Gazing into the distance, Meng Wan saw a group of people dressed in the traditional attire of Broad Creed Mountain, escorted by Golden Court Mountain martial practitioners as they ascended the peak of Golden Court Mountain.
The person in the lead was a tall middle-aged man. His eyes were filled with determination and his expression was heroic.
Meng Wan was actually very familiar with this middle-aged man.
It was precisely Broad Creed Mountain’s current Chief, Xu Fei.
Back when he had returned with the Immortal Trapping Sword, Broad Creed Mountain’s previous Chief Yan Di had passed his position to Xu Fei, who had been the First Seat Elder of Broad Creed Mountain’s Assignment Hall. Afterwards, Yan Di had focused on his cultivation.
At that time, it was also a grand occasion in the Sky beyond Skies. Meng Wan had even accompanied her father, the Brocade Emperor Fu Yunchi, to the Broad Creed Mountain to observe the ceremony. She had witnessed Xu Fei’s title of ‘Heavenly Roc’ being changed to ‘Heaven Concealing Roc’ in accordance with the Broad Creed Mountain’s tradition.
In the blink of an eye, many years had passed.
That year, Xu Fei had long since become the leading figure of Broad Creed Mountain’s third generation disciples, shouldering heavy responsibilities within the clan for a long time.
However, to the people of the outside world, as compared to Yan Zhaoge and his father as well as the infamous Feng Yunsheng, Xu Fei did not stand out at all.
Back then, the fact that he possessed the Golden Body of the Great Sage was not widely publicized.
Still, after he had taken over Broad Creed Mountain, the sect had developed in an orderly fashion, Xu Fei’s strength gradually manifesting bit by bit as time passed, his personal prestige also growing greater and greater.
At this time, he was already a true hegemon of a region, his influence stemming from himself rather than his status as the new Chief of Broad Creed Mountain.
On the other hand, forces like Golden Court Mountain and Red Lotus Cliff, who had a high status and were closely related to Broad Creed Mountain, naturally knew more about the fierceness of Xue Fei’s Golden Body of the Great Sage.
“On behalf of my master, I thank Sect Leader Xu for coming from afar. Welcome,” Tang Yonghao greeted Xu Fei with a smile.
Of Broad Creed Mountain’s lineage, Yan Zhaoge, Yan Di and Feng Yunsheng possessed rather high cultivation bases. Coming to Golden Court Mountain would be akin to usurping the host.
When those with lower cultivation came to congratulate him, they were slightly arrogant and rude.
While Cao Jie had the appearance of a middle-aged man, he had been a famed figure in the World beyond Worlds for many years. His actual age was actually much older than anyone of Broad Creed Mountain.
While Xu Fei’s seniority was rather low, as the current Chief of Broad Creed Mountain, he had personally congratulated them. No matter how one looked at it, he had given Golden Court Mountain sufficient face.
Also, while his fame was growing by the day, he was still inferior to Yan Zhaoge and Yan Di at the end of the day. Also, he was much more low-key in his daily affairs compared to Yan Zhaoge and Yan Di. Therefore, the main focus of today’s celebration would not deviate.
The other person who was not so high profile and whose status was sufficient to not be rude was Yan Zhaoge and Xu Fei’s Grand Master, Broad Creed Mountain’s old Chief, Yuan Zhengfeng.
In terms of seniority with Yan Di and Yan Zhaoge, or in terms of status within Broad Creed Mountain, Yuan Zhengfeng held sufficient weight. Also, his age and cultivation base were both lower than Cao Jie’s.
However, Yuan Zhengfeng was in secluded cultivation, so it was not convenient for him to come to Golden Court Mountain to congratulate them.
“Senior Brother Tang and fellow Daoists from Golden Court Mountain are too polite. It is us who have troubled you,” Xue Fei answered with a smile.
Beside him, the other Broad Creed Mountain martial practitioners also returned the greetings of those of Golden Court Mountain.
Tang Yonghao looked over and saw a few familiar faces in the crowd.
One of them, a cultured and refined youth cupped his hands towards him, “I heard from Daoist Zhang of your sect that Daoist Tang is already close to the late Immortal Bridge stage, the ninth level of the Martial Saint realm. I would like to congratulate you first.”
“I dare not say it at such a close distance. Thank you for your auspicious words, Fellow Daoist Feng.” Tang Yonghao smiled and returned the greeting.
This youth was Feng Moyang, a disciple of Broad Creed Mountain who was of the same generation as Yan Zhaoge and Xu Fei. His status and reputation within Broad Creed Mountain far surpassed the impression outsiders had of him.
While he was only a Seeing Divinity Martial Saint now, he was one of the few experts of Broad Creed Mountain in the art of alchemy and the cultivation of spirit herbs, being responsible for many matters.
Because Cao Jie, the leader of Golden Court Mountain, was fond of alchemy, the entire sect was influenced by him as there were many who were proficient in this art.
Broad Creed Mountain and Golden Court Mountain often communicated in this regard. Therefore, Feng Moyang was very familiar with everyone in Golden Court Mountain and often visited them.
As Feng Moyang’s cultivation base was lower than Tang Yonghao’s, he didn’t appear overbearing when he talked about cultivation.
Not mentioning Yan Zhaoge, when the Broad Creed Mountain and the Sacred Sun Clan had competed against each other in the Eight Extremities World in the past, Tang Yonghao’s opponent had been Xu Fei, who was right in front of him. Among the geniuses of the same age, the two had once been outstanding.
However, later on, whether it was the Broad Creed Mountain or the Sacred Sun Clan, or Xu Fei and Tang Yonghao, their fates had all reached a turning point.
It wasn’t easy for Tang Yonghao either. While he had experienced great ups and downs, he had been concentrating on his cultivation while reviving the Sacred Sun Clan.
Whether it was in terms of martial arts heritage or environment, Golden Court Mountain far surpassed the Sacred Sun Clan.
As Cao Jie’s last disciple, Tang Yonghao’s treatment wouldn’t be bad.
However, being able to reach his current height, his outstanding talent and diligence would still be praised by others even in the World beyond Worlds or the Sky beyond Skies.
After all, when he had just arrived at the World beyond Worlds and before he entered the Golden Court Mountain, he had been delayed for some time. Later on, in order to revive the Sacred Sun Clan, he had even returned to the Eight Extremities World, where the cultivation environment was relatively worse, and settled down for a period of time.
Today, Tang Yonghao had already become a famous figure in the Sky beyond Skies and the East Continent.
Especially when compared to his age and current realm, he could still be considered as having a boundless future.
However …
Compared to Xu Fei, he had obviously fallen behind.
After obtaining the Golden Body of the Great Sage, although Xu Fei had concealed his Golden Body, his cultivation realm had started to become blurry.
The powerful Golden Body of the Great Sage was constantly affecting Xu Fei’s cultivation realm, either overtly or covertly, presenting an unclear state.
At first glance, it seemed like he was still in the mortal realm, and didn’t look like an expert of the Immortal Realm. However, not to mention Tang Yonghao and the other Golden Court Mountain disciples, even Cao Jie couldn’t see through Xu Fei’s current strength.
As for the manifestation of the Golden Body of the Great Sage, there was no need to mention it.
In the Broad Creed Mountain, Sikong Qing, Ying Longtu, and Xia Guang, who were known as the Four Heroes of the East Mountain together with Xu Fei, had already reached the ninth level of the Martial Saint Realm.
As the current leader of the Sky beyond Skies, the Broad Creed Mountain was undoubtedly better than the other sects in all aspects.
According to the rumors that Tang Yonghao and the Golden Court Mountain had received, Ying Longtu and the other two had started to attack the Human Exalt realm after many years of accumulation. It was just that the results were unknown.
Compared to Xu Fei, Sikong Qing and Ying Longtu were the latecomers to Tang Yonghao. Perhaps it was even more embarrassing.
However, Tang Yonghao himself didn’t care much about it.
Everyone had their own fate. Even Tang Yonghao, if he hadn’t obtained a piece of Phoenix Bone in the past and got involved in the conflict between the Golden Court Mountain and Wutong Slope, how could he have joined the Golden Court Mountain so easily?
He just felt a little emotional, “When I was in the eighth level world, I was like a frog in a well, hoping to transcend mortality and enter Sainthood, to comfort the predecessors of the Sacred Sun Sect, to carry on the past and open up the future, and to bring the martial arts of the Sacred Sun Sect to greater heights. I really didn’t expect to see the scene of ascending the Immortal Bridge.”