The sun started to set behind the twin mountains beyond the western gate of Long city, casting a mellow orange glow on the street lit with paper lanterns and people's chatter.

Disciples from Azure Sky Sect gathered on the western gate, dressed in crisp white uniforms with a singular blue cloud wrapping around their waist. A strap extended from the shoulder seam and covered their breast pocket, held together by a button that showed their peak's symbol.

The one leading the disciples, Hao Chang, waved at the disciples opposite to them, full of smiles. They belonged to the Hundred Sect Alliance, their uniform of a similar design, but black. And the buttons showcase symbols of their affiliated sects.

The one leading, a young man with short green hair, didn't even bother to show courtesy; others behind him only sneered and clicked their tongues at the friendly gesture.

The hostile air spread through the Azure Sky Sect disciples in an instant, and the ones who respected Hao Chang gnashed their teeth.

"How dare they not return Senior Hao's greeting? I ought to teach them a lesson." One of them, a girl with flaming red hair, bit her finger hard enough to draw blood.

"Calm down, Lu'er, we'll have plenty of time to put those inferior trashes in their place." Her brother, with the same red hair, cast his golden eyes on the scum that dared to ignore the one he respected.

"Right, Wu. We have to crush them." A crescent grin spread across Lei's cute face, not matching her small stature.

The Chang twins from the Peach Peak had a fierce glint in their eyes, plotting how to dismantle arrogant pricks.

"Do it in moderation, you two. We must not make it too obvious." The tall man with a scholarly air around him adjusted his monocle.

"Why are you even here, Chen Liang? Why did Senior Hu not join us? He would've already taught those bastards a lesson by now." Lu spat in anger, stomping her feet.

"Poor Brother Hu, he was looking forward to talking with Senior Hao." Wu nodded calmly.

"It was an emergency mission assigned by the Grand Elder, so I had to fill the spot." Chen Liang shrugged, showing the Lotus symbol.

Just behind the main team, Wang Yang stood in line with others from the reserve team.

"Looks like things are already heating up." Zhang Jun turned to Wang Yang and whispered.

"I understand them. It isn't a good feeling to see someone you respect get disrespected." Wang Yang turned to Lie Feng, still failing to make small talk with Sun Lingling.

But when he looked ahead, he saw two pairs of golden eyes digging through his very body. The Chang twins heard his whisper.

"Looks like this unaware junior gets it. Don't misunderstand, I don't like you one bit." Lu smirked.

"Indeed, he has a good head on his shoulders. Don't misunderstand, I don't like you one bit." Wu nodded.

"I appreciate that we share the same views; whether you like me or not doesn't matter." Wang Yang said, his eyes not shrinking away from the glares.

Before the twins said anything, Chen Liang stopped them. He looked at Wang Yang and gave him a firm look.

"That is true. What truly matters is the results. And you are doing well on that front," Chen Liang said.

"I plan on doing better." Wang Yang said loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I look forward to that." Chen Liang cracked a smile and looked ahead, ending the small ruckus around them. "Everyone, let's not make any problems for Peak Master Li."

Some disciples of the main team, particularly the twins, had a lot to say, but they could only look ahead. They couldn't show infighting in front of their opponents, and Chen Liang had already spoken.

"Everyone seems to respect that senior. Who is he?" Wang Yang asked Zhang Jun.

"You don't know Senior Chen? He's the grandson of Elder Chen Xu, the most powerful Elder of Lotus Peak. Also, the twins from before are the children of the second most influential Elder on Peach Peak."

"I didn't know that…" Wang Yang had been in the sect for months, but this was the first time he had even heard of them.

When disciples joined a Peak, they first learned the structure and pecking order of the peak from the top to understand their positions. However, Plum Peak only consisted of Li Muchen, Sun Lingling, Wang Yang, a couple of roosters, and fish in the pond. There wasn't a complex hierarchy in place like other peaks.

"Peak Master Li probably didn't teach you about the other peaks because you are new to the sect and cultivation. That information and learning cultivation at once would've strained you." Zhang Jun found the most probable answer to the mystery.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

And it is not like someone would pick a fight with a Peak Master's disciple. Unless they have the Grand Elder's backing, or are impressively dull. He looked at Lei Feng, who was still getting ignored by Sun Lingling.

"You're also a new disciple, brother Zhang, but you know a lot about other peaks," Wang Yang said. This friend of his had impressive knowledge and good manners, like a prince of sorts.

"Well, I may be a new disciple, but I have been around cultivators since birth. I had a lot of information on sects and cultivation before I joined. And the Lotus Peak always works with other peaks and even other sects at times, so I got my information thanks to my Master's position." Zhang Jun said with a shrug.

"Still, it couldn't have been easy juggling the two. I had my hands full with just cultivation manuals and training." Wang Yang sighed; he could feel Hua Mei's punches every time he closed his eyes, and his head spun at the very sight of books. But he couldn't stay like that forever.

"Brother Zhang, can I ask you for a favor?" He asked, trying to be as formal as he could.

Zhang Jun's eyes jumped a little, but he smiled.

"If it's something I can help with," he said.

"Could you teach me about the Sect's hierarchy and all the important seniors?" Wang Yang asked.

Zhang Jun's eyes narrowed; he focused on Wang Yang's expression, not his words. He couldn't put a finger on it, but something had changed in him. The passive atmosphere he noticed around Wang Yang had vanished, and fighting spirit had replaced it. Spirit to do better, to achieve more.

It almost took him by surprise earlier when Wang Yang didn't back down in front of the Chang twins and even Chen Liang; even after he learned of their position, he showed no panic. Wang Yang was more friendly with authority thanks to his position, but something prompted a change in him.

Zhang Jun suspected that something had happened in the afternoon he had spent at the City Lord's mansion, where he delivered some letters from the sect. Regardless, what promoted this change didn't matter. The change mattered.

"Sure. If it's a favor like that, I can do hundreds of them." Zhang Jun smiled, his face shining almost.

"Really? Thanks!" Wang Yang mirrored that bright smile. "I owe you one, Brother Zhang."

"Sure, let's go with that."

As they reached the end of their conversation, the wild chatter and hostile nature between the two groups of disciples halted. Li Muchen and Fei Chao arrived at the western gate with a handful of elders in tow; Kai shadowed them with a fierce look. The elders laid down flying swords tens of meters away from the disciples, white for the Azure Sky Sect and black for the Hundred Alliance Sect.

Li Muchen fixed the sleeves to his pristine silk robe, acknowledging the bows from the disciples. While Fei Chao yawned, stretching his arms, not caring about the wine stains on his collar.

"Form a group of three and stand on one flying sword. You don't have to worry about controlling them; they will follow the lead flying sword on their own." Muchen explained.

The elders from Azure Sky Sect finished laying down 8 flying swords. 5 for the 15 disciples, 2 for the 6 elders, and 1 for him. The Hundred Sect Alliance followed the same pattern, with an unwilling Kai sticking to Fei Chao.

The disciples formed groups in an instant. Sun Lingling, Wang Yang, and Zhang Jun formed one group. Heartbroken, Lei Feng followed Liu Fu and Xu Ting. The elders, including the disguised Huang Bai, also stood on the half-meter-wide flying swords in groups.

As Muchen stood on the one-meter-wide and six-meter-long flying sword, the intricate carvings on the white sword blinked into life with his Qi. The rapid blinks of light sent qi waves that touched other flying swords and spread the blinking light within them. Soon, the unsynchronized blinks slowed till a steady pattern formed, and all swords blinked at the same second-long interval.

"Can't you lead our group too?" Fei Chao turned to Muchen, expectations in his eyes.

"You know the tradition. It's not my place to lead them." Muchen said.

"Man, using this thing's such a bother." Fei Chao turned to the flying sword near him. "This is why you should've taken the leader's position this time too, Hua Bo."

The sect master of the Primordial Spear Sect, Hua Bo. He had led the disciples from Hundred Sect Alliance to Eastern Martial Meet three times consecutively in the past three decades, but he wasn't chosen this time.

"Well, the council chose you; nothing I can do about it." Hua Bo, the youthful boy with short black hair and a tear mole under his left eye, chuckled and gave Fei Chao a playful tap on the shoulder. "Good luck with the duties, Leader."

"But controlling this many swords is mentally draining." Fei Chao swung his one arm in frustration.

Muchen didn't waste any more time on Fei Chao's tantrum. He controlled the lead sword to lift off the ground, and the seven swords behind him followed. He only needed to use minimal energy to adjust the formation, unlike when he used multiple flying swords that weren't created to be in sync like these.

Watching the night bleed into the sky, the swords flew over the valley between two mountains. The humming of the birds blended into the sounds of insects in the sea of trees below. A low, dense fog shrouded the forest, amplifying the echoing cries of the crickets and cicadas.

Muchen felt the barrier that they had just crossed to enter the first formation of Qingliu Mountains, the Lost Sheep Formation.

The wind turned cold, sending chills through the disciples as their eyes looked down, unable to distinguish left from right, front from back. They didn't know if they were moving forward or backward.

Muchen had to realign the mixed sense of direction to navigate the formation; it took practice and strong qi sense to pull this off.

That's when the second formation activated, the Thousand Mountains Formation. The disciple felt the air itself get heavy; the pull from the ground increased threefold, shaking the flying swords. But under Muchen's control, they made steady progress.

The disciples, full of sweat and awe, saw a mountain after what felt like hours of mindless floating. Unlike the forest, the mountain wasn't covered in fog; from the top of the mountain to the foot, dozens of tiny lights shone like a bright brand.

They were like lights from buildings, close to ten thousand, all beckoning them over. The disciples thought that was the location of the Eastern Martial Meet. A vibrant city hidden away in the depths of the forest.

However, the lights started to float from the mountain's top side. They hovered in the night sky, shining like stars on the black canvas, but started to shift and move like one organism. And this organism revealed its form.

A Dragon?! The dragon Wang Fang saw was the same one he had seen in the illustrations from his Master's library.

Coiling, long, snake-like body with tough scales. Four legs, each with five sharp claws and jutting fangs three times the size of a human. A defined head with a long snout, adorned by deer-like horns and long whiskers that flowed with wisdom.

The dragon, in all its divine majesty, floated in front of Muchen. Dwarfing him with its presence and size.

It was the spirit of the third formation that surrounded Qingliu Mountains, the Eternal Guardian Formation.

"I shall test your heart." It said, in a voice aged with wisdom.

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