Bah! It is that brat who doesn't know what's good for him!

Chen Pingan gave a subtle look and easily dismissed Du Longlong.

A young man stepped forward and asked with a grin, "Junior brother, what is your honorable surname?"

"My name is Chen Pingan, and you are, senior brother?"

Chen Pingan smiled.

Aside from the primordial ancestor and a few others of the Azure Cloud Sect, no one else knew his real birth name.

"My name is Lin Zheng," the young man replied with a smile.

At this moment, other disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect also gathered around, introducing themselves one after another. The atmosphere was lively and very harmonious.

Chen Pingan responded with a warm smile as well.

Looking at the vibrant, energetic faces before him, for a fleeting moment, he felt young again.

Back in the day when he first entered the Azure Cloud Sect, weren't many of his senior and junior brothers just as enthusiastic?

A breathtaking beauty carrying a sword walked gracefully out of the crowd. She was tall, with hair pinned up like a cloud, skin fairer than snow, delicate facial features, and eyes as expressive as a painted scroll. She looked precisely like a female sword immortal walking among the mortal realm.

"Junior Brother Chen, hello, my name is Ruan Ting."

Standing quietly before Chen Pingan like a slender, graceful lotus, Ruan Ting parted the corners of her alluring red lips slightly, revealing two neat rows of pearly white teeth.

Ruan Ting?

A start went through Chen Pingan's heart. Wasn't she one of the four great beauties of the younger generation in the Azure Cloud Sect?

She was on par with Ning Yao and Xia Xiaoliang.

Could she possibly be a suspected former girlfriend... He quickly wiped his old eyes clean and began observing her closely.

"Junior Brother Chen is so stunned he even forgot to greet her," someone nearby chuckled softly.

"Senior Sister Ruan Ting is, after all, one of the four great beauties of our Azure Cloud Sect. Which male disciple doesn't like her?" A female disciple covered her mouth and giggled.

"Hello, Senior Sister Ruan Ting."

Chen Pingan pretended to have lost his wits to her beauty, suddenly "awakening as if from a dream," and hurriedly replied.

Ruan Ting also gave him a sense of familiarity.

However, he could not recall which of his former girlfriends resembled Ruan Ting.

Still, having the successful precedent of Xia Xiaoliang, he was not in a hurry. Taking his time to interact with her, he would eventually find echoes of Ruan Ting's past life from the subtle traces of daily life.

"Senior Brother Chen, this is my cousin, Lin Chong."

Lin Zheng enthusiastically pulled over a handsome young man.

"Hello, Senior Brother Lin Chong," Chen Pingan greeted him with a smile.

"Greetings."

Lin Chong nodded with a lukewarm attitude, a trace of arrogance evident in his eyes.

Chen Pingan immediately felt as though he were pressing his warm face against someone's cold... No, wait, bah! It was simply that this brat didn't know what was good for him!

Daring to show disrespect to the patriarch of the Azure Cloud Sect?

Let's see how I'll deal with you later!

Such a thought merely flashed through his mind. After all, given Chen Pingan's seniority, he wouldn't genuinely stoop to bickering with a junior disciple.

This Lin Chong was at the peak of the tenth level of the Golden Body Realm and was presumably also a proud, gifted disciple of the Azure Cloud Sect. Without knowing his true identity, it was quite normal for him to be somewhat proud and haughty.

More and more people gathered on the plaza until it was packed to capacity, filled entirely with Golden Body Realm disciples from the Eight Great Sects.

At this moment, Chen Pingan also looked around.

It was difficult to spot anyone among the other sects who resembled a former girlfriend.

Colorful lights undulated in the void, sending down thousands of auspicious rays as rainbows plunged from the sky, suddenly transforming into eight exquisite five-colored floral canopies. Then, amidst flashing figures, silhouettes began to emerge beneath the canopies one after another.

The leaders of the Eight Great Sects had all made their appearances.

"It really is lively this year," an amiable old monk said, pressing his palms together and smiling warmly as he looked out over the densely packed plaza.

This old monk was none other than Master Leiyin, the sect master of the Great Zen Temple.

"Indeed, the number of people entering the Azure Cloud Sect's secret realm this generation far exceeds the last," said Yan Chitian, the sect master of the Spirit Beast Mountain, stroking his chin with a smile.

He had a burly build, wore a tiger-skin vest, and exposed a physique of well-toned, powerful muscles.

An alluring beauty dressed in a pink court gown stood with her hands behind her back, saying indifferently, "This generation of disciples is exceptionally outstanding. The competition for the slots in the Sword Pool will be fierce."

"Indeed..." the various sect masters nodded in agreement.

Looking at the beauty in the court gown, Du Longlong said nonchalantly, "Sect Master Jiang's words are entirely true. However, the slots for the Sword Pool this generation naturally belong to none other than my Azure Cloud Sect."

"Sect Master Du, you certainly have a thick skin! Who exactly are you looking down upon?"

Jiang Yueluo's pretty face was veiled in frost, her almond-shaped eyes wide open as she coldly rebuked, "The Zixia of my Fengyue Sect is at the peak of the tenth level of the Golden Body Realm, possessing a heavenly-grade intermediate wind-and-water dual dao seed. With such strength, how could she not contend for the crown of the Sword Pool slots?"

Du Longlong chuckled awkwardly.

Temporarily dodging Jiang Yueluo's sharp edge, he turned his gaze toward the other sect masters.

Sure enough, Jiang Yueluo's remark acted like pouring oil on fire, stirring up unrest in the chests of the other sect masters, who felt compelled to speak their minds.

"Su Huan of my Spirit Beast Mountain may only be at the tenth level of the Golden Body Realm, but she possesses a Crimson Flame Demonic Tiger at the peak of the tenth level of the Golden Body Realm as her spirit pet. I ask all the sect masters present, which of your disciples can fight two against one?" Yan Chitian sneered.

"So what if she does?"

The master of the Hundred Herbs Hall toyed with a golden gourd in his hand, mocking, "Luo Qingsong, the proud disciple of my Hundred Herbs Hall, is at the peak of the tenth level of the Golden Body Realm with a heavenly-grade junior fire dao seed. He has no fear of this Crimson Flame Demonic Tiger whatsoever!"

"Gao Feng of my Ancient Sword Sect possesses a natural Sword Spring physique and a heavenly-grade junior wood dao seed. He is fully qualified to vie for the Sword Pool!" the sect master of the Ancient Sword Sect said with a stern face.

"When it comes to contending for the qualifications of the Sword Pool, who isn't at the peak of the tenth level of the Golden Body Realm?"

The sect master of the True Word Sect stroked his long beard, a rich smile blooming across his face: "Chu Potian of my True Word Sect possesses the ability of 'words follow the law,' along with a heavenly-grade junior water-and-earth dual dao seed. His combat prowess can be called peerless among his peers..."

"Everyone, have you forgotten about my Xuanqing View?"

The master of the Xuanqing View wore an unkind expression, laughing coldly, "The disciple Taisu of my Xuanqing View is no weaker in cultivation realm than anyone else, yet his dao seed surpasses the disciples of all your sects!"

"What kind of dao seed is it?" Du Longlong unassumingly provided an opening for him to continue.

The master of the Xuanqing View stated proudly, "A heavenly-grade junior Five Elements dao seed—encompassing the five dao seeds of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—capable of suppressing all proud talents in the world!"

The arguments among the various sect masters were loud enough to naturally reach the ears of the disciples gathered in the plaza.

"These people are so strong..." Hearing this, the crowd wore shocked expressions, deeply astonished by the strength and innate talent of the proud disciples from various factions.

"It seems that the talents of the disciples in the Northern Territory today are quite decent," Chen Pingan gently nodded.

Ten thousand years ago, cultivation geniuses with heavenly-grade dao seeds rarely appeared across the entire Northern Territory. He hadn't expected that a myriad of years later, every single sect would boast disciples with heavenly-grade dao seeds.

This was truly a gratifying change.

"Amitabha!"

A Buddhist chant reverberated across the Azure Cloud Sect's plaza as Master Leiyin said with a solemn expression, "Guixin, the disciple of my Great Zen Temple, is born with a Nirvana Buddha seed, an absolute genius in the study of Buddhism. Once his Vajra Physique is unleashed, no one in the world can rival him!"

"Bah!"

"The Great Zen Temple is simply too arrogant!"

"Old monk, have you no shame left!"

The various sect masters glared with wide eyes, shouting in condemnation one after another.

"Interesting..."

Chen Pingan smiled knowingly.

Righteous practitioners favored talking before acting, which was why righteous sect masters always enjoyed arguing when they gathered together. In contrast, demonic practitioners were ruthless and economical with their words, all of them acting as towering overlords.

Seeing the fires of battle ignited and the various sect masters on the verge of coming to blows, Du Longlong felt secretly delighted.

"Ahem!"

He let out a sudden, sharp cough that boomed like a thunderclap, instantly drawing everyone's gaze toward him.

Retaining a completely deadpan expression, Du Longlong slowly stated, "Pardon my bluntness, but the proud disciples of all your respective sects present are nothing but trash. This time, the Sword Pool slots—will belong exclusively to my Azure Cloud Sect!"

Boom!

The minds of all the sect masters went blank. The Azure Cloud Sect was simply too arrogant—even more arrogant than the Great Zen Temple!

One had to know that among the Eight Great Sects, the strength of the Great Zen Temple had always ranked first.

"The Azure Cloud Sect is way too arrogant!"

Down on the plaza, the disciples of the various sects were angered as well.

"Du, isn't your Azure Cloud Sect merely relying on having two decent proud disciples?"

Jiang Yueluo's pretty face turned icy as she sneered, "One is Ruan Ting, at the tenth level of the Golden Body Realm with a heavenly-grade junior lightning dao seed, and the other is Lin Chong, at the peak of the tenth level of the Golden Body Realm with a heavenly-grade junior metal dao seed. Could these two little fellows possibly defeat the proud disciples of my seven major sects?"

"Old Du is just indulging in wishful thinking, haha!" Yan Chitian laughed derisively.

The other sect masters also sneered endlessly. The Azure Cloud Sect was long no longer the Azure Cloud Sect of the past; nowadays, it ranked near the bottom among the Eight Great Righteous Sects of the Northern Territory, sitting merely above the Hundred Herbs Hall.