"Haha! You know, they all still think it was an Inner Court disciple. I canāt wait to see the look on their faces when they learn it was Outer Court disciples all along!" another Core Disciple said with a laugh, imagining the faces of those proud disciples.
"Yeah, thatās going to cause another major shock," added one of the others with a grin.
"By the way, which Peak have you all joined?" one of the disciples asked curiously. She was 100% sure that the Peak Masters had been present alongside the Sect Master during the recruitment ceremony and had already recruited them. She also noticed how close the girls were to Wang Ming and could easily guess they were his Dao Companionsāso naturally, they would follow him to whichever Peak he chose. In her mind, he must have joined one of the top Peaks.
"Oh, we joined Jade Peak," Shi Yu replied in a cheerful tone, completely ignoring the expressions of the girls, which had frozen the moment they heard her answer.
As soon as the words left Shi Yuās mouth, the disciples froze, their eyes widening in disbelief. The entire atmosphere became awkward as the Core Disciples who had been smiling now stood with their mouths hanging open, their eyes darting between the group in shock.
āJust how bad is the reputation of Jade Peak?ā Min Liās lips twitched when she saw the look of disbelief plastered across their faces.
Soon, the Core Disciples snapped out of their shock and looked at the group with strange expressions, as if they were observing a newly discovered species.
"Youāre joking, right?" one of the Core Disciples asked Shi Yu, clearly not believing what she had heard. Shi Yu, on the other hand, had no words to say and simply looked at Wang Mingāhe was the one who had made the decision, and they had followed. Honestly, even to her, it was still a mind-boggling choice. Why would he join the weakest Peak when he was receiving offers from the best? She sighed and chalked it up to one of his strange quirks or impulsive decisions.
"No, sheās not joking. We really did join Jade Peak," Wang Ming replied with a smirk on his face as he enjoyed watching the dumbfounded expressions of the disciples.
"Are you for real?" another disciple asked in disbelief, needing confirmation. When Wang Ming nodded in response, she looked at them as if she were observing a group of complete idiots.
"You said you were new Outer Court disciples, right?" she asked the group.
"Indeed, we are," Bai Linxgi replied with a frown.
"Hah, now I understandāyou must have been tricked into joining Jade Peak by Peak Master Zhou Huixin. Do you even know what kind of reputation Jade Peak has? No wonder you ended up joining there," said a Core Disciple, pitying them. Once a disciple joins a Peak, thereās no way to transfer; they remain in that Peak for as long as theyāre part of the sect.
"Yes, we do know," Wang Ming replied calmly, watching her reaction.
"Exactly! You donāt knoāwait, did you just say you do know?" the disciple paused mid-sentence and looked at Wang Ming in disbelief.
"Why would you join knowing that?" asked another disciple curiously. To her, it was a foolish decisionāno one in their right mind would willingly join that Peak, especially not Core Disciples. Most of the recent recruits were the weakest Inner Court disciples who barely qualified for promotion from the Outer Court during the exam. The Peak did have Core Disciples, but they were all older members.
"I had already given my word, and moreover..." Wang Ming said, pausing mid-sentence.
"Moreover?" asked one of the disciples, raising an eyebrow.
"Isnāt it fun to raise the weakest Peak to the strongest?" Wang Ming said with a grin, which caused the female Core Disciples to look at him in surpriseāand the girls beside him to roll their eyes.
"Oh, you sure seem confident," one of them said, half amused looking at Wang Ming.
"Heh, I am confident," he said with such certainty that it baffled the Core Disciples.
āEven if he made it into the rankings... I donāt think he can raise the Peak to the top all by himself,ā thought one of the disciples. After all, even if someone were a Golden Core Realm cultivator, they couldnāt accomplish such a feat alone.
What she didnāt know was that Wang Ming was specialāand through Dual Cultivation, he could raise the cultivation of others, which he fully intended to do.
"Alright, letās go," Wang Ming said, seeing the disciples were distracted. He gestured for Bai Lingxi, Shi Yu, Luo Li, and Min Li to follow him. However, just as they were about to head toward the stairs, they were stopped by the Core Disciples.
"Hey, wait! Disciples arenāt allowed to go there!" one of the disciples said hurriedly, her eyes nearly bulging out at the audacity of them heading toward the top floor. That level was only accessible to the Sect Master, Supreme Elder, Peak Masters, and occasionally a few elders.
"Heh, really? But I heard you just talking about how your Senior Sister is upstairs," Wang Ming said, raising an eyebrow.
"Thatās because she got permission from the Sect Master to go upstairs! And more importantly, sheās the first disciple to receive that permission in decades," one of the Core Disciples replied proudly.
"Oh, really?" Bai Lingxi asked curiously. From their earlier conversation with the Sect Master, she knew how rare and significant such a privilege wasāone even elders didnāt receive easily.
"Indeed! Sheās the strongest disciple in the entire sect, with the highest cultivation. Sheās even closer to reaching the Peak Masterās level and has surpassed most elders in terms of cultivation stage," another Core Disciple added with pride.
"So, do you understand now why you canāt just go up there? You need toā" The discipleās words came to a screeching halt, her eyes widening in shock as Wang Ming and the girls raised their hands and showed the rings on their fingers, the symbols of the Sect Masterās personal permission.