Chapter 1.1 (2/2)

Anyway, what should I do now? She was suddenly confused. Even though she had been told by Qi Guiyuan to protect his great-granddaughter with her best effort, Sue Kirin had no clue where to find her.

Most importantly, she had no idea where she was. Seeing that the entrance to the canyon wasn't very far away, Sue Kirin decided to flee the area. She needed to find Tianxuan Temple after all.

Before that, needed to find some other clothes to put on first. She couldn’t run around with her underwear slipping off underneath.

Tianxuan Temple, located atop Tianxuan Mountain. In the past, Tianxuan Mountain was just an odd mountain without a name near Luoyang city before the founder of the Tianxuan Temple started his sect here.

After Tianxuan Temple expanded as one of Five Great Sects in the world. Only after many years had pa.s.sed did people start calling this mountain by Tianxuan Temple’s name.

The Tianxuan Mountain had five main peaks, East, South, West, North, and Central peaks. Central peak was the largest, the main body of Tianxuan Temple rested atop the Central peak.

The main hall of Tianxuan Temple was at the very center of Central peak. The architecture had an atmosphere belonging to the era preceding the Qin Dynasty was simple and dignified.

Most of the Tianxuan Temple's key figures were gathered within the main hall.

“Elders, what is your opinion about Tian Jian Sect’s invitation?” Said a girl in a red dress, who was seated in the sect's patriarch's position, after putting down a letter. She was the matriarch of the Tianxuan Temple, Qi Qiqi.

“Tian Jian sect is trying to find the way by throwing a stone.”¹ Answered the one who is sitting on the left side of her, the vice chief of Tianxuan Temple, Ye Zhen².

“Ye s.h.i.+xiong³ has a point.” The Seventh elder, Luo Qing4 , who had been sitting on the end of the left row of seats nodded and responded.

”Tian Jian sect has been aiming for a position as of one of the Five Great Sects for a long time. They didn’t have any especially strong members before, so they didn’t dare to commit any high-profile schemes. The situation has changed now that they have a Heaven stage master.”

“Oh? So the one sect out of Five Great Sects that only has one Heaven Stage master became their primary target?” Xia Xue taunted while playing around her ponytail in one hand and holding her cheek with the other hand.

“Madam Patriarch, you must be sure to attend the meeting. If we do not partic.i.p.ate then we’ll be marked as not giving them face, giving them an excuse to seek trouble with us in the future.”

“We can’t just allow this to happen.” Liu Chenzong5, the white-haired elder of management, said with disdain.

Xia Xue6 looked at him for a moment before saying, “It seems that we are a sect that must rely on the prestige of our ancestors to keep our position among the Five Great Sects.”

“Elder Xia, why do you still have the mood to say such sarcastic words under these circ.u.mstances? ”

“Hey, I'm just stating the facts.” Qi Qiqi frowned while looking at the two bicker like cats and dogs. The moment she tried to speak out in an attempt stop them -

“Alright, that is enough.” Law Enforcement Elder, Yang Yue Ning7, said with a wry smile.

“Hey, I didn’t start the fight,” Xia Xue responded while Yang Yuening gave her a look flooding the room with silence.

Qi Qiqi nodded to Yang Yuening in appreciation.

“Before we talk about Tian Jian sect’s plan we have to think of a way to respond to their invitation. Since they went to the trouble of sending the invitation directly to our mountain they must have some sort plan.”

“Matriarch has a point,” nodded Yang Yuening.

“So, how shall we respond? What is your opinion?” Right after Qi Qiqi finished speaking, Liu Chenzong immediately responded.

“We must go, if we don’t agree to send someone to the meeting, others might see it as showing weakness.”

“Oh? So we should send people just so everyone can see us be humiliated?”

“It would be better than swallowing our pride.”

Xia Xue really seemed to have a bone to pick with him as she unceremoniously replied, “Dear Matriarch, Elder Liu seems to have a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.tic streak. Since he wants a slap to the face why don't we just send him to the meeting?”

Liu Chenzong stood up from his seat in anger and stared at Xia Xue.

“You...”

“You what? Don’t I call you with a name? Seems like Elder Liu doesn’t understand anything about courtesy after all!”

Ye Zhen, who closed his eyes after speaking earlier suddenly shot up and shouted, “Enough!”

Xia Xue went silent as her mouth twitched. Liu Chenzong sat down while still staring at her.

”What a mess!” Qi Qiqi sighed. She looked at Ye Zhen.

“Vice Chief, what is your opinion on this matter?”

“My chief, It's true that we do have to attend this meeting, but how we choose to attend is a different manner.”

Qi Qiqi agreed with a nod.

The whole world could see that Tian Jian Sect was trying to test the waters and that their primary target would be Tianxuan Temple.

”If we don't send people to attend the meeting, Tianxuan Temple will definitely become a laughing stock. A school heralded as a member of the Five Great Sects that recoils when provoked by the Tian Jian sect. We have to go, but the tricky part is deciding who to send?”

The recently expanded Tian Jian Sect is now playing an important role in JiangHu8, its position is only slightly inferior to the Five Great Sects.

According to protocol, Tianxuan Temple should send out an elder of considerable strength to the meeting. However, the only person who has equal strength to the head of Tian Jian sect is the Heaven stage master, Ye Zhen. He must stay within Tianxuan Temple to act as a deterrent, so he can’t go. Plus he wouldn't accept the request even if we brought it up to him.

Yet, the rest of our elders are only at the Earth stage, hence they would be too weak to face the head of Tian Jian sect. In the current situation, it's likely that they will attack with full power from the start. Thus, we shouldn’t send out an elder in a high position, we must narrow our choices down exclusively to the members with the t.i.tle of Elder but who have no actual authority.

Consequently, there were only two choices. Xia Xue and Luo Qing.

Xia Xue was instantly crossed off the list. After all, we already know her temper and character. So the duty fell to Luo Qing. She was one of the seven elders of the sect, maintaining the lowest ranking, yet also being one of the strongest. She had almost reached the Heaven Stage. Moreover, she is kind and courteous, Qi Qiqi couldn’t think of a choice better than her.

“Elder Luo, I would like you to take the lead in representing the Tianxuan Temple in this meeting, what do you think?”

A lady in a green suit who was seated on the end of the left row of seats seemed to have seen this coming. She nodded without showing a hint of surprise. Just right before Elder Luo had a chance to agree...

“Matriarch! The sword hill!”

A female disciple unexpectedly broke into the main hall. When Qi Qiqi heard the words Sword Hill she jumped up in surprise.

“What's happening at the hill of swords?”

The female disciple took a deep breath in order to calm herself down. “There are some movements within the hill of swords! It Seems like someone has made a breakthrough!”

Right after the disciple finished the sentence, Qi Qiqi moved. The matriarch of the Tianxuan Temple left nothing behind but a blazing shadow as she flew towards the hill of swords.

A Chinese Idiom that essentially means ”to test the waters”

Ye Zhen's name in Chinese is 叶震 (Yè zhèn). Ye is a common Chinese Surname with them meaning ”Leaf.” Zhen is a name that means to ”Shake” or ”Quake”

s.h.i.+xiong in Chinese is written 师兄. In English, it means Senior Martial Brother

Luo Qing's name in Chinese is 洛青 (Luò qīng). On it's own the Surname Luo doesn't particularly mean anything, it is just a common name. Qing is a name that means ”Dark Green”

Liu Chenzong's name in Chinese is 柳承宗 (liǔ chéng zōng) Liu is a Surname that means ”Willow.” Cheng is a name that means ”To bear” or ”To Carry.” Zong is a name that means ”Model” but interestingly enough it is also a word that can be translated as ”Sect.” As an elder of the Tianxuan Temple, it could be said that he is a Willow Tree that Carries the burdens of the Sect on his shoulders.

Xia Xue's name in Chinese is 夏雪 (xià xuě). The Name Xia means ”Summer” while the name Xue means ”Snow.” I wonder if the author was trying to give her a name that balanced her hotblooded nature with her beautiful appearance.

Yang Yuening's Name in Chinese is 杨岳宁 (Yáng Yuè Níng). Yang is a surname that means ”Poplar.” Yue means something along the lines of ”High Mountain”. Ning means ”Peaceful” or ”To Pacify.” It's interesting how many of the Elders in the Sect have names based off of Vegetation and Nature. Yang Yuening especially has an interesting name, since it hints that he is the strongest elder in the sect while also saying that he is the most stalwart. He is a mountain that pacifies all obstacles.

Jianghu 江湖 (jiānghú) literally translates as “Rivers and Lakes”, but figuratively refers to the “underground world of martial arts”. A section of society consisting of martial artists, gangsters, thieves, beggars, prost.i.tutes, merchants, entertainers, and anyone else wanting to operate outside of mainstream society or in the grey area of the law.

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