There was an uproar in the croud. People could not believe what they were seeing. The sect master actually personally came down and asked for someone to be his disciple.
Everyone was waiting for an answer. She couldn't possibly refuse the sect master, right?
Wrong!
That's exactly what she did. She didn't want to be separated from Zhenzhen not to mention being in an opposing sect that was tens of thousands of miles away. How would she protect Zhenzhen from here? She couldn't, so she refused.
Both her father and Zhenzhen knew how big of an opportunity this was.
"You can't be serious, for what reason did you refuse?" Her father said.
"Yeah, you can't miss such a good opportunity." Zhenzhen added.
""I don't want to be apart from Zhenzhen."
The sect master was stunned. He was refused for such a reason.
"Hohoho you refused to become my disciple to stay with your friend? How honorable. What does she think about this?"
I looked at Zhenzhen who had a determined look on her face. "Ill be fine you don't have to worry about me."
"Ill give you both a communication jade so you can keep in contact. Would you become my disciple now?" The sect master had a smile on his face
I looked at father and Zhenzhen, they both looked at me to make my decision.
I hated not being together with her. We had been together every day for the past five years, we had only been separated for a few minutes at a time.
I didn't know what I'd do with myself without her. I wanted to stay with her no matter what but I'd just be getting in the way of her future if I stopped her from joining the Five Elements Sect.
It took me a moment to decide whether to join the sect or not. I had to ask one last question before I made my final decision.
"Will we be able to see eachother soon?"
"You would need to be at the Nascent Soul realm to freely leave the sect." The sect master was expecting a gloomy expression but got a happy one instead. He was confused by this and immediately saw through her cultivation
'GOLDEN CORE!!!'
He grabbed her wrist and injected some qi.
'FUCK!!!'
He had never seen a foundation as solid as this.
He almost coughed up blood. Who would believe this, a ten year old Golden Core with a perfect foundation. We're his centuries of hard work pointless?
"Ill become your disciple!"
She pulled away from his grasp and reached her hand out as if expecting something.
"Ah. Here."
He waved his hand and gave his new disciple and her friend a communication jade.
"I've infused enough qi for them to last a year, your friend will need someone to periodically refill them until she can use qi."
"Thank you."
***
I now had a way to contact Zhenzhen even when we were apart. I was still sad because I had to leave her though.
I wouldn't be going back home after this because the sect would provide everything I need. Zhenzhen would also use the teleportation formation to go back to her sect and choose an elder as her master.
There were still a few hours until the end of the banquet so I had time to spend with Zhenzhen before we parted ways. I grabbed Zhenzhen's hand before running off, I left father to speak with my new master.
"Make sure to contact me every day. Tell me about everything that happens." I gave her a big hug. I was almost crying because I wouldn't be able to see her again until I broke through a large realm.
"I will. Don't forget about me." Zhenzhen said, sniffling.
"I would never, you're the most precious thing in the world to me."
We spent a few more minutes talking to eachother.
The rest of the day was spent hanging out and exploring together. A few hours passed by and it was finally time to say goodbye.
"I'm going to miss you."
Zhenzhen had tears in her eyes as she was about to be leaving her only friend to go somewhere she had never been before.
I leaned over and pecked her cheek as I always did when she got sad.
"We'll only be apart for a few years, I'll make sure to visit once I break through."
"I'll be waiting."
Zhenzhen had already known that her friend was at the Golden Core realm and that she had an insane speed of improvement. She knew she wouldn't have to wait too long to meet her again.
The pair waved to one another before parting ways. It would be a while before the two met in person again.
"We should get going now." Baek Hongs new master had said.
"Alright."
Master took a sword out of his ring and stood on it, he did this out of consideration for me as I couldn't fly yet. We both stepped on and started heading to the largest mountain in the center of the sect. The clouds were already below us, only the peaks of the mountains could be seen.
The sun had begun to set, illuminating the clouds, painting a picture of breathtaking beauty. The clouds looked like an ocean of fire and the shadows cast by the mountains had added a sharp contrast to the brightly lit clouds. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen.
The mountain in the center of the sect was enormous. The only part visible above the clouds was large enough to dwarf the other mountains entirely. There was a large building on top of the mountain that looked like an ancient castle. The sharp curves of the building were intimidating yet majestic. Dragons were in the place of pillars, they were so realistic I wouldn't be surprised if they came to life right now.
"This is where you'll be staying from now on." Master tossed me a storage ring with a few sets of robes in them. "They should match your size when you inject qi into them."
"Thank you." I bowed slightly.
"We'll have the ceremony to formally accept you as a disciple tomorrow, for today rest up."
Master showed me to a room that was in the northern corner of the building. Unlike my old room this one was way bigger. There was a small cave cut out of the wall and a mat for cultivation. The bed was huge and the room was massive. I could probably fit five of my previous room in this one.
There were many paintings inside of the castle, there were some of mountains and sunsets, or cranes and reeds. The one that stood out the most though was the painting of master. He looked like an ancient venerable master with his long white beard and sharp aura that could rend the earth. There were paintings in every room I saw as well. I had a painting of the mountains around the sect. All of them were skillfully made and captured the essence of the subject of the portrait perfectly.
I usually didn't care much for paintings but I liked the ones I saw here for some reason.
***
The same thing was happening to Zhenzhen. She had been taken to the sect to choose her master.
She had chosen to focus on her water element and therefore chose an elder with a water element affinity as well. Unlike her friend though she was taken to a building in the center of a large lake. Everything was small and sparsely decorated. She too would undergo the disciple officiating ceremony that was required of all disciples under a Core elder of the sect or sect leader.
They were both experiencing the same thing in a different location.
***
Sometimes things don't always go as expected and unexpected circumstances could interfere with a plan that had already been prepared... which is exactly what happened.
***
Later that night Baek Hong was waiting for Zhenzhen to contact her through the communication jade. It took a while to hear anything though.
When something finally came through the jade, Baek Hong had a hard time staying still. The smile that was originally on her face vanished and was replaced by pure rage.
'My disciple will not be communicating with you until she is able to contact you herself. It will only hinder both of your progress. Don't contact us again.'
She had almost crushed the jade in her hand upon reading this. The only reason she agreed to separate from Zhenzhen was because her master gave them a way to communicate.
Now what? Her master doesn't want us to speak because it will slow her cultivation?
She could not hide her killing intent, she was ready to go and teach Zhenzhen's master a lesson she would never forget.
Upon sensing his disciples killing intent he had arrived to see the communication jade he gave her on the floor with a crack in it.
After reading what it had to say he finally understood.
"Its for the best." He sighed and shook his head.