Chapter 16: Step up
Several days earlier.
The great warrior ran his hand on the soft amber wood of his table. He sat at the top of the fire pavilion, one of the fifteen high temples of the mountains. Two rows of elders of the same number stood in front of him. Between them, an awesome youth bowed lightly. He had just finished talking. His clothes were a complex layering of silver and clear blue linen, and his hair was a pale silver as well.
The warrior did not respond immediately. Around him faces were grave.
-'How kind of the chosen one to show interest in our little sect. Has he perhaps taken a liking to history recently? I do not know of anything else here that would be deserving of his attention.'
The youth's smile swayed almost imperceptibly.
-'The chosen one takes interest in everything under the sun.'
Do not presume to understand him.
-'Of course. I take it that we could also pay a visit to the silver mount sect sometime?'
This time, the smile vanished for a second.
-'It would be our sect great honour to host the one hundred sects mountain range. You may come whenever you want.'
-'I did not expect our relations to reach this point before a long time. But it is fine. As the patriarch of the one hundred sects mountain range, I hereby invite the chosen one and his silver mount court to come visit us in five months. May it be the start of a long friendship.'
-'How beautifully said, great warrior. But five months is a long time. We are so eager to discover the wonders of this place. What about one month?'
-'Five months. This decision is final.'
The young representative clenched his fists.
-'Then five months it will be. Just give me the time to bring that news back to the sect and I will come back to help with the organisation of the different events that will be held.'
-'Excellent. We will wait for your return, Jahelis. You may leave now.'
The interpellated bowed once again and dashed out of the pavilion on his four-winged heavenly parrot. All of the elders instantly started to chat. It took a few seconds for the patriarch to bring silence back.
-'My friends. Please talk one at a time and before all of the others. Elder Nalet, you may speak first.'
That man was a huge mass of muscles garbed in brown. He was the head of the immovable stone high temple.
-'Patriarch, silver mount is no friend of ours. I think that we all agree on this point. As the saying goes, righteous can't mingle.'
Everyone nodded.
-'This is a move of intimidation. They may even try to attack us under our roof.'
A whisper of anger spread inside the room.
-'They may indeed.' The great warrior acknowledged. 'What would be your way of dealing with that situation?'
-'I have full trust in the patriarch's strength. But that alone will not be enough. I would increase the training, call our exterior elements back to the sect and break some of our powerhouses seclusion.'
Two elders advanced themselves.
-'Elder Noryu, speak your mind.'
-'Breaking our external engagements would prove disastrous. If this visit is just a way to threaten us, the cost is too great. If they want to see our strength, why not invite some jade palace representatives?'
-'You have a point. But that last thing I cannot agree with. We all know the intricate relations of silver mount and the nine skies association. I will not allow a large-scale war to start under my watch. Elder Gerion ?'
-'Let us take a loan. The heavenly banks will be happy to help us with this matter. We may even grow stronger out of this.'
-'Madness!' Nalet boomed. 'Borrow o...'
The great warrior stomped on the ground. That strike had no strength behind it but the elder stopped right away.
-'Elder Nalet, have you forgotten all about respect? You will compensate elder Gerion properly for this offence. One more mistake of the sort and I will see you out of your seat.'
-'My apologies.'
-'Good. Now, what is it that you wanted to say?'
-'A loan would make us stronger in the short term but weaker in the long run. This visit of the silver mount sect may well be a move to make us play our cards for nothing. Even if that was not their first motive, they may make it so when they get a word of such a transaction. And I do not doubt their ability to do so.'
-'Well spoken, Elder Nalet. Who wants to talk next ?'
The elders exchanged ideas of the sort for a while. Eventually, the great warrior took some time to think and gave them his conclusion.
-'For this time, I think that a compromise would be a good decision. You will receive my accurate commands in the upcoming days. Fear not, friends. In every crisis lies an opportunity, and I mean for us to take them all. Thank you for your dedication.'
The elders took their leave. Only Agon remained seated in the room.
-'Agon. Some news from our young disciples?'
-'Yes, patriarch. Although I do not know if the world young applies well in this case.'
-'Tell me.'
-'Disciple Moss has succeeded in a physical use of the dual state moon cultivation arts. His accurate achievements are the following: a global enhancement of his physical abilities, nocturnal vision and the basics of the bright state techniques.'
-'Remarkable.'
The great warrior took some time to think about that. So there was now a true dual state moon cultivation arts cultivator in the sect. He was still green but with his high progress rate and some appropriate training, he could quickly become an asset for the organisation. After all, this technique was one of those who had contributed the most to the unification of the mountain range.
-'This disciple has grabbed my attention. And from the data you handed me, the princess is not too bad either. Very well. From now on the trial is going to step up for those two. Have two low-grade cultivation sets brought to them and wait for me to come to the lower mountain array complex. I will be personally handling the rest of their trial.'
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