Chapter 54: Happenings in the Sect? // Sister Moments
Zed, Meixiang, Jingfei, and Lan'er trembled underneath the heavy qi that was being emitted by their Senior Sister.
They unconsciously held their breaths while preparing themselves for whatever exchange that may or may not happen in front of them.
But twenty seconds later, Their senior sister sighed before dispersing her Qi.
Meeting Ren Ming's gaze, Han Qiuyue nonchalantly spoke. "Well then, Elder Ren does not need to worry since these children will not be under my guidance."
"Really?" Raising his brow, he asked. "Then who?"
Han Qiuyue smirked. "My master."
Elder Ren's eyes narrowed. "You mean the Sect Leader? He will take all these talented youths under him?"
Han Qiuyue nodded before turning her back and walking away. It was as if their conversation was over while Zed and the others could only follow their senior sister's back, like ducklings following their mother.
Elder Ren became dazed for a while before his eyes twitched in anger. 'The rumors were correct! That lass is indeed arrogant!'
'How dare she treat me, the Great Elder Ren like this?!'
But in the end, he held his anger in. His eyes flashed a strange glint as he wondered, 'The Sect Leader huh... what is he planning?'
'Whatever the case.... It will be interesting to see you climb your way out of this one...'
He no longer pursued Han Qiuyue's group and instead, made his way towards somewhere else.
"For Mu'er... I will do anything...."
His cold voice was left unheard as he passed through the wind like a ghost.
-
"Junior Sister Meixiang, what is your connection with Elder Ren?" Han Qiuyue asked as they traveled through the air.
Meixiang truthfully explained, "I was already invited by Elder Ren back when I was 4 years old. At the time, he went to our country to look for a talented child.
Coincidentally, that was also the time I had just newly unblocked my meridian qi. He invited me to join the clan, but I declined."
Zed, Lan'er, and Jingfei listened carefully as their sister continued speaking.
"Elder Ren was extremely persistent in taking me in as his disciple, but my father threatened to report it to the Cleansing Jade Sect.
Only then did Elder Ren relent. I thought that he had given up, but his grandson's visit to my coming-of-age banquet says otherwise."
Han Qiuyue then spoke. "Hm? Elder Ren actually relented? ...Impossible. Elder Ren is known to have a stubborn and borderline obsessive personality."
Meixiang agreed with her senior sister's words and added, "My intuition was correct then... At the time when I declined his invitation, my intuition told me that Elder Ren had other intentions for raising me."
Looking at their senior sister's back, Zed and the others heard her chuckle softly before glancing towards Meixiang.
"You are admirable for being able to reject an Elder. So is your father who supported your decision."
Meixiang nodded. "Indeed... My father is truly admirable. He believed in the words of a four year old."
"That or he's just a doting father." Zed quipped.
No one minded his words as Han Qiuyue continued. "Well, the four of you have nothing to worry about since our master decisively took all of you under his wings.
That said, that also means I will be taking care of all of you."
This time, she was looking behind her, towards the four youths who were following right behind her. With a smirk, she spoke enthusiastically, "I'm looking forward to helping with your cultivation..."
Zed, Jingfei, Meixiang, and Lan'er could only wryly smile in response.
-
In the Sect Leader's Headquarters, the Sect Leader could be seen sitting atop a small jade hill.
The grasses, insects, and everything else one would find in a hill could be seen finely carved in jade.
Because of this, the small hill faintly glowed whenever light made contact with it.
In front of the sect leader was a small study table filled with stacks of books and scrolls. Naturally, all of those were related to the sect's matters.
He seemed to be in deep contemplation as he held a jade brush with his right hand while curiously holding a piece of paper in his left hand.
A jade inkstone was placed on his table with black ink marvelously grinded into a liquid state.
If one were to look further behind the Sect leader, one would realize that the jade hill wasn't inside a forest but in a spacious wide hall.
Pillars of jade erected on both sides of the room as a wide pathway was built towards the jade hill which was placed in the furthest middle position of the room.
The floor was made with clean white marble and the jade pillars were patterned with gold and silver metals.
The entire hall looked serene and exquisite.
That was until-
Bam!
Four white-haired elderly men dressed in green and white robes arrogantly entered the room. A token that said, "Great Elder" could be seen hanging from their waists.
"You have really grown arrogant, Sect Leader!" The foremost white haired elder spoke.
He had a wrinkled face with a long white beard reaching his thighs. Needless to say he was exuding a unique aura, one that belonged to a nascent soul realm master.
The Sect Leader didn't even glance at them before finally deciding to write on the blank piece of paper in his hand.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Silence ensued as the Sect Leader thoroughly ignored their existence.
"Sect Leader!"
This time, another elderly man shouted with Qi imbued in his voice.
There was a hidden killing intent inside his voice, one that the elder planned on using to disturb the Sect Leader.
But before anyone could react-
Slash!
Thud.
That elder's head fell to the floor.
"!!!"
This immediately alarmed the other three elders as they distanced themselves while glaring towards the Sect Leader.
"Sect Leader, have you gone insane?!" One of them shouted.
This time, the Sect Leader reappeared on the marble floor with his jade sword stained in blood.
He coldly glanced at the elders before speaking. "He attacked me with killing intent, are you saying that his actions were excusable?"
The other elder shouted. "But that doesn't mean you must kill him!"
An amused expression appeared on the Sect leader's face. "So... you are meaning to say that direct harm and threat to the Sect Leader is not punishable by death?"
"That..." The elder couldn't finish his sentence as all of them wondered, 'What happened to the Sect Leader?'
'Where was the pushover sect leader that they had raised? Was he not supposed to obey their orders?'
But seeing the cold look on the Sect Leader's face today, his eyes looked like he was looking at dead people.
Immediately, they transmitted their qi to send a message to their hidden messengers that were waiting outside the hall.
"Don't bother." The Sect Leader said as he motioned his arms.
Immediately, the doors behind the elders opened and several dead bodies followed.
All the great elders including the long beard elder became pale as a foreboding feeling began to appear in their mind.
One of the elders didn't waste time and immediately dashed towards the doors.
Bam!
Only to find himself bouncing backwards. The door was sealed with a strong barrier Qi.
"D-don't be foolish, Sect Leader! Do you think the other elders will stay put if you kill us?!"
He was now trying his best to bluff his way out of the situation.
However, all he received was a laugh from the Sect Leader.
"Oh... After years of long quietness... the time has finally come."
A smell crept on his face as he turned towards the three frightened elders who were trembling like mice in the presence of a cat.
The Sect leader took a deep breath and looked upwards. "I have failed you... my predecessor... but starting from now.."
He looked back at the pale elders. "I will reclaim our lost glory and authority."
After saying that, his aura intensified.
Boom!
A force of wind blasted inside the hall. It was so strong that the elders almost struggled to stay on their ground.
Right now... yes, they were finally getting reminded.
The reason why a Sect Leader was called the Leader of the Sect.
Such an obvious title, and yet only now were they realizing the real meaning of it.
"S-s-sect Lea-"
Slash!
The elder was unable to plead for his life as his head rolled on the ground.
The Sect Leader turned to the other two elders and sighed.
"Handling the aftermath is quite troublesome..."
-
Zed, Jingfei, Lan'er, and Meixiang returned to their cave after touring the main sect.
Their senior sister, Han Qiuyue, assigned another meeting in a month's time.
In the meantime, they were all to stay and wait for further news from their master, the Sect Leader.
Zed and the others simply returned to their usual routine.
-
"Brother... Please guide me well." Jingfei said as she stood in her battle stance.
The large menacing scythe glistened behind her as Zed saw a flash of his reflection on the sharp blade.
Standing thirty steps away from her, Zed prepared himself and stood in a stance with his spear.
In response to Jingfei, Zed only smiled and nodded.
Jingfei nodded softly before her innocent trademark smile appeared on her face.
Suddenly-
Woosh!
Jingfei disappeared and reappeared in the middle of the battlefield, instantly taking over fifteen steps at once.
Qi gathered on her scythe as she made a wide slash.
Seeing the wide horizontal crescent wave of attack, Zed used the foot of his spear as a staff and jumped over the wide attack of qi.
When he made it into the middle of the air, Jingfei was already there to intercept him.
Like a reaper's scythe, the large curved blade went for Zed's neck.
By a second's reaction, Zed managed to pull his spear upwards and block the blade with the body of his spear.
With Zed caught in the middle of her large crescent scythe, Jingfei continued to smile as she used her scythe like a hook and pulled Zed towards herself.
Qi gathered in her left palm:
[Tianyi Series 3rd Technique: Palm of Devastation]
The yellow qi on her palm turned purplish black as it aimed to hit Zed in his chest.
Feeling the immense danger coming towards him, Zed hurriedly misaligned the scythe's blade to slide above his spear's body.
As a result, Zed managed to get loose from the hooking mechanism and dodge the incoming palm strike.
Still falling from mid air, Zed immediately launched a spear strike.
[Xia Spear Technique: Sparrowing Wind]
However, Jingfei simply defended it with her scythe's large crescent blade.
This was the problem with normal grade martial arts, they lacked impactful prowess to blast their enemies away.
Nonetheless, Zed believed that even normal techniques could be useful so long as they were used properly.
Such as-
[Xia Army's Footwork]
The instant that he landed on the ground, he traveled over ten steps, arriving right in front of Jingfei.
However, the expected figure of Jingfei didn't appear and was instead replaced by a wide incoming vertical strike of a scythe's blade.
Zed barely managed to dodge to the side, but then the scythe's curved blade tilted and once again, Jingfei pulled on the scythe's body, causing the large blade to hit Zed's unprotected back.
As soon as he noticed Jingfei's hands tilting the scythe's body, he instantly dropped to the ground, narrowingly dodging the scythe's head.
Woosh...
With the scythe's blade passing over him, Zed stood in his stance once more and launched another set of attacks.
To which Jingfei defended with ease.
Their battle continued for over two hours, both were too immersed in the battle to notice the time.
In the end, their spar ended in a draw with Zed unable to hit a decent strike on Jingfei while Jingfei was unable to hit Zed because of the latter's rat-like dodges.
"Haa... Haa... Haa..."
Gasping for air, Both Jingfei and Zed sat beside each other while sweating profusely on their forehead.
With their robes completely disheveled and drenched in sweat, the two couldn't muster a single ounce of strength to pick themselves back up.
"Haa.. Haa... Ha...."
Jingfei glanced beside her, her brother's sweaty and disheveled body somehow made her heart tingle.
Little by little, unnoticed by Zed, Jingfei inched closer and closer until she was sticking next to Zed.
Zed only glanced at her for a while before thinking of moving away since it was so hot.
But... he was physically tired without an ounce of qi left in his body.
Jingfei immediately stabilized her breath before beginning to accomplish the reason she stuck next to her brother.
The moment she caught a whiff of her brother's scent, a calming feeling washed over her brain, making her forget her momentary fatigued body.
Closing her eyes, she felt like she was in the middle of a field of dandelions, the bright sun warmly shining over them in the clear bright blue skies.
Beside her was her brother who was always smiling at her.
And just as she was about to be locked in her world of imagination, a familiar voice suddenly spoke.
"...That's enough."
Jingfei's imaginary world disappeared when she felt a frosty aura emanating from beside her.
"Brother, Here is a towel and a change of robes. Please wash yourself lest you catch a cold." Lan'er spoke while smiling.
"Oh, thank you Lan'er."
Zed thanked his little sister and picked himself up. Taking the clothes from his little sister's hands, he thought, 'Wait a minute, where did Lan'er take my clothes from?'
But seeing his Lan'er's angel-like smile, He decided to not mind it and simply appreciate what she did for him.
After that, he told Jingfei to wash up as well after resting for a couple of minutes.
"I'll join you, brother! Let's wash together so we won't waste water!"
Zed merely chuckled, thinking that Jingfei was making a joke.
After that, Zed returned to his room to wash himself.
Left in the wide spacious area of the cave, Jingfei sat silently as Lan'er looked at her with narrow eyes.
"Sister Fei..." Lan'er speaks.
Jingfei continues to smile while meeting her sister's cold face. "Yes, sister Lan?"
"Don't you think that you're getting way too close to Brother these days? Don't think I didn't notice you sneaking into his room to sleep with him for the third time last week even though we already decided to only do so twice a week."
Without losing her cheerful smile, Jingfei spoke innocently. "Sister Lan must be mistaken, since on that specific day, I woke up earlier than you. You are accusing me with false accusations."
Lan'er's cheeks grew big. "Mmmmmmouu!! I also want to spend quality time with brother! But Teacher keeps on making me focus on perfecting her techniques!
I can't bear not seeing my brother for at least twenty four hours a day!!"
Listening to Lan'er's complaints, Jingfei thought, 'Doesn't that mean you want to see your brother all day, everyday?'
Lan'er then pointed to Jingfei. "And you! I know you're lying! After all, I smelled your scent on Brother's clothes that day!"
Jingfei acts surprised. "Oh my, Sister Lan, you truly are a pervert. Smelling your brother's clothes?"
Lan'er scoffs. "Don't act as if you aren't the same! In fact, didn't you just try to sniff brother all over again just now?"
"False accusations~"
"Liar!"
"Sister Lan, you are wronging me."
"Liar! Liar! Liar!"
The two bickered until eventually-
"What are you two doing?"
Jingfei immediately stood up from the ground and held onto Meixiang's arm.
"Sis Mei! Sis Mei! You need to hear this-"
"D-don't listen to her! She's lying!" Lan'er shouts.
Facing her two spoiled and adorable junior sisters, Meixiang laughed after thinking that only one person was capable of making the two usually good sisters argue like this.
"Zixin..."
Edited By: WorthyAdversary