After breakfast, there was still a little under an hour before work began. Ren Shengping did not linger to chat with Chu Shaoye and summoned his Natal Spirit Companion, a Tier Two Three-Tailed Azure Ox.
The Three-Tailed Azure Ox was pale blue-green all over, with a pair of long, crescent-shaped horns on either side of its head. A third of the way down, its tail branched into three.
The Three-Tailed Azure Ox was considerably larger than the One-Eyed Ox, and its temper was much fiercer.
Ren Shengping mounted the Three-Tailed Azure Ox and waved at Chu Shaoye. “Brother Chu, I’m heading to work now. Once you get your Identity Jade Token, I’ll show you around the Sect.”
Chu Shaoye waved back and returned to his room only after watching Ren Shengping leave.
Steward Fang had said yesterday that someone would come today to take him to the Personnel Hall, but Chu Shaoye did not know exactly when. With nothing else to do, he cleaned his room.
It was not until the sun was high in the sky that someone finally flew over from the distance.
The newcomer appeared to be a girl of fifteen or sixteen, dressed in white robes with crimson flowing-cloud patterns embroidered along the hem and cuffs.
All disciples of the Crimson Firmament Sect had to wear uniforms. The girl wore an Outer Disciple uniform. The flowing-cloud patterns on Inner Disciple uniforms covered a larger area and were more elaborate, making the two easy to distinguish.
Menial Disciples, by contrast, wore gray uniforms with only a palm-sized flowing-cloud pattern embroidered on the chest. Both the fabric and the workmanship were of a considerably lower grade.
The girl knelt on a cloud glowing with reddish light. It resembled the sunset clouds on the evening horizon, yet moved with such liveliness that it seemed to have a life of its own.
Before Chu Shaoye could speak, the girl called out to him. “You must be Chu Shaoye. Hurry up and get on. Any later and the people at the Personnel Hall will be off to lunch.”
Chu Shaoye could only climb onto the cloud first and sit cross-legged on it. The cloud had a distinctive feel, like a mass of fluffy cotton, but with a refreshing coolness.
The girl turned her head to speak to him. “My name is Ji Yuntong. Steward Fang is my master. Something came up this morning, so I’m late. Sorry about that.”
Chu Shaoye shook his head. “I’m the one troubling you, Senior Sister Ji.”
Ji Yuntong had a favorable impression of this handsome, polite youth. She asked, “You look quite young. How old are you?”
Chu Shaoye answered, “Twelve.”
Ji Yuntong was a little surprised. “You’re quite tall. I thought you were at least fifteen, like me. I didn’t expect you to be so young. There’s quite a lot of work in our Crimson Firmament Sect, but don’t worry. Master told me he would arrange an easier job for you.”
He had not expected that Tier Four Spirit Core to prove useful even here. Chu Shaoye smiled faintly. “Thank you, Steward Fang and Senior Sister Ji, for looking after me.” You are reading on NovelPing, the official source.
Seeing that Ji Yuntong was easy to talk to, Chu Shaoye asked, “Senior Sister Ji, I’ve never seen a Spirit Companion like yours before. What species of Spirit Beast is it?”
Ji Yuntong patted the cloud beneath her. “You mean Cotton Candy?”
“Cotton Candy is a Sunset Cloud Beast, a specialty of our Crimson Firmament Sect. It’s a mutated variety of Cloud Beast. Aside from its color, it’s also somewhat stronger than an ordinary Cloud Beast.”
“Whenever crimson sunset clouds light up the evening sky, the Cloud Beasts on Cloudtop Peak have a chance of mutating into Sunset Cloud Beasts. If you like them, you can go try your luck and catch one.”
Chu Shaoye nodded. “Thank you for explaining, Senior Sister Ji.”
So it was a mutated Cloud Beast. Cloud Beasts were Tier Two Spirit Beasts that lived among the clouds and looked no different from drifting clouds. Ji Yuntong’s mutated Cloud Beast had roughly the strength of a Tier Three beast, making it decidedly stronger than an ordinary Cloud Beast.
The Sunset Cloud Beast flew quite quickly. Before long, they arrived at the Personnel Hall, and Ji Yuntong took Chu Shaoye inside to obtain his Identity Jade Token.
The registration disciple took out a jade token and had Chu Shaoye inject a wisp of Spiritual Qi into it, then sealed it using a special technique.
Each person’s Spiritual Qi was different. When disciples of the Crimson Firmament Sect needed to prove their identities, they only had to inject Spiritual Qi into their jade tokens again, and the tokens would emit a faint glow.
If someone tried to use another person’s Identity Jade Token, the injected Spiritual Energy would differ from the Spiritual Energy sealed within, and the Identity Jade Token would shatter immediately.
The Identity Jade Token was soon ready. Ji Yuntong then asked, “Does the medicinal garden still need anyone?”
The registration disciple checked and replied, “Senior Sister Ji, you’ve come at just the right time. There happens to be one opening left.”
Ji Yuntong smiled. “Perfect. Assign it to Junior Brother Chu, then.”
The registration disciple acknowledged her and was just about to record Chu Shaoye’s information when an arrogant voice rang out.
“Hold on.” Enjoying the story? Read on at novelping.com.
The newcomer appeared to be a young man in his early twenties. He was thin, with his head held high and an arrogant expression.
“I want that job. Register my man first.”
Behind him followed a middle-aged man, bowing and scraping, dressed in a Menial Disciple’s uniform.
Ji Yuntong frowned at the sight of him and said unhappily, “Wang Zhi, do you understand the meaning of first come, first served?”
Wang Zhi glanced at her as though he had only just noticed her. “Oh, isn’t this Junior Sister Ji? What are you doing here?”
He clearly knew the answer already. Unwilling to engage with him, Ji Yuntong told the registration disciple, “Hurry and register us. Some filthy thing seems to have wandered in here. The stench is unbearable.”
Wang Zhi’s expression darkened. Ji Yuntong was plainly insulting him. He slammed his palm onto the counter. “Let’s see who dares register him!”
The registration disciple groaned inwardly. Although they were all Outer Disciples, both Ji Yuntong and Wang Zhi had powerful backers. He could not afford to offend either of them.
He said cautiously, “Why don’t Senior Brother and Senior Sister discuss it first? Once you’ve decided who should get the job, I’ll register them.”
Ji Yuntong glared at him. “What is there to discuss? We came first, so of course you should register Junior Brother Chu.”
Wang Zhi said coolly, “Since when have jobs been assigned on a first-come, first-served basis? They’ve always gone to the most capable.”
He pushed the man behind him forward and pointed at him. “Hou San has been a Menial Disciple for over ten years. He knows all the Sect’s affairs inside out and can handle the work with ease.”
“Caring for Spirit Plants is delicate work. Naturally, it should be done by an experienced veteran like Hou San.” He looked at Chu Shaoye, a trace of contempt flashing in his eyes.
“As for this wet-behind-the-ears brat, he’s bound to be clumsy. Can he really handle delicate work like caring for Spirit Plants?”
Ji Yuntong’s face flushed with anger. “You… That’s nothing but twisted reasoning!”
On the surface, Wang Zhi was talking about Chu Shaoye, but he was actually taking a jab at her master, Fang Qingshan. Fang Qingshan had somewhat less seniority than Steward Wang, but was stronger.
By this point, Chu Shaoye understood what was happening. Wang Zhi was probably a relative of Steward Wang. Steward Wang and Steward Fang were competing for the position of Elder, and there was plenty of friction between their factions.
He now counted as a member of Fang Qingshan’s faction, so naturally he was being targeted as well.