Chapter 47: Meeting the master
"Was that person from our Cleansing Jade Sect?" Jingfei innocently asked.
Han Qiuyue shook her head. "No, she wasn't. In fact, she was from an opposing sect that was part of the demonic faction."
Zed: "And yet you admire her?"
She answered in a monotonous voice. "Of course. Regardless of which faction or sect she was part of, it doesn't change the fact that she achieved something incredulous."
Zed agreed with her sentiment, but he was mildly surprised since he had the impression of her as the quiet and stubborn traditionalist. As it turned out, their senior sister was more open-minded than he thought.
After that, silence befell the group, causing everyone to contemplate their own thoughts.
Tang Xiurong who had been listening this entire time seemed to have sunk in her own thoughts as well.
Looking at her master, Lan'er proceeded to ask her a question using her mind.
'Master, did you also need to beat the heavenly beast and the heavenly tribulations in order to ascend into the Immortal Realm?'
Her master shook her head. "Not at all. I was born and raised in the upper realms so I had no need for ascension."
Lan'er then remembered what her master taught them about the upper realms.
As of the moment, they were residents of the lower realms or what they would call the mortal realm. They needed to ascend and become Immortals in order to reach the upper realms where her master previously ruled for an entire era.
Her master refused to elaborate or explain more information about the Immortals or the cultivation stages in the immortal realm since she did not want to overwhelm them with too much information.
They understood that the path to learning the Dao is long and arduous, but they possessed strong hearts to face whatever they may face along the way. Tang Xiurong would make sure to guide them and show them the path.
As her disciple was thinking like this, Tang Xiurong's thoughts were on another matter.
'Heavenly tribulations and Heavenly beasts....' Her eyes slightly narrowed while trying to remember where she had heard about them from.
The day continued as usual. Han Qiuyue did not speak to them anymore for the rest of the journey.
-
After a week, a large continent with numerous high mountains appeared in their view. The body of land was so large that it took them another four days to reach the shore.
Zed looked at the land formation in amazement since the mountains were as tall as the highest skyscrapers in his previous life. Just by breathing in the air, Zed could tell that they had entered an entirely new and different continent.
"The Qi..." Meixiang gasped when she felt the Qi in the air.
"Abundant, right?" Han Qiuyue spoke.
"Compared to your isolated continent, the Qi here is very abundant which is why the main sect is established here."
Zed, Meixiang, Jingfei, and Lan'er looked at each other while having the same thought. 'The Qi on the beak-shaped peak was several times more abundant than this place.'
Of course, they tacitly agreed to keep the information about that place a secret.
Passing through the tall mountain ranges, they saw numerous varieties of different species, but they were less impressive compared to the variants of the beak-shaped mountain peak.
Even so, that did not stop them from being curious about them, especially Zed, since he was the one that spent most of his time studying about the different species and habitats of their previous environment.
Time passed by and it was eventually dusk. The orange-tinted skies affected the group of youths' mood as they started seeing structures among the mountains they passed through. They had similar buildings that reminded them of Fengshu city.
The structures of the buildings became grander and grander every second they passed through the mountains.
After some time, they arrived before a large city on top of a mountain. Countless cultivators were flying to and from every direction.
Walls made from finely cut stones and strong ancient wood that was a dark auburn color, could be seen in every building. Ceramic tiles covered the roofs, showing a traditional eastern architecture throughout the entire city.
In the middle of the city was a tall and large building that seemed less luxurious than the royal palace in the Fengshu city, but was just as, if not, much more prestigious. Two gigantic stone statues of mythical beasts were placed by the entrance of the prestigious building.
The craftmanship was vividly detailed to the point where one would think that there were two actual mythical beasts standing guard of the building.
Wide and polished stone slates were used as steps towards the entrance which had three meter tall double doors that were left opened. The doors were not simply made out of strong timber, but as well with hard and tough jades that were artistically accented to the doors.
Finally, on top of the entrance was a wide silver plaque with carvings made out of jade that said: "Main Hub"
Zed and the others were mildly overwhelmed by the amount of people who were entering and exiting the building. It was crowded, but not to the point where one would bump into someone.
All the people there wore the same hanfu clothing, just like the disciples who participated in the discipleship event.
All the disciples they met, regardless of whether they were an outer, inner, or even core disciple, bowed their heads when they saw their senior sister, Han Qiuyue.
Meanwhile, the latter didn't even seem to notice them as she proceeded to lead the group of youths and entered the building.
The interior of the building was large and spacious. The ground was tiled with marble and on the middle were multiple unique-circles with written inscriptions.
What surprised Zed and the others was the way a group of disciples would suddenly appear and disappear whenever they stood on the said circles.
'Teleportation?' Zed thought.
There were numerous large circles, but they were placed systematically so that the incoming people would have enough room to walk on. At the same time, there was also an entrance and exit path, so those who were going to use the circle had no need to collide with those who just appeared and exited the circle.
Ching! Ching!
Every time the circle was activated, a ringing sound ensued as the people who stepped inside the circle became particles of light that dashed upwards. Similarly, if the circle were to receive people, particles of light would swiftly descend and reconstruct into the figures of the people.
Seeing that this was a normal occurrence, Meixiang, Lan'er, and Jingfei calmed themselves down and stopped minding the unnatural spectacle.
The situation outside remained the same inside, making Lan'er and Jingfei slightly bothered by the stares that the multiple disciples that they met, since not only would they blatantly stare at them, but they would also whisper among themselves.
However, since there were too many of them, the group of youths hardly understood a single sentence from any of them.
But what they did find out was that the reason that they were the center of this much attention was because of their senior sister.
Since the surroundings were quite noisy and slightly crowded, Meixiang, Jingfei, and Lan'er stuck closer to Zed who was directly behind Han Qiuyue.
Lan'er and Jingfei unconsciously grabbed on Zed's robes since they feared that they might get separated. Meixiang, on the other hand, was used to meeting large crowds so she was able to calmly analyze her surroundings.
Apart from their senior sister, Meixiang found out that the reason for them attracting attention was because of their appearances. While they were still youths, they were without a doubt, the most attractive youths.
Meixiang's brows twitched when she noticed several female disciples looking at Zed with gazes of adoration. It seemed that Zed's premature and yet handsome face tickled the elderly sister instincts inside them.
She was used to being admired and revered, but she was not used to seeing the person she liked being coveted by multiple female strangers. Regardless of whether they had good or evil intentions.
And so, she openly showed her displeasure towards them, but somehow, her change in attitude attracted more attention from the males around them.
Helpless, she sighed and decided to ignore the crowd entirely.
Meanwhile, Jingfei and Lan'er remained timid while hiding behind their brother's back. Neither one of them were comfortable with attracting countless gazes. What's worse was that they were more sensitive to human intentions, so they could tell that more than half of the crowd were looking at them with covetousness and possessiveness.
They understood that they were beautiful, but apparently, they were still considered one-of-a-kind beauties even in the Cleansing Jade Sect. Otherwise, the people around them wouldn't be looking at them with those kinds of gazes.
The two tried their best to copy their elder sister Mei and ignored the surroundings. They unconsciously stuck closer to their older brother, making Zed feel slightly cramped.
After walking for a few minutes, they arrived in front of a relatively smaller circle, but it was wide enough for seven to eight people to fit in.
Zed who had been observing the inscriptions realized that every circle had different inscriptions, and while he did not understand them, he analyzed several parts of them that was similar to the other circles.
To Zed, the inscriptions seemed to be some kind of formula, and as for what they entailed, he hoped to learn more about it soon.
"Step inside the array." Han Qiuyue said.
The group looked towards the circle markings on the floor.
"These circles are arrays?" Lan'er muttered loud enough for their senior sister to hear, but the latter simply ignored her.
Receiving no answer, the group sighed and followed their senior sister's orders.
Han Qiuyue joined them inside the circle and took out a token. They were not able to see what kind of token it was since it briefly flashed in green light.
Ching!
Just like that, Zed and the others found themself in a completely different place. Polished wood flooring, sophisticated and exquisite decorations, all of this, but the room was still decorated in a homely manner. The walls were made of jade while some of the decorations seemed to be made out of gold and marbles.
'Humble richness.' was the impression from Zed and the others after observing their surroundings.
After stepping out of the array, Han Qiuyue proceeded to walk through the room as if she owned the place. The small room had corridors on the left and right side of the room.
A moment later, an exasperated voice came from the right corridor,
"Yue'er... How many times did I tell you not to use that array. It's only an array used for emergency exits..." A man in his thirties spoke while entering from the right corridor.
Long black hair, a handsome clean shaved face, and a high bridge nose. He gave the impression of an authoritative leader, and yet, he was looking at them with a gentle and welcoming smile which made him seem like your friendly uncle from next door.
His brows slightly curved as he spoke in a curious manner. "It seems that we have guests." Before turning towards Han Qiuyue. "You seem to have returned a few months early..."
The latter only cupped her hands and bowed slightly. "Disciples greets master."
"En." The man nodded before asking, "So? What happened? Why did you return so early?"
The man questioned in an inquisitive voice, making the others feel that he was mildly upset.
Han Qiuyue continued to answer while bowing her head. "Yes. Disciple finished Master's orders and brought talented youths to the master. This disciple is looking forward to having multiple junior brothers and sisters."
Twitch.
The man's mouth slightly quivered as he spoke in an exasperated tone. "They were supposed to be your disciples!"
"But master! This disciple is too busy to teach disciples!" Han Qiuyue complained.
Aggrieved, the man bellowed. "What do you mean busy?! You stay inside your cave and do nothing but cultivate!"
Han Qiuyue refused to back down. "Precisely! I am busy cultivating!"
The atmosphere tensed as an imaginary spark could be seen between the master and disciple as neither side would give up.
The silence lasted for a while until eventually, Han Qiuyue bowed her head once more and hurriedly said. "Well then, this disciple shall fetch the juniors' identity tokens and clothes. I bid you well master."
After that, she dashed away towards the array and disappeared in a flash.
"You!-" The master was completely at loss on what to do. He sighed while massaging his temples.
'She really has a stubborn personality...' The master could only lament in silence before turning his attention towards the group of youths that his disciple left.
He blinked after realizing that all of them looked rather attractive. 'This disciple! I said with good aptitude not with good looks!'
Just before another vein would pop on his forehead, he used Qi to see the cultivation stages of the youths and-
Cough!
What?
The master rubbed his eyes once more and checked again.
'There is no mistake!'
One Infant Core formation realm, two peak qi foundation realms, and lastly, one at the middle qi foundation realm.
"H-how old are you children?"
"Sixteen." Meixiang answered.
Zed followed. "Sixteen."
Jingfei and Lan'er answered, "Twelve." and "Eleven." respectively.
'By the heavens!' The master paled and even forgot how to breath. He was even more speechless after learning their ages,
The only male in the group could already be considered a generational genius, but the other three girls? They possessed monstrous talents that had never been seen before.
The master unconsciously swallowed his saliva after confirming the talents of the youths in front of him.
After a minute or two, the master regained some of his composure and spoke in a calm and tamed tone. "Shall we move to another room?"
The youths nodded and they followed him as they moved to the next room. The corridors were quite narrow and short, making it seem like this house was designed specifically for one or two residents.
They entered a room with smoothened wooden floor boards. The doors were simple sliding doors with arts that depicted nature such as mountains, waterfalls, rivers, etc.
They found several poems which were written beside the art pieces which were most likely inspired from the actual reference material they used.
The master warm-heartedly placed a small table and four sitting pillows. After asking them to each take a seat, he began brewing tea.
The group did not wait long since, after a minute or so, the tea was done and its refreshing fragrant smell permeated through the air. The aroma was calming and refreshing, making the youths slightly look forward to its taste.
The master served them teas and the youths thanked him for it. Zed and the others were surprised by the quality of the tea.
They had never tasted such a good tea before.
The master smiled in satisfaction after seeing the reaction of the four youths.
They all drank the tea in silence, but not before complimenting the master. The master heartily thanked them for their compliments while waiting for them to finish their teas.
After the youths finished their tea, the master began to speak in a serious tone.
"Well then, shall we begin?"
Edited By: WorthyAdversary