"Greetings, Martial Uncle Feiyu!" Qiu Xia called out. He immediately performed the Daoist salute, raising his joined hands above his head. Seeing this, Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai mimicked the gesture with reasonable accuracy.
"Greetings to you three as well! Senior Brother, I must ask what is the current cultivation of your three disciples?"
"As for Qiu Xia, he is still young and building his foundation," Uncle Jiu replied. "But Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai have already reached the Earth Master realm."
"Oh, the Earth Master realm? Wait... what?! The Earth Master realm!" Hearing Uncle Jiu's words, Feiyu nearly jumped out of his skin. He himself was only at the Earth Master realm. He never imagined that his two nephews would be at the same level as their uncle. It was utterly inconceivable.
"I will explain the details to you later, Junior Brother. First, I must take them to see Master!"
"Oh, right. Of course!"
After Uncle Jiu's group departed, Feiyu muttered to himself, "The Earth Master realm... Has Senior Brother Fengjiao obtained some heavenly treasure, or has he allowed his disciples to practice forbidden arts? No, Fengjiao has always been upright and incorruptible.
Other senior brothers might do such a thing, but never him. Besides, if they had truly used evil arts, he wouldn't dare bring them back to Maoshan. It must be a heavenly treasure. I didn't expect him to have such luck."
"However, the First Senior Brother returned to Maoshan yesterday with his own disciples for their Ordination. I expect he and Senior Brother Fengjiao will get into another row."
The Maoshan of this era was not like the one of the future, covered in grand architecture. Currently, there were only the main temple, a secondary temple, and several courtyards where disciples practiced.
Uncle Jiu led the three boys forward. Whenever they encountered an acquaintance, Uncle Jiu greeted them and introduced his disciples. Before long, the group arrived at a specific courtyard. Instead of walking straight to the door, Uncle Jiu bowed respectfully outside.
"Your disciple, Lin Fengjiao, has returned to the mountain with his disciples. I humbly request an audience with Master."
The door to the room swung open. Uncle Jiu rose and led the three of them inside. Qiu Xia saw three people within: two were seated and one was standing. Of the two seated men, one was a Daoist with the face of a child and hair white as a crane's; the other was a middle-aged man. Standing behind the middle-aged man was a youth.
"Disciple Lin Fengjiao greets Master!" Uncle Jiu knelt in greeting.
Since their master had knelt, Qiu Xia and the others followed suit. "We greet our Grandmaster!"
"Rise, Fengjiao. And you children as well." Once they stood, the Grandmaster scrutinized the four of them. He then spoke with visible surprise. "I did not expect you to have broken through to the Heavenly Master realm, Fengjiao. Furthermore, your two disciples are already Earth Masters. Have you encountered some heavenly treasure?"
At these words, the middle-aged man sitting nearby had a sudden change of expression. His face turned incredibly grim, looking as though he had swallowed something repulsive. How is this possible?
Lin Fengjiao actually broke through to become a Heavenly Master? His own cultivation had always been a step above Lin Fengjiao's; if anyone was to break through first, it should have been him. Heavenly treasures? Why do I never run into such things?
Uncle Jiu nodded. "To answer Master: your disciple happened upon a few heavenly treasures. I consumed some to break through to the Heavenly Master realm and gave the remainder to these two lackluster disciples.
Their natural talent is limited, and the Earth Master realm might have been their peak. Therefore, I used the treasures to boost their cultivation and compensate for their deficiencies. Perhaps now they have a glimmer of hope to go further in the future."
Uncle Jiu's master, the Sect Leader of Maoshan, Changyuan Zhenren, nodded. "Your reasoning is sound."
"Master, aside from returning to report my breakthrough, I hope to have my two disciples undergo their Ordination."
Changyuan Zhenren replied, "Though their growth was forced like pulling at seedlings to help them grow, they are Earth Masters nonetheless and are qualified for Ordination. Their ceremony shall be held on the same day as your Heavenly Master Banquet!"
"My deepest thanks, Master!"
Once official business was concluded, the master and disciple began to chat. Shi Jian, unwilling to witness Lin Fengjiao's moment of glory, took his leave with a dark face and departed Maoshan that very day.
If Uncle Jiu had been in the same realm as him even a stage or two higher Shi Jian would have looked for a chance to test his skills against him. After all, he mastered the Lightning Running Thunder Fist, one of the few lightning arts of Maoshan, earning him the nickname Lightning Dharma King. His strength was immense, but Uncle Jiu was now a Heavenly Master.
The gap between a Heavenly Master and an Earth Master was vast. Even if Shi Jian could challenge those above his level, he could not overcome the divide of an entire realm. He could only leave, choosing to stay out of sight to keep his heart from raging.
He would return once he broke through himself. After all, even if Lin Fengjiao had reached the rank, their master wouldn't retire for a year or two. As long as he broke through during that window, the position of Sect Leader was still within his reach.
During the following days, the four of them stayed on the mountain. Uncle Jiu consolidated his realm while teaching Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai. Qiu Xia, however, took Uncle Jiu's token and headed to the Maoshan Scripture Pavilion to study all the recorded Daoist arts.
The token allowed him access to everything below the sixth floor. As for the floors above, the sixth was reserved for Elders, and the seventh was for the Sect Leader and Supreme Elders.
In Maoshan, one could become an Elder at the 8th stage of the Earth Master realm, while reaching the Heavenly Master realm granted the title of Supreme Elder. Thus, after the banquet, Uncle Jiu would be officially named a Supreme Elder. In a few years, if he wished, he could become the Maoshan Sect Leader.
Because Uncle Jiu's token was still registered as a personal disciple's, Qiu Xia was restricted to the first five floors. However, this did not stop him. The Daoist guarding the pavilion was only at the 10th stage of the Earth Master realm; while impressive, it was nothing compared to Qiu Xia's hidden Heavenly Master strength.
After catching the guard in a Genjutsu, Qiu Xia released a massive number of Shadow Clones and began recording Maoshan's Daoist arts. In just five days, every collection Maoshan possessed was stored inside his mind.
On the final floor, the seventh, lay the true foundation of Maoshan. There was a technique that allowed one to practice directly to the Heaven Immortal realm, the Shangqing Dongxuan True Scripture. There was also a lightning art, the Nine Heavens Demon-Slaying Divine Thunder, along with several small divine abilities: Mountain Carrying, Telekinesis, Finger Transformation, and Shijie.
This trip to Maoshan had not been in vain for Qiu Xia. Even without receiving Ordination, his gains here far outweighed such a ritual.
Time flowed by, and soon seven days had passed. Maoshan disciples who had reached the Earth Master realm returned one after another to attend Uncle Jiu's Heavenly Master Banquet. Shi Jian, who had hoped to avoid it, was forced to return under the direct orders of Changyuan Zhenren.
Upon his return, Shi Jian's face remained a mask of dark resentment. The other disciples knew of the friction between him and Uncle Jiu, so no one dared to provoke him. Even if he had been surpassed by Uncle Jiu, he was still one of the top practitioners among his peers.
If you angered him and got hit by a Lightning Running Thunder Fist, you would have nowhere to complain. Disciples close to Shi Jian shared his gloom, while those close to Uncle Jiu were ecstatic.
Since they were on good terms, they knew Uncle Jiu wouldn't refuse to help if they encountered trouble. Uncle Jiu had always been popular; in fact, if not for Shi Jian, Uncle Jiu would have long been named the Young Sect Leader to succeed Changyuan Zhenren.
Whether it was the Heavenly Master Banquet or the Ordination of his seniors, Qiu Xia had little to do with it. Throughout the process, he did his best to hide his aura. If he were to reveal his strength, a ten-year-old Heavenly Master would cause an earthquake within Maoshan and the entire supernatural world.
Because it was a joyous occasion, even the usually disciplined Uncle Jiu drank until he was heavily intoxicated. Zhe Gu, while happy for his breakthrough, felt a twinge of sorrow. If Uncle Jiu remained a Supreme Elder, it would be fine, but if he became the Maoshan Sect Leader, he would be forbidden from marrying. If that happened, her chances with him would vanish entirely.
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