Chapter 56

Chapter 56:

The Events That Followed // Time Skip

Today was their twenty third day of living in their new home and Zed, Jingfei, Lan'er, and Meixiang gathered around the dining table made out of sandalwood.

They were all eating a soup that Zed made with a rich broth from a rank 1 blue pheasant. Unfortunately, their Senior Sister forbade them from exploring the forest below unless they all reached the Nascent Soul Realm.

She explained that the Qi below was vastly different and the only reason that they were protected from it was because of the unique array their master set up on the mountain. The Qi below had unique properties which made it impossible for a normal cultivator to breathe, let alone move freely.

Not only that, but the beasts that dwelled within the forest were extremely fearsome that even their Senior Sister had to be cautious. As for why their quarters were built around such a dangerous environment, they did not receive the reason for it.

Zed and the others figured that similar to the eagle-shaped peak mountain, the environment on the floating island they were on was different compared to the environment they were used to on the planet.

In the first place, the island they were on was located in the planet's atmosphere. That alone was enough for them to not underestimate the creatures that lived in the forest.

In other words, after returning from their tour of the sect, they went back to their usual routine of staying inside the cave and training in their secluded rooms.

That was until one day, their master finally returned.

He assured Meixiang that she will no longer have to worry about other Elders like Elder Ren.

After that, he used the following days to test each and every martial prowess of his disciples.

Just as he heard from his eldest disciple, Meixiang and Lan'er seemed to possess a unique martial technique capable of injuring those who were above their realms.

Jingfei seems to also have the same level of martial arts, but his years of experience told him that his disciple Jingfei was not comfortable with the martial art techniques that she was using.

No matter how powerful it was, it was useless if the practiced martial arts wasn't her path.

She had the right weapon and the Sect Leader could tell that she was taught very well. However, because her martial arts were not for her, Her overall battle potential was limited.

After the Sect Leader inspected Jingfei's entire martial techniques, he instantly started thinking about which correct path would be for her.

After that, the Sect Leader viewed Zed's martial art techniques, and if he were to be blunt, then he would say that Zed was the most ordinary of them all.

His spear techniques were blunt and honest, but in terms of defending and evading, Zed's mind seems to be more creative. The Sect Leader could see that Zed was struggling to incorporate his creative mind into his spear technique.

The Sect Leader saw that Zed would hesitate to follow through with the ideas inside his mind. Maybe it was the lack of martial technique or maybe the spear wasn't his designated weapon.

Either way, the Sect Leader's evaluation of Zed was "Very average martial practitioner".

The only advantage Zed had among his peers was his cultivation talent, since at his age, geniuses would reach the infant stage of the qi foundation realm while the average ones would be in the 6th-9th Stage of the Body Tempering realm.

By the end of their assessment, the Sect Leader got a full understanding of what his new disciples were capable of.

-

Meanwhile, somewhere within the main hall. Elder Ren was pacing on the floor with a dubious expression.

"...I don't understand... they should have died...no, I'm sure they died but..."

He looked at the jade lanterns floating around him. They were all lit with azure flames.

"Then.... how?! Could they possibly still be alive? Or... did the Sect Leader keep them alive but are interrogating them about our organization?

...That could be possible.."

Elder Ren sighed before putting away the lit jade lanterns. For a while, he remained standing in one place while thinking of a possible way to somehow interfere with the current sect leader.

No matter what, he must not let the sect leader find out about the council otherwise, Elder Ren would let his ancestors down.

They had been planning this for years and he will not let it fail in his time.

Having said that, he must hasten his plans.

First off, he needed the support from another sect or organization in order to suppress the current Sect Leader.

Because he, as well as the council of great elders, would not be able to smoothly take the reigns. His grim reminder of his ancestor's death, where the past sect leader committed a massacre in the sect, would never be forgotten by himself.

And so now, he was pondering which backer he should ask for help.

The Pale Mammoth Sect was unlikely to support him since they were the very same benefactors after the sect's massacre.

'As for the Black Cloud Cult.... this one would be an extremely risky move... plus, they were the most suspected organization that killed our previous sect leader.'

'If one thing goes wrong, not only will I die but it would also lead to the sect's destruction.'

Though the council of great elders would want to take over the sect, they did not want to destroy the sect in the process.

'Meanwhile, the Lake Flower Pavilion.... As a part of the Imperial Ming's faction, we cannot rule out the possibility that they were the ones behind the assassination under the orders of Emperor Ming...'

He sighed as he found himself in a dilemma.

A long amount of time had passed and Elder Ren remained standing in the same position like an immovable mountain.

Eventually...

"Hu.... We have no choice... Let us ally ourselves with..."

-

With constant scheming and covert movement from Elder Ren and his faction, the atmosphere in the peaceful Cleansing Jade Sect became tense.

During this time, the Sect Leader issued a command to the elders and great elders, drafting them one by one to the frontlines in the war with the Black Cloud Cult.

With this issue, he could erase the suspicion of the disappearing elders and great elders within the sect, but in turn, this alarmed both their ally and enemy sects. The Black Cloud Cult also began sending out their elders in order to help in the frontlines.

The Pale Mammoth Sect were very worried about what had caused the Cleansing Jade Sect Leader's abrupt command.

Just like that, the continuous war intensified and continued to be this way for the next four years.

Both the Black Cloud Cult and Cleansing Jade Sect suffered numerous casualties, but they had not gone to an all out war in fear of a third party taking advantage of their situation.

Within these four years, the Cleansing Jade Sect grew more and more tense as most members of the Council of Great Elders were being drafted to the war.

Many elders died which caused numerous core sect disciples to lose their statuses.

This caused another tremor within the disciple society since most core sect disciples were arrogant, greeting the ire of those they wronged after their arrogant selves fell from grace.

Factions had also begun to form from within the sect. The once united society of the sect became more and more diverse due to the lack of elders watching them.

One must remember that Cleansing Jade Sect was a very large and prestigious sect, a sect with a very rich history.

Which is why the main sect including the branch sects were capable of housing over a million disciples.

In which 60% of them were inner sect disciples.

Again, if you must recall, the reason for the sect to have numerous inner sect disciples was because many disciples did not have the talent to break through to the next realm and were stuck at their bottleneck.

A core formation realm expert could easily live for about 200 years or so, which is why many of those Inner Sect Disciples were over a hundred years old and chose to stay in the sect in hopes of luckily breaking through to the next realm.

Anyway, the oldest Inner Sect Disciples were forming their own factions and were influencing the younger generations.

The Sect Leader wished he could do something about this, but at the same time, he was worried about the Council of Great Elder's next move.

The Sect Leader already knew his enemies' intentions. If they could not harm them, then they would simply harm those connected to him which were his disciples.

Which is why he forbade his disciples from going out from their current island.

Fortunately, his disciples were earnest in cultivating, just like their senior sister disciple.

But what differed them from the latter was that his new disciples were more united and caring to each other. They regarded each other as family despite not sharing a single drop of blood.

He was also grateful to them because their senior sister disciple, Han Qiuyue's, attitude became less reclusive as she began acting like the eldest sister amongst them.

She taught and offered them guidance in their martial art techniques. She also started hunting beasts for Zed and the others to cook.

Not only that, but this was what surprised the Sect Leader the most, his eldest disciple actually started sharing meals with them.

This was a huge and shocking change to someone who he remembered as someone who was an incredibly stubborn loner.

Of course she may be acting out of her duties as the senior sister, but still, she was starting to change. He had never seen her speak so much even when she was a child.

Seeing all this, he thought that his choice was correct 

...Even if he was running out of time.

The Sect Leader inadvertently let out a sigh as he watched his disciples sit around a wooden table, eating a heartwarming meal inside the spacious dome-like cave.

Four years had passed since he adopted his talented disciples and he couldn't help but think that time flew so fast.

But, despite that, the relationships between his disciples never changed as they still sat at the very same dining table with the same seat arrangement since they started living here.

His eldest disciple, Han Qiuyue, maintained her original appearance and one might think that she hadn't changed at all.

But if they had seen the way she treated her junior disciples, they would think that the always stone cold and arrogant elder had mellowed out.

Xia Meixiang, was the one considered as the second eldest sister amongst his disciples. Her strong and authoritative personality had consolidated, which made everyone think that they were looking at an Imperial Empress.

Her entire attitude and demeanor changed into one that resembled an honorable figure. Her upright posture and elegant manner made one feel inferior to her in every aspect.

She had long, golden blonde hair that was freely let down her back, covering her soft jade nape. Her phoenix eyes grew more intensified which complemented her ruby irises.

Accompanying the beautiful mature face was a very well-endowed body. A jade skinned body that would seduce countless men even if she was dressed in proper robes.

One could only admire her from afar, lest they suffer from overstepping their boundaries. As pleasant and beautiful as Meixiang may seem, just like a phoenix; one would be burned by its flames if they ever got too close to it.

So, people may only admire her from afar.

Of course, this didn't apply to her sibling disciples since Meixiang's treatment of them had never changed. She would still tease her best friend, Zixin, but her jokes these recent years had been more reserved compared to when she was in her teens.

Next was Li Zixin, the kind and caring older brother amongst his disciples, but to his eldest one, Zixin was treated more as a curious little brother.

Originally, his eldest disciple treated Zixin coldly, but as time went on, the two developed a good relationship and Han Qiuyue always made time to teach Zixin whether it would be about martial arts or education.

If before, Zixin already possessed a superior body, he now had a body that belonged to an adult man despite only being twenty years old.

He was over six feet tall and his trained physique had fully matured. Maybe it was because of the environment of living inside a cave, but Zixin also possessed a snow white skin that would put other beauties to shame.

Long silky black hair that reached his back, cold and piercing gray eyes, sword-like eyebrows, a sharp nose, small lips and a beautiful jawline.

Without a doubt, his disciple Zixin possessed unnatural beauty in masculinity. His tall and lean body was enough to catch other people's gazes, but seeing his face would leave others, especially women, in daze.

Among his disciples, Zixin seemed to be the only one whose personality never showed significant changes. He was earnest in his cultivation and studies, but he didn't seem interested in anything that did not involve him or his sisters.

From time to time, the Sect Leader would have a drink with his only male disciple and whenever they did, the Sect Leader would always find himself speaking to an adult.

It seems that even from a very young age, his only male disciple has a mature personality.

His next disciple was Shi Jingfei. Among all his disciples, Shi Jingfei had the most bright and refreshing personality.

Her kind and welcoming attitude had not changed much since her childhood as the Sect Leader would always find himself smiling whenever seeing her.

She wore a contagious bright smile that drew happiness and joy outside of people. Though her personality had not changed, her appearance certainly did.

Far from the innocent child body, she now possessed a figure befitting of her age with peaking mounds from both her bosom and hips.

She had willow brows complementing her round gentle yellow eyes, a small nose, and cherry lips on her adorable round face.

She seemed as if she was a doll made by the heavens.

Similar to Zixin, she had long black hair that was set free on her back. Through her personality and vibe alone, she was able to make one smell the scent of spring, the most refreshing season in which most people would want to reminisce.

Lastly, his disciple Xue Ruolan. If the Sect Master were to be blunt, then this disciple of his was the most peculiar of them all. She rivaled her senior sister disciple, Meixiang, in terms of talent and power, but what he finds the most peculiar about her was her unnatural attachment to her older brother, Zixin.

The Sect Leader was sure that this wasn't simply an affection coming from a younger sibling nor was it one that a child felt towards her guardian.

He had heard about their past, but he did not see how it caused his disciple's personality to grow up to be the way she was.

What the Sect Leader felt helpless about is that his disciple, Lan'er, is making her older brother the image of her dao heart.

...Which also means that if her older brother dies, so will her heart.

As much as he wanted to change or redirect his disciple, he could not if the person herself refused to do so.

She understood the arduous path she would walk on and she confidently stated that she was prepared to face it.

After hearing that, what else could the Sect Leader say?

Naturally, he could no longer discourage the will of his youngest disciple since at that moment, he understood that the reason his youngest disciple walked on the path of cultivation was for her brother's sake.

Riches, fame, influence, authority- she was not interested in any of this. The only thing that she cared about was being powerful enough to protect both her and her brother's happiness.

There were probably more goals and ambitions that she had not stated, but the Sect Leader already had a vague understanding of them and did not pry any further into her personal desires.

Looking at his youth- now adult disciples, He once again made a long sigh.

Just as he was about to walk up to them, his right arm trembled violently, which caused his expression to slightly crumple.

Judging by the way he reacted, the pain that he experienced was enough to make a Nascent soul realm master react.

But at the same time, seeing as how he did not do anything about it, this pain he felt seemed to be a recurring condition in which he was already used to.

Taking a few moments to calm himself, he took a deep breath and endured the pain.

Moments later, the pain passed, but this left him taking sharp breaths and sweat started beading on his forehead.

He took a second to clean himself before walking towards his disciples.

"How could you start eating a meal without this old man?"

His eldest disciple, Han Qiuyue, scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You don't look like an old man at all."

'As usual, this brat is still rude.' The Sect Leader chuckled. 

"Master! Here, I saved one for you!" Jingfei offered him one bowl full of hot soup freshly served from the pot.

"Ah Fei'er, you still care for this old man..."

The Sect Leader's eyes trembled exaggeratingly while speaking his lonesome sentiments.

After receiving the bowl, he thanked Jingfei before joining them in their meal.

Cultivators no longer needed to eat since their qi was enough to serve as nutrients to their body, but they continued to do this practice for the past 4 years.

After their wholesome and fulfilling meal ended, the Sect Leader released a breath of satisfaction before speaking in a serious tone.

"The annual tournament has come."

With that statement, he looked at his four disciples.

"And the four of you are required to participate."

Edited By: WorthyAdversary