The next day, Ye Fan was making his way to the heaven steps of the inner sanctuary which would led him inside to the inner sanctuaries of the Cloud Proud Sect and that was what Fairy Xuan Xueqi had instructed for him to do.
On the pretext of instructing him on the cultivation methods, she had asked him to go to her palace.
Ye Fan was actually still feeling quite gloomy after what had happened last night; not only was his secret discovered by Fairy Xuan Xueqi, she had also destroyed the divine inscriptions that were left behind by Senior Ji Yuan and Senior Xiang Li.
In this life, he would never be able to find out what the secret inscriptions that were left by Senior Xiang Li was all about except from Fairy Xuan Xueqi herself.
And she had ensured that she was the only one that knows about it.
As soon as he had reached the bottom main gate, he saw that there were 20 inner protégés that were guarding this place; none of them were the local cultivators.
It was because there were no inner protégés from the surrounding vicinity until the very first martial meeting had occurred.
In short, Ye Fan was one of the very first batches to have joined as an inner protégé. The next martial meeting or the second martial meeting would probably be in 3 years' time but it was not unusual to delay it to as long as 5 years after the previous martial meeting.
He was about to take out his inner sanctum token when the 20 inner protégés which consisted of both men and maidens were all laughing in chorus, "So this is Senior Ye Fan…"
At first, he had thought they may be mocking him because in the cultivation stories, this was the fate of a newcomer and he would be despised upon and be mocked by the others.
But all the 20 inner protégés were suddenly bowing respectfully with their arms, "Our respects to Senior Ye Fan!"
Ye Fan asked weakly, "You know me?"
This was actually the very first time that he had met them and he did not know anyone of them. And they had even called him 'Senior' Ye Fan?
A male protégé in front who appeared to the leader smiled, "I am Jian Wuheng the Tearless Sword…"
When he had said that, there were chorus of laughter from the protégés around him.
One protégé was heard laughing, "Brother Wuheng actually has a nickname too. Hahaha…"
Another said, "He is afraid that Senior Ye Fan would not be able to remember him…"
Ye Fan said, "I am Ye Fan but I am not your senior. I am actually a new inner protégé…"
Jian Wuheng smiled, "Senior Ye Fan, you are mistaken. You are indeed our senior as you are a core protégé. We are all your inferiors! We have 6 other seniors in the Profound Cloud Sect. You are ranked 6th among the 7 seniors."
Ye Fan nodded with a sudden realization, "So I see. But how do you know me?"
Jian Wuheng grinned, "We have watched your battle imagery from the inner hall. That is how we have recognized you. We even know that you are ranked number 2 in our first martial meeting."
Ye Fan was actually expecting some hostilities on his firs trip to the inner sanctuary and he did not expect the group of inner protégés here would be so friendly to him; they would also eager to answer his questions without any hesitations.
So Ye Fan asked again, "Beside Wang Meng and Chen Yuyan, so I have 4 other seniors too? I wonder whose core protégés do they belong to?"
Jian Wuheng grinned again, "3 are under our Acting Leader Huo Tianba. 1 is under Elder Leader Yu Haixian and as for Fairy Xuan Xueqi… you are her first core protégé."
Ye Fan was surprised, "I am her first core protégé?"
Jian Wuheng grinned even broadly, "Her ever first protégé. Senior Ye Fan, you are so lucky. Hahaha…"
Many of the protégés were even muttering, "Fairy Xuan Xueqi is so beautiful and like the heavenly fairy. Senior Ye Fan is so lucky to see her everyday…"
Ye Fan bitterly smiled; if they know that he was here to kill the Witch Xuan Xueqi then they would probably lynch him to the death.
He said to them, "I see, thanks for the helpful tips. I am actually here to look for my Mistress Fairy Xuan…"
"Hahaha…" Jian Wuheng laughed, "Look at me. I've almost forgotten about this…"
Then he shouted loudly, "Junior Sister Lin Xinmin. It's time for you to help our Senior Ye Fan here."
A beautiful maiden that was as lovely as Chen Yuyan had stepped forth with a soft giggle, "Junior Sister Lin Xinmin pays my visit to Senior Ye Fan! I will be your guide to the palace of the Fairy Xuan Xueqi. This place is very big so you may easily get lost."
Ye Fan was actually quite surprised that this Lin Xinmin also looked quite friendly so he said, "Thanks for being my guide. I really appreciate this…"
But before he had finished, Lin Xinmin had already pulled his hands up to the heavenly steps.
Ye Fan was startled; it was because this was the very first time that a maiden had touched him so intimately and he could feel the softness of her hand.
In fact, her hand was so tender and warm that Ye Fan was feeling quite flustered as he followed her.
However, he did not put his guard down because in the cultivation stories, many great future heroes were all framed by a lovely face. For all he knows, this maiden here may be trying to lead him to a place to humiliate a newcomer like him.
Or maybe she was creating an opportunity for the others to create a handle against him by accusing him later of 'molesting' her later.
He made a mental note not to be alone with her, just in case.
Lin Xinmin asked him with a soft giggle as they walked up the heaven steps together, "I wonder if Senior Ye Fan has any beloved?"
Ye Fan thought that it was suspicious that she would suddenly ask him this and this may be a honeytrap for him.
The more inexperienced he was, the better it was for her.
So he put on a straight line to answer, "I do have a beloved. In fact, I have many in the past but we have broken up."
Lin Xinmin looked a little disappointed but she was soon asking, "Is it Senior Sister Chen Yuyan?"
Ye Fan: …
"No. She is from a local village around here."
Lin Xinmin then grinned, which surprised him and she soon explained, "Then this relationship won't last for too long. She isn't a cultivator. Also, she will age very fast and will also die very fast."
Ye Fan: …
She is cursing my beloved?!
But then he quickly calmed down.
This 'beloved' was actually a fabrication person anyway.
But whatever good impression that he had with the Profound Cloud Sect was destroyed by this Lin Xinmin.
He thought: The Profound Cloud Sect is really such a ruthless sect…
This only steeled his heart to kill the Witch Xuan Xueqi and to wipe out her celestial sect.
As he went up to the heaven gates and into the inner sanctuary where the loftier mountains were, he was startled by the beautiful views and the many beautiful palaces that were in this place.
This splendid view was 100 times better when he was at the lower mountains!
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Author Note:
1. This is actually the start. The first 17 chapters are just a backstory *chuckle*
2. For this story, I didn't want to start off with a normal celestial sect and explore the concept of a destroyed celestial sect that is being taken over. I didn't think anyone has written this before and this may be an interesting concept.