I thought I was misremembering the plot but after seeing the comment section, it looks like I was not.
Just a thought: maybe they moved up this filler just so they can wrap up season 3 with the end of the conference sects arc? I noticed that every season was going with 70ish chapters. S3 was now hitting 30ish, only 40 more or less and I don't think that many chapters can be fully about the conference, it would feel like a drag. So yeah, instead of wrapping the season with a filler arc, they might want to wrap it up with a satisfying bam—like how season 1 ended.
I thought I was misremembering the plot but after seeing the comment section, it looks like I was not.
Just a thought: maybe they moved up this filler just so they can wrap up season 3 with the end of the conference sects arc? I noticed that every season was going with 70ish chapters. S3 was now hitting 30ish, only 40 more or less and I don't think that many chapters can be fully about the conference, it would feel like a drag. So yeah, instead of wrapping the season with a filler arc, they might want to wrap it up with a satisfying bam—like how season 1 ended.
Who knows (づ￣ ³￣)づ