upon seeing the previous elite disciples, lowered his stance and bowed.

In terms of cultivation, he was only at the early True Cultivation Realm, while the two were already at the late or peak True Cultivation Realm.

"Hehe! Junior Brother Yang!"

Facing this genius among geniuses, Song and Liu greeted him with smiles.

"Senior Brother Song Gongluo and Senior Brother Liu Tingyu from the Main Courtyard present fifty lower-grade essence stones and five bottles of lower-grade Qi Gathering Pills as a congratulatory gift!"

As the servant disciples presented the gifts, the crowd fell silent, their throats moving, and their mouths making sounds of amazement, their eyes filled with shock.

Seeing the pile of gifts like a small mountain, the disciples could hear their inner cries, wishing it were theirs.

The three were about to enter the courtyard when they suddenly stopped, turning to look. Song Gongluo's face immediately darkened.

"Junior Brother Li!"

Suddenly, Pang Wenshan, among the disciples, shouted, and everyone was taken aback, then involuntarily made way for him.

The Li surname was rare on Nanyun Peak, and there was only one Li Chen, who was rumored to be able to match Zhang Chulong in a fight.

Whispers among the crowd suggested that Li Chen was a freak, with some saying he was ugly and monstrous, while others called him a fool, relying on his talent to refuse the main courtyard's summoning letter.

"Who would have thought that the little servant from back then would make such a name for himself!"

Yang Haotian slightly raised his chin, still having some memory of Li Chen.

Although he could match Zhang Chulong, with his strength and talent, even if he had just broken through, he was confident he could suppress Zhang Chulong.

"Senior Brother Pang, why not go in?"

Yang Haotian's disdain went unnoticed by Li Chen.

Originally, he could have arrived earlier, but on the way, he went to look for Pang Wenshan and Liu Ziqing, only to find they were not there, knowing they must have come here.

"Hehe, inside are all the geniuses of the sect!"

Pang Wenshan smiled, and the former teammates by his side greeted Li Chen.

The current Li Chen was no longer the same as before, but being able to still call Pang Wenshan and the others senior brother and sister made them feel warm and proud.

"Oh!"

Li Chen nodded, gesturing to the group, then walked towards the gift-receiving area.

By his nature, he did not want to join in the festivities, but out of respect for their past camaraderie in fighting the wolf pack, he felt it was necessary to come and offer his congratulations.

The person receiving the gifts was Liu Mei, who had defamed him before. Seeing him come, she was nervous but then relaxed, knowing that with so many elite disciples inside, even if Li Chen wanted to cause trouble, he would have to think twice.

"Here!"

Not wanting to stay long, Li Chen took out a small object wrapped in animal skin from his chest and placed it on the table.

The stains on the animal skin indicated it had been used for some time, and the rough handle suggested it was just a fine iron dagger.

"Cough, cough!"

Liu Mei was almost taken aback by the appearance of the dagger, quickly coughing to cover her embarrassment, pinching it with her nose and loudly announcing, "Inner-disciple Li Chen presents a fine iron dagger!"

Pfft!

For some reason, the dagger slipped out of the animal skin, bounced on the table, and then turned to pierce the table.

Before the crowd could laugh, those who recognized its value were shocked, biting their tongues in surprise.

Liu Mei was stunned. She had intended to embarrass Li Chen by throwing the dagger, but it turned out to be a spirit weapon.

Although it was just a brief moment, the sharp aura and the pain it caused to the skin at such close range could not be mistaken.

Yang Haotian and the others, who had intended to mock Li Chen, quickly retracted their sneers, almost avoiding an embarrassing moment, and walked into the courtyard with no expression.

Li Chen, not wanting to stay, turned to leave but saw Qiu Qianyi and Zhang Chulong arriving together.

Their appearance immediately drew the attention of the disciples, who were well aware of the tension between Li Chen and Zhang Chulong.

Some even knew that Qiu Qianyi's sister had been injured by Li Chen, which was the root of many issues.

"Hehe, why not come in and sit down, Junior Brother Li?"

Qiu Qianyi, with a forced smile, waved casually.

His servant disciples presented the gifts, again drawing exclamations of amazement and envy from the crowd.