Chapter 2: Recruitment
The Wei tribe quickly heard of the results of the awakening ceremony. Xi Mao did not stop at all on his way home, but by the time he arrived, his father had already heard the news.
Wei Xi Nian was as famous as he was infamous in the Wei tribe. As a tribe elder, he held a certain prestige, but his motivations were not as righteous as his position demanded.
"We have a lot to discuss, but here is not an appropriate place. Come inside." Wei Xi Nian grabbed Xi Mao's normal-sized hands with his massive chiseled palms and pulled his son inside the house without saving any strength.
The father and son duo came to a room with a large table. Although the room could not compare to the tribe pavilion in size, it had more than adequate space for a two person conversation. Xi Mao did not sit until his father arrived at the opposite end of the table and allowed him to.
"You may sit."
Although they sat on different ends of the table, it was not troublesome for them to hear each other speak. Xi Mao was now a Gu master, so he could feel the primeval essence in the lanterns attached to the ceilings being used to amplify sound. Before today, he always assumed his father had some special ways to speak louder and hear softer sounds.
"You are now a Gu master, and that title comes with responsibilities." Wei Xi Nian said slowly as he took a sip of the tribe's signature Numb Tea.
"I, Wei Xi Mao, swear before my ancestors that I will focus on my cultivation and serve this house well!"
"Good." Wei Xi Nian took another sip of his Numb Tea before continuing, "How much do you know about the tribe's internal affairs?"
Xi Mao pondered for a moment before deciding to take a more conservative approach to his father's question.
"The tribe leader is old and there is no successor. Although we can retain our strength for the time being, the ten-year blizzard is not retreating. The elders have lost hope in developing a rank 4 Gu master in a short period and have begun to support the tribe's foremost elders in their political campaigns."
"The foremost elders, who are they? What do they specialize in?"
"Refinement Hall Elder Wei Ju and Chief Elder Wei Chen Xing are the only elders with a rank 3 peak stage cultivation. Elder Ju specializes in the refinement path, while Elder Chen Xing is a strong fighter and advocates for the development of Ice and Snow Path."
"Hmm."
Wei Xi Nian picked up the cup of Numb Tea he had been sipping from throughout the conversation and poured the rest of it down his throat. His nostrils ignited with sparks, the exhaust slammed down on the table and broke it into two pieces— a split down the middle.
"Son, you don't have enough understanding of the tribe. You will work on this with Fuchou starting tomorrow. Now then, you have awakened a B grade aperture and will have a high position in your class. Our Wei tribe operates under a system that gives power to the elders, so you must incentivize your classmates to join the Xi Nian faction as much as possible. At the very least, gather some of them to be members of your personal cabinet" Xi Nian said with his rank 3 middle stage primeval essence starting to leak from his pores.
"This child understands!"
…
When Xi Feng arrived at his father's residence, he was not pulled into a meeting room immediately and was instead left to lounge on a large wooden chair in the living room. Old Shu prepared some cold towels to relax his body while he rejuvenated. It was not the awakening ritual that caused his body to be worn down today, but that a bruise had started to form on his knee after being pushed by Ren Ting. If it were not for his other body, Xi Feng would not have been able to identify the bruise before it formed.
Since his biggest worry in life had been dispelled, Xi Feng thought deeper on the details of his transmigration to this world. It was not clear how, but since he was born in this world Xi Feng had two bodies. He had originally struggled to control them separately, but managed to figure it out as time passed.
Wei Xi Yuan and Wei Xi Nian lived across the street from each other, so Xi Mao's meeting with his father was already over. Wei Xi Feng was waiting for his father to appear, so he studied his other half's conversation in the meantime.
While he was distracted by his other father's actions, Xi Feng's real father walked into the room and surprised him.
"Good afternoon." Seeing that Xi Feng was thinking about something, Wei Xi Yuan opened with a simple phrase.
"Oh, good afternoon." Xi Feng jumped slightly when he was pulled back to reality by his father's words, but quickly adapted to his surroundings.
Wei Xi Yuan took notice of the cold towels on his son's knee, but kept silent and merely motioned for him to follow.
Xi Feng was led to a room very similar in size and shape to that of Wei Xi Nian's meeting room. While the rooms were clearly designed to be the same, their interior furnishings were not. Wei Xi Nian's room had a single large table and a Gu-powered light, while Wei Xi Yuan's room did not have a table, but contained twelve mats as chairs. Instead of a Gu-powered light, Wei Xi Yuan's room used natural light from the open glass ceiling.
Xi Feng was ready to sit down at the foot of the table, but Wei Xi Yuan did not sit at the head, but rather on the seat bisecting the right side. Seeing this, Xi Feng acted appropriately and sat opposite his father.
"Son, how did you do today?"
Xi Feng immediately recognized that his father was probing him. If Wei Xi Nian could know what Xi Mao's results were, then Xi Feng's father would definitely know his.
"I am a B grade talent." Xi Feng said frankly.
"That's not what I asked. I wanted to know how you did, not what grade aperture you awakened."
"In that case, I am content with my results."
Hearing his son's words, Wei Xi Yuan frowned. B grade talent was good, but it was not enough to rely on just that to reach rank 4. For anyone below A grade talent, they needed to have the corresponding attitude.
"Tonight, you will read The Legends of Ren Zu again. Read from the beginning until Freedom Gu is introduced."
"Yes father!" Xi Feng said, but his thoughts were different.
"Why does father want me to read a children's tale? Does he really look down on me so much?"
"Now then, we should talk about the main affair. You have awakened an aperture at the highest level in your class, but it is not you alone who holds the sovereign position. Wei Xi Mao is my brother's son, and he will recruit as many young Gu masters as he can. If this were before, I would ask you to do the same, but as it stands I cannot afford a conflict with Xi Nian. Your future is important, so recruit a few prospects to support your cabinet, but make sure not to get on Wei Xi Mao's bad side."
"I understand."
"Additionally, be careful. Wei Xi Mao will take orders from his father, so you must stay on guard around him." Wei Xi Yuan warned, "That is all."
Xi Feng politely departed from the meeting and went to his room. The desk sitting in the corner had already been prepared with paper and writing utensils by Old Shu, so Xi Feng immediately started the process of making a plan for the future with his other half.
Their fathers told them to recruit the talented youths in their class, so that would be the first step. Of the new Gu masters in their class, Wei Xi Mao was familiar with most of them, while Xi Feng knew which of them were rotten, so the plan for dividing the class started relatively smoothly. Xi Feng would have preferred to take a more active approach to recruitment, but judging by his father's attitude, it would have to wait.
The next matter was safety. Their fathers' cabinets already had conflicts, but since Xi Feng's aptitude was revealed to be B grade, he would have to avoid being a target.
Xi Feng's predicament was troublesome; he would have to think deeper about it in the future.
That night, Xi Feng read The Legends of Ren Zu, but he could not comprehend it beyond the surface level.
…
January 10th, Wei tribe academy.
The day after the awakening ceremony was bound to have a positive mood, and this year was no exception. Even before entering the gates, Wei Xi Mao was outgoing and befriended many of the young Gu masters. His motives were clear, but not much could be done to prevent it. The tribe elders would not go out of their way to recruit a youth personally unless they were of A grade aptitude, so unless Wei Xi Feng stepped up to counter his cousin's efforts, the Xi Nian faction would grow larger by the second.
Unfortunately for the elders watching the academy closely, it seemed that Wei Xi Feng had no intention of fighting a losing battle.
In the Northern Plains, young Gu masters were expected to have more independence than their counterparts from the other regions. While the Wei tribe was largely cut off from other tribes due to the natural obstacle of Nanjing Valley, this tendency only shrunk, not disappearing.
The young Gu masters wandered around the academy grounds and observed the various activities being displayed. From martial arts combat to the identification of Gu, there were many choices.
Wei Xi Mao did not choose one singular choice. He wandered around all the activities and encouraged his classmates to participate. On the off-chance that he did join in, it was only for a short moment before he left.
On the other hand, Wei Xi Feng sat in the class for identifying Gu and did not leave the whole day.
"Wei Zhou Tan greets Master Xi Feng."
As the third round of practice came to a close, a small youth introduced himself to Xi Feng. He bowed his head with enthusiasm, but any experienced person could tell he was slightly anxious.
Luckily for him, Xi Feng was not particularly experienced.
"Master? I don't remember hiring a servant like you."
"You have not hired me, I pledge my loyalty to you regardless of circumstances. I hope you will accept my loyalty and allow me to stand by your side when you become a tribe elder in the future."
"Hmm…" Xi Feng paused for a moment and thought about the offer. If he remembered correctly, this Gu master, Wei Zhou Tan, was a C grade talent at the upper end of C grade. He was from a humble background and both his parents were deceased.
"Well, I can always push him away later." Xi Feng thought.
"Very well. In the future, you will stand by my side."
"This servant thanks Master!" Zhou Tan exclaimed.
"Take your leave. I will find you when I need help in the future." Xi Feng said and motioned that Zhou Tan was dismissed.
The rest of the day was uneventful for Xi Feng. He paid attention to the Gu worms he needed to know and recognize, but sitting around all day is boring even for the most persistent individuals.
Having been accepted by Xi Feng as a member of his future cabinet, Wei Zhou Tan could place his worries aside and study what was truly necessary for Gu masters. How to manipulate primeval essence, how to nurture the aperture walls, etc. These skills were considerably less valued by the academy than skills such as martial arts prowess or identification, as the highest level one could reach in them was still quite low. The strength of a Gu master is in their usage of Gu, not their usage of primeval essence. The youths with Gu masters in their families could ignore these classes, but for an orphan like Zhou Tan, he had to pay full attention.
"Zhou Tan, right? It's a pleasure to meet you." With a smile, a familiar face introduced himself to Zhou Tan. Although the face was nearly identical to Xi Feng's, this boy had longer hair and dressed in a green robe as opposed to Xi Feng's black robe. Zhou Tan could clearly recognize this boy as Wei Xi Mao.
"The name of 'Wei Xi Mao' has spread far. I am delighted to have the chance to meet the man himself." Zhou Tan said politely.
"Hahaha! You meet me now as a stranger, yet you could meet me every day as a friend."
"A friend? I see. I have already made a friend, and I do not believe they would be comfortable sharing me." Zhou Tan said.
Xi Mao frowned outwardly, but inside he was relaxed. He was just testing the loyalty of his other half's subordinate, and if Zhou Tan had truly tried to betray Xi Feng, he would not allow this kind of person to be one of his most trusted allies.
"Unfortunate. I will see you around. If you ever change your mind you should be able to find me."
Zhou Tan nodded absentmindedly.
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