AGM 292 - Fifth-Jue Guest Elder
After those from the Star River Association left, Bailu Yi stared at Qin Wentian with a smile that was not a smile on her lips. Qin Wentian was puzzled as he asked, “Am I that handsome?”
“The people that the Star River Association invites are always those with an extremely high amount of potential. This time around, the president of their forging division himself personally invited you. It could be considered that they did you a huge honor.” Bailu Yi’s eyes flickered with a brilliant light as hints of laughter sparkled within her eyes.
When this fellow was ‘infiltrating’ the White Deer Institute to learn about the Dao of Divine Inscriptions from her, she didn’t expect that in such a short amount of time, he would already have reached such a level.
The president of the forging division had come himself, and he was even rejected.
“Aren’t you worried that the president would feel that he lost too much face seeing how you rejected his offer so decisively?” Bailu Yi smiled wryly as she shook her head. Although Qin Wentian might have been slightly diplomatic in his rejection, it was still too direct.
“I don’t wish to be entangled with the Star River Association.” Qin Wentian casually shrugged.
In life, one could not worry about so many things, it would be too tiring to be so concerned for every small decision.
Why let worries tie you down? Qin Wentian did things in a manner that always followed his heart. If he wanted to do it, he would do it, if not, then don’t do it. From the beginning, the Star River Association hadn’t left a good impression on him. Perhaps it wasn’t proper to make his decision based on his past experience with them, but life was basically just that, there was often no other reason why you liked or disliked something.
“Fine fine, let’s go meet the representatives from the Thousand-Jue Alliance instead. I was only wondering why you would feel so strongly against the Star River Association.” Bailu Yi smiled as she led Qin Wentian to yet another courtyard. The representatives from the Thousand-Jue Alliance were already waiting there.
After exchanging a round of pleasantries, they cut right to the chase.
“Grandmaster Qin, I’m sure you must have already guessed the purpose of my visit. Our Thousand-Jue Alliance can be categorised into the inner sanctum and outer sanctum. The inner sanctum consists of our core members while the outer sanctums are made up of the guest elders. But even the guest elders in the outer sanctum would all have to be exceedingly talented people before receiving an invite from my Thousand-Jue Alliance.”
Standing in front of Qin Wentian was a middle-aged woman, with looks that could still be considered attractive. She exuded charisma and charm, appearing extremely capable and experienced. Even when speaking, she would allow others to feel a sense of closeness to her.
Qin Wentian nodded his head upon hearing her words, the differences between the inner and outer sanctum were simple and easy to understand. The inner sanctum was akin to the structure of a sect, an extremely rigid structure where the juniors have to listen to the commands of the elders. It wouldn’t be so easy to rise up in ranks there. And for the guest elders in the outer sanctum, the Thousand-Jue Alliance wouldn’t intentionally nurture you, but they also couldn’t command you to do things that you were unwilling to do. The degree of freedom was high and the guest elders they invited were usually unaffiliated stellar martial cultivators of extreme power, or those with exceedingly high attainments in their respective fields.
Evidently, the Thousand-Jue Alliance had already investigated and determined Qin Wentian to be an unaffiliated individual. Their reports showed that he didn’t belong to the White Deer Institute but rather, he was here only because of his feelings for Bailu Yi.
“Grandmaster Qin, if you are willing to join the inner sanctum, you would immediately be treated as a core disciple, and we would nurture you unconditionally. If you choose to join the outer sanctum instead, you would directly be conferred the rank of a Five-Jue guest elder, enjoying the privileges of the rank, with no other commitments needed.” That woman smiled at Qin Wentian. Her smile appeared without artifice, causing those who saw it to feel comfort. Sending her for recruitment purposes was an extremely suitable choice made by the alliance.
Bailu Yi’s heart stopped for a moment when she heard her offer. Qin Wentian’s status shot up exponentially after he stepped into the level of a fourth-ranked Grandmaster, and now his current status was such that he was eligible for the Thousand-Jue Alliance’s recruitment, to the point of conferring the rank of a Fifth-Jue Elder. The Thousand-Jue Alliance’s total power was still weaker compared to the other transcendent powers, hence they usually had very strict criteria for recruitment. Who would have thought that they would immediately confer the rank of a Fifth-Jue to Qin Wentian should he agree to join the outer sanctum.
Bailu Yi knew that the outer sanctum of the Thousand-Jue Alliance had a total of nine rankings. First-Jue was the lowest while Ninth-Jue was the highest.
Those of the First-Jue were juniors that had some potential; the Second-Jue were juniors who had outstanding talents; the Third-Jue were characters that had some fame to their name; the Fourth-Jue were restricted to cultivators that ranked in the Heavenly Fate Rankings; and those of the Fifth Jue were all guest elders who had the qualifications to be at the Heavenly Dipper level. Their statuses were equivalent to the Heavenly Dipper Sovereigns in the inner sanctum and enjoyed a certain amount of authority.
As for the Sixth-Jue, it was useless no matter how much talent one had. One could only reach this ranking if they had made large contributions to the Thousand-Jue Alliance as a whole, and as for guest elders of the Sixth-Jue ranking, they even had the power to mobilise the inner sanctum’s Heavenly Dipper Sovereigns for aid.
For the Seventh-Jue, this was already an extremely high ranking.
The Ninth-Jue ranking was the limit, and had another title also known as the Thousand-Jue guest elder. This ranking confers you the same status as the top echelons in the inner sanctum, where one can speak equally with the Alliance Head. It grants you so much power that you can almost command the entire Thousand-Jue Alliance.
Now, the Thousand-Jue Alliance wanted to directly confer a Fifth-Jue ranking to Qin Wentian should he join. This was already the maximum authority they could bestow upon him.
“There would be no other commitments?” Qin Wentian smiled, as his eyes lighted up.
“None.” The woman shook her head, “Our Thousand-Jue Alliance was a group formed from unaffiliated individuals, and our total power is slightly weaker compared to those transcendent powers. This is why we highly prioritise the recruitment of extremely talented individuals, only then would we be able to stand toe to toe against the transcendent powers. For extremely talented individuals, our Alliance will not aid in their development but at the same time, they would have no restrictions placed on them.”
Qin Wentian smiled as he nodded thoughtfully. Their conditions were truly tempting indeed.
“It goes without saying that I should mention this first. For guest elders ranked at the Fifth-Jue and below, our Alliance will provide support such as information reports, buying and selling of items and the lending of powerful resources. However, because the Alliance requires no other commitments, then it has no obligation to be involved in your personal disputes.”
“Naturally.” Qin Wentian nodded in agreement, how could there be free lunch in the world? No commitments, enjoying some power and to even expect the Alliance to protect them in their time of need?
“Yes, but the benefits are different for guest elders ranked at the Sixth-Jue. Because Sixth-Jue guest elders would have contributed immensely to our Alliance before they are promoted. Hence, the Sixth-Jue guest elders could request for protection from our Heavenly Dipper Sovereigns. If the guest elder is at the Seventh-Jue ranking instead, he can directly mobilise our Heavenly Dipper Sovereigns for whatever purpose he needs them for.” The middle-aged woman smiled.
“I accept,” Qin Wentian decisively agreed. With such good conditions, he couldn’t find any reason to reject this recruitment.
“Grandmaster Qin is really straightforward.” The woman laughed. After which, she withdrew a medallion with the words ‘Fifth-Jue’ engraved upon it and passed it over to Qin Wentian.
“I have to remind you that this medallion can only be used by you alone. If it were discovered that someone else faked your name and used your medallion, our Thousand-Jue Alliance would act accordingly to the circumstances, and may even slay the culprit directly.”
“I understand.” Qin Wentian nodded. This rule must have been implemented in case the guest elders died or were killed by their enemies. The whole organization would turn to chaos if there were impersonators freely using the medallions.“
In that case, I shall return and bring back these joyous tidings. My superiors will definitely be happy to hear that Grandmaster Qin has agreed to become a guest elder of our Thousand-Jue Alliance.” The words spoken were extremely pleasant to the ear. Afterwards, Qin Wentian and Bailu Yi personally escorted both representatives of the Thousand-Jue Alliance outside.
A smile appeared on Qin Wentian’s face as he clutched the Fifth-Jue medallion. It was time to complete what he had come to the Moon Continent to do.
To kill Hua Xiaoyun!
Back then, at the Mo Clan in the Chu Country, Hua Xiaoyun dared to plan out such a despicable act and caused Mo Qingcheng to attempt suicide, eventually narrowly avoiding death. This matter was always like a sharp thorn piercing into Qin Wentian’s heart.
And after the matter, he didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye to Mo Qingcheng. She was directly taken away by her master to the Pill Emperor Hall in the Moon Continent. The chances of Qin Wentian meeting her again were almost nil considering the distance from the Moon Continent to Chu.
Mo Qingcheng must have also suffered a psychological impact from this incident. And now, he didn’t even know how she was faring.
He would never be at ease if Hua Xiaoyun didn’t die. He would be too ashamed to face Qingcheng.
But just as Qin Wentian was thinking about killing Hua Xiaoyun, wasn’t Hua Xiaoyun also thinking about killing Qin Wentian?
Within a tavern, the wine cup in Hua Xiaoyun’s hand was shattered into pieces, a direct result from hearing a hated name in the midst of his drinking. Qin Wentian.The sound of these three characters, Qin Wentian, was exceptionally piercing to his ears. Killing intent cloaked in a deathly chill gushed out from Hua Xiaoyun’s body, causing the customers near him to retreat far away.
Of course Hua Xiaoyun hated him, he had good reason to.
Once, as the second young master of the Hua Clan, he could do everything his heart desired, but because of a single trip to Chu, he had almost met his doom.
Back then, Qin Wentian had broken off one of his arms, and news of this matter had been constantly kept simmering ever since. Eventually as the status of Mo Qingcheng in the Pill Emperor Hall grew higher and higher, he was almost imprisoned when the elders of the Hua Clan learned of that wretched thing he had nearly committed. They even intended to send him to the Pill Emperor Hall to give Mo Qingcheng the right to decide his punishment.
Because the Hua Clan wanted his elder brother Hua Taixu to marry Mo Qingcheng. But because of Hua Xiaoyun’s actions, this matter was not proceeding as smoothly as they had hoped. And if Hua Xiaoyun wasn’t Hua Taixu’s younger brother, his fate would definitely be even more miserable.
But even so, now he was also in dire straights; the position he had within his clan had plummeted a thousand feet. He no longer had any authority, and everyone who knew of this matter, despised him and broke off all contact with him. His only remaining piece of security was a Heavenly Dipper Sovereign which his parents had assigned to protect him.
How could all these negative changes have happened to him if not for Qin Wentian? Only the word ‘miserable’ could describe his current situation.
Hence, the murderous urges in his heart erupted forth the moment he heard Qin Wentian’s name.
At this moment, Qin Wentian and Hua Xiaoyun, both separated by a long distance, were similarly directing killing intent to the other.“Qin Wentian, a fourth-ranked Grandmaster? I really want to see if this Qin Wentian is that same Qin Wentian from Chu.” An ice-cold light flickered in Hua Xiaoyun’s eyes as he left the tavern.
“Young Master, where are we going?” his protector questioned.
“Shadow Pavilion,” Hua Xiaoyun coldly replied, his tone causing his protector’s countenance to falter.
“Why are we going there?” the protector asked as bewilderment painted his face.
“To seek information on one person. If the information shows that it is him indeed, I’m going to kill him,” Hua Xiaoyun spat. Even Qin Wentian wouldn’t have imagined that at the same exact moment where he wanted to kill Hua Xiaoyun, Hua Xiaoyun also wanted his death.……………………………….
Presently, Qin Wentian arrived at the exterior of the Pill Emperor Hall.
He was currently clad completely in white. He inclined his head and observed the tight security of this place, as well as the sky-high buildings and pavilions that made up the Pill Emperor Hall.
When the gentle breeze gusted past, billowing his robes, it also set his heartstrings aflutter.
The one he loved, was right inside.
But when would he be able to meet her again?
Within the Pill Emperor Hall, as two youthful silhouettes leisurely walked out, their steps couldn’t help but falter when they unintentionally noticed the presence of Qin Wentian. After which, traces of confusion could be seen in their eyes.
These two young men were none other than the two male disciples, Yan Qi and Jing Yu that went to Chu together with Bai Fei. They couldn’t believe their eyes, this ‘genius’ from that little country actually overestimated himself that much and chased Mo Qingcheng all the way over here to the Moon Continent?
As for their confusion, it was because the current Mo Qingcheng was already high up in the skies, far beyond their reach. They could only gaze admiringly from afar.
But of course, that was Mo Qingcheng. As for this small-time character from Chu, their eyes were still filled with the same contempt as before. This Qin Wentian was really a love-struck idiot! A plain crow lusting after a phoenix.
But so what of it? Was it heavenly decreed that a crow was destined never to be together with a phoenix?