To their surprise, the first to arrive were Chi Hongchen and Guang Yue. They brought two people with them.
"Why did you two bring them here?" Qing Qiuâer asked them.
Instead of answering Qing Qiuâerâs question, Chi Hongchen cupped his hand to Zhang Fei [5]. "Thank you for saving Yue from the evil beast. If it werenât for your help, she would have died by now."
"Thank you for saving me, Elder Zhang." Gong Yue spoke in a sincere and grateful tone.
Zhang Fei [5] shook his head slightly. "Honestly, you donât need to thank me because I donât have the strength to fight those evil beasts. Several other people helped me save you and the others, so the credit should belong to them."
"Even though my condition wasnât good, I was still conscious at that time. I noticed that you were the first to appear and subdue the female evil beast, while the others arrived later. Even though you didnât want to accept it, Iâm still grateful to you." Guang Yue pushed the two disciples forward. "They are Pei Yunhao and Zi Yuâan, and we brought them to be our representatives in joining this sect."
Qing Qiuâer frowned at that. "Weâ"
"Sect Master Qing, I know your thoughts, but we donât have such an idea." Chi Hongchen then explained. "For me, Guang Yue is everything, and Elder Zhang has saved her from death. I have been thinking about this matter since last night, and I have chosen to let go of my desire to seize this floating plateau. From today onward, this place will always belong to your sect, and we will never bother you again for such matters."
Chi Hongchenâs decision shocked Qing Qiuâer, You Feling, and all the elders present. The floating plateau used to belong to his sect, and he always harbored the ambition to reclaim it from them, but he suddenly took such a decision.
Guang Yue spoke to them again. "Pei Yunhao and Zi Yuâan are dual cultivators, and they are some of the best of our disciples. They also have interests in other fields, such as blacksmithing and alchemy. Unfortunately, no sect in this domain has both fields, and other sects are unwilling to accept them because of their status as dual cultivators. Since this sect has become a universal sect and has both fields, we purposely brought both of them here to join you."
"What do you think?" Qing Qiuâer asked Zhang Fei [5].
"Let me see it first." Zhang Fei [5] used his demon eyes to examine the souls of the four people, but he couldnât find anything negative in their souls. "Sect Master Chi and Sect Master Guang certainly donât have such an idea, and they really want to hand over this floating island to us. Therefore, I donât think itâs a problem to accept Pei Yunhao and Zi Yuâan."
"Are you sure about that?" Qing Qiuâer doubted that.
"You donât need to worry about that because we have many powerful elders now, and we also have several guardian beasts. If the two of them have such an idea, they can easily stop them." Zhang Fei [5] then pointed at Zi Yuâan. "I can smell thousands of herbs from her body, which means she is indeed an alchemist. All alchemistsâ bodies have a lot of herb scent, but not all of them have that much scent, so Iâm sure that she likes alchemy."
Qing Qiuâer nodded slightly before questioning Zi Yuâan. "How long have you been an alchemist? Did you have a masterâs in alchemy before?"
"Sect Master Qing, I used to be Senior Bu Guoâs disciple." Zhang Fei [5] raised an eyebrow as he remembered the old man from Luo Yunxiaoâs explanation back then, and the old man was the god-rank alchemist from the Star Cloud Pavilion. "Unfortunately, he wasnât willing to acknowledge me as his disciple anymore after I decided to become a dual cultivator, and Iâve been practicing alchemy on my own ever since."
"That old man is really stupid." Zhang Fei [5] commented with a shake of his head, leaving Chi Hongchen and Guang Yue dumbfounded, as Bu Guo was well-respected in alchemy circles. "So what if you become a dual cultivator? That is your personal decision, and he should respect it. Although I have not tested your ability in alchemy in person, I have confidence that you are proficient in alchemy. Your alchemist rank should be at the venerable rank, right?"
"Yes, Elder Zhang." Zi Yuâan took out her alchemist badge and showed it to them.
"See? Bu Guo is too stupid to let go of a talented alchemist like her." Zhang Fei [5] immediately threw a jade to her. "From today on, you will be our core disciple, and we will help you to hone your alchemy skills further. I believe you will successfully reach the god rank, and your abilities will surpass your former master at that time."
===
[Ding]
[Quest: Upgrade your sect.]
[Status: Done.]
[Reward: Sect Gift Pack x1 was sent to the inventory.]
===
[Ding]
[Quest: Recruit 1000 disciples.]
[Status: Done.]
[Reward: Sect Gift Pack x1]
===
âI was initially confused that the quest wasnât completed during the opening ceremony, but it turns out there are hidden criteria to complete the quest!â Zhang Fei [5] was annoyed by the second notification. âTch! The second quest is quite annoying!â
Zi Yuâan grasped her new jade identity tightly before bowing slightly. "Thank you for your trust in me, Elder Zhang."
"For now, I want you to go to the alchemy hall to meet Lin Jingxia and Tian Shuixiang, and they will teach you some new things in alchemy." Zi Yuâan immediately left the room after saying a few things to Chi Hongchen and Guang Yue. Then, Zhang Fei [5] questioned Pei Yunhao. "What is your blacksmith rank? Do you have a master in that field?"
"Elder Zhang, my Pei Clan is a blacksmith family, and I learned about blacksmithing from my family. However, my clan is only a small one, and our knowledge in blacksmithing is very limited. I used to want to join another sect, but they rejected me because I was a dual cultivator, so I joined the Sun Moon Sect." Pei Yunhao then took out his identity as a blacksmith. "My blacksmith rank is the grandmaster rank."
"I see." Zhang Fei [5] nodded in understanding and threw him a jade. "Go to the blacksmith hall to meet Ji Changlan and Gong Ren; they will teach you about blacksmithing and artifact crafting."
"Thank you, Elder Zhang." Pei Yunhao hurriedly left the room and headed for the blacksmith hall.
Chi Hongchen felt relieved and cupped his hands to them. "Since our business is finished, we will take our leave now."
"Elder Zhang, please help them become experts in their fields." Guang Yue begged him.
Zhang Fei [5] nodded at her. "Donât worry, they will train under the guidance of experts in their fields, but the results still depend on their perseverance."
"We will leave now." Chi Hongchen and Guang Yue immediately left the sect and returned to their own sect.
Qing Qiuâer then asked Zhang Fei [5]. "Are you sure they wonât bring us trouble?"
"Trust me, okay? I accepted them because of their talents, and they will be useful to our sect. If they bring trouble to us, I will definitely know it, and I will kill them straight away." Qing Qiuâer nodded to Zhang Fei [5] before they looked at the four people who had just arrived. "Sect Master Ming and Sect Master Qiu, you two can take your two disciples back to your sect because we will not accept them in our sect."
Ming Tianhe frowned at that. "What do you mean by this, Elder Zhang? Donât you need new disciples?"
"Thatâs right." Qiu Meixuan chimed in. "They are the best disciples in our sect, and we want them to be our representatives to form a better relationship with your sect."
Zhang Fei [5] shook his head and gestured for them to leave. "You two may be able to deceive others with your words, but I understand the character of people like you very well. You donât want to build a good relationship with us, and you want to use them to spy on us, particularly regarding my relationship with Qiuâer. Therefore, you two donât need to waste time and leave our sect now; otherwise, our two guardians will throw you out."
"Youâ" Qiu Meixuan stopped talking as soon as Tian Kui and Serpentera appeared behind them. Even though the two of them didnât say anything, their presence was quite frightening to her. "Letâs go back, Ming."
Ming Tianhe glared fiercely at Zhang Fei [5], but he said nothing and left with the others straight away. Tian Kui and Serpentera hurried after them, making sure that they wouldnât cause any trouble.
"Hahaha." Fang Roulan laughed heartily. "Elder Zhang, you must be careful, as Iâm sure that Ming Tianhe will plan something bad against you."
Zhang Fei [5] nodded at her. "Some people are like those two, but Iâm not worried about them. Instead, Iâve already devised a few plans for them, and Iâll execute them soon."
"What are your plans for them?" All of them turned to Zhang Fei [5].
"Haha." Zhang Fei [5] laughed at their reactions, and he explained some of his plans for Ming Tianhe, Qiu Meixuan, and the Blazing Union Sect, leaving them dumbfounded for quite a while. "Letâs talk about my plans later because many people have arrived in front of our sect."
- To Be Continued -