I posted 2 chapters on Wednesday and skipped an update on Tuesday. Please check in case you missed one of the chapters. This is Wednesdays chapter going live a few hours early.
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“We seemed to have neglected to give proper introductions to Junior Brother Yang.” Senior Brother Qing An observed.
“How could we have?” Senior Brother Yuan Shen sniffed elegantly. “All of you came rushing in like a pack of starving hyenas and dived down to devour food as soon as it appeared.”
Senior Brother Xiao Zhan looked at Yang apologetically. “That was inconsiderate of us, Junior Brother. We all forgot ourselves a little, being together in the same room after such a long time. The last time was when Zhen Hao was accepted as a disciple,” he said, casting a fond look in his direction before turning back to Yang. “You already know my name. I am Master's first disciple, and I am in the Void Refinement realm.”
“Which means he rules the Peak after Master,” offered Senior Brother Luo Yun Xi from across the table.
"Doesn't he already do that?” muttered Senior Brother He Su Ye under his breath.
Senior Brother Xiao Zhan shot a glare at both before he resumed.
“That's Luo Yun Xi, my second Junior Brother. He is in the Soul Severing realm.”
He continued introducing each one in order.
Yan Zheng, at Soul Transformation.
Lu Feng and Fan Xiao, both at Soul Formation.
Qing An, Xie Wei, and Song Weilong at Nascent Soul, and the other four, Senior Brothers, He Su Ye, Yuan Shen, Chen Xin Hai, and Zhen Hao, at Golden Core.
Leaving Yang as the only one still in the Qi Condensation realm.
Yang formally greeted each Senior Brother as they were introduced.
He hadn’t anticipated his fellow disciple brothers to be so high up in the cultivation realm. From what he had learned from the loose cultivator in Tianlu City, nascent soul cultivators themselves were powerhouses in their own right, strong enough to lead a mid-level sect. He had three senior brothers at that stage, and five above it at realms he hadn’t even read about yet.
White Cloud Sect was clearly no mid-tier sect.
“Now that the formal introductions are out of the way,” said Senior Brother Yuan Shen, leaning forward with an easy smile at Yang. “Let me give my greeting gift to our new Junior Brother.” He said, producing a fist-sized transparent orb filled with swirling purple smoke. “There will hardly be any time tomorrow, with so many people around.” He sent it floating towards Yang, who, once it was close enough, grabbed hold of it.
“What is it?” Yang asked, turning around the globe. It felt cool in his hand, and he could feel the movement of the smoke from within the glass.
The others also looked at the object in curiosity. “It's a lightning orb. Keep it on yourself during your tribulations, and it will absorb a portion of the lightning.”
Yang looked even more impressed at the orb, realising its true value. Lightning was one of the hardest elements to work with, as it usually required cultivators to have faced a tribulation before they could even begin learning it.
Treasures imbued with lightning elements were considered exceptionally precious, often fetching twice the value of comparable treasures of most other elemental affinities.
“It is indeed a precious gift”, Senior Brother Xiao Zhan told him, “Lightning is already an element of the heavens, and this orb, which gives you a chance to capture a trace of tribulation lightning, is valuable beyond measure, as tribulation lightning is considered a grade above ordinary lightning. You will do well to make certain it's on you when you go through tribulations.”
Yang looked intently at it. “Thank you, Senior Brother. I will make sure to always keep it with me during my tribulations.”
Senior Brother Yuan Shen waved off his thanks as he reached for the wine.
Senior Brother Qing An called out next. “This is a ring I obtained in the Starry Sea,” he said, taking out a ring with a silver band set with a round pearl. Yang thanked him and took the ring, taking a closer look at it. What he thought of as a pearl was some kind of white stone with a glowing sheen, like a mixture of pearl and moonstone.
“It will allow you to breathe underwater and withstand significant water pressure. Very useful in a bind, more than you would expect.” Added Senior Brother Qing An with a wink. Yang smiled at him as he thanked him again and put the ring on his left hand, which seemed to have pleased him.
In this way, Yang got gift after gift from all his Senior Brothers.
Senior Brother Chen Xin Hai gave him a wooden sword next, called the Cherry Blossom Sword. “This sword is meant to grow with you.” Its blade, Yang noticed, instead of being metal, was made of wood, with the handle having a carving of cherry blossoms on it. “It will darken with the blood of those it fights against and absorb it to strengthen itself over time.”
“Make sure you don't go around disclosing that particular property to others.” Senior Brother Luo Yun Xi warned him, “Blood absorbing artefacts are frowned upon in the orthodox sects, regardless of their effectiveness.”
Senior Brother Fan Xiao let out a derisive snort that conveyed his feelings on the matter, “Such opinions are only ever voiced when a weaker cultivator other than their own is using said artefacts. I would like to see those hypocrites put into words such thoughts when faced with a Nascent Soul or above cultivator using one.”
“Regardless of others' hypocrisy, Fan Xiao, our Junior Brother, hasn't even formed his foundation yet. It's best that he keeps his head down and doesn’t acquire a reputation as the user of a blood-absorbing artefact.”
Yang gave his thanks to Senior Brother Chen Xin Hai, placing the sword carefully beside him.
Next was Senior Brother Luo Yunxi’s gift, which was a set of inner armour, thin, lightweight and designed to be worn under robes.
Senior Brother Yan Zheng gave him a flying carpet. Of everything he had received so far, this was the one that Yang looked at with most gratitude. He could not fly. Every time he needed to leave or return to the peak, he depended on whoever was available to carry him. This resolved that reliance entirely, and Senior Brother Yan Zheng seemed to know it, giving Yang a small nod.
From Senior Brother Lu Feng, he got a Tulip bell, a tool that, when activated, could capture an enemy within its range and hold them restrained while the user retreated.
A pair of daggers from Xie Wei, which could cut through almost everything, even stone and metal.
Senior Brother Fan Xiao had apparently found out about Yang's desire to learn alchemy and gave him five whole trunks filled with ingredients along with basic alchemy manuals and bottles upon bottles of various kinds of qi recovery and healing pills. And most importantly, a promise to start him on alchemy lessons once they have time.
The last one Yang valued more than anything.
Senior Brothers Song Weilong and He Su Ye’s gifts were similar in the sense that both required Yang to make use of his budding spiritual sense.Senior Brother Song Weilong gave him a small mole puppet that could burrow underground to scout ahead and pass the information on what it had found.
Senior Brother He Su Ye gave him a set of needles and a manual for a rare needle technique.
Both gifts, Yang noted, required a working spiritual sense to use effectively, which he was slowly developing.
This drew Senior Brother Zhen Hao's attention, who cried out. “What? You already use your spiritual sense? At the Qi Condensation stage?”
“Zhen Hao, he is practising the same technique as Senior Brother Xiao Zhan.” Senior Brother Qing An stated as if it was obvious, “That's one of the advantages of the Heaven-Refining Soul Sutra in early cultivation stages.” He ended with a roll of his eyes.
“One of the advantages?” Someone snorted. “Is there another one?” Yang looked in the direction the comment had come from but couldn’t make out the speaker.
“It's not as though I was there to see Senior Brother Xiao Zhan using his spiritual senses in the Qi condensation realm,” grumbled Senior Brother Zhen Hao before he turned to Yang with a smile, “I will save the best for last.”
But at Senior Brother Xiao Zhan’s pointed look. He quickly took out a large lotus-shaped cauldron. It was silver in colour but seemed to be radiating an iridescent multiple-coloured glow. “Rainbow Lotus Cauldron.” Yang knew where he got it from, as he looked at Senior Brother Xiao Zhan, worried about how he would take it. “It can endure extreme heat and energy to refine even the most advanced pills that would destroy lesser cauldrons entirely.” Senior Brother Zhen Hao concluded.
“You sure are shameless, Zhen Hao.” Said Senior Brother Yuan Shen with a laugh. And a few others followed suit.
“What?” Senior Brother Zhen Hao said, giving an offended look. “It wasn’t like I was using it. I have no talent for alchemy. It is extremely precious; better it gets used in someone like Chen Yang’s hand who will appreciate it.”
“Zhen Hao is right. I don't mind him passing it to Junior Brother Yang.” Senior Brother Xiao Zhan said as he passed a dark look at Senior Brother Zhen Hao. “At least now it will see more use than being used as a hot pot.”
“A hot pot.” Senior Brother Fan Xiao’s voice seemed to have gone very quiet. “You have been using a heaven-grade treasure as a hot pot.”
“Have you entirely taken leave of your senses?” came Senior Brother Fan Xiao’s cold voice.