People stared intensely at Xu Cuimei as she walked up the steps.

It was time for Dugu Lan to accept the challenge letter - a truly pivotal moment for the holy ground.

Cuimei made it up to Dugu Lan’s level and scanned the area. She glanced at Dugu Lan first before being surprised after looking at a creek nearby.

She composed herself and started walking in that direction to everyone’s astonishment.

She was supposed to hand over the letter; even her two escorts didn’t know what was going on.

“What’s happening?” The crowd followed her movement.

“What about the challenge letter?” One genius blurted out. Dugu Lan was right there already.

Some became angry right away. “Is she trying to insult Fairy Dugu on purpose?” 

“She’s purposely insulting the entire holy ground. Hmph, it won’t go as she plans!” Another furiously said.

Their annoyance was warranted. Thousands of geniuses were here to wait for the challenge letter. This was giving Righteous Sect plenty of face.

On the other hand, Xu Cuimei suddenly ignored Dugu Lan and walked somewhere else. This could only be construed as deliberate disrespect.

If Righteous Scion was the one doing this, they wouldn’t dare to say anything.

The problem was - this Xu Cuimei looked to be a regular disciple from Righteous Sect. How dare she put on such a show?

The calmest person present was Dugu Lan. As the main character, she should be the most offended one after being ignored. However, this seemed to be within her expectations.

Minor Sacred Mountain had rivers coursing around it. From a distance, the rivers looked like coiling dragons.

Not far from Virtuous Altar was a creek surrounded by trees, looking quite peaceful.

Cuimei came to a twisting section of the creek to see a man fishing there. He wore a hemp robe and a veiled hat large enough to shield from the sun. This naturally hid his face as well.

He hasn’t moved in a while, seemingly asleep. No one paid attention to him a while back.

“Xu Cuimei, a member of Righteous Sect, greets you, Sir.” She bowed deeply towards the fisherman.

The spectators became astonished. Why did the courier focus on this fisherman instead of her duty?

“Who is that?” They were perplexed.

“Looks a bit familiar.” One expert said.

The fisherman seemed to be asleep and ignored the girl.

“I apologize for bothering you, Sir.” Cuimei’s head lowered even more, as subservient as can be.

The fisherman finally looked up and lazily said: “You’re forgiven.”

“It’s Li Qiye!” After he raised his head, people finally saw who he was.

It turned out that Li Qiye had been here a long time before Dugu Lan and the rest.

“What is he doing here?” The crowd found this surprising since he had disappeared after destroying the two mansions.

“Does Li Qiye know her?” This perplexed them all.

“It is an honor to see you, Sir. I have heard of your exploits before…” Cuimei continued.

As the saying goes - nobody will find fault with extra courtesy. Li Qiye smiled and said: “Call me Young Master. Righteous Sect has waves of geniuses, glory will come soon with one like this.”

The members of the holy ground were dissatisfied with this remark. Li Qiye praised their opponents in public; this wasn’t good for morale - certainly not appropriate during the sensitive circumstances.

“Hmph, he thinks too highly of himself.” One prodigy scowled.

“Is he forgetting that he’s part of the holy ground?” Another from Vajra coldly uttered.

“You’re too kind, Young Master. Buddha Holy Ground has hidden dragons and crouching tigers, it’ll be just as resplendent.” Cuimei hurriedly responded.

“A true dragon cannot hide forever.” Li Qiye replied: “Unfortunately, the majority consists of fools.”

This casual insinuation was as clear as can be. The crowd started glaring at Li Qiye.

In this key moment, they all focused on how to deal with Righteous Sect. Li Qiye was breaking the solidarity despite being a member of the holy ground.

“What are you trying to say?!” One youth shouted at Li Qiye only to be ignored.

“Think about your background first before you speak, you’re from the holy ground too.” Another added.

“Is he conspiring with the enemy? Banish him in that case.” One guy talked among his group.

“That’s letting him off easy. If he’s an actual traitor, off with his head as a warning.” A peer had murderous flashes in his eyes.

“Shut your mouth!” An older senior immediately scolded.

The young ones were impetuous with their words. Li Qiye could say whatever he wanted since he was the saber messenger. Offending Li Qiye meant offending Vajra.

Given Li Qiye’s brutal personality, he might actually mobilize Vajra and start a war over petty quarrels.

“I am occupied with business and will come back later, Young Master.” Cuimei bowed again.

“Go.” Li Qiye waved his hand and went back to focus on fishing.

“Hmph, not helping us is one thing but he’s actually lowering morale and degrading the holy ground’s reputation.” One spectator said with disdain.

A number of geniuses were annoyed with Li Qiye. One of them said: “Haha, how is he going to help with his meager skills? I don’t think he has the courage, that’s why he’s flattering Righteous Sect.”

Li Qiye’s comment has truly offended the majority of the crowd. Even Phantom and Hu Ben didn’t take it in stride. Of course, they were smart enough to keep their mouth shut.

As for Dugu Lan sitting beneath a tree, she didn’t say anything either as if she had expected this.