บท 70: Top disciples.
Liang Chen, Yan Ling, and Guanyu were quickly approaching the palace surrounded by three spires, Liang Chen spotting more and more disciples as they approached the palace. All of the disciples he saw were clad in the same cyan robes that Liang Chen had seen Yan Ying and the others wear when he first saw them in the hidden realm, so it seemed like those robes were the official robes of the sect.
While they were walking, Guanyu suddenly glanced over at Liang Chen and Yan Ling, who were chatting quietly while walking.
"Alright, Little Girl, it's about time for you to scurry off. That old thing is looking for you, so if you stay here any longer, old hag Guiying is going to start shrieking and cause troubles."
Liang Chen didn't know who this Guiying was, but the moment Yan Ling heard her name, her lips started to twitch. She quickly looked up at Guanyu with imploring, nearly begging eyes.
"Can't you hide me? She's just going to scold me!"
Liang Chen couldn't help but raise his eyebrow in interest. Just who was this Guiying, to even cause the thick-skinned Yan Ling to shrink back? But sadly, Yan Ling's puppy eyes didn't work on Guanyu, who simply gave her a heavy pat on the head, looking at her with somewhat pitying eyes.
"She is going to help teach you, not scold you. So go be a good girl before she howls my ears off."
Yan Ling understood that there was no help to get from Guanyu, he was intending to throw her to the wolves. She could only click her tongue and step back, puffing out her chest and acting like a good Senior Sister as she gave Liang Chen a reminder.
"Tch, fine. Little Freak, if anyone tries to bully you, just come tell me about it, I'll show them what happens when they bully my target."
Liang Chen wanted to comment on the fact that she had designated him as her 'target', likely for her pranks, but he felt that if he mentioned it, he would lose, so he nodded his head and held his tongue.
Guanyu and Liang Chen watched Yan Ling leave, heading for the palace surrounded by six spires, dragging her feet in an unwilling manner. Once she was out of sight, Guanyu pat Liang Chen on the shoulder and pointed at the nearby palace with his thumb.
"Alright, now that the thick-skinned princess is gone, let us finish up this sect joining procedure and introduce you to the people you can look for when you encounter any problems with your cultivation."
Liang Chen nodded his head and continued to follow Guanyu, the two quickly arriving in front of the palace. The palace was a dark green in color and looked like a square building topped with a large dome. Of the three spires that surrounded it, one was silver in color and resembled a spear, one was dark blue and looked like a crooked horn, and the final one was cyan in color and resembled a tall pagoda.
Standing in front of the palace, on a square stage made of sand, stood six other people. Three of the people were elders, two women and one man, while the other three people were youths, two men and one woman. The two reached the six others, Guanyu stepping in front of them and producing an orb made from green jade, holding it in front of Liang Chen.
"Drip your blood on this piece of jade and then insert a small amount of your Qi."
Liang Chen did as he was told, the orb of jade splitting into two half-moons. One piece sank into Liang Chen's chest, fusing with his body, while the other half shot through the air and vanished into the distance, heading for the other palace. Guanyu gave a slight nod as he watched the jade vanish, explaining its purposes.
"With our half, we can register your contribution points as well as ascertain whether or not you are alive or dead. Your part of the jade can be used by you to check your contribution points, to send an emergency message to the sect, and it will allow others to know that you are a member of our sect."
Liang Chen didn't check if he had any contribution points, but after the piece of jade entered his body, he became able to sense a faint energy that radiated from the chests of Guanyu and the six other people. Guanyu clapped his hands, giving a quick introduction of himself.
"Alright, now with the formalities out of the way, let me introduce a few people to you. Just like the girlie said, I am Guanyu. No family name, just Guanyu. My official position is Third Elder and guardian of the Wolf Hall, but I mostly just lounge around, drinking wine and eating meat, occasionally giving pointers or protecting the sect."
it was somewhat strange to not have a family name, but Liang Chen had no intention of prying, as the reason behind it might be very personal. After introducing himself, Guanyu pointed at the three elders and introduced them.
"These old fogies are Meng Na, Xue Ping, and Long Hai, they are the three elders of the Wolf Hall. Meng Na has cultivated the Sunlight Blood technique, Xue Ping has cultivated the Chaotic Flesh technique, and Long Hai has cultivated the Tempest Heart technique, the three supreme techniques of our Wolf Hall."
Meng Na was a woman who had white hair that was tied into a neat ponytail, eyes as black as the night, surprisingly smooth skin, and a slightly hunched back. Xue Ping was a woman who had a bald head covered in liver spots, a few small wrinkles on her face, and deep green eyes. Long Hai was a man with a face that was nearly covered in wrinkles, short gray hair, and a body that was as straight as a spear, completely covered in muscles. He had an eyepatch over his left eye, but his right eye was similar to Meng Na's, as black as the night. Guanyu seemed to suddenly realize something, pointing at the three towers standing behind him.
"Oh yeah, talking about the supreme techniques, that's what those spires represent. Each spire holds a different supreme technique, reaching the peak of the spire means that you will be allowed to practice the technique. As you can see, our Wolf Hall has three supreme body cultivation techniques, while the Storm Hall has six supreme techniques. But their supreme techniques are mostly just singular attack skills, not like our supreme techniques, which are full-fledged cultivation techniques that contain several different attack and defense skills."
Liang Chen was rather curious just what it took to be considered a supreme technique by a sect like this, but he knew that Guanyu wasn't finished talking, so he wisely held his tongue. The next people that Guanyu introduced were the three youths.
"These three kiddos are the top disciples of our Wolf Hall, Kong Heng, Mao Zexi, and Yao Ming. To become a top disciple of Wolf Hall, you have to gain a certain level of understanding of any of the supreme techniques. So while their ages and strength vary a little, they all know a lot about body cultivation and are the cream of the crop in our Wolf Hall."
Kong Heng had black hair that was cut short and resembled needles, brown eyes, a somewhat square face, and a muscular body that was very similar to Long Hai's. Mao Zexi was rather tall and slim, had a buxom figure that was barely hidden by her cyan robe, curly orange hair that hung down a little past her shoulders, and deep blue eyes. Yao Ming looked like the youngest, looking like he was still in his twenties. He had unruly black hair that hung down to his ears, smooth and delicate skin, as well as brown eyes.
Having a high understanding of a cultivation technique didn't automatically mean that you had a high cultivation, but all three of the youths in front of Liang Chen had already reached a realm that was even higher than Yan Ying's. Liang Chen couldn't sense it clearly, but he guessed that they had likely entered the Primordial Immortal realm. Liang Chen cupped his hands and gave the six people a slight bow, giving a short and polite greeting.
"Greetings, I am Liang Chen, I look forward to receiving your guidance."
All these people knew far more about cultivation, especially body cultivation, than Liang Chen. By receiving their guidance, he could shorten the time he himself needed, as well as avoid making any mistakes. The six people returned the greeting, either by cupping their hands or nodding their head.
After the introductions were over, Guanyu pulled a clay jug out from his interspatial ring, grabbing onto a rope that was tied around the tip. A strong alcoholic scent was released from the bottle, so it was clear that it contained a rather strong alcohol. Guanyu started to sip from the jug, casually walking toward the entrance of the palace.
"Alright, kiddos, you guide Lil' Chen around a bit. Tomorrow morning you can bring him to the spires, we'll check if he has an affinity with one of the supreme techniques, we'll also take the chance to teach him more about body cultivation at that time."
Strangely enough, before he even finished his words, he had vanished from sight, but his words still remained. The three elders also vanished during the short moment Liang Chen had followed Guanyu with his eyes, leaving only him and the three top disciples, who quickly bowed in the direction that Guanyu had vanished.
"As you say, Grand Teacher Guanyu!"
After finishing their bows, the three youths turned towards Liang Chen, stepping a bit closer. The tall and buxom Mao Zexi sent Liang Chen a charming smile, giving a short nod and pointing at the two men, once again introducing herself and the two others.
"As Grand Teacher Guanyu said, I am Mao Zexi, this is Junior Brother Heng, and this is Junior Brother Ming. If you encounter any troubles or become confused about your cultivation, you can come to find us for pointers. We spend most of our time cultivating inside the tower that houses our supreme technique."
To be a member of a sect was the same as joining a family, everyone taking good care of each other. Even though the Storm Wolf sect was divided into two halls, and there was somewhat of a rivalry between the halls, there was no real enmity between the people of the two halls. Because of this, almost all the disciples treated each other very well. After once again introducing their group, Mao Zexi wasted no time.
"Now then, would you mind if I check your body cultivation foundation?"
A faint light appeared in the eyes of Mao Zexi and the two others, a mixture of curiosity and battle lust. Their Wolf Hall was quite a bit smaller than the Storm Hall, as body cultivation required far more resources than energy cultivation, so every new disciple they acquired would be another person they could spar with and learn from. Liang Chen didn't mind the request, giving a nod of his head.
"Not at all."
The smile on Mao Zexi's face grew even brighter, her body taking a step back and holding out her clenched left fist.
"Thank you, please punch my fist with all your bodily strength."
Liang Chen also took a step back, allowing him to build momentum for his attack. He then stepped forward and put all his force into his right arm as he punched out, the faint sound of creaking bones sounding out. His fist clashed with Mao Zexi's, the air between them forcefully pushed away as a loud thud sounded out.
Mao Zexi stood completely still, but Liang Chen was forced to take three steps back to dissipate the remaining force. His entire fist ached after making contact with Mao Zexi, and even stranger, there was a burning sensation moving up his arm, but it quickly vanished after Mao Zexi unclenched her fist. Mao Zexi looked at her fist, giving a nod with a smile.
"It seems you have a better foundation than we first thought, your body is surprisingly strong. It seems like we acquired a good seedling this time."
She didn't mention it, but the moment her fist made contact with Liang Chen's a strange tingling sensation appeared in her hand. She crushed it immediately, but she still found it surprising.
Liang Chen also looked at his fist with some shock. He had used all his force, while Mao Zexi had used none. Had it not been for the fact that all the bone marrow in both of his arms had already been turned into liquid lightning, the new blood slowly strengthening his body, he was certain that his entire arm would have shattered because of that small clash.
Then again, he also guessed that if Mao Zexi used any energy in that last clash, his arm would have shattered even with the current strength of his body. Hearing the praise from Mao Zexi, the corners of Yao Ming's mouth raised slightly.
"Heh, if we can train you up fast enough within the next three months, you might be able to give Junior Brother Tu a good smack."
Yao Ming chuckled lightly, Kong Heng also giving a slight nod of his head. But Liang Chen was new to this sect and didn't know all the famous disciples, so he had to ask who they were talking about.
"Junior Brother Tu? Who is that?"
For this Junior Brother Tu to be spoken of so highly by these three disciples, it was clear that he should have rather great strength. For Liang Chen to take him on after only three months, wasn't that a bit too unlikely? Kong Heng seemed to guess at Liang Chen's thoughts, answering his question.
"A disciple of Storm Hall. Since they have six supreme techniques, they also have six top disciples. Senior Sister Zexi and I can hold back four of them, while Junior Brother Ming can hold back another, but that still leaves the sixth one, the youngest and weaker Junior Brother Tu, running free. Because of this, as well as the fact that our Wolf Hall is quite a bit smaller than the Storm Hall, we are always at a slight disadvantage whenever we have a group competition, as his Chaotic Oceans technique is hard to deal with if you don't have the strength of someone at the late stage of the Soaring Immortal real."
It wasn't that the Wolf Hall had no one that could deal with Junior Brother Tu, it was just that it was hard to lock him down. And whenever someone tried to deal with him, the other disciples of the Storm Hall would swarm over to defend him, making it even harder to get a hold of him. Kong Heng took a step forward, giving Liang Chen a heavy pat on the shoulder.
"But don't take Junior Brother Ming's words to heart and let them bog you down, just focus on quiet cultivation and let us deal with the top disciples of the Storm Hall."
Liang Chen had just reached the early stage fo the Heaven's Gate realm. To ask him to produce the strength of someone at the late stage of the Soaring Immortal realm was not only unrealistic, but it could also end up stressing him so much that he made mistakes in his cultivation, which was dangerous. Liang Chen gave a nod of his head, and Mao Zexi clapped her hands, tilting her head with a smile.
"Alright, shall we get this tour underway? We'll do it like usual, start with the most important place and slowly work our way down."
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