Chapter 45: Training grounds

Back in the outskirt of the outer yard, in the Red Cliff Faction, Chan Weifeng was rubbing his face with both hands.

Before him was Xue Rui. He was a talented alchemist so Chan Weifeng could not be too harsh on him, but he really wanted to strangle that damn playboy. The day before, he had made sure that everyone received the order not to offend anyone, especially not Cao Yun.

And the first thing Xue Rui did was to offend him right in the entrance of the alchemy pavilion. At least it wasn't too bad as he did not try anything funny. But then, Guest Elder Xiao personally came to show Cao Yun in. What the hell?!

Chief Elder Baishen seemed to want him as a student, or a guinea pig, and now Guest Elder Xiao gave him a personal lesson on alchemy. Knowing Chief Elder Baishen, Chan Weifeng understood her motivation. She was crazy about fighting and loved watching young talents rise. With her behind him, Cao Yun was sure to become stronger and stronger.

Alas, Guest Elder Xiao was very new to the sect and Chan Weifeng had no information on her.

Jiang Yifan whispered in his ear.

"From what I gathered, Chen Guo did not take the screening test because an elder vouched for him. First I thought Chief Elder Baishen had done it, but maybe it was Guest Elder Xiao."

Chan Weifeng could not be sure, but in any case, it was a disaster. Luckily, they had no bad blood with the boy. But trying to recruit him would be bad. Each time he saw their emblem, it meant trouble...

His eyes went back to Xue Rui. The young alchemist did not worry too much because he knew the faction would not be too harsh. Alchemists were really well respected. What he worried more about was Guest Elder Xiao. He would have to try and give her a better impression later on.

"Xue Rui, to make you reflect on your behavior, I'll forbid you to leave your quarters until the end of the week."

"Yes, Faction Leader." It wasn't so bad.

"And no one may enter your room as well. You'll be alone."

"Alone? You mean, alone with my concubines?"

"No! I mean, alone! Stop thinking about collecting women, that's what's causing you troubles!"

"But Faction Leader..."

"My decision is final! Accept it or leave the Red Cliff Faction!"

Xue Rui was not that great of an alchemist so he could not join a faction dedicated to the craft and he had some bad blood with the second biggest faction. Staying in Red Cliff was the best option for him. But one entire week?!

"Fine, Faction Leader, I understand."

Xue Rui was totally defeated. He left with the head low and depression in his face.

"Jiang Yifan. Why am I surrounded by trouble-makers? In two days, Chen Guo met three times with our members and three times he was insulted or worse. Why can't they just behave themselves?!"

"Senior Chan, we're the biggest faction in the Wubei Sect, we can't possibly control every single member. And being part of the faction can turn the heads of some young guys, I admit."

"Do you believe we can salvage it and rope Chen Guo in anyway?"

Jiang Yifan got really pensive for a while. "I doubt it would be easy. I already asked several people to watch him carefully. We'll analyze his character and figure something out to attract him."

"Fine. Give another warning to every member. Until the end of the week, no more problem. If they can't stay put, order them to stay indoors!"

-

In another room on the summit of the peak, Xiao Xuefeng was talking with a burly man, Chief Elder Bian, the head of the disciplinary pavilion.

"Miss Xiao, I understand your concerns but every rule was adhered to."

"So your Wubei Sect allows for a twelve-year-old girl to be beaten to death as long as she does not scream for help and is still alive at the end? Is that the moral code of your pavilion?"

"Miss Xiao, I'm not saying that this is not disgusting or appalling, please understand me. My duty is to uphold the law and strictly speaking nothing illegal was committed there. If I could beat up the dog who did it I would do so in person, but I can't. Just because I don't like something does not mean I can do whatever I want. My disciplinary pavilion must stay perfectly impartial under every situation. The sole purpose of my function is to strictly follow the letter of the law."

Xiao Xuefeng was not pleased at all.

"So that's your so called moral conduct?! I had heard great things about the Wubei Sect but you sure are greater than I thought. So great that you beat up little girls until they cough up blood."

Chief Elder Bian was visibly annoyed but sadly she was right. When Luduo Bu had beaten up the girl in the martial art pavilion he did adhere to the rules.

As they were arguing, Chief Elder Baishen came in. She was still in the middle of her paperwork but she had just finished the revised rules of her pavilion.

"Miss Xiao, what are you doing here?"

"Chief Elder Baishen?" Xiao Xuefeng was surprised, but she quickly remembered that the crime had happened under her supervision. "I'm here to denounce a crime in your pavilion!"

"What?! What happened Miss Xiao? I was busy with paperwork all day long. Tell me what happened and I'll punish the fool myself!"

"Yesterday the little sister of Mei Hua was almost beaten to death. Luckily she was saved at the last moment. I had to use my alchemy to help her get over it. And the disciplinary pavilion tells me that beating a twelve-year-old girl is perfectly fine." She said the last part while watching the poor Bian who did not know where to hide.

"Yesterday?! I know what you're referring to! I beat up the dog who did it myself!" Chief Elder Baishen lowered her head. "I'm sorry it ever happened... That's why I wrote some new rules about that. That bastard crushed the poor girl's throat to stop her from giving up and then destroyed her. The stupid disciples who watched idly by are all being punished by me personally." Chief Elder Baishen was really ashamed, but there was nothing more she could do.

"Wait!" Chief Elder Bian finally raised his head proudly. "You're sure about that?! He crushed her throat to stop her from talking?!"

"Yes, does it make a difference?"

"It might! I have to look through ancient rules but if he did it specifically so that she could not stop the fight, then this is no more a sparring session. Gather all the witnesses of the incident!"

Chief Elder Bian finally felt good about his job.

"Miss Xiao, I can only swear that I'll follow every rule possible to try and nail that bastard! Anyone who disrespects our rules must be punished!"

"What's the punishment he can receive?"

"Well, it depends on what we can precisely establish. But if it's proven that he did it on purpose, then this can be considered as cruel physical punishments on a servant. He cannot be expelled but he can suffer up to a hundred canings and three months in isolation."

"Thank you, Chief Elder Bian. I'm sorry if my tongue was harsh earlier."

"No, Miss Xiao. I understand completely, trust me. Even though I uphold the law impartially, it does not mean that I don't feel any outrage when I hear such stories. However, the law is always my priority. I know it might sound cold, but I take pride in my duty."

-

In a dark room, Luduo Bu was raging. He was using his halberd to destroy a wooden mannequin as his servant was curled up in a corner. Luduo Bu had never directly hit him as it could result in severe punishments but he was terrorized by him.

He had to find another faction to get in but his track record was bad. After only one year, he had to deal with the disciplinary pavilion on many occasions and even got punished several times. Without a faction, he knew that life was too difficult in the sect. But he could not figure out which faction could possibly accept him, especially because of this Cao Yun.

Everyone seemed to want to rope him in, so no faction would take the risk to offend him before he made his choice.

Someone knocked on his door. An evil look was sent to the poor servant. Terrified, he stood up and went for the door. Behind it was a man in a black and purple uniform, different from the one of the sect. On his uniform was an emblem with two fangs biting in a red flower. His face was completely covered.

"I'm sorry, my master doesn't want to receive anyone."

"Oh? He'll want to receive me." The man walked in by pushing the servant to the side and closed the door. His voice seemed really strange, almost as if several people were speaking at once.

-

Finally there was some calm within the Wubei Sect. During the following two days, Cao Yun strolled through the sect to locate every facility. Even though he remembered the map, he preferred to see everything by himself. During his walk, he met up with several other first-years like him. He even met with Ren Chao who was as loud as ever. However, he did not meet Sun Liao.

He focused on absorbing the medicinal essence of the Frozen Heart Pill and advancing his cultivation. The training of Chief Elder Baishen had really taken a toll on him. After one more day he could probably go train again but the fifth day was the first collective training of the first-years so he needed to be at his best.

Thus, he kept training the 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars' in his sea of consciousness. It wasn't the best option but it preserved his body. Once he had seen what kind of training that would be, he could decide on a schedule for the weeks to come.

His mind cultivation was advancing faster than he thought once the medicinal essence of the Frozen Heart pill was added to the mix. The Zhi character was going to reach Perfection before the end of the week. Then he could try the third character in the First Layer. He was impatient to know what it was and what benefits he would gain from it, but he kept his curiosity in check.

On the other hand Huang Cixi was pretty shaken. At first, she wanted to get near him in order to find ways to get rid of the murderer of her brothers and father. But now she realized he was not evil at all. Deep down, she knew he had probably only acted to protect Feng Yingyue but he did not have to kill Huang Lixin to do so. He could have just beaten him. No matter how nice this 'Chen Guo' was, Huang Cixi could not forgive him. One way or another, he had to pay. But she was second-guessing whether she could actually go through with this.

Her own cultivation was advancing smoothly thanks to her small spirit stones. By using the Huang cultivation method, her Lower Dantian would probably been tempered in four to six months, she would then step into the 4th-grade Mortal stage. Technically, she could enter the Wubei Sect with this cultivation. If she kept on training for the entire year, she was convinced that she could join the sect next year. But should she join as soon as possible or wait one more year to keep monitoring Cao Yun?

She would have to decide on it when the time was right.

-

Like that, two more days passed by. The fifth day was today.

Cao Yun woke up earlier as Elder Tang had asked them to get to the training grounds when the sun rose. He had located where they were in the sect and planned his way.

Without waking up Huang Cixi, he left for the training grounds. They were a huge plain in the outskirt of the Wubei Sect, in the same area where the entrance examination took place. Even though it was a mountain, the area was perfectly flat, covered in dirt and sand.

There were many tools for training here and there and at least two hundred people could have fitted there.

When he arrived, Cao Yun met with all the other first-years. At least half of them were already there and soon enough they all came. No one was late.

Cao Yun talked with Ren Chao and Sun Liao. Mei Hua was still visibly shaken by what had happened to her. He wasn't sure on how to talk to her so he didn't. As a matter of fact, she also wanted to talk to him. During their last time together she was too harsh and she was sincerely regretting it.

Ren Chao and Sun Liao were strangely similar and could not stand each other without Cao Yun in the middle to temper their characters. Sun Liao could not stop boasting and being arrogant for the life of him. And Ren Chao could not stop speaking loud and being overly friendly, which seemed disrespectful for the people who did not know him.

As the sun rose, several men and women came down the mountain toward the training grounds. There were as many men as there were male first-years and as many women as there were female first-years. Leading them was a somewhat round fellow with a small beard. It appeared to have been poorly shaved.

As soon as he reached the training grounds, he yelled.

"Get in line!"

When the disciples did so, he made a gesture and all the other people went to the side of a specific disciple.

"These are your personal instructors. I am your chief instructor. You will call me 'Chief Instructor Peng' and nothing else. You will call them 'Instructor' and nothing else. Understood?"

"This junior understands, Chief Instructor Peng!"

"Good, you're not too slow. Every week you'll come here at the exact same time, if you're late, you will regret being born. If you're absent, I will go find you myself and you will beg to die. Am I clear?"

"Very clear, Chief Instructor Peng!"

"Good! The instructor beside you will be assigned to you until the end of this year."

He walked between every disciple and looked at every last one of them for a long while each time. After every inspection, he whispered something to the instructor standing beside the disciple.

Finally, he went back in front of everybody.

"Now, I'll explain the contents of these training sessions!"