Chapter 20 (1/2)

Xiao Chen raised his head and said happily, “Brother Yifeng! It’s really you!”

“I didn’t expect to see you here either. It’s been ten years. You’ve grown so tall. How is Senior Changfeng?” The man pressed his shoulder and looked apparently happy.

The crowd was shocked upon seeing their intimacy. Mo Yu looked more and more terrible, uneasy and terrified.

Their friendship began a long time ago. This man was called Yu Yifeng, and his master was a good friend of Xiao Changfeng. On Xiao Changfeng’s birthday ten years ago, Yu Yifeng happened to have some business to do in the Human World, hence he visited the Xiao Family to celebrate the birthday. Xiao Chen met him then.

Yu Yifeng was a low-key person and did not show his aura of an Immortal in front of the mortals. Ten years ago, Xiao Chen naturally could not tell if Brother Yifeng was a Cultivator or not. He could never expect that Brother Yifeng was exactly the Cultivator that he would search for a few years later. As for Xiao Changfeng, there was only one word to describe him—unfathomable.

At this moment, Xiao Wan’er ran here and giggled, saying, “Brother Yifeng!”

Yu Yifeng looked at her and asked, “You are?”

Xiao Wan’er giggled and said, “I’m Brother Xiao Chen’s sister.”

People nearby gasped and thought, “The backing of this pair of brother and sister was too strong! With their relationship to this man, they will definitely become elders’ Core Disciples. What are they taking the test for? Are they here to show off?”

Yu Yifeng nodded and looked at Xiao Chen, saying, “Lil Chen, you can do it.” He then jumped back above the stairs with a tap of his foot-tip. He looked at the two people in teal and white and said, “You can continue. I won’t bother no more.”

“Yes, yes, yes. Farewell, Senior Brother Yu.” The two people were still scared. In their eyes, those who came from the Violet Manor were true Immortals. If they could talk to a true Immortal, it was a ten-year blessing.

After Yu Yifeng left, the Three Pure Sect disciples were relieved. They now had a different look toward Xiao Chen and the other two companies.

Xiao Chen’s brows furrowed tightly. The truth was that he did not want to meet Yu Yifeng at this point. He joined the sect by his strength, not relationship. But now people had seen this, and there would be misunderstandings.

The two people in teal and white stepped forth and said with a cough, “Everyone, please go back and have some bath. Tomorrow, you will take the Spiritual Meridian Test, and elders will decide who will stay in the sect.”

No one chattered. Many people peeked Xiao Chen and thought, “This guy has the highest score and performed the best. He can join the sect even without that relationship. Anyway, there will still be four numbers available.”

Then, the disciple took the participants to the temporary dormitories, when an urgent voice rose from behind. “Young Master! Young Master!”

Xiao Chen looked over to the source of the voice and saw Lil Ruo. She rushed to his front and asked while gasping, “Young Master, have you passed?”

Xiao Chen stroked her sweaty hair by her ear and said with a gentle smile, “Yes, I have.”

The temporary dormitories were located on the mountainside, consisted of numerous small yards. After Xiao Chen took his bath, he wore clean clothes and plunged into the bed. These days were tiring, and he finally could have some rest.

He gazed at the ceiling for a long time, as a trace of worry merged between his brows. After tomorrow, he would join the Three Pure Sect and acknowledge a master. However, he still thought himself as a Mystic Cyan Sect disciple and the sole disciple of his master Ling Yin. Acknowledging another master without informing was a major disrespect to his current master.

“Master, where are you exactly…”

Early in the next morning, the air on the mountain was exceptionally fresh and fragrant with vegetation and flowers. Xiao Wan’er and Xiao Han had gotten up early and prepared themselves. Upon seeing Xiao Chen walking out of his room, Xiao Wan’er leaned forward with her hands on her back, giggled and said, “Brother Xiao Chen, good morning!”

This time, she called him “brother” instead of “cousin”. Maybe sometime later, she would directly address him as “brother”.

Xiao Chen smiled and said, “Morning.” Back in the days when he was still a “loser”, Xiao Wan’er looked down on him just like the others. However, she was his kin after all, hence he held no grudge against her.

He noticed Xiao Han’s cold face and jested, “Hey! Ice face, it’s early in a new day, why are you looking deadpan? Somebody owes you money or something? Or is it that your creditor came to you this morning for his money?”

Xiao Han suddenly sighed and then gazed at the blue sky and white clouds for a long time. Finally, he said something astonishing, “The Way of the Heaven. What is the Way of the Heaven?”

Xiao Chen’s body shook a bit. He looked around and said in a low voice, “How dare you say such thing here? Do you still want to join the sect?”

All of a sudden, he felt this person strange. The Xiao Family was such a big family that it had countless collateral families. Xiao Han came from a collateral family, but Xiao Chen did not know which. It was as if Xiao Han had never appeared in his memories.

Two hours had passed, and the disciple who was supposed to pick them up had not come. Xiao Wan’er sat on a little bench with hands supporting her head. She looked so boring. Suddenly, she stood up as if she had thought of something interesting.

“You two, which elder do you think will accept us?”

Xiao Han did not answer. Xiao Chen, who was leaning against a pine tree, yawned and casually said, “Whatever. It doesn’t matter.” He would not stay here forever.

“How can you not care about this matter?”

Xiao Wan’er rubbed her chin and said to herself, “The First Elder had the highest cultivation level, but he is too stern. I won’t be his disciple. The Second Elder is a kind person, but he is obsessed with astrology and Bagua; this is annoying. The Third Elder is the youngest one and she should be the best option for me. However, her words are so sharp that no one can retort her. Also, her cultivation level is the lowest…”

Xiao Chen suddenly moved. “The Third Elder. That woman resembles my master…” He smiled and said, “Forget it about it. You don’t even know if they want you or not in the first place. How can you nitpick?”

“Humph! They will recruit me! Didn’t you see that those elders spoke so courteously to Brother Yifeng yesterday? If Brother Yifeng had told them to recruit us…”

“What? How can you think this way?” Xiao Chen crossed his arms on his chest, turned to her and said seriously, “Xiao Wan’er, remember this. In the path of cultivating, you can’t depend on the relationships just like before in the Xiao Family. The path to becoming an Immortal…” He suddenly shook his head and said, “Never mind. You don’t deserve my time.”

Xiao Wan’er ran to him, grabbed and shook his arm, saying, “Tell me. Tell me. You used to talk a lot about this. You must know about this very well. Tell me about it, would you?”

Xiao Chen looked at her and shook his head. “Then I’ll just tell you one sentence, and you’d better bear it in mind. For I am abstracted from the world, the world from nature, nature from the way, and the way from what is beneath abstraction.”

“Abstracted from the world, the world from nature… What do you mean? For example?”

“For example?” Xiao Chen moved his fingers, pretending to calculate some numbers. “For example, a disciple will come to pick us up in two hours.”