Ji Buwang's expression was gloomy for a moment, but he quickly collected his thoughts and focused on the disciple-taking ceremony before him.
He recalled that Xu Yi had disappeared shortly after becoming a disciple, so something significant must have happened during this period.
As celestial music played, the ceremony commenced.
Ancestor Yuan Ming, clad in the Sect Leader's robes, stood on the high platform and publicly announced that Xu Yi was accepted as his foremost disciple.
Xu Yi walked onto the platform with composure, performed the kowt to formalize the master-disciple bond, each movement precise as if measured, leaving no room for error.
Ji Buwang nodded silently.
From this, it was evident that Xu Yi already possessed the demeanor of a chief disciple. In time, she would undoubtedly become the prodigy of the Xuanji Sect, as everyone in the sect anticipated.
He casually turned his head and saw another version of himself smiling, an expression of shared pride on his face.
His brow furrowed once more.
This other self gave him a profoundly strange feeling.
He couldn't help but suspect that the other him had experienced something different.
After the ceremony concluded, Xu Yi followed behind Ancestor Yuan Ming, accepting the praise of the sect elders and receiving numerous gifts.
The smile Xu Yi wore while accepting gifts felt incredibly familiar to Ji Buwang.
After Xu Yi and Ancestor Yuan Ming thanked the elders, they set off towards the sect's main hall.
The two Ji Buwangs quickly followed, unwilling to miss any part of Xu Yi's past.
Upon entering the main hall, Ancestor Yuan Ming began to earnestly speak to Xu Yi about her responsibilities.
The chief disciple was the benchmark for the entire sect.
All disciples would look to her as a role model, thus Xu Yi had to give her utmost effort and not disappoint the sect.
Xu Yi, having understood her responsibilities even before the ceremony, listened attentively like an obedient child and vowed to become the pride of the Xuanji Sect.
"She has always been determined and will not disappoint the sect,"
The other Ji Buwang suddenly spoke.
Ji Buwang suppressed his inner displeasure and nodded again.
Yes, Xu Yi possessed a resilient character and a pure heart; once she made a promise, she would commit to it wholeheartedly.
Since Ancestor Yuan Ming had chosen Xu Yi as his first disciple, he had undoubtedly vetted her thoroughly, selecting her only after confirming her ability to shoulder such a responsibility.
After leaving the sect hall, Xu Yi returned to her cave dwelling to begin her cultivation, not daring to slacken for a moment.
Ji Buwang expected them to remain by Xu Yi's side day after day, witnessing everything she experienced firsthand.
However, as Xu Yi began her cultivation, the surroundings around them started to accelerate, flashing past their eyes like a kaleidoscope.
Before the two Ji Buwangs could even react, time had leaped forward by half a year.
On this day, Ancestor Yuan Ming accepted his second disciple. Xu Yi attended the ceremony as the senior disciple and presented her junior brother with a welcoming gift.
"The flow of time is incorrect."
Ji Buwang's eyes deepened.
He had entered Xu Yi's past using the Divine Art of Time Reincarnation. Without his direct manipulation of spiritual energy, the temporal flow should not have changed.
He looked towards the other Ji Buwang.
"It wasn't me."
They were, in essence, the same person. Without needing to communicate, they could discern each other's thoughts.
The smile that had been constant on the other Ji Buwang's face had also faded slightly, clearly sensing something was amiss.
Before they could exchange words, time accelerated its flow once more.
They witnessed Xu Yi achieving minor breakthroughs in a blur, Ancestor Yuan Ming accepting another disciple, and Xu Yi defeating a senior disciple in a sect sparring match, earning cheers from the entire sect.
Ji Buwang's focus intensified. It was almost time for Liu Jinghong to join the sect, and Xu Yi was supposed to disappear around this time.
However, when he saw Liu Jinghong enter the sect hall, kowt to take a master, and Xu Yi standing beside her, smiling as she observed, he became bewildered.
Xu Yi hadn't disappeared. Instead, she had met Liu Jinghong?
This was different from what he knew.
He was certain that Xu Yi had already vanished before Liu Jinghong joined the Xuanji Sect.
"Who is she? I didn't know our Grandmaster had another female disciple?"
The other Ji Buwang asked, his voice filled with confusion and bewilderment.
Ji Buwang felt as if struck by lightning, looking at his other self with shock.
"What did you say?"
"Hmm? Do you recognize her?"
The gazes of the two Ji Buwangs met in mid-air, and a bizarre conjecture began to form in their minds.
Their experiences seemed to be quite different.
While they had this awareness from the beginning, this feeling now was even more pronounced.
They remained silent, quietly observing the girl named Liu Jinghong being accepted as the youngest disciple by Ancestor Yuan Ming.
They also noticed the ambition and strange look in Liu Jinghong's eyes, which were unbefitting her age.
As the senior disciple, Xu Yi was responsible for looking after Liu Jinghong.
At night, Ji Buwang watched Xu Yi and Liu Jinghong enter the same room and turned to the other himself, "We need to talk."
"That's precisely what I intended."
"Then you speak first, your identity, your experiences, and the purpose of your arrival here."
Due to his nature, Ji Buwang preferred to take the initiative, so he demanded that the other him reveal his intentions first.
The other Ji Buwang, with a more gentle and magnanimous disposition, did not mind the other's assertiveness and proactively explained his experiences.
"My name is Ji Buwang, Sect Leader of the Xuanji Sect..."
Ji Buwang nodded as he listened. The other's experiences seemed to have no significant discrepancy with his own.
"My master is Xu Yi..."
However, as the next sentence fell, Ji Buwang felt as if thunder had struck his ears, a roaring sound filling his head.
He could only see the moving lips of the other him but hear no sound at all.
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
Ji Buwang's lapse in composure was too obvious for the other Ji Buwang to ignore.
"You said your master is..." Ji Buwang forced the two words out of his lips with great difficulty, "...Xu Yi?"
The other Ji Buwang understood the implication behind his words, and his expression instantly turned grim. "What do you mean? Could it be that your master is not Xu Yi?"
Ji Buwang now even felt like laughing out loud.
How could that be? How could his master be Xu Yi?
Could it be that he had made a mistake while comprehending the Divine Art of Time Reincarnation? Was this not Xu Yi's past life, but a false illusion he had created, and the Ji Buwang opposite him was not him, but his inner demon?
He stared blankly, thinking about the first time he met Xu Yi, his gaze gradually becoming hazy.
"Ji Buwang!"
The sharp shout jolted Ji Buwang out of his memories.
He raised his eyelids to look at the self opposite him and found that the Ji Buwang, so different from him in many ways, had the exact same expression when angry.
"You still haven't told me who your master is. Besides Xu Yi, who else is worthy of being your master!"
Ji Buwang watched the other him fly into a rage, his hair bristling with anger, and suddenly felt an unspeakable jealousy surge within him.
If it were as the other claimed, then from the moment he joined the sect, he would have been by Xu Yi's side, cultivating and growing with her, step-by-step becoming the Sect Leader under her guidance.
He had actually spent so many years alongside Xu Yi.
Ji Buwang's gaze towards the other began to subtly shift.