Chapter 113: The End And The Beginning

"Underling Xuhan, what's gonna happen if the elder sect master appoints me to cannot teach me astral warfare? That's the only skill I want to learn right now! I can't waste my time on whatever mundane shit the elder tries to teach me!" Mu Ran furiously whispered behind Xuhan's ears, his tone panicked.

"Yeah, I want to learn spirit manifestation. It's not a skill any random elder can teach!" Xiao Wu added.

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that, guys..." Xuhan answered with narrowed eyes as he gazed at the last disciple being thrown away at one of the elders. Now, there were only four of them left unappointed. Han Xuhan had a feeling that his peers were in for a surprise...

No, wait a minute, why were there only four of them? Where the hell were the twins who lived at their mountain peak? Were those two outcasts about to ignore the apprenticeship ceremony too? Wasn't ignoring the sect's summoning call some sort of a criminal offense or something?

But he barely had any time to tackle those thoughts because Xuan Zi did not waste a second before diving back into his task with incredible enthusiasm.

"You're called Mu Ran, yes? I remember you from that felicitation ceremony. Mm...what a handsome, healthy child, full of noble spirit and a thirst for adventure. I wonder...."

"Underling, did you see that? He actually noticed my numerous qualities so easily! Our sect master indeed has eyes that can see Mountain Ta-"

Mu Ran didn't get to finish whispering to Xuhan as Xuan Zi suddenly clapped his palms together with a rather sinister gleam in his eyes.

"I, hereby appoint you as a disciple of the recently established Heavenly Hailstorm Mountain Peak, under the care of Elder Kong Ye whom we've recently welcomed into our sect as an esteemed elder after being convinced of his incredible expertise in both theoretical and practical cultivation! I'm sure you'll appreciate my decision as an adventurous young man. As the first apprentice of the Heavenly Hailstorm Mountain Peak, you must strive to make a name for it both inside and outside the sect! May the heavens bless you!"

Mu Ran looked like he was trying to resist Xuan Zi's spell for a second as he stubbornly dug his toes into the ground and opened his mouth to protest. But Xuan Zi hardly seemed fazed. Before any words came out of Mu Ran's gob, he was sent flying anyway, his uprooted feet spraying a hail of soil and grass at Xuhan and Yuen Zhou's faces. Xiao Wu, who had seen it coming in time, managed to dodge it by hiding behind them.

While the two of them were busy trying to clean their faces and clothes, Xuan Zi focused on Xiao Wu, who followed the script and introduced himself in a worried tone.

"My name is Xiao Wu. My cultivation is at the peak of the fifth layer, currently in a bottleneck of sorts. Sect master, I'd really appreciate-"

"Yeah, that's enough. You look like the sort with muscles for brains, lad. You'll make an excellent addition to the newly established peak that your martial brother has joined just now. So I hereby appoint you as a disciple of the Heavenly Hailstorm Mountain Peak, under the care of Elder Kong Ye. May the heavens bless you!"

Cutting Xiao Wu off mid-speech, Xuan Zi announced his seemingly whimsical decision and launched him on the same trajectory as Mu Ran, who suddenly looked delighted at seeing another peer share his misfortune.

By now, Han Xuhan's nervously fluttering stomach had settled more or less, his confidence growing with every exchange Xuan Zi had with the disciples of the Black Sheep Peak. As the sect master turned to look at him, he tried his best not to smirk smugly.

"Ah, disciple Xuhan! I remember your excellent performance in that botched mission! Disciples with good judgment like you would suit the more recent mountain peaks. I hereby appoint you as an apprentice of the Heavenly Hailstorm Mountain Peak with the rest of your martial brothers! May the heavens bless you...for once at least!"

Tears streaming down his eyes due to the last part of that sentence, Xuhan flew toward Elder Kong Ye, fully expecting this to happen.

Since the beginning of the ceremony, he had been carefully observing the disciples and the masters they were appointed to. A perk of having an impressive friend circle was, he had regular interactions with a good portion of his peers. He knew that many of them had their own desired apprenticeships since they had heard of the tradition in the sect. Some wanted to learn spirit herbology, some wanted to learn under the elders known for their battle prowess, and some pursued pure cultivation. It was not hard to figure out which elder they wanted to learn under, or which elder favored them the most for their talent in those particular aspects.

While the sect master had been busy throwing disciples like stones whimsically, Xuhan had noticed that the assigned apprenticeships almost always matched with this information impeccably. The disciple who was talented in herbology got appointed under the elder who had a reputation as a herbologist. The disciple who had expressed avid interest in learning how to brew potions fell in the camp of the elder who specialized in making potions.

Of course, there were a significant number of mismatches as well. But Xuhan felt that the mismatch was a reasonable outcome. Just because a disciple wanted to master swordsmanship didn't mean he was talented enough or suitable for it. He would obviously not be assigned to such apprenticeships.

Two hands caught him by his midriff as he was busy contemplating the depth of this insidious apprenticeship ceremony. Jerked out of his thoughts, he fell on the ground from Master Ye's arms and stood up with the help of an overly enthusiastic Mu Ran.

"Underling! Can you believe it? We got apprenticeships under the same master!"

"It must be due to our sect master having the eyes that can see mountain Tai, boss! He must have seen how pure and powerful our bond as boss and underling is!"

Xuhan's answer was ready, as always. Mu Ran looked immensely pleased, while Xiao Wu tried to hide his skeptical expression behind him.

"Ah, brother Wu, what a happy coincidence it is that we both get to learn under the teacher we wanted!" Han Xuhan said with a wide grin, enjoying Xiao Wu's look of suspicion and wariness.

"This entire event is staged, isn't it? The sect master isn't as whimsical as he looks, is he?" Xiao Wu asked in a low voice while all three of them looked at the center of the field where only Yuen Zhou and Xuan Zi were left facing each other.

"How am I supposed to know?" Han Xuhan answered cheerfully. Brows furrowed, Xiao Wu was about to say something when Xuan Zi's voice rumbled through the din and bustle in the plains.

"Yuen Zhou, I hereby appoint you as the disciple of Heavenly Hailstorm Mountain Peak! Hopefully, you'll learn the skills that you deserve! May the heavens bless you!"

Yuen Zhou's 'launch' marked the end of the dramatic apprenticeship ceremony. Master Kong Ye caught her and put her down beside her three predecessors. The four of them exchanged knowing looks with each other, as even an airhead like Mu Ran caught the whiff of plotting beneath the surface of this grand event.

"Martial sister Zhou, are you satisfied with your apprenticeship?" Xiao Wu asked.

Yuen Zhou smiled tersely. "Yes, martial brother. Actually, I had already decided to become an apprentice of Master Ye. It never occurred to me that before I could even approach him about it, something like this would happen!"

"Oh? You decided that already?" Xuhan asked, surprised. He hadn't had the time to lobby for their new master to Yuen Zhou. But now it looked like that would have been completely unnecessary. That was interesting...

"Ahahaha, regardless of the authority's intentions, it's a good thing that all four of us have been selected for the same mountain peak. I think we should be more focused on whether Master Ye can teach us what we want to learn..." Mu Ran trailed off, finally realizing that his extreme obsession with astral warfare might attract too many questions.

Just like the four of them, the entire outer court was buzzing with excited discussions, strewn across the plains in small groups. Every elder present there had multiple disciples near them, including that elder who made his disciples practice celibacy. Su Wei stood beside him with a lifeless look in his eyes, ignoring the two girls who stood beside him chatting happily. The elders themselves did not partake in any discussions, stiffly standing in their position in the circle.

BOOOM!!!

The sound didn't come from any specific source, as far as Xuhan could tell. No explosions, no objects around them large enough to generate it...it could only be some sort of a technique. However, what kind of cultivation technique focused on making impressive sounds? What would even be the point? From what Xuhan had gathered, powerful cultivators could improve their physique to the point where their eardrums wouldn't even be affected by the tsar bomba. Although...now that he thought about it, if it was magically possible to increase the intensity of the sound, it might actually become a decent battle tactic.

Internally, Han Xuhan noted this application of the technique down. He would look for them the next time he went to the scripture pavilion.

Meanwhile, Xuan Zi again stole the moment by rising up in the sky with his arms outstretched.

"Disciples! I'm sure all of you have noticed a discrepancy! Traditionally, the Crimson Snow Sect only chooses a small portion of disciples from the new generation for the apprenticeship program. But today, we've broken that rule by assigning everybody here with an apprenticeship. Some of you who are well informed might already have guessed the reason behind this."

While floating, Xuan Zi's body rotated speedily in the air so fast that it produced silhouettes. Almost like a blurry reflection on water, Xuhan could see Xuan Zi's features becoming clearer and clear on the silhouette facing their portion of the circle. His cloak spun like a crimson cyclone in the sky, and waves of qi began to pour out of it like blades of wind.

"So listen! Listen closely! From today starts the first round of the worldwide tournament. Within a week's time, our sect must prove itself worthy of competing in it by surpassing the first challenge. Each and every cultivator in the sect, including the elders as well, must do their part so that the sect to pass the hurdle. None will be exempt from participation unless they are too sick to even perform the basic spell casting. Each and every mountain peak will consist of the elder in charge and their personal apprentices from today onwards. It will be up to the elders to teach and guide their disciples into performing well enough to be of some use during the time our sect tackles the first challenge. Remember, from now on, the entire sect's reputation depends on your performance next week. With that cleared, I declare the apprenticeship ceremony of this generation to be over! Go pack up and follow the instructions of your masters! Good luck!"