The festival finally arrived amidst the joy of countless people and the warm atmosphere surrounding Chu Xinghe.

The entire Grand Sky Sect was adorned with lanterns and decorations. All eighteen palaces, along with the Grand Sky Palace and the newly built Artifact Refining Palace, were festooned with red lanterns and fluttering flags.

A heavy snowfall added a touch of festive spirit to the occasion.

Early in the morning, Chu Xinghe was dragged out of bed by the Great Elder.

Then, Senior Brother Feng Fei delivered a brand-new personal disciple robe.

Goodness, Chu Xinghe was speechless after just one glance.

"Senior Brother Feng Fei, why does this personal disciple robe have purple patterns? Isn't that overstepping the boundaries?"

It was well-known that the disciple robes of the Grand Sky Sect had strict regulations; each level had its designated attire, and there was no room for deviation. But now, the additional purple patterns on his personal disciple robe were perplexing. Purple was meant for the Chief Disciple!

"Ahem... This was arranged personally by the Sect Master."

Chu Xinghe was at a loss for words. Although the robe was still black, the touch of purple cloud patterns was somewhat excessive.

After putting on the new personal disciple robe, the Great Elder, dressed in full regalia, looked him over and showed a satisfied expression.

"Hmm... you were right before, purple indeed has more charm."

What do you mean, purple has more charm... it's the purple junior sister that has more charm, isn't it...

However, since the Great Elder didn't see any issue, Chu Xinghe naturally said nothing and was led out by the Great Elder.

All the inner disciples of the Grand Sky Sect gathered at the Grand Sky Palace, with the Sect Master also dressed in full regalia.

The Great Elder personally presided over the first event of the festival, the ceremony to honor the ancestors.

Chu Xinghe originally wanted to blend in with the crowd of disciples, but the purple on his robe was too conspicuous, and no other disciple dared to stand in front of him.

In the end, Chu Xinghe was pushed to the front.

A group of senior and junior brothers nodded secretly at the sight of the purple on Chu Xinghe's chest. Everyone understood what it meant, but no one spoke of it, as Senior Brother Xinghe never cared about fame or fortune and would not change due to a rise in status.

The entire morning was dedicated to the ancestral ceremony, during which Chu Xinghe listened to the Sect Master recount the sect's history of ups and downs, a routine practice.

With the Great Elder announcing the end of the ceremony, the other festival programs officially began.

The highlight, of course, was the voting activities.

Among all the votes, three were the most significant.

The first was for the most outstanding disciple of the year.

The second was for the sect's most popular disciple.

The third was for the sect's most promising disciple.

The first vote was conducted by this year's new disciples, while the second was voted on by all the sect's disciples.

As for the last one, it was the most significant because it was voted on by all the elders and the Sect Master.

The most outstanding disciple of the year also had another title, the Chief Disciple of the year.

The most popular disciple was an entertainment event for everyone, while the third, the most promising disciple, had never been successfully voted for since its inception.

The reason was simple: each palace's elders would definitely vote for their own disciples, and the Sect Master almost always abstained.

This resulted in everyone having one vote each, making it impossible to truly select a winner. But this time, everyone felt things might not be so simple.

"Senior Brother Xinghe, I voted for you!"

"Of course, we all voted for Senior Brother Xinghe!"

"Junior Brother Xinghe, your senior brothers also voted for you!"

"Junior Brother, your senior sister is rooting for you!"

Throughout the afternoon, Chu Xinghe lost count of how many times he heard such words, and as he held his own votes, he felt troubled.

He had two votes... The first could be cast for the most outstanding disciple of the year... The second for the most popular disciple. But who should he vote for?

Vote for himself? Wouldn't that be a bit shameless...

After much thought, Chu Xinghe wrote his own name on the first ballot.

As for the second, after a long deliberation, he wrote down a name—Chu Cheng!

Yes, Chu Cheng!

Was he such a shallow person? Was he so shameless? If the first ballot hadn't been restricted to inner disciples, preventing him from writing Chu Cheng, Chu Xinghe felt he would definitely have written Chu Cheng.

After all, he was the number one talent in Hillside Village.

Ever since joining the Grand Sky Sect's outer sect, it was said that any outer disciple with grievances would go to Brother Chu Cheng for a good "chat." Brother Chu Cheng's contributions to the psychological counseling and venting of outer disciples were invaluable.

Could such a great Brother Chu Cheng not be the most outstanding disciple?

Could he not be the most popular disciple?

After writing, Chu Xinghe unhesitatingly cast his vote into the ballot box. Anonymous voting, Brother Chu Cheng, I, Chu Xinghe, can only help you this far!

Whether you can reach the top or not, remember, you always have my support behind you.

In the outer sect, Chu Cheng lay on his bed, looking at the ballot in his hand, and recalling what Bighead Carp had said earlier, Chu Cheng gritted his teeth.

Despicable! Chu Xinghe, you're simply despicable!

You must have instructed that Bighead Carp to threaten me into voting for you!

How could I, Chu Cheng, be someone who would be intimidated by threats?

Dipping his finger in the blood from his nose, Chu Cheng wrote three words—Chu Xinghe!

Hmph! Chu Xinghe! It's not because I'm afraid of threats, nor because I'm afraid of you. As the saying goes, to destroy someone, you must first drive them mad!

Let you, Chu Xinghe, enjoy your moment of triumph. Once I, Chu Cheng, regain my strength, I'll show you how the number one in Hillside Village will trample you underfoot...

At night, the entire Grand Sky Mountain Range was ablaze with lights, resembling a giant dragon of light from afar.

Disciples from all palaces gathered at the Grand Sky Palace, where a grand feast was laid out, with disciples seated around tables.

After a year of cultivation, everyone finally had time to sit down and relax.

The Sect Master and the elders also joined in to enjoy this joyful time.

Soon, the banquet reached its climax, and the Great Elder ascended the high platform amidst everyone's attention.

"Over the past year, whether you are new disciples or past disciples of the Grand Sky Sect, everyone has worked hard. But please remember, the path of cultivation is not easy, and you must strive to advance further in the coming year."

"Now, let me announce the results of this year's festival voting."

The Great Elder smiled and instructed the disciples who had been preparing for a long time to bring the tallied lists.

The first list was opened, and the originally cheerful Great Elder's expression suddenly changed.

Seeing this, the disciples below were confused. What could have caused the usually composed Great Elder to react this way?

Could it be that Senior Brother Xinghe didn't win?

Impossible!

But as everyone was in a daze, the Great Elder burst into laughter: "Hahaha... you little rascals..."

As the Great Elder's voice fell, a burst of spiritual power was released, illuminating the first list with spiritual light, projecting it into everyone's eyes.

The most outstanding disciple of the year: Chu Xinghe! With 2,986 votes!

Upon seeing this number, everyone's first reaction was, why only 2,986 votes? Who are the 14 people who dare to have an opinion on Senior Brother Xinghe?

But soon, the blanks on the list made everyone understand.

It wasn't that 14 people had an opinion on Senior Brother Xinghe, but that among the three thousand new disciples, some, like Chu Cheng, had been relegated to the outer sect, and others had been directly expelled from the sect.

So only 2,986 remained!

Unanimous!

The entire banquet hall erupted in excitement. Even though everyone was prepared for this outcome, they were still shocked by it.

Unanimous approval, this was the first time since the voting event began.

Senior Brother Xinghe was indeed unstoppable!

"Senior Brother Xinghe is mighty!"

"I will always support Senior Brother Xinghe!"

"Senior Brother Xinghe is well-deserved!"

Cheers erupted one after another, but at this moment, Chu Xinghe remained calm... Look, in one year, a dozen lucky ones were expelled from the sect or relegated to the outer sect. How could I be so unfortunate... I must continue to work hard next year!

I must keep up with my predecessors.

Unanimously elected as the most outstanding disciple of the year, Chu Xinghe stood and bowed to all his senior and junior brothers. No words were needed; everyone could feel Chu Xinghe's gratitude.

The Great Elder quickly took out the second list, which was for the most popular disciple of the year.

This time, everyone was nervous. Could Senior Brother Xinghe achieve unanimous approval again?

"Did you vote for Senior Brother Xinghe?"

"Of course... Who could be more popular than Junior Brother Xinghe?"

"Exactly, even I voted for Junior Brother Xinghe."

But just as everyone was eagerly anticipating whether Chu Xinghe could achieve unanimous approval again, the Great Elder was once again stunned.

Seeing the Great Elder's expression, everyone started to laugh, thinking the Great Elder would soon burst into laughter again.

But amidst everyone's cheerful expressions, the Great Elder did not laugh as before but instead let out a cold snort.

The next second, the list was displayed by the Great Elder!

The sect's most popular disciple of the year: Chu Xinghe, votes...

Seeing this number, many people were dizzy!

As expected, it had to be Junior Brother Xinghe, so domineering!

But just as everyone was about to cheer for Junior Brother Xinghe's awesomeness again, a line appeared below.

Chu Cheng: 1 vote!

The entire hall: "???"

Chu Xinghe: "!!!"

What the heck? Although no one specifically knew how many people were in the sect, from the list released by the Great Elder, it was clear that only two people received votes.

In other words, in the entire sect, only two people received votes.

Everyone could understand Chu Xinghe receiving votes, but what was with Chu Cheng?

And only one vote?

This Chu Cheng successfully ended Senior Brother Xinghe's perfect unanimous record with just one vote?

Damn it! In an instant, everyone finally understood why the Great Elder had snorted coldly.

This Chu Cheng was shameless!

He must have voted for himself!

After all, who in their right mind would vote for him under normal circumstances? This person truly had no bottom line.

Countless eyes turned towards the direction of the outer disciples, and everyone had only one thought.

Who the hell is Chu Cheng! Stand up!

But at this moment, Chu Cheng was nowhere to be seen among the outer disciples; he was still lying in the outer sect...

Bighead Carp Liu Bo's eyes were red with anger.

Chu Cheng, you bastard, how could you be so shameless and vote for yourself like that?

You have no shame at all...