Yang was led outside the hall and saw his Senior Brothers rising from their seats and dispersing amongst the guests to perform their duties as hosts.
Outside the hall, instead of anyone taking out a flying sword, everyone simply rose into the air, and shot off into the night sky. Master kept his hand on Yang's shoulder all along so Yang was carried with them. Within a minute or two, they appeared in an open area of the peak that Yang had not seen before.
It was night, but the area was lit by what must have been hundreds of thousands of lamps arranged across the space on all sides. For every lit lamp there were many more times that number sitting dark and cold.
The Sect Master was the first to speak.
"These are the life lamps of every member of White Cloud Sect since its founding."
Yang looked around the space and understood immediately what the extinguished lamps meant.
"Come," the Sect Master said, and Yang saw Master nod toward him in agreement.
He followed behind the Sect Master, with Master and Senior Brother Xiao Zhan beside him, as the Sect Master led them deeper in. The lamps were arranged on shelving that rose to extraordinary heights, each shelf partitioned into small square sections just large enough to hold a single lamp, the shelves open on both sides so you could see through them to the next row and the row beyond that, extending further than the eye could easily follow.
It was a labyrinth of light and shadow, and as they moved through it, Yang found himself continuously looking around, absorbing everything.
He noticed something as they walked deeper. The style of the lamps kept changing. The further in they went, the older and simpler the designs became. And the proportion of lit lamps to dark ones shifted with it. Deeper in, most had gone out. Closer to the entrance, far more still burned.
They walked for ten minutes or more before they reached the deepest accessible point, and Yang found himself looking at rough clay oil lamps with simple wicks. He recognised the style. He had used lamps like these himself, sitting with his grandfather in the hut in the evenings.
Most of these were dark. But a few still burned.
The Sect Master stopped in front of the lamps and gave a deep bow. Master and Senior Brother Xiao Zhan followed. Yang moved to do the same but Senior Brother Xiao Zhan made a small gesture and Yang understood, stepping back one pace and simply watching.
When they straightened, the Sect Master turned to Yang.
"Chen Yang. These are the life lamps of the founders and ancestors of our sect." His gaze moved briefly over the old clay lamps before returning to Yang. "Most perished long ago. But a few still burn as those ancestors managed to ascend."
Yang now looked at these lit lamps with different eyes.
These were not the flames of people still living in any ordinary sense. These were the flames of people who had left this world entirely and gone somewhere further. The flame continued burning because they still lived.
The Sect Master held out a small bundle of incense sticks toward Yang, who stepped forward and took them with both hands.
Yang lit the incense, knelt, bowed, and performed three kowtows with the burning incense held above his head. Then he stood and placed the incense in the holder in front of the ancestors' lamps.
The Sect Master then placed an unlit lamp in front of him. Yang understood without being told. He pushed his qi into it steadily until the flame took. As it ignited, lettering appeared engraved at the base.
Chen Yang. 13th Disciple of Hua Yong, Peak Master of Soaring Cloud Peak.
He looked at it for a moment.
It was done. His life lamp burned. All ceremonies were complete. He was now officially and fully a member of White Cloud Sect, recorded in the oldest and most permanent way the sect possessed.
The Sect Master took hold of Yang's life lamp, and they all stepped back from the ancestors' section. They took a different path out than the one they had come in by, moving through twist after twist of the labyrinthine shelving until the Sect Master stopped and stepped close to one of the shelves, placing Yang's lamp among the others there beside one other lamp that looked similarly new.
"We are core disciples, so our life lamps are placed directly beneath Master's own," Senior Brother Xiao Zhan said quietly, indicating a lamp on the shelf immediately above where Yang's had been placed.
Yang looked more carefully. Beneath Master's lamp there were thirteen lamps, the last two unmistakably the newest. He looked at the variety of styles among the eleven between them, reflecting different styles of craft, and understood he was looking at his Senior Brothers' lamps in order.
He looked out across the hundreds of thousands of other lamps extending in every direction from where he stood, lit and dark, ancient and recent.
He was one new flame among so many. Some of those around him had burned for thousands of years. Some had gone out young. He did not know which kind his would be.
He let that thought come and then let it go just as quickly.
There was nothing to be gained from following it too far. He intended to live fully in the present, and what use was there in worrying about the future at the cost of the life he was already living? Whether his flame burned for a century or a millennium, he would make it a life worth the living.
The Sect Master guided them out of the lamp labyrinth through a different exit, and they shot off into the air again and within minutes had landed back before the gates of Master's cave.
The Sect Master and Master went in first, with Yang and Senior Brother Xiao Zhan behind them.
The atmosphere inside had shifted entirely. The solemnity of the formal ceremony had dissolved, and in its place was the noise and movement of a banquet in full motion. Disciples of every rank were mingling freely. Elders who had held composed expressions during the ceremony were laughing and accepting offered cups of wine. The Sect Master settled into his seat and accepted a cup with evident pleasure before Yang had even fully crossed the threshold.
His Senior Brothers were making rounds through the guests. Yang scanned the room quickly and spotted Senior Sect Brother Lin Yi, and the others. He started making his way toward them but had barely taken two steps when Senior Brother Xiao Zhan's voice reached him from behind.
"Junior Brother, do not stay in one place for too long. This is your occasion. You will need to meet as many people as you can."
Yang inclined his head in agreement and kept moving.
As he got closer, Senior Sect Sister Xing Fei spotted him first.
"Junior Sect Brother." She greeted him with a teasing smile. "Or should I be saying Senior Sect Brother now?"
"Please do not, Senior Sect Sister," Yang said.
"Xing Fei, don't tease him," Senior Brother Lin Yi said, and turned to Yang with a smile. "Congratulations, Junior Sect Brother. We were quite worried after what happened at the talisman event, especially since no one would tell us exactly what had occurred."
"Thankfully, Zhen Hao was able to use his connections to find out you were safe and let us know," Senior Brother Xu Kai added.
"And then about a week later we were greeted with Zhen Hao's extremely smug face informing us that you had become his Junior Brother," Senior Sister Shen Yue said.
Senior Brother Zhen Hao looked briefly offended and appeared ready to retort, but Senior Brother Liu Te spoke first, addressing Yang. "Zhen Hao mentioned you will be visiting the secret realm."
"Yes, some of our Senior Brothers are taking us," Yang said.
"I envy you," Senior Brother Xu Kai said. "I would have given up my competition slot without a second thought for a chance at the secret realm."
"Don't be ridiculous, Xu Kai," Senior Brother Lin Yi said. "Don't let the appeal of it cloud your judgment. What use is an opportunity that is likely to cost you your life?"
"Lin Yi is right," Senior Brother Zhen Hao said, which prompted a briefly surprised look from others. "Even we are going only under Senior Brother Fan Xiao's protection. And Master was clear that the realm is far larger and more dangerous than the initial surveys suggested. The sect has already increased the number of exploration teams and pulled the research groups back to the already cleared areas. All Foundation Establishment cultivators have been recalled from the deeper sections."
"That sounds like the realm is considerably more complicated than anything the sect has encountered in recent memory," Senior Sister Shen Yue said thoughtfully.
"At least a few thousand years, if the assessment I heard is accurate," Senior Brother Zhen Hao said, then turned to Yang. "Junior Brother, we should move along. We still have many guests to greet."
"Of course. Don't worry about us, go and be proper hosts. We'll enjoy the hospitality of Soaring Cloud Peak in the meantime," Senior Brother Lin Yi said with a smile, and placed a hand briefly on Yang's shoulder. "Junior Sect Brother Yang. I am genuinely glad to see you here as a core disciple."
"Senior Sect Brother. A great deal of this is because of you. I didn't even know the inner sect competition existed. Your advice is what led me here."
Senior Sect Brother Lin Yi shook his head. "This was your fate. With or without my advice, you would have found your way here eventually."
Yang smiled and bowed to all of them, then followed Senior Brother Zhen Hao as he led him toward another cluster of guests where Senior Brother Xiao Zhan was already standing.
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Next chapter, we leave the sect.