Yuchi Bing Xia felt a headache incoming. Elder Gongxi might not have made any more trouble but under the excuse of 'wanting to help the Yun Zou Sect in their difficult time of need', he got himself and his disciples a courtyard where they would stay for who knew how long.
This wasn't even the worst though. No, the biggest problem was that the Yang Huo Sect wasn't the only one. One after the other, delegations of the other eight first-tier sects arrived at the gates of the Yun Zou Sect. All of them were headed by an Elder that would smile and then either want to speak to the Sect Master to voice his concerns for the Yun Zou Sect's safety or smilingly wave at one of his disciples to follow him in and present a gift they had brought with them to congratulate the Yun Zou Sect on the lucky coincidence once again that the Yun Zou Sect had so suddenly encountered.
What could Yuchi Bing Xia do? He had let those in that worried about them so he could hardly drive those away that pretended to be happy for them. No, after the first sect had managed to get a room, he had to give one to the others too. Everything else would've made even more trouble in the future even though he really would've liked to refuse all of them.
Ah, he really would've liked Yu Jin to come out of his closed-door cultivation already but he knew that that wouldn't be possible. Yu Jin was already in the fourth stage. Breakthroughs weren't achieved that easily anymore at that point in time. In fact, it wouldn't be strange if he didn't emerge for several months or even years. It was a pity but he could only wait for now and deal with everything on his own.
Yuchi Bing Xia stopped at that thought and blankly stared at the documents on his table. Actually … There was no need for him to deal with all of this on his own, was there? After all, even though he had designated Yu Jin as his successor, that didn't mean that there weren't other disciples. Hadn't he given Wu Min Huan lots of missions in the past too?
And the other Peak Masters had head disciples as well. Their Yun Zou Sect didn't have that many Peak Masters but if each one of them sacrificed one disciple to take care of these so-called guests for the next few days, then they would be able to keep an eye on almost all of them.
As for the others … Well, he probably couldn't let the younger generation do everything so he would have to spend time with one of the sects every now and then too. If he took care of a different one every day, then there was only one other person missing. Mn, maybe he could just use the disciple of one of the normal Elders. Anyway, it wasn't too important. He just needed somebody who would entertain them for a few days before he could 'reluctantly' let them go.
Yuchi Bing Xia nodded to himself and got up, walking out of his study. He flew over to the next peak and made his way over to the stables behind the courtyard of Elder Geng. The Peak Master was indeed currently tending to the spiritual beasts that were being held there.
"Elder …" Yuchi Bing Xia gave a wry smile and walked over.
Elder Geng looked up from his work and raised his brows. "Sect Master? Did something happen?"
Yuchi Bing Xia shook his head. "Well, nothing unexpected. Those sects are slowly sending over some people now that they finished inquiring about our new realm. We'll have to send somebody to accompany them so that they won't have too much time to go and explore on their own. It wouldn't be good if they found something they shouldn't."
Elder Geng nodded. He could imagine why the Sect Master had come. "Then should I go with one of them?"
Yuchi Bing Xia shook his head. "You still have to teach your disciples and tend to the beasts. It wouldn't be good if something went wrong with that. We definitely can't forget about our usual obligations just because those sects have sent somebody here. No, I was actually thinking that it might be a good idea if our disciples take care of this. It would also be a valuable experience for them. After all, when they're out on missions they might also run into people from other sects or some wandering cultivators that are of a higher level. They have to learn how to deal with them. What do you think?"
Elder Geng's gaze turned complicated. "Well … I'd like to do that but … This task is very important, isn't it? We'd likely need somebody with a certain status to take care of them and you also know that Zhi Wu hasn't returned yet."
Yuchi Bing Xia's brows furrowed. Actually, he hadn't paid too much attention to that. "You mean he hasn't returned yet or he still hasn't contacted you?"
Elder Geng sighed. "Unfortunately, it's the latter. I have no idea if he ever finished that mission or where he is now. Since he set off, I haven't heard of him."
Yuchi Bing Xia furrowed his brows. "Not even once? Then … what about the Grand Elder's disciple? They were good friends, weren't they? Maybe he heard something?"
Elder Geng sighed again. "Don't mention that. Hong Fang is even more anxious than me. He tried to contact him several times but to no avail. It's as if … he just vanished."