"Sect Master, this is Elder Shan. I have something important to talk about regarding Disciple Yuan," Elder Shan knocked on Long Yijun's door and said from the outside.
"Disciple Yuan? What did he do this time?" Long Yijun immediately sighed and stopped working.
"Come inside!"
Elder Shan opened the door a moment later and entered the room with Disciple Fei following behind her.
"Hm?" Long Yijun raised his eyebrows after seeing Disciple Fei, wondering what she's doing there and how she's related to this situation.
"Disciple Fei, go ahead and tell the Sect Master what you told me before coming here," Elder Shan looked at her and said.
Disciple Fei nodded and stepped forward before bowing to Long Yijun in a respectful manner, "Core Disciple Fei greets the Sect Master."
After greeting Long Yijun, Disciple Fei began to speak, "I will be participating in the zither competition that will be held in a week with my partner, an Outer Court disciple surnamed Yuan."
"Zither competition? With Disciple Yuan?" Long Yijun's jaw loosened a little bit after hearing her words. Since when did Yuan become a zither expert?
Disciple Fei nodded and said, "Disciple Yuan has outstanding talents with the zither, and I believe that we have a good chance of obtaining third place if he participated in the competition with me."
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"Third place? If I recalled correctly, you'd placed 7th place for the last competition," Long Yijun said with a pondering face.
"That's correct, Sect Master."
After pondering for a moment, Long Yijun spoke, "I am aware that this competition is being backed by the Heaven and Earth Palace, so the competition will be much fiercer this year. What makes you think you will be able to achieve 3rd place?"
"If you'd listened to Disciple Yuan playing the zither, you would understand my feelings, Sect Master. I… I'd managed to obtain zither enlightenment after listening to his zither play."
"What?! Enlightenment? Just like that?!" Long Yijun exclaimed in a shocked voice, as this is his first time hearing of such a thing.
Disciple Fei nodded.
'Maybe I should also listen to Disciple Yuan play the zither…' Long Yijun thought to himself.
Sometime later, Long Yijun said, "Anyway, I understand the situation now, but letting Disciple Yuan leave the sect is not as simple as you think, Disciple Fei, as his existence within the sect is… a little special to say the least…"
"If I may ask, just who is Disciple Yuan, exactly? He's clearly someone with an important background, but I do not recognize him at all, nor have I ever heard of someone like him!" Disciple Fei said.
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Long Yijun took a deep breath before speaking, "To tell you the truth, Disciple Fei, we also have no clue as to what Disciple Yuan's true background is. There are speculations that he's from one of the Four Ancient Families, but that is only a speculation at best."
"The Four Ancient Families?!" Disciple Fei's jaw dropped after hearing this.
Even if it is only speculation, it was still incredibly shocking that they'd evaluate Yuan as someone worthy enough to exist in one of the Four Ancient Families.
After a moment of silence, Disciple Fei asked Long Yijun with a worried look on her face, "Then what's going to happen now? Are you going to forbid him from participating in the competition?"
"What? Of course not!" Long Yijun quickly responded with a surprised look on his face.
Although he won't say it because it would affect his face and position as the Sect Master, he actually didn't dare to confine Yuan inside the sect despite his value to them, especially after promising him that they would not restrict his movements and freedom.
"Then he can participate in the competition with me?" Disciple Fei asked again with a slightly excited look on her face.
"If that's what he wants to do, there's no reason for me to refuse, especially if you are so confident that you would achieve 3rd place in the tournament. After all, any reputation or recognition you gain from the competition will also affect the Dragon Essence Temple." Long Yijun nodded.
He then turned to look at Elder Shan and said, "I hope you don't mind, and I am not doubting your abilities, but since Disciple Yuan will be coming with you, I want Elder Xuan to accompany you just in case."
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Elder Shan nodded and said, "Don't worry, I completely understand. I won't be able to sleep for the rest of my life if anything were to happen to him while we are outside. In fact, even if you didn't mention it, I would've personally asked for help."
Long Yijun nodded and said a moment later, "Then I will look forward to your results, Disciple Fei."
"Thank you, Sect Master. I will try my best to bring glory to the Dragon Essence Temple." Disciple Fei bowed before leaving the place with Elder Shan shortly after.
"Zither competition, huh? I just hope that he doesn't make a commotion there…" Long Yijun sighed as he laid back on his seat, experiencing an uneasy feeling in his chest for some reason.
After leaving the Sect Master's headquarters, Disciple Fei asked Elder Shan, "Master, do you really think Disciple Yuan belongs to one of the Four Ancient Families?"
"Honestly, I have a feeling that his true background might even surpass that of the Four Ancient Families. You weren't there to witness it, but Disciple Yuan's cultivation talent… It's so ridiculously insane that it's scary."
"Above the Four Ancient Families? Does a power like that even exist in the Lower Heavens? I thought the Four Ancient Families are the strongest within the Lower Heavens." Disciple Fei said.
Elder Shan shook her head and said, "The Lower Heavens may seem small compared to the upper heavens, but there are many powerful and hidden backgrounds in this world that prefer to remain lowkey or unknown to the rest of the world as a method of survival, and the Four Ancient Families is just scratching the surface of what might exist— at least that's what I think."