Chapter 34 : True Person Zhiying Took on a Disciple

Chapter 34: True Person Zhiying Took on a Disciple

A short while later, in a corner of the main hall of Yuhua Wine House, the most renowned restaurant in Qixia Town, several dishes had already been laid out in front of Long Tao and Dong Jiayuan.

Normally, if the two of them passed by this place, they would have quickened their pace, afraid that just smelling the aroma would make it impossible to leave.

But who told them they had recently come into a windfall? After a brief discussion, the brothers agreed that on the path of cultivation, a good mood was of vital importance, and for low-level cultivators, nothing boosted one’s vitality and spirit better than a hearty meal.

The cost-performance ratio was exceptionally high!

“Ah… it’s been almost two years since I last tasted the bamboo shoot soup with knife fish here,” Dong Jiayuan sighed as he scooped up a spoonful of milky-white broth.

“Either I was short on money, or the season wasn’t right.”

“Don’t shortchange yourself too much in the future,” Long Tao said with his mouth stuffed full.

“Between the two of us, we’ve more or less scraped together the resources we need before Foundation Establishment. When it’s time to enjoy ourselves, we should at least enjoy a little.” After speaking, he seemed to feel that words alone were insufficient to express his agreement, so he precisely picked up a piece of pan-fried fish skin, crisp and golden, and stuffed it into his mouth, showing his support through action.

“Still, this matter of True Person Zhiying taking in a disciple—it’s clearly spread everywhere now,” Long Tao said after swallowing the fish skin, lowering his voice as he gestured with his chopsticks toward several nearby tables of diners whispering among themselves.

“Everyone’s talking about it.”

“How could something this big be kept quiet?” Dong Jiayuan replied, also lowering his voice after swallowing his food.

“True Person Zhiying—that’s an unparalleled genius who formed her Golden Core before forty. Everyone says she’ll definitely reach the Nascent Soul Stage before four hundred! For her to suddenly take in a disciple at this time—who in the entire sect wouldn’t prick up their ears to ask around?”

“Exactly,” Long Tao said, his eyes gleaming, yet tinged with anxiety.

“If luck’s on their side, that new disciple might not even be in the sect long before becoming the personally transmitted disciple of a Nascent Soul True Lord! This… damn it… no matter what, we have to latch onto this connection! Old Dong! Is there anyone in the Hometown Association who can speak to the Zhu family?”

Dong Jiayuan frowned and thought for a long time before finally shaking his head helplessly.

“No. The Zhu family is more deeply entangled with the Wuyi Sect. Their juniors have always been sent there as a priority.”

The Wuyi Sect, a major power dominating the southeast.

Before the rise of the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect, it had once stood on equal footing with the Mingde Dynasty in this region.

Although its influence was no longer what it once was, a starved camel was still bigger than a horse.

Its foundation remained deep, far beyond what ordinary forces could compare with.

“Damn it, this is really driving me crazy!” Long Tao irritably raked a hand through his hair.

“The key point is we don’t even know if it’s a man or a woman, tall or short, fat or thin. Even if we want to flatter them, we don’t know where to start!”

“Oh, right!” Dong Jiayuan’s eyes suddenly lit up as he lowered his voice.

“Long Tao, could it be your younger sister? Or… that little maid who used to follow you around everywhere when you were young?”

“Absolutely impossible!” Long Tao said decisively.

“Those two girls are just like me. Although we were lucky enough to develop spiritual roots, they’re both mixed spiritual roots. Even if they somehow stumbled into a once-in-a-lifetime mutation, my parents would have sent word by flying crane long ago, making a huge announcement. Would they really wait until now?”

“That’s true…” Dong Jiayuan deflated.

“Then how are we supposed to meet her when the time comes? We can’t exactly squat outside Zhiying Peak and ambush her, can we?”

Just as the two were speaking with worried expressions, scratching their heads in frustration, the shopkeeper of the wine house, who was passing by to refill their tea, overheard a few words and couldn’t help but laugh as he dragged over a stool and sat down beside them.

“You two junior brothers, talking about this, are you? In my opinion, you shouldn’t waste your effort!”

He spoke in the tone of someone who had been there before.

“Zhiying Peak of True Person Zhiying—is that somewhere ordinary people can go? Without a handwritten decree from a True Person or guidance from a peak disciple, you wouldn’t even know which direction the mountain gate opens! As I see it, if we want to know whether that new disciple is round or flat, we’ll probably have to wait until the next Sect Grand Competition, when she makes a public appearance.”

“Ah… what Senior Brother Shopkeeper says is the plain truth…” Long Tao sighed.

“But still… when someone from the same hometown produces such a figure, the opportunity is rare. You can’t help but want to take a gamble! What if it works?”

The shopkeeper smiled at that and poured them more tea.

“That’s true enough. When a genius comes out of your hometown, everyone wants to bask in a bit of that immortal aura. It all depends on the two junior brothers’ own destiny! Wait! Not necessarily…” He suddenly slapped his thigh, as if recalling something crucial, and continued excitedly,

“For someone of True Person Zhiying’s level to take in a disciple, she definitely wouldn’t bring them straight back to the peak. She would first go to the Main Peak’s main hall and let the Sect Master and the various elders take a look. So then…”

When Long Tao and Dong Jiayuan heard this, they both turned to look at each other with expressions that clearly said, How could you be so slow to realize this?

That’s right! When a Golden Core True Person privately took in a personally transmitted disciple, they would certainly bring them before the Sect Master and other high-level figures.

If nothing else… what if the person was a spy from a rival faction, or had something undesirable about them? The more people examined them, the greater the chance of uncovering any issues.

After all, a personally transmitted disciple of a peak master was in a completely different category from the outer sect menial disciples and ordinary disciples recruited every two years.

These favored children of heaven had access to core cultivation methods, sect secrets, and resource treatment that bottom-tier cultivators like them couldn’t even imagine.

Wouldn’t the initiation review have to peel them inside and out, layer by layer?

In an instant, the two lost all interest in eating.

They hastily thanked the shopkeeper, swept the remaining food off the table like a whirlwind, tossed down the meal money, and dashed out the door, their target pointing straight at the summit of the Main Peak!

……

“Long Tao! Look!”

Just as they reached the mountainside, Dong Jiayuan suddenly grabbed Long Tao and pointed at the sky with a cry of alarm.

Long Tao looked up and saw a silver Cloud Vessel of unusual design, shaped like an unsheathed sharp sword, roaring past not far above their heads with a fierce momentum, flying straight toward the direction of the Main Peak’s main hall.

“It’s True Person Zhiying’s ‘Rending-Cloud’ vessel! She really did bring the person to the Main Peak first!” Dong Jiayuan’s voice trembled slightly with excitement.

“Hurry!” Long Tao’s heart tightened.

“This kind of public review for a personally transmitted disciple, to show fairness, will very likely be conducted in the plaza in front of the main hall! We might still be able to grab a good spot!”

Before his words had even finished, the two had already each used the Lightness Technique, their feet carrying the wind as they sprinted up the mountain path.

Along the way, they discovered they were far from alone.

From all directions, fellow disciples were rushing toward the peak, each displaying their own abilities.

Some were running headlong like them, others were riding spirit beasts of various forms, and from time to time, sword-riding figures and small cloud vessels swept past overhead.

The matter of True Person Zhiying taking in a disciple had stirred the hearts of untold numbers of people!

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing the uncontrollable anxiety and excitement in the other’s eyes.

If… if that personally transmitted disciple who was about to ascend in a single step truly came from Qinglin Town, and even had past connections with them… then the benefits they could reap in the future were simply beyond imagination!

One had to know that even among Golden Core cultivators, the gap between ordinary lower- to mid-grade Golden Core elders and peak masters who exclusively controlled a spiritual peak and held real authority was like heaven and earth.

Take True Person Mingzhu for example—she possessed two Spirit Stone mine veins and was a famously wealthy powerhouse within the sect, her riches even surpassing many Nascent Soul True Lords.

Long Tao had always privately believed that the Nine-Leaf Ganoderma he had found was not necessarily truly unique.

It was more likely that Zhu Huaisu simply didn’t want to be taken for a fool and had been holding back from buying it.

If it truly came to a life-or-death moment, True Person Mingzhu would absolutely be willing to spend that sky-high price for her disciple.

As for True Person Zhiying, although she wasn’t as outrageously rich as Mingzhu, it was said that she still had many industries under her command and considerable financial power.

Becoming her personally transmitted disciple meant bidding farewell to the word “poor” forever.

And whatever scraps leaked out from between the fingers of such disciples would be enough for ordinary disciples like them to live off for a long time.

Just like the small box Nan Yuchen had casually given him before.

The pills and materials inside had practically covered the cultivation needs of both him and Dong Jiayuan throughout their entire Qi Refining Stage.

The sheer generosity of it was still astonishing to think about.

Lost in such wild thoughts, the two finally panted their way up to the summit of the Main Peak.

At this moment, although the white jade plaza in front of the main hall was not yet packed shoulder to shoulder, it was already more than ten times livelier than usual.

And this was only those who had received the news quickly or lived nearby.

Who knew how many more would come flocking over later?

At the center of the plaza, the crowd had tacitly left open a large circular area.

The Sect Master and more than a dozen high-level elders with unfathomably deep auras stood solemnly on the white marble steps of the main hall.

And the focus of their gazes fell squarely on the two people in the center of the plaza.

One of them was a woman wearing a plain yet elegant blue-green Daoist robe.

Her posture was upright like a pine, like a peerless sharp sword that had sheathed its edge.

With only a simple wooden hairpin, she had bound her jet-black long hair into a neat high ponytail.

Her exquisitely beautiful and clear features carried an unquestionable air of valor and authority.

She was none other than the sect’s renowned top-tier genius—True Person Zhiying.

And at this moment, the gaze of everyone present was drawn even more curiously to the girl beside her, who looked slightly ill at ease, her head lowered so that her features could not be clearly seen.