Chapter 53

Chapter 53: Unpleasant meeting

Zed and the others were mildly surprised by the revelation but soon understood.

Not everyone could reach the nascent soul realm and some cultivators remain stuck in their bottleneck for a long time.

Many of them gave up on the path of cultivation while those stubborn ones died without reaching their goal.

Truly, only those who are talented would be able to reach the apex.

Grip!

Jingfei and Zed subconsciously bawled their fists as they were reminded of the harsh reality of those who wish to walk through the path of immortality.

The group proceeded to move and arrive at the southern part of the city. There, they spotted the familiar large building of the Main Hub.

"From here and all the way towards the center of the city is where the sect's buildings are located."

She pointed towards the Main Hub. "Just like that place, you must keep in mind three other important places."

"The Mission Hall, the Disciplinary Hall, and the Main Hall.

While they are called, "Halls" they are simply named like that but they have their own buildings. Like that one over there, that's the mission hall."

Zed and the others looked towards the direction their senior sister pointed at.

From the distance, they saw a huge building built on top of a small hill. The building itself was coloured in crimson red and had several red pillars that supported the upper floors and its foundation was made of polished stone bricks which could be seen fron afar.

The top of the building had finely designed of white beams which were accented by the dark ceramic tiles that covered the entire roof.

Dozens of disciples kept coming and going from the stairs that started from the bottom of the hill.

The group then moved towards the middle where they found an extravagant building. The pillars and walls were made out of jade while the floors were built out of unique light-coloured stones.

The building was lit up by blue lanterns, completely contrasting from the normal eastern tradition.

With tall pillars reaching about 20-30 meters high, the group passed through the large entrance which was made of jade with silver and golden patterns.

Arriving at the lobby, Zed first noticed that large and spacious lobby with spectacular white marble flooring. There was one large crystal chandelier that hung from the ceiling.

The next thing that he noticed was the lack of people inside the building. He had only seen three to four other disciples so far.

The Main Hall seemed desolate despite its extravagant design.

At the end of the spacious lobby was a wide jade desk attended by one old man in green robes.

Han Qiuyue approached the old man. "Four life-soul lamps."

The old man looked silently at Han Qiuyue before glancing towards Zed and the others who were behind her.

Han Qiuyue then took her token as an elder and gave it to the old man.

The old man took it before asking in a rough voice. "...Under the sect master, all of them?"

Han Qiuyue nodded.

"Hm... I see." The old man mumbled before motioning from his arms.

As if a hidden mechanism, the smooth plain wall behind him turned into white shelves filled with various items. Scrolls, books, weapons, herbs, and many more items could be seen from the shelves behind him.

With a flick of his hand, four unlit jade lamps flew from the shelf and soon landed on the desk in font of him.

The jade lamps didn't look particularly special but Zed and his sisters did not look down on it.

Just by hearing its name, they figured that it was an important special tool.

Han Qiuyue then faced her junior disciples. "Make a small cut on your finger and let your blood be absorbed by this lamp."

The four youths followed her orders and made small cuts on their fingers.

Soon, an extraordinary event occurred. Their blood beautifully swam in the air before settling inside the jade lamps.

The process only took less than thirty seconds before all the four lamps became lit by green fires.

At the same time, The four youths' small wounds healed up instantly as if there was no cut in the first place.

The old man nodded after confirming the success of the procedure and stored the lamps under the desk.

"Congratulations. The four of you are now official disciples of our master. Do your best not to shame his name." After saying that in a monotone voice, she proceeded to start walking back towards the entrance.

The youths could only look at each other with different feelings before hurrying behind their senior sister.

Just as they reached the entrance, they met a handsome man with sharp eyes and a cold unfeeling gaze.

He had the attire of an elder.

Meixiang slightly trembled after seeing the man but she immediately withdrew her gaze. Her involuntary actions did not go unnoticed by the people around her.

Han Qiuyue glanced at the handsome man who had the same elder position as her. For a second, she inadvertently showed a displeased face which mirrored her current thoughts.

However, she immediately eased her facial muscles and returned to her usual stone-faced expression.

The black-haired, handsome elder looked towards Han Qiuyue and her group.

A charming smile appeared on his stiff face as he stopped and greeted Han Qiuyue.

"Elder Han."

Han Qiuyue simply nodded without glancing at him and continued to walk pass him.

The handsome man merely chuckled as if finding her actions adorable but that was until he caught sight of a familiar youth following behind her.

Sure, she might have grown but he was sure that he would never mistake the lass for another person.

"Xia... Meixiang?" He called out.

Xia Meixiang desperately tried not to react but the handsome elder was more experienced and her reaction was all it took for him to confirm his suspicions.

Seeing the group continuing to walk away without looking at him, he called out once more.

"Xia Meixiang."

This time, qi was imbued in his voice, making the four youths unable to move after being affected by his nascent soul realm qi.

Han Qiuyue's brows furrowed as she turned behind and glared at the handsome elder.

She spoke in a cold tone. "Elder Ren... What are you doing?"

Tha handsome man called Elder Ren did not respond to her as he made his way towards the frozen youths.

"Elder Ren! I am warning you, disperse your Qi now or you will be forced to answer my blade!" Han Qiuyue warned.

That was when Elder Ren retracted his Qi but it was not because of Han Qiuyue's warning. Instead, his eyes narrowed after seeing the lass' cultivation stage in front of him.

After confirming that what he saw wasn't fake, his eyes widened in surprise.

It was unbecoming for an Elder of his stature to show a flabbergasted expression but what he saw in front of him was worthy to make him lose his cool.

"Infant Core formation stage?! Xiang'er, you are in the Core formation realm?!"

The way he addressed Meixiang in a casual manner made the latter uncomfotable but as royalty, she was in perfect control of her facial expressions.

Taking a brief deep breath, she made small smile and turned around to face Elder Ren.

"...Greetings.. Elder Ren." She spoke with no emotion in particular.

This finally made Zed, Jingfei, and Lan'er to turn around as well.

Seeing the handsome man with an air of ambiguity or otherworldlyness, they wondered who this man was and how was he acquainted with their sister.

Zed however, remembered one particular youth that resembled the man in front of him. 'Thinking about it, that youth also possessed the same last name and the rumors about getting invites by an elder isn't falls so...'

He looked directly towards the Elder's face. 'It must be this Elder... the one who intends to make his grandson, Ren Yimu, to become dao companions with Meixiang.'

Zed felt mad but not because he was jealous. It was because he did not like his best friend being subjected to an arrangement she does not like.

But he doesn't have the exact details so for now, he decided to observe the situation while gathering information.

Of course, he would not sit still if this Elder Ren makes a move on his best friend.

Still though, they were core disciples of the sect leader, which should make them somewhat protected from others.

Just then, Elder Ren also noticed the other youth staring intently at him. It was if the latter didn't even bother hiding his rude stare.

Elder Ren took a moment to look at this youth's appearance and he was quite surprised to see that this budding youth was handsome.

Not only that but after seeing the youth's cultivation base, He realized that the youth was both gifted in talent and appearance.

A sense of foreboding feeling crept up in his chest because so far, the Cleansing Jade Sect never had a talented young leader for the male disciples.

But one look at the youth in front of him was enoigh for him to predict that, that unique position will be given to him.

What's worse is that he saw the identification token that says, "Core", which meant that the latter was a core disciple.

Elder Ren felt bitter because he was planning on making his treasured grandson become the representative for the male disciples of the Cleansing Jade Sect, so long as he manages to cure the sickness of his grandson.

The only problem was... the "cure" had now appeared before him as a core disciple that didn't belong to him.

'Who...?!'

Who dared to steal from him? He was Ren Ming, one of the great elders of the Cleansing Jade Sect!

His eyes narrowed towards Han Qiuyue.

With a cold voice, he spoke. "Was it you?"

Returning the same gaze, Han Qiuyue responded. "I have no idea what Elder Han is talking about."

He glared at her for a few seconds before turning his gaze towards Meixiang.

"You... I have invited you to become my disciple and yet... you rejected me to become Han Qiuyue's disciple?!"

His voice sounded bitter, not bothering to hide his hostility towards Han Qiuyue. The latter simply remains silent but her hands were itching to grab her sword.

This is why she didn't want to head outside. Of course, it wasn't because she was afraid of others.

No. It was because others were always trying to find trouble with her. It was annoying to her because even if they were to duel, the rules would stop her, not allowing one to kill another.

At best, she could only leave them with heavy injuries but this, only added to her frustrations since sooner or later, they would come find her for revenge.

And sometimes, they wouldn't be alone. They would resort to teaming up and scheming vile tricks upon her.

'Don't they have anything better to do, like cultivating?' Is what Han Qiuyue thinks whemever the other elders come to her for revenge.

Fortunately, she was strong enough to handle herself and no tricks had ever worked on her.

Of course, she informs her master, the Sect Leader about these matters but even then, her master could only control half of the sect.

While the other half was ruled over by the majority of the elders, mostly the great elders which supported the sect for a long time.

Anyway, facing the handsome elder that was glaring at her with an ugly expression. She suppressed the urge to cut off his head.

"And what is the matter with that? What is it to you if she chose me as her master?"

Han Qiuyue walked towards Ren Ming with a straight posture. She stopped only until she was at an arm's length from Ren Ming.

"Are you implying that I am not worthy to teach her?" Qi started to rise from her body while her eyes started to glow dangerously.

Ren Ming didn't retreat once and even seemed unaffected by the danger in the air. He simply nodded. "That is correct. Elder Han had only recently become an elder and has yet to possess enough experience to guide a talented youth..." He looks towards Meixiang. "Especially a youth of her calliber.."

He spoke the previous sentences as if he was stating a fact. This mildly infuriated Han Qiuyue as per usual, she was being underestimated by these "Oldies".

This was also the reason why she did not like socialixing with the other elders. They either look down on her or underestimate her too much.

They look at her like she was a cocky upstart while those lustful ones even came to her with the intention of becoming dao companions.

What disgusted her the most is that those elders who came to her to become dao companions were elders who had long given up in the path of cultivation.

They have stagnated in their cultivation base for far too long and their only intention left is to enioy the things that life had to offer.

While others sought to place their legacy, a majority became hedonistic and fell to mortal pleasures.

It was the latter type of men that sought out to become her dao companions.

What's worse is that she was actively pursued by them.

This not only made her uncomfortable and annoyed but also disgusted with them to no end. Especially when they were wearing their gentleman masks but was undressing her with their eyes.

'Absolutely repulsive.'

This was another factor which caused her to become a seclusive cultivator, one that will never leave her seclusion unless needed.