Shock filled the entire hall.
Three kowtows and nine bows, which was clearly a formal apprenticeship ceremony.
Yuan Wuji, the second elder of the Lingxiao Sect, was the first to react. His expression changed drastically, and he rebuked, “Boy, do you know who is sitting on that seat?”
As soon as those words were spoken, the remaining elders immediately reacted and stood up one after another.
He Heyum had never taken on any disciples. If Jiang Qiran were to enter his sect, would he not become his very first disciple?
This little brat had neither talent nor background, yet he was about to become He Heyum’s chief disciple. If word got out, would it not make those old fogies at the Misty Palace laugh their teeth out?
Today, apart from Sect Master Jiang Yuhuai and First Elder Chen Xingzhi, almost all the other elders of the Lingxiao Sect were present.
Every few years, the sect recruited disciples from the outside world. Major immortal cultivation families would send children of appropriate age with decent aptitude to apprentice, seeking the sect’s protection.
In recent years, however, the aptitude of the people sent by the immortal cultivation families had become increasingly uneven. Apart from Jiang Zhouhao under the First Elder’s tutelage, the rest were utterly mediocre.
This second young master of the Jiang family today, although born into the same family as Jiang Zhouhao, possessed completely different aptitudes and harbored plenty of scheming thoughts.
What was the meaning of these three kowtows and nine bows? Was he trying to force He Heyum into taking him as a disciple?
Normally composed and solemn, Yuan Wuji was so furious that his beard and eyebrows were twitching.
In his boiling anger, he actually wanted to slap Jiang Qiran away on the spot. The several elders nearby turned pale with shock and hurried to hold him back.
An elder holding onto Yuan Wuji sighed repeatedly and bowed toward He Heyum, pleading, “Immortal Venerable Wuhan, please think twice!”
Jiang Qiran, kneeling on the floor, trembled at the shoulders upon hearing this.
He had heard of the moniker Immortal Venerable Wuhan, as those four characters were renowned throughout the entire Cangming Continent.
There were ten elders in the Lingxiao Sect in total, but most of them were juniors. Given He Heyum’s status, standing on equal footing with the other elders seemed somewhat inappropriate.
Because He Heyum resided on Wuhan Mountain within the Lingxiao Sect, people eventually came to call him Immortal Venerable Wuhan, equating his status to that of the Sect Master.
There could be many elders, but there was only one Immortal Venerable Wuhan.
Jiang Qiran’s fingers slowly curled inward, as he could not guess what kind of attitude He Heyum held.
He knew his own aptitude was mediocre, and originally he had hoped to use a few petty tricks to latch onto a benevolent elder, never expecting to run straight into Immortal Venerable Wuhan of the Lingxiao Sect.
His mind was in complete turmoil.
What if he was rejected? Would he be driven away?
He thought once more of his parents’ hopeful gazes, alongside the disgusted, back-and-forth shunning of the Lingxiao Sect elders, making his heart feel unbearably sour and painful.
“Silence.”
The person before him spoke abruptly.
The entire grand hall stagnated for a split second before falling completely quiet.
Jiang Qiran stiffened in place, his forehead pressed tightly against the white jade brick floor of the hall, his palms already slick with a thin layer of sweat.
The warm touch that fell upon the crown of his head made his whole body shiver.
Then, that cold, clear voice rang out once more.
“I was unaware that the Jiang family actually possessed the art of fate reversal.”
Upon hearing these words, everyone raised their heads in disbelief.
Yuan Wuji widened his eyes, asking, “What?”
He strode forward in two or three steps and pulled the kneeling Jiang Qiran to his feet, and this time no one dared to stop him.
A wave of probing spiritual energy entered Jiang Qiran’s dantian. After a brief moment, Yuan Wuji’s expression completely changed. “A peerless cultivation meridian, but why can he not circulate spiritual energy?”
He Heyum kept his hands behind his back, lowering his gaze to look at the bewildered Jiang Qiran.
Meanwhile, Jiang Qiran stared blankly at He Heyum.
Earlier, constrained by pressure, he had not dared to look closely, only feeling that this immortal brother with lowered eyes and restrained expression was supremely cold and detached, resembling precisely the Buddha statues his mother took him to worship in temples when he was young.
Now that he spoke, he looked even more like a divine sculpture placed in a temple to receive incense, suddenly endowed with a soul.
Clear as the breeze and bright as the moon, like a branch of jade orchids, simply standing there made one dare not look straight at him.
To look a second time felt almost like a desecration of the immortal. Jiang Qiran hurriedly withdrew his gaze and prepared to bow his head once again, but was gently supported by a wave of moderate spiritual energy from He Heyum.
“You need not bow. I will not take you as a disciple.”
“However, I am able to lift this wicked art of fate reversal for you.”
He Heyum’s expression remained indifferent, as though nothing in this world could cause his emotions to fluctuate. “Think carefully. Is there anyone around you who has suffered the exact same encounter?”
Jiang Qiran pressed his lips together in thought before speaking in a low voice, “I heard from my mother that my father was once a genius within the family, but later on, for some unknown reason, he could no longer circulate spiritual energy. His meridians became blocked, and he became a useless person.”
“What is your father’s name?” He Heyum inquired.
Jiang Qiran kept his head down, nervously picking at his fingers. “Jiang Letian.”
Yuan Wuji’s hand paused in stroking his beard. “It is actually him!”
“I was wondering how Jiang Letian, who used to be a renowned figure on the list of prodigies, suddenly vanished into obscurity. Sure enough, there was something fishy going on!”
“It looks like the scope of this fate reversal art is exceptionally wide!” Yuan Wuji slammed his hand heavily onto a table, startling the group of elders nearby who were still deep in thought. “To think such an audacious act exists under the heavens! Little child, rest assured, the Lingxiao Sect will certainly uphold justice for you!”
Although Yuan Wuji looked rigid and pedantic, he was someone who never went back on his word.
He Heyum gave system Xiao Jiu a thumbs-up in his sea of consciousness. “As expected, the best way to avoid awkwardness is to change the subject.”
Xiao Jiu raised its head happily and chuckled, evidently quite pleased with the praise.
The system had hurriedly searched the original book to piece together the cause and effect, allowing He Heyum to successfully act cool once again.
He Heyum glanced sideways at the dazed and clueless Jiang Qiran. “However, why did I not see this name in the original book? Is my memory bad, and I forgot? Remind me, what was this kid’s ending in the end?”
System Xiao Jiu replied, “The original book did not actually waste many words describing him. Do you remember Jiang Zhouhao?”
He Heyum nodded, indicating that he remembered.
Aside from the original host, Jiang Zhouhao was also an antagonist with a significant amount of screen time.
Neither he nor his master Chen Xingzhi were any good, as they specialized in using their power to oppress others and bullying the weak.
In satisfying web novels about grassroots counter-attacks, there are always a few recurring villainous characters courting death, and they were the typical cannon-fodder master-and-disciple duo.
Their main purpose was simply to set off the protagonist’s halo.
Jiang Zhouhao thought very highly of himself, relying on a shred of his own talent to bully the protagonist Chi Yuan, while Chen Xingzhi heavily indulged his disciple, turning a blind eye to bullying.
In the end, both of them suffered face-slaps and were tortured to death by the vengeful Chi Yuan.
“Jiang Zhouhao and Jiang Qiran swapped fates, and this Jiang Qiran, who was supposed to be a genius…”
Xiao Jiu’s glow dimmed slightly, its tone carrying a hint of forbearance. “Because his aptitude was too poor, after being rejected by the Lingxiao Sect, he had no choice but to return to the Jiang family, only to encounter a beast tide along the way.”
“He, along with everyone accompanying him, did not survive.”