Chapter 68: Building Momentum

Chen Jinshi stood quietly beneath the statue of Huayang Zhenren, with a warm smile on his lips.

However, his gaze was extremely tender as he looked at Feng Qingya, who was seated in front of him.

If his gaze last night was still somewhat restrained, today it was completely unrestrained, burning with passion.

But he didn’t say a word.

On the other side, Su Jingzhen and Luo Yuebai exchanged a glance, their faces twisted in disgust.

Seeing their enemy so full of vigor, everyone’s heart felt a little uncomfortable.

“Brother, did you see that? His gaze is completely unrestrained now,” Su Jingzhen said with a smile.

“Add to that the halo that Huayang Sect is about to bestow upon him, which female cultivator wouldn’t be infatuated?”

Luo Yuebai smiled wryly: “No worries, after all, Feng Qingya is no ordinary person.”

He unfolded his fan again, seemingly trying to avoid the topic.

As Su Jingzhen and Luo Yuebai conversed, Cao Qing, who was flying in the sky, descended.

Looking at Chen Jinshi, his expression turned serious.

“Chen Jinshi!” he called out loudly.

“I’m here, Master!” Chen Jinshi replied, his smile instantly disappearing, replaced by a serious expression.

Cao Qing continued, “Pay respects to the ancestors!”

The process of becoming an inner sect disciple was indeed quite complicated.

After hearing Cao Qing’s command, Chen Jinshi didn’t hesitate, turning to face the statue of Huayang Zhenren and performing three kneels and nine bows.

He then took out three long incense sticks from somewhere and respectfully inserted them into the incense burner in front of the statue.

Cao Qing’s expression turned serious as he looked at all the Huayang Sect disciples and the other guests on the square.

“Today, I, on behalf of the Sect Master, exercise the authority to confer the title of inner sect disciple. I hereby promote outer sect disciple Chen Jinshi to inner sect disciple of Huayang Sect! Is there anyone among the Huayang Sect disciples who objects?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire audience fell silent.

You’ve already asked Chen Jinshi to go and pay respects to the ancestors, and you’re almost done with the process. Then you ask if anyone has any objections? Isn’t this just a farce?

After a few moments of silence, Cao Qing’s lips curled up into a smile.

At this time, Chen Jinshi had already finished paying respects and returned to his original position.

Cao Qing directly took out a white token.

“Since no one has any objections, according to the rules, all outer sect disciples can now challenge Chen Jinshi. The winner can take his place!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Cao Qing and Chen Jinshi’s gazes swept across all the Huayang Sect disciples present.

Today, most of the Huayang Sect disciples were on Clear Wind Mountain, and only a few had come to this ceremony.

Still, no one dared to respond.

What a joke, Chen Jinshi had already reached the late stage of Qi Refining when he came out of seclusion.

Among the outer sect disciples, those who had reached the late stage of Qi Refining were extremely rare, and who would be his opponent?

Cao Qing’s question was just a formality.

Seeing the silence from the Huayang Sect disciples, Chen Jinshi’s face revealed a hint of arrogance.

“Since that’s the case, I hereby declare that Chen Jinshi has been promoted to inner sect disciple of Huayang Sect, effective immediately!”

Cao Qing’s smile grew even more radiant.

He then shifted his gaze away from the Huayang Sect disciples.

“Today is a grand occasion for Huayang Sect. If any of the guests present are willing to show off their skills, they can challenge our inner sect disciple Chen Jinshi!”

Cao Qing was intentionally creating an opportunity for Chen Jinshi to gain prestige.

If no one dared to challenge him, his prestige would reach its peak today.

Those with some real power had already gone to Clear Wind Mountain to try their luck, and the people who came to participate in the ceremony were a level below.

Among his peers, who would be Chen Jinshi’s opponent?

Moreover, many people on the square had heard a terrifying message from Cao Qing’s words.

He was referring to Chen Jinshi, the inner sect disciple of Huayang Sect, not Chen Jinshi, the inner sect disciple of the Huayang Sect’s Lingjiang branch.

This seems like a small difference, but it represents the main sect of Huayang Sect!

Many people present had seen the promotion ceremony of Huayang Sect before. However, in the past, almost every title was Huayang Sect’s Lingjiang branch, and Huayang Sect was distinguished from it.

Huayang Sect’s main sect inner disciple! This identity is quite terrifying.

For those from other sects to challenge Chen Jinshi, losing would be a humiliation. Winning wouldn’t bring any rewards, and would instead offend an inner disciple of Huayang Sect’s main sect. It’s not worth it.

After Chen Jinshi received the inner sect disciple token, his status would likely surpass Cao Qing, the vice sect master of the Lingjiang branch.

“I thought promoting Chen Jinshi before the ceremony would be enough to give him prestige. I didn’t expect Cao Qing to have another trick up his sleeve. And I didn’t expect Chen Jinshi to directly become an inner disciple of Huayang Sect’s main sect. It seems that the people from the main sect who came earlier highly recognize his talent. This is quite interesting.”

Luo Yuebai, who was standing beside Su Jingzhen, also smiled.

His self-muttering revealed a lot of information to Su Jingzhen.

He then smiled at Su Jingzhen: “Daoist Su, are you worried?”

Su Jingzhen was speechless. He was a bit anxious, but also a bit helpless.

After all, the upcoming ceremony required Chen Jinshi to preside over it. The higher his prestige, the greater his power would be.

Su Jingzhen sighed: “Worried or not, it’s useless. We still need to rely on Huayang Sect’s Spirit Tower. We can only take it one step at a time.”

As he spoke, Su Jingzhen’s face was helpless, but his heart was calm.

Shuang Jiang was still his ultimate trump card.

If he was pushed to the limit, he wouldn’t be completely helpless.

He could directly ask Shuang Jiang to take action and take Chen Jinshi’s head off. It wasn’t impossible.

At most, he would just have to leave Linjiang City afterwards.

When he didn’t have the power, he could hide and wait.

Once he gained a certain amount of power, Su Jingzhen’s thoughts would also change accordingly.

Moreover, even if he didn’t rely on Shuang Jiang’s power, as long as he revealed a bit of information about his alchemy master identity, Feng Qingya would likely be willing to help.

After all, Feng Qingya had already developed a sense of camaraderie with him, so in the future, when Shuang Jiang left, he could still get help from Feng Qingya.

It wouldn’t be possible to keep his identity hidden forever.

Even now, looking at Luo Yuebai, he might not be afraid of Chen Jinshi.

Shuang Jiang had previously told Su Jingzhen to keep a distance from Luo Yuebai and pretend to be strangers.

But now, it seemed like it was no longer possible to keep a distance.

So, he could only follow her other suggestion and become friends.

As long as Luo Yuebai was still interested in him, he wouldn’t abandon him in his time of need.

So, overall, Su Jingzhen’s confidence was sufficient.

Even thinking about these relationships, he felt a hint of excitement, as if he was looking forward to Chen Jinshi’s challenge.