Xianhao Sect had a large number of disciples, and competition within the sect was fierce. In several hundred years, the Sixth Elder had only ever taken on this one disciple, Xu Yifan, plenty of people were sure to focus their attention on him once they arrived. If he wasn’t diligent and failed to advance his cultivation, he’d surely become a laughingstock. The Seventh Elder thought that, for the sake of face if nothing else, Xu Yifan would probably start applying himself without needing to be pushed.
Besides, with the two of them jointly supervising him, there was no way Xu Yifan would be able to keep sleeping in like this once they arrived.
So, while they still hadn’t reached the sect, might as well let him sleep for two more days.
Xianhao Sect was quite far from Xiaolin Village, even with a fifth-grade flying magic tool, it took two full days and a night to fly there. To accommodate the newly recruited disciples, the Seventh Elder had even slowed the ship down, and after drifting along for four days, they finally arrived back at the sect.
The town at the foot of Xianhao Sect’s mountain was lively, brightly lit even at night. Xu Yifan leaned against the ship’s railing, gazing down at the scattered lights below, a view even more dazzling than the starry river of the night sky.
The deck was packed with disciples who’d come out to admire the scenery. Through the layers of the crowd, Xian Qinglin spotted Xu Yifan at a glance.
Xu Yifan had a naturally fair, soft baby face, and combined with his plumpness, even at sixteen he still looked like a bundle of childishness. When he smiled, his eyes curved like little boats, making him look exactly like an obedient, not-too-bright big kid.
And yet it was precisely this person that Xian Qinglin’s gaze fixed on as if glued there, unable to look away no matter what.
“Xu—”
He took a step, about to walk over, when Xu Yifan glanced his way, showed no expression whatsoever, and turned to leave.
Xian Qinglin’s footsteps stopped. Mocking himself, he murmured under his breath the words he hadn’t managed to say in time: “…Yifan.”
…
Ma Xiu’s soul lamp had long since gone dark. The moment the flying ship returned to the sect, Ma Xiang arrived, his face grim, looking ready to devour someone alive. He demanded harshly, “Sixth Elder, Seventh Elder, what exactly happened to my son?”
Just as the Sixth Elder was about to speak, Ma Xiang swung a palm strike at him. “Give me back my son’s life.”
The Sixth Elder knocked him flying with a single palm strike. “Have you lost your mind? I’m not the one who killed your son.”
“Not you, but he went out under your leadership. He died, don’t you bear any responsibility for that?” Ma Xiang said.
The Sixth Elder snorted. “What responsibility would I bear? My job is recruiting disciples, not being his personal bodyguard. And didn’t the Sect Master say before we left, life and death are one’s own responsibility? He insisted on coming along himself. Now that something’s happened, you blame me? What nerve.”
Recruiting disciples meant traveling thousands of miles, typically covering the entire Savage Continent, there was no guaranteeing something wouldn’t go wrong along the way. The cultivation world was a matter of kill or be killed, dangers lurking everywhere, losing one or two people was simply unavoidable. At times like this, no one could blame the team leader for it.
Ma Xiang shook with fury. “You, you…”
“Enough.” The Grand Elder arrived, and seeing Ma Xiang still foolishly trying to attack the Sixth Elder, snapped, “Hall Master Ma, stop this nonsense.”
The Grand Elder carried tremendous authority, and Ma Xiang didn’t dare act rashly. He shot the Sixth Elder and Seventh Elder a resentful glare, then swept a heavy gaze over Xu Yifan standing behind them, before finally flicking his sleeves and storming off.
Xu Yifan’s eyes darted about, sweeping his gaze over Ma Xiang. A wicked, reckless smile suddenly spread across his face, that old bastard’s eyes had carried killing intent just now!
The demonic plant quietly poked its tip out from his robes and transmitted its voice to him. “Boss, our master doesn’t seem to be doing so well in the sect. Even some measly mid-Foundation Establishment ant dares to come throw his weight around in front of him.”
“Yeah!” Xu Yifan said. “Master really isn’t doing so hot. If it were me, I would’ve slapped that shifty-eyed thing across the face long ago instead of letting him swagger up like that.”
The demonic plant said, thoroughly scornful, “Boss, if it were you, you’d probably be stiff as a board by now. You’re only Qi Refining sixth layer, a Foundation Establishment cultivator could kill you as easily as slaughtering a pig.”
Xu Yifan: “…”
Xu Yifan stared at the demonic plant with a dark, brooding look, momentarily at a loss for words.
This infuriating thing.
If he’d known better, he never would’ve made this contract in the first place. After contracting for this long, he felt it hadn’t been the slightest bit useful, not only did he have to teach it how to behave properly, he also had to take care of its every need. What a total loss.
The Beiman Mountain area belonged to the southern part of the Savage Southern Region, and the south was under the recruitment charge of the Sixth Elder and Seventh Elder, while the east, west, and north were handled by the other elders.
This time, over three hundred people met the recruitment requirements, and the training grounds were packed black with people.
The newcomers had no sense of proper decorum. The elders sat up on the high platform, and though the crowd below felt some fear, they couldn’t help whispering among themselves, those in front blocked the view for the elders, and with so many people, the elders couldn’t see who was talking.
With so many whispering, the murmuring turned into a full-on clamor.
The Hall Master of the Discipline Hall felt a twitch at his temple and slammed his palm down on the table.
“Silence!”
The scene, like some farce, was suddenly hit with a pause button, instant silence fell.
His shout had been laced with spiritual energy. Disciples with lower cultivation felt their heads spin and their chests ache sharply, some of the weaker ones even collapsed straight to their knees.
Within the sect, aside from the Sect Master, the Sixth Elder, and the Seventh Elder, the other elders each cultivated an additional specialized discipline to some degree.
The Grand Elder cultivated the art of alchemy and served as Dean of the Pill Academy.
The Second Elder was Dean of the Talisman Academy.
The Third Elder was Dean of the Formation Academy.
The Fourth Elder was Dean of the Inscription Academy.
The Fifth Elder was Dean of the Artifact-Refining Academy.
The Martial Academy was jointly overseen by the Sixth Elder and Seventh Elder.
Xu Yifan, afraid of exposing himself in front of so many Golden Core elders, hadn’t dared to wear even a single one of his usual protective talismans. As a result, the shockwave of spiritual energy hit him with a sharp, twisting pain in his chest, as if someone had gripped his heart and torn at it viciously.
The Sixth Elder saw him clutching his chest, kneeling on the ground, face pale, vomiting blood repeatedly.
“Chubby boy,” his eyes went wide, and he hurriedly flew down from the platform.
The Seventh Elder followed right behind him. Seeing Xu Yifan drenched in cold sweat and looking terrible, he hastily pulled out a pill and fed it to him.
None of the assembled elders had actually met Xu Yifan before, but they’d all heard about him, their Sixth Junior Martial Brother had recruited a closing disciple this time, and word had it this disciple was, like their Sixth Junior Martial Brother, quite plump. None of them had gotten the chance to see him yet, and just now, up on the platform, they’d each sized him up with more or less deliberate glances, curious what could possibly stand out about this person, that their rascal of a Sixth Junior Martial Brother had taken such a liking to him.
Unfortunately, no matter how they looked, aside from being round and quite adorable overall, they hadn’t spotted anything particularly outstanding about him.
Now, seeing him lying limp as a dead pig in the Sixth Elder’s arms after being injured, they flew down from the platform as well.
The Seventh Elder asked, “How is he?”
Xu Yifan coughed a few times. His chest still ached, but not nearly as badly as before.
It was just that the pill… really wasn’t up to much. Taking it felt about the same as not taking it at all, nowhere near as good as the ones he refined himself.
“Thank you, Uncle-Master. Much better now.”
The Sixth Elder let out a breath of relief, then turned fierce, glaring with tiger eyes at Zheng Zhousheng, the Hall Master of the Discipline Hall. “You hurt my disciple, are you looking to die?”
“I…” Zheng Zhousheng felt utterly wronged. He’d meant to give the new disciples a deliberate show of authority to keep them in line, but he’d exercised restraint, the spiritual energy he’d just used shouldn’t have caused any substantial harm to cultivators at Qi Refining sixth layer or above, only made them feel some pressure.
Who could have guessed… this Xu Yifan was this weak.
“What’s with that look?” The Sixth Elder was displeased. “Are you looking down on my disciple?”
Zheng Zhousheng hastily withdrew his gaze, and seeing the Sixth Elder acting so protectively, quickly said, “Sixth Elder, you wrong me. Whoever else I might look down on, I’d never dare look down on your disciple!”
Everyone in Xianhao Sect knew that, back when the previous Sect Master had shielded him, the Sixth Elder had been “arrogant and overbearing,” with a temperament that bordered on unreasonable and a rather explosive temper, like a hornet’s nest that, thanks to his profound swordsmanship, no one dared to poke. Now that he’d finally taken on a disciple, guarding him like the apple of his eye, Zheng Zhousheng didn’t dare talk back at all.
Still not satisfied, the Sixth Elder pointed at Zheng Zhousheng angrily. “Hmph, this is my one and only disciple. If anything happens to him, you and I aren’t finished.”
The assembled elders looked at Zheng Zhousheng with some pity.
“Alright, alright.” the Seventh Elder said.
The Sixth Elder glared at Zheng Zhousheng once more.
“Chubby boy,” the Sixth Elder said to Xu Yifan. “Come sit up on the platform with me. My stool is big, I’ll share half with you.”
Two plump men squeezed onto one stool, sitting side by side, that image… Xu Yifan still had some dignity left, and didn’t want to become a laughingstock. “No thanks, I’m fine now.”
The Sixth Elder eyed him suspiciously. “You just coughed up blood, and you’re fine?” His expression turned somewhat disdainful. “Actually, is there something fishy about this Qi Refining sixth layer of yours? Over three hundred people on this field, every single one of them fine, and you’re the only one on your knees coughing blood. How can you be this weak? You…”
The Seventh Elder elbowed him. “Shut up.”
“What? The truth may not sound nice, but it’s still the truth.”
“Shut up.” the Seventh Elder said.
Xu Yifan: “…”
Saying it so bluntly like that, did this man have no shame at all? His Qi Refining sixth layer really had been propped up with pills, and it really wasn’t much to speak of, but couldn’t he be given a little face at least?
He had a big face, sure, but that didn’t mean he was thick-skinned!
“Why won’t you let me talk again?” the Sixth Elder asked, dissatisfied.
Xu Yifan pressed his forehead weakly, feeling his chest ache even more fiercely now.
Having ended up with a master like this, he wasn’t sure if it was too late to regret it.
Xianhao Sect’s first round of selection looked at cultivation level and bone age, the second round involved sending the new recruits to train in Qingyun Mountain, an area under the sect’s jurisdiction. The period lasted two months, with results measured by the inner cores harvested from slain demonic beasts.
First-grade demonic beast inner cores: at least six required.
Unranked-grade: at least eighty required.
Anyone who failed to meet this standard could simply go home.
Xu Yifan, having been injured and formally taken on as the Sixth Elder’s disciple, naturally didn’t need to participate. He was in high spirits about it, until he found himself standing beside a run-down cave dwelling, and the Sixth Elder told him, “You’ll be living here from now on.”
Xu Yifan: “…”
Even ordinary mortals got to live in a proper little brick-and-tile courtyard. Cultivators cultivated and cultivated, yet instead of turning into immortals, they seemed to be turning into monkeys instead.
Living in caves and all.
“Then where do you live, Master?” Xu Yifan asked.
The Sixth Elder pointed ahead. “Over there!”
Xu Yifan looked, it was also a cave.
Each elder had their own peak. Xu Yifan had previously assumed the mountain would have some immortal palace or small courtyard built on it, or at the very least a bamboo cottage. Instead…
He blinked. “Master, do the other Uncle-Masters also live in caves?”
“Of course not!” the Sixth Elder said. “We’re not monkeys, why would we live in caves? Their peaks all have proper houses and courtyards built on them. Quite grand, actually.”
Xu Yifan pointed at the rather cramped cave entrance and asked, “Then what’s going on with yours?”
“I’m not like them. I prefer simplicity. Those who cultivate the Path should value a clear mind and few desires.” The Sixth Elder’s eyes drifted somewhat evasively. “And besides, what is cultivation really about? Cultivation is about tempering one’s state of mind, being able to endure hardship, withstand suffering. Arrogance, extravagance, indulgence, greedy pursuit of pleasure, what kind of example would that set!”
Xu Yifan spat at him. “Pfft, what an excuse.”
The Sixth Elder kicked him. “Live here or don’t, I don’t care! Hmph!”
Xu Yifan sat gloomily inside the none-too-spacious cave dwelling. There was nothing in it at all, just a stone bed, with a meditation cushion on top, presumably for sitting cultivation.
Even the village pigsties back home were probably better than this.
Before leaving, the Sixth Elder instructed him, “Don’t go wandering around recklessly these next few days.”
Xu Yifan: “Why?”
“I’m afraid Ma Xiang might have you killed.” the Sixth Elder said. “That man is narrow-minded and full of dirty tricks, not a good person at all. He resents me, but he can’t do anything to me, so he might just take it out on you instead. There have been people in the sect before who provoked his son, and afterward I never saw them again.”
“Oh.” Xu Yifan’s eyes rolled around thoughtfully. After the Sixth Elder left, he sat on the stone bed for a while, his soft, plump backside finding even that uncomfortably hard.
The demonic plant, hearing him sigh nonstop, sat down beside him too, waving its two little leaves and imitating him. “Sigh… sigh…”
Xu Yifan: “…”
This exasperating thing!!