Chapter 200 Nine Palaces Dao

When the official delegation arrived at Mount Maoshan, they were shocked by the scale of this Zhai-Zhan Ritual, the sheer number of attendees, and its far-reaching influence.

The Disciples of Maoshan had long since forbidden tourists from coming up the mountain, solely to avoid conflicts with those who had come to observe the ritual.

For this reason, Maoshan even went out of its way to provide double compensation for their admission fees.

In truth, even if these tourists had come up to sightsee, they would only have been in the outer areas and unable to enter the core locations of Maoshan, but Maoshan decided to forbid them from coming up the mountain entirely just to be safe.

These matters had been reported to the authorities in advance, and the authorities naturally agreed wholeheartedly; compared to Maoshan, the authorities were the ones most afraid of something happening to the tourists.

However, after arriving on the mountain, the officials vaguely sensed that the Daoist Disciples coming and going did not seem to welcome them very much.

Regardless of which School the Disciples belonged to, upon seeing them in their Zhongshan suits and Western suits, they all subtly revealed expressions of hostility.

This made Captain Xu Chang and his group feel somewhat uneasy.

This time, the observation delegation was very sensible and did not try to steal the spotlight; they decided that Captain Xu Chang would lead the team, and what should or should not be done on the mountain would be decided by Captain Xu Chang.

This also slightly reduced his resentment toward the people from the capital; after all, the last person from the capital had just made a mess of the 749 Bureau.

Captain Xu Chang stepped forward quickly and stopped a Maoshan Disciple.

"Little Daoist, do you know where Ye Qingmei and Jia He are right now?"

Upon hearing this, the Daoist's eyes showed wariness: "Why are you looking for Senior Sister Ye and Senior Brother Jia He?"

"Don't misunderstand, we are their colleagues from the 749 Bureau. Since Maoshan is holding the Zhai-Zhan Ritual, we came specifically to observe."

Hearing this, the young Daoist relaxed his vigilance and couldn't help but feel a bit proud.

"Senior Sister Ye should be at the Library Pavilion right now, with Grand Junior Martial Uncle Ye, but I don't know where Senior Brother Jia He is."

"So that's how it is." Captain Xu Chang mused.

"Then, Little Daoist, is there someone named Jiang Chen on your mountain? Do you know where he is?"

The Daoist's expression changed instantly. Although Maoshan had forbidden revealing Jiang Chen's identity, referring to him only as Great True Lord Xuanyi, it just so happened that this Daoist had extraordinary talent and had later received personal guidance from Jiang Chen.

That's right, he was the Maoshan Disciple, Jia Hao!

"Why are you looking for Jiang... him? Who are you to him?"

Hm? Captain Xu Chang perked up; Jiang Chen was indeed on Maoshan.

"Well, Jiang Chen and I are friends. Could I trouble you, Little Daoist, to help us find him, or perhaps you could tell us a location, and we can go ourselves?"

Jia Hao's gaze became even more suspicious. Could these people really be friends of the Ancestral Master?

But seeing the open and honest look on the other party's face, they did not seem to be lying.

He thought for a moment; regardless of whether they were friends of the Ancestral Master, it was always right to settle them properly first.

"In that case, please follow me. Ancestor... Jiang Chen is currently busy. When he has time, I will inform you all."

Captain Xu Chang was stunned; he hadn't expected that it seemed Jiang Chen's status at Maoshan was not low at all!

The Disciple's manner clearly showed a hint of respect toward him, which only made Captain Xu Chang more curious about what exactly Jiang Chen's status was at Maoshan.

The other observers from the capital were not too surprised by this scene.

After all, a master like Jiang Chen should be treated with courtesy wherever he went.

Soon, the group was settled in a spacious side hall.

And just as Jia Hao went out, he suddenly heard a mocking voice.

"Yo! Who do I see? Isn't this Jia Hao, who has a three-year agreement with me? What's this? Is Maoshan now rushing to cozy up to the 749 Bureau?"

Jia Hao looked closely, and his expression immediately darkened.

The person who arrived was Xiang Shan, a Disciple of the Jiugong Sect, who could be considered a loyal lackey of Mount Longhu, not caring about dignity at all like the other Schools.

Xiang Shan had once challenged Jia Hao at a Three Mountains Dharma Assembly, and Jia Hao had ultimately lost by accident.

But later, Jia Hao learned that before the duel, Xiang Shan had taken a Burst-Origin Pill to boost his True Qi.

Moreover, although Xiang Shan looked about the same age as Jia Hao—no more than eighteen or nineteen—he was actually six years older than Jia Hao.

Of course, a loss was a loss, and Maoshan was not a School that couldn't afford to lose. At the time, Xiang Shan had even provoked him, saying that if he wasn't satisfied, they could set a three-year agreement and compete again then.

Jia Hao naturally accepted the challenge, and later, he heard that Xiang Shan had apparently gone to Mount Longhu specifically for closed-door cultivation for a period of time.

From that Three Mountains Dharma Assembly until now, it had been exactly three years—no more, no less!

Jia Hao saw who it was: "Ah~ so the three-surname slave has arrived..."

"You!" Xiang Shan's expression darkened.

The Jiugong Sect was not established properly; its founder was neither Daoist nor Buddhist, yet it had always wanted to squeeze into the Zhengyi lineage.

In recent years, it had even treated Mount Longhu like its own father; if Mount Longhu pointed east, the Jiugong Sect never dared to look west.

"What three-surname slave? That is just slander fabricated by outsiders to smear my Jiugong Sect! The Jiugong Sect is a legitimate lineage passed down by Ancestral Master Luo Gongyuan!"

Jia Hao sneered: "Save that talk to fool ghosts yourself."

Xiang Shan's face was gloomy, but he suddenly revealed a cold smile.

"Jia Hao, I heard your cultivation has improved greatly recently. I wonder if you will still be like you were three years ago, trampled under my feet?"

At this moment, seeing the two at loggerheads, many Disciples gathered around.

Although this was Maoshan's home turf, the Maoshan Disciples were busy greeting guests today, so at this moment, there were actually more Jiugong Sect Disciples gathered here.

In the distance, an old Daoist from the Jiugong Sect also saw this situation and heard the conversation between the two clearly. He wished he could step in personally and kill this little bastard.

But since this was Maoshan's home turf, he had to restrain himself a little. Not far away, a Maoshan old Daoist was watching him as if unintentionally.

"Hmph, even if I don't make a move, Xiang Shan can take care of this little bastard!"

Only he knew how much progress Xiang Shan had made in these three years. Mount Longhu was truly the ancestral court of Daoism; three years ago, Xiang Shan was still at the Qi Induction Stage level eight.

Three years later, Xiang Shan had already attained Dao Entry level five. The magnitude of his cultivation progress was unprecedented in the entire history of the Jiugong Sect.

Not to mention, his progress in Spells was also significant. There were even a few Spells that not even the elders of the Jiugong Sect knew; they knew this was a reward from Mount Longhu for the Jiugong Sect's loyalty.

He had just observed that the little bastard Jia Hao had also made good progress in his cultivation over the past three years, but he was only at Dao Entry level four, one level lower than Xiang Shan. If a conflict really broke out, he would definitely lose!

The elders of Maoshan were quietly watching from a distance, neither intervening nor stopping them, letting Jia Hao make his own decisions.

They were only responsible for dealing with the aftermath; if the shameless old man from the Jiugong Sect intended to bully the young, they wouldn't mind letting him taste the iron fists of the Maoshan Daoists.