Yang looked around the large cave residence that had been his home for the past two weeks.
He would miss it. But he was excited to see his first secret realm.
He made for the teleportation formation, arrived at the top of the peak, and began walking toward Master's hall in the fresh morning air.
As he walked, his mind drifted back over the events of the previous night.
After returning from paying respect to the ancestors' life lamps, he had spent the next several hours continuously greeting and meeting new people. Etiquette required that he acknowledge each guest who had come for his ceremony, and while he had only a handful of his own invitations, he had also needed to be introduced to the guests his Senior Brothers and Master had brought. And then there were the guests of Senior Brother Zhen Hao, who deserved their own category entirely. By the time he had worked his way through all of them, Yang had wanted to strangle Senior Brother Zhen Hao, which was a miracle in itself as he was not prone to violence.
The sheer number of people Senior Brother Zhen Hao had invited was unreasonable. He had even found Senior Brother Yan Zheng at one point berating him for taking advantage of the event.
The worst of it was that there had been no real chance to enjoy meeting anyone. Half the pleasure of meeting new people in the sect was finding out what they cultivated and practiced. With the sheer volume of guests present last night, a name was the most he could manage from any interaction before being moved along to the next.
Senior Brother Xiao Zhan had given him leave to return to his cave residence once the obligatory greetings were complete, since he was due to depart for the Vermillion Cloud Realm in the morning, but it had been well past midnight when he finally left, and even then the banquet had still been going strong.
He hadn't fully understood until that night how thoroughly White Cloud Sect knew how to celebrate.
Forget the disciples, even the elders had been drinking with gusto. They had eventually taken themselves off with Master, so the younger generations could have the hall to themselves, which had only made the disciples even less restrained.
Yang came before the door to Master's hall and, as he had been told, walked straight in.
Master and all his Senior Brothers were already seated at the central table, the hall back to its usual casual arrangement. Yang bowed, greeted everyone, and looked across the table to where Senior Brother Zhen Hao sat.
Yang settled into the empty seat beside Senior Brother Qing An and exchanged a glance with him. The question was clear enough without words.
Senior Brother Qing An let out a short snort. "Junior Brother Zhen Hao decided it was a good idea to steal wine from the elders."
"And Senior Brother Xiao Zhan has forbidden anyone from giving him a hangover cure," Senior Brother Yuan Shen added with evident pleasure.
"Actions have consequences," Senior Brother Fan Xiao said, directing a withering look at Senior Brother Zhen Hao, who raised his head enough to look back blearily, made an incomprehensible noise, and dropped his forehead back to the table.
"It was just taking some strong wine. Hardly a crime," Master said in defence of him, before apparently reconsidering, as Senior Brother Xiao Zhan looked at him.
Yang had observed, over the weeks since joining the peak, that Senior Brother Xiao Zhan was the only person with any ability to control Master. Master was fond of all his disciples, but it was Senior Brother Xiao Zhan whose judgment he respected, and the rest of the Senior Brothers followed accordingly, treating his word as close to law. Even Senior Brother Zhen Hao, who was mostly used to getting his own way with Master, was noticeably more careful when Senior Brother Xiao Zhan was in the room.
Yang did not want to think about what Soaring Cloud Peak would look like without him.
"Yang." Senior Brother Xiao Zhan sent a large pouch sailing across the table. Yang caught it and looked inside. A storage pouch containing what appeared to be a substantial collection of objects, with a folded document tucked near the top. "Those are the gifts you received last night. I have compiled a record of who gave what."
"Senior Brother, you did not have to do that," Yang said.
"Actually he did," Senior Brother Luo Yun Xi said. "It is necessary to keep track so that gifts can be properly reciprocated when the opportunity arises."
Yang looked uncertain about what that meant for him specifically, and Senior Brother Qing An must have read it on his face. He patted Yang's shoulder. "Don't think too much about it. You only need to keep track of what your own guests gave you. The rest of us have already received our own lists of what our respective guests brought. Reciprocating those gifts is our responsibility, not yours."
"Is that not unfair to you, since I am the one receiving the benefit?" Yang asked.
"That is simply how it is done, and how it was done for each of your Senior Brothers in their turns," Senior Brother Xiao Zhan said.
Yang nodded and tucked the pouch into his storage ring.
Senior Brother Fan Xiao rose from his seat. "We must leave now. The ship departs soon."
Everyone stood. Master came forward and addressed Senior Brother Fan Xiao directly. "Fan Xiao. Bring them back safely." He let his gaze move across the group before settling on Senior Brother Zhen Hao in particular. "And all of you will follow Fan Xiao's instructions without exception."
It was clear to everyone in the room where the warning was primarily directed. Senior Brother Zhen Hao nodded obediently along with the rest of them. How long that obedience would hold once they were beyond Master's direct sight was a separate question.
The next few minutes were farewells, and then Senior Brother Fan Xiao finally managed to get them all moving and out of Master's hall. Once outside, the other four produced their flying swords and stepped on. Senior Brother Fan Xiao looked at Yang. "Junior Brother. Come here."
Yang stepped on behind him and they were immediately airborne.
They arrived at a relatively quiet peak where a few other sword riders were already landing. After the Senior Brothers put their swords away Yang watched the interactions as people greeted each other. Senior Brothers Qing An and Song Weilong exchanged greetings with a good number of arriving cultivators. Senior Brothers Fan Xiao and Yuan Shen with rather fewer. Senior Brother Zhen Hao with fewer still. Yang read the pattern quickly. Most of their fellow passengers were likely Nascent Soul cultivators, with the occasional Golden Core.
They walked from the landing area to the vessel, and Yang stopped when he saw it.
It was a small, dingy-looking boat. He looked at it, then at his Senior Brothers, trying to work out whether he was missing something.
Senior Brother Yuan Shen caught his expression and laughed. "Don't judge it yet, Junior Brother."
They boarded, and near the bow there was a small trapdoor set into the deck. Senior Brother Fan Xiao climbed through first, followed by Senior Brother Song Weilong. Yang followed them down.
He emerged into a grand interior the size of a cruise ship. The interior bore no resemblance to the hull above. A cultivator waiting inside bowed to them and handed a set of room tokens to Senior Brother Fan Xiao, who led them through the vessel until they reached an isolated corridor with double-doored rooms on either side.
Senior Brother Fan Xiao arranged the rooms with his own in the middle and Yang's and Senior Brother Zhen Hao's flanking him on either side. Senior Brothers Song Weilong and Yuan Shen took the rooms beyond those.
Senior Brother Fan Xiao distributed the room tokens and then stepped into Yang's room with him, closing the door behind them.
Yang heard a sound that might have been Senior Brother Zhen Hao making a sympathetic noise from the corridor before the door shut. Yang very much wanted to clarify, through the door, that he had done nothing to deserve a talking-to and was not Senior Brother Zhen Hao, but restrained himself.
As soon as the door was closed Senior Brother Fan Xiao spoke. "Junior Brother Yang. The journey to the Vermillion Cloud Realm will take several days. During that time you should take the next Molten Body Pill. We do not yet know how much the beast cores will advance your cultivation, so it is better to take it now before we reach the secret realm."
Yang agreed. The advice was sound.
Senior Brother Fan Xiao moved to leave. "I will set a seal on your room. No one will be able to enter until you leave of your own accord. You will not be disturbed."
Yang thanked him. The door closed and he heard the faint hum of a formation being set from outside.
He took out the bottle of Molten Body Pills and settled on the floor, his back against the side of the bed. He shook one out into his palm and looked at it.
The next stage. Molten Flesh.
He swallowed the pill and waited.
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There may be some delays in the next few chapters. I have been sick since Saturday, and my fever hasn't dropped below 100 for the last 24 hours. Just started a new med, so hopefully that will workout and things can continue as usual.