19 Sect Disciple

Liu Ming, although somewhat curious, didn't pay too much attention and cast a glance towards the distant high platform.

There, a group of Spirit Masters surrounded a tall youth, apparently discussing something. However, due to the distance, it was impossible to hear the content of their conversation; he could only faintly sense that the atmosphere over there seemed somewhat tense.

At the same time, on the other ring-shaped high platforms, there were also quite a few small groups engaged in animated discussions.

"Senior Brother Sima, our days ahead probably won't be easy. Heh heh, this generation has actually produced three great talents at once—the Nightmare Body, the Nine Spirit Lightning Veins, and the Earth Spirit Veins that appear only once every hundred years; these juniors will likely be valued by the uncles and elders far more than the likes of us," a tall, thin young man in a green robe, with several bone spears on his back, said with a smile to another man who emitted wisps of cold air.

"Hmph, what does it matter how talented they are? In the past, Senior Brother Zhao, Senior Sister Jialan, and the others, weren't all of their talents far beyond ours? But where are they now? Our sect has always valued disciples with extraordinary talents, but it values even more the free competition and survival of the fittest among disciples—otherwise, the annual junior competition, the once-every-three-years grand competition, and the life-and-death trial, you think those are just for fun? These junior brothers and sisters, even though they are exceptionally talented, will need to cultivate for several more years before they can pose a threat to us. Besides, even if someone is worried about them taking their place in the sect, it's probably not our turn to worry; Senior Brother Yang, Senior Sister Qian, and the others are the ones who should really have a headache over this," the gloomy man with narrow eyes coldly scoffed in response.

"Haha, that's true. They've always occupied the top ten positions among the core disciples; now that there are suddenly so many powerful juniors behind them, they must be feeling quite uneasy," the tall, thin young man laughed lightly upon hearing this.

At the same time, on the other side of the ring-shaped high platform, two young women also discussed the related topic, surrounded by a group of female outer disciples.

"The Earth Spirit Veins, I really didn't expect them to appear in our sect. Cui'er, it looks like you've met a strong opponent. Previously in the sect, none could match your cultivation speed; your Spirit Marrow Body allowed you to advance from a low-level Spirit Apprentice to a high-level one in just three years. The Earth Spirit Veins have twelve spirit channels, which absorb Yuan Energy from the heavens and earth and transform it into mana at a speed several times greater than that of ordinary disciples, and may even be slightly faster than yours. Moreover, when attempting to breakthrough to the Spirit Master realm, the Earth Spirit Veins make it much easier than the Spirit Marrow Body," said a slightly older woman in a yellow shirt with a sigh to a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl in a green dress.

"The Earth Spirit Veins are so great? I don't believe my Spirit Marrow Body truly can't cultivate faster than them. If worse comes to worst, I just need to play less and pay more attention to my cultivation," the green-dressed girl, with her head full of braids and a doll-like face, retorted by sticking out her tongue, appearing very adorable.

"I knew you weren't putting in your full effort in cultivation before. From now on, you'll move to my place, and I'll personally supervise your cultivation," the woman in a blue shirt with a melon-seed face, quite lovely, said with glee.

"Senior Sister Qian, please don't..." The green-dressed girl's face immediately turned sour.

The other outer disciple girls standing behind them couldn't help but secretly laugh in their hearts.

...

"Gentlemen, what do you think of this Earth Spirit Veins junior brother?" A man in a tight outfit cast his gaze back from the high platform and asked his companions calmly.

Those standing beside him were all older Spirit Apprentices, around thirty or forty years old, and there was even a white-haired old man among them.

"Senior Brother Wu, that's a strange question. We have all passed the age to compete for the positions of core disciples, and our hope of becoming Spirit Masters is nearly nonexistent. Even if this junior brother is incredibly talented, what does it have to do with us?" another robust man in his thirties with a dark face asked, seeming a bit puzzled.

"That's not necessarily true. Uncle Master Feng, what do you think?" The man in the tight outfit shook his head and turned to ask the white-haired old man.

"Senior Brother Wu, just say what you want to say. We've known each other for quite a while; there's no need to beat around the bush," the white-haired old man replied expressionlessly.

Hearing this, the others also showed puzzled looks.

"Hehe, since Uncle Master Feng has said so, I'll get straight to the point. I am thinking of leading us few to offer our allegiance to this 'Junior Brother Gao,'" the man in the tight outfit laughed heartily and then spoke candidly without hiding his intentions.

"What, offer allegiance to that kid who just became a Spirit Apprentice?" someone exclaimed in disbelief.

"Exactly. Have you considered that, as Spirit Apprentice disciples, because of our age we can't compete for core disciple positions, and the resources for cultivation provided by the sect have been greatly reduced—a mere fraction of what they used to be? Usually, we can only rely on completing the demanding tasks from the Duty Hall and accruing some contribution points to exchange for a little bit of resources to continue cultivating. Under these circumstances, do you think we really have a chance to strike at the Spirit Master realm? As far as I know, among the other senior disciples who were over thirty and still made it to the Spirit Master realm, not one didn't use a massive amount of resources, plus during the breakthrough, received direct assistance from another Spirit Master, allowing them to barely and extremely fortuitously step into the Spirit Master realm," the man in the tight outfit spoke slowly.

"Ah, Senior Brother Wu means that we gamble on this Earth Spirit Veins kid definitely becoming a Spirit Master, and by pledging our allegiance now, exchange for his help to us when he achieves that status," the white-haired old man understood the meaning behind the conversation after his eyes flickered slightly.

"Uncle Master Feng is insightful; indeed, that's what I'm suggesting. Although the sect has strict rules against us older disciples interfering with the struggles of the new disciples, rules are dead, and people are alive. If it's just some indirect help, I think this junior brother won't refuse. Besides, this kind of thing has happened in the sect before," the man in the tight outfit replied confidently.

"Hmm, that could be a way," understanding the big man's intention, the others couldn't help but get excited.

Considering the current situation, it was definitely impossible for them to attempt to break through to the Spirit Master realm on their own, but with the help of a Spirit Master, that would give them a glimmer of hope.

"You all go ahead with this matter, I will not get involved," the white-haired elder said slowly after pondering for a while and shaking his head.

"Senior Brother Feng, why is that?" Junior Brother Wu felt surprised.

"Although you fellow apprentices are still relatively young, I, during that encounter with the Hundred-Footed Ghost, had to use a forbidden technique to save my life, which has already cost me most of my Yuan Energy, leaving even my appearance so aged. Even with the assistance of a Spirit Master, there is no longer any possibility for me to advance to the Spirit Master realm. Thus, a few days ago, I have already applied to the Steward Hall to leave the sect and establish my own family. Hehe, even if I can't become a Spirit Master, I can't let my bloodline end here, can I?" the white-haired elder explained with a bitter smile.

Upon hearing this, the complexions of the others darkened.

...

In a secret chamber at the top of a mountain within the Barbarian Ghost Sect, billowing black mist filled the air, with a faint silhouette suspended in meditation.

Suddenly, a small hidden hole on the chamber door opened, and a paper note was swiftly thrown inside.

"These people, didn't they say not to disturb my cultivation unless it was something urgent!" The figure in the black mist became somewhat annoyed upon seeing this, but still waved one hand, summoning the paper note into hand, and quickly scanned it with a lowered head.

"What, this batch doesn't only have Jialan's Nightmarish Body, there is actually the Nine Spirits Thunder Veins, and the legendary Earth Spirit Veins have appeared! Haha, this is truly wonderful. Yang was feeling that the so-called sect competition was very uninteresting, but it looks like I can look forward to the next few years," the figure laughed wildly with joy rather than anger after reading the note.

The laughter made the entire chamber buzz, and as the black mist violently swirled, it dispersed slightly, revealing a giant skeleton several zhang in height, standing erect behind the figure.

...

Liu Ming watched silently from outside the formation, seeing that the family disciples, inspired by the fact that Liu Ming and others had become Spiritual Apprentices, managed to gather the third batch of candidates without needing much time.

The high platform had finally brought matters to a close as the muscular man with the surname Lei, the scholar with the surname Gui, and several other Spirit Masters returned with somewhat gloomy expressions.

A moment later, the humming sound of the formation rang out once more, and the spirit-opening ceremony commenced again.

Half a day later, when the sky had turned somewhat dark, the final batch of family disciples survivors dragged their heavy feet, numbly walking out of the formation.

Out of the eight batches of family disciples, only six people successfully opened their Spirit Seas, and most of them were Tri-Spirit Veins like Liu Ming.

Of the other two loose cultivator disciples, only one redhead youth became a Spiritual Apprentice.

However, most of the Spirit Masters present didn't seem to care much about this result. After briskly announcing the end of the spirit-opening ceremony, all but one of them flew back to the high platform—obviously, the discussion about Gao Chong had not truly been resolved.

As for the Spirit Master who remained, she slowly descended in front of the newly advanced Spiritual Apprentices, and as the halo around her dissipated, her true visage became clear—it was a woman in her forties, dressed in coarse cloth, with an ordinary appearance and an exceptionally cold demeanor.

"I am your Uncle Master Li, follow me. You will wait at the Ancestral Hall, and Sect Master Senior Brother will come over in a little while," the woman said directly, then performed a hand sign and opened her mouth to spit out a thick black mist.

The black mist swirled around and condensed into a large, substantial black cloud, quietly hanging there like solid ground.

Without saying another word, the woman stepped onto the cloud, and the other disciples quickly followed suit.

Liu Ming stood on the edge of the black cloud and took one last deep look at the headless corpses in the formation that had yet to be taken care of. Then, with a quiver, the black cloud soared into the sky, taking the several dozen newly advanced Spiritual Apprentices and heading straight for another distant peak.