"Elder Zhao, Elder Wang, all the Elders, my apologies, please wait a moment," the attendant bowed and scraped in apology to Zhao Yaogu and the others, as he hurriedly ran out. Soon after, the greeter who had initially led everyone in came in, his face covered in sweat, following the attendant.

The greeter, who had reached the pinnacle of the Yin God Realm, immediately began bowing and offering apologies to Zhao Yaogu and the others, "All the Elders, all the seniors, I'm truly sorry for the oversight; I, Xiao Niu, hereby apologize to all Elders and seniors."

"Xiao Niu, it's not your fault. Isn't your team leader coming yet?"

Zhao Yaogu apparently knew Xiao Niu and turned in his seat on the sofa, waving his hand dismissively at Xiao Niu.

Xiao Niu responded with his head covered in sweat, "Elder Zhao, our team leader is still preparing and won't be able to come for a while."

"How about you go and invite him, tell him that us old folks are going to wait outside the Great Tang Ruins, and he can come back when he's free?"

Zhao Yaogu intentionally spoke ironically.

But Cen Wei from the Great Xia Realm got up directly, "Old Zhao, Old Wang, Old Chen..., when I arrived, I saw a tea house outside the Great Tang Ruins that used Mutated Tea Leaves. The fragrance carried for miles. How about I invite everyone to have tea and we go out for a stroll?"

"Haha, count me in. Drinking tea is what I love the most."

Du You, who was an Elder from the Great Xia Realm along with Cen Wei, was the first to stand up in agreement.

"Let's go, let's all go," Zhao Yaogu also got up, showing no desire to continue staying in the reception hall.

Following Zhao Yaogu, Chen Fushi and Qu Jingyu also stood up, saying, "Going out for some tea doesn't sound bad."

"When your team leader arrives, tell him to find us at the tea house."

Wang Yu left that message, and everyone began to head outside.

"Elder Zhao, Elder Chen, Elder Qu..."

Xiao Niu panicked, hurriedly using the Metal Escape Technique to get in front of Zhao Yaogu and the others. However, he didn't dare stop them from leaving and kept bowing and making pleas, "Elder Zhao, Elder Wang, all seniors, please be understanding of the difficulties in my work. If the seniors leave now, I'm sure to be deemed as having failed in my reception duties and will be punished by my team leader."

"Ridiculous!"

Zhao Yaogu's robes fluttered as his face darkened.

"Whether your team leader punishes you or not, that's an internal matter. Xiao Niu, you don't need to discuss such things with us. Do you think we can help you?"

Wang Yu expressed his dissatisfaction with a smile that wasn't quite a smile.

"Let's go, everyone!"

Cen Wei took a long stride, easily passing Xiao Niu, and in the blink of an eye, he was already at the entrance to the hall.

Chen Fushi knew Xiao Niu for some time and couldn't bear to see him held responsible. He patted Xiao Niu on the shoulder, "Xiao Niu, if your team leader is going to punish you, just tell him that we insisted on leaving and it had nothing to do with you. You tried to stop us but couldn't."

"If he really blames you for his own negligence, that would be laughable. By the way, what is the name of your team leader, that Xiao what? If he asks you, you say it was me, I will take responsibility for you."

"Elder Chen, it's Team Leader Xiao Mu," Xiao Niu said, full of gratitude, hastily correcting and informing him of the new team leader's name.

"Xiao... Xiao Mu!"

Chen Fushi was taken aback upon hearing this, his face changed after a moment, and then he burst into a dry laugh, "Hehe! Hehe!"

Chen Fushi looked somewhat embarrassed. The step he was about to take abruptly halted, and he turned to Wang Yu and Zhao Yaogu, "Old Wang, Old Zhao, I think, waiting a while longer wouldn't be too bad. Xiao Niu just said their team leader is really busy, too busy dealing with important matters."

"Since there are important matters, it's not a deliberate slight. If it's not deliberate, what's wrong with waiting a bit for him?"

Saying this, without waiting for Zhao Yaogu or Wang Yu to respond, Elder Chen had already turned around and naturally returned to the sofa to sit down again.

"Haha! My thoughts are the same as Old Chen's."

Qu Jingyu had initially been stunned, but after hearing Chen Fushi's words, he couldn't help but laugh and followed in Chen Fushi's footsteps back to the sofa.

"Xiao Mu is now your group leader?"

Zhao Yaogu had already walked to the door when he stopped in his tracks, turned, and looked towards Xiao Niu.

"Team Leader Xiao just recently took over as the head of the Logistics Department. It hasn't been long." Xiao Niu keenly sensed the changes in the elders' hearts, and responded to Zhao Yaogu with a solemn and serious demeanor.

Zhao Yaogu didn't say a word, silently returned to the living room, and sat down on the sofa.

"Old Zhao, Old Chen, Old Qu, why aren't you leaving now?"

Du You and Cen Wei, two elders from the Great Xia Realm, who had already stepped outside the courtyard, noticed that Zhao Yaogu, Chen Fushi, and Qu Jingyu did not follow and were puzzled, so they retreated back inside.

As a result, when they came back in, they found that Zhao Yaogu, Chen Fushi, and Qu Jingyu had all returned to their seats on the sofa, which led them to ask in surprise.

"Old Du, Old Cen, have a little more patience. Little Niu here just said their team leader is busy. We old folks should be understanding of the young people, right?" Zhao Yaogu spoke indifferently, sipping his tea as if nothing had happened before.

"The work at the Great Tang Ruins is indeed quite busy. It's understandable for a young person who has just taken over to be a bit overwhelmed at first," Chen Fushi added solemnly.

"Old Chen, Old Zhao, Old Qu, are you playing games with us? Are you fooling around?"

Du You expressed his strong dissatisfaction verbally.

"What's your new team leader's name?"

Wang Yu had walked to the door and, upon seeing Zhao Yaogu and the others sit back down, sensed something wrong and finally couldn't help but to ask Xiao Niu.

"It's Team Leader Xiao Mu."

Xiao Niu answered respectfully and with a serious face.

"Xiao Mu, is that the one who brought back loads of Divine Treasures for your Great Tang Ruins and also managed to obtain half of the Curse Ancestor's authority for Zhou Xuanmen?"

Wang Yu, who had not dealt with Xiao Mu before and wasn't clear if there were multiple Xiao Mus at the Great Tang Ruins, took the opportunity to press Xiao Niu for more information.

"Elder Wang, it's true that Team Leader Xiao did bring back many Divine Treasures for our Great Tang Ruins, but as for whether he obtained half of the curse authority for Elder Zhou, I'm not clear on that, so please don't fault me," Xiao Niu replied after a moment of thought, unsure of the specifics of Xiao Mu's situation.

"No need to say more, it must be him. I reckon your Great Tang Ruins doesn't have that many Mutated Beings capable of bringing back Divine Treasures."

Wang Yu nodded slightly, having not received a specific answer from Xiao Niu, but he had confirmed Xiao Mu's identity.

Almost missed an important opportunity there, Old Zhao, Old Chen, Old Qu aren't being fair.

As his gaze swept over Zhao Yaogu, Chen Fushi, and Qu Jingyu, Wang Yu silently cursed in his mind and unostentatiously went back to sit on the sofa.

The fact that Xiao Mu had acquired a large number of Divine Treasures for the Alliance and the Great Tang Ruins had already spread throughout the entire Alliance. The lower levels might be less informed, but not a single one among the higher-ups hadn't heard of his name.

"Cough cough! I've heard of Xiao Mu's reputation a long time ago, too. This time, I want to see if he really lives up to the legends," Cen Wei coughed dryly and returned to his seat on the sofa, his expression somewhat awkward.

Du You appeared much more composed as he silently returned to the sofa, showing no sign.

The atmosphere in the reception hall became a bit peculiar. Xiao Niu and the reception staff felt as if they had seen a ghost: the eight elders, who'd been eager to leave and rather dissatisfied, settled down and went back to sit on the sofas with great patience after hearing the name of Team Leader Xiao.

The two exchanged glances, and Xiao Niu gave a discreet signal to the young attendant to take good care of Zhao Yaogu and the others while he quietly left the hall.

Zhao Yaogu and the rest of the group began to wait with considerable patience. After all, they were all Divine Spirits, and if they really wanted to wait, sitting in meditation for years or even decades wouldn't be a problem.

Everyone stopped conversing and quietly awaited Xiao Mu's return. Finally, footsteps sounded from outside after half a day had passed, and someone walked in.

As if by agreement, everyone turned their heads to look outside the living room, and those who recognized Xiao Mu saw him walk in unhurriedly from the outside.

As soon as he entered, he bowed his hands in apology, "I was delayed by a batch of resources; I have kept all the elders waiting for a long time. Please forgive me!"

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