Chapter 10 – Family

Fang Yang stood aside, watching in silence as the two childish brats swept fallen leaves toward each other.

So focused were they on their work that they completely ignored Fang Yang watching nearby.

As the saying goes, there is a reason similar people become a family, Fang Yang ridiculed inwardly. After he was done ridiculing, he felt that there was something wrong with this sentence.

What was wrong exactly? Fang Yang shook his head. Never mind. He had come to see his Useless Shixiong for something important.

He jogged forward a couple of steps, using his body as a wall to stop the silly war between the two men.

Feng Ye and Hao Chen stopped at the same time, but it was only their actions that stopped, not their words.

“Fellow Daoist Hao Chen, we’ve known each other for such a long time, but I just discovered today that you have skill with a broom.”

“Fellow Daoist Feng Ye is joking. Your broom skills are truly superb.”

“I dare not compare myself to Fellow Daoist Hao Chen. The move that Fellow Daoist Hao Chen used is called ‘Secretly Crossing the Wei River,’^[1] isn’t it?” Sweeping up fallen leaves on the surface, but secretly sweeping them to the other side.

“By saying this, is Fellow Daoist Feng Ye preemptively accusing others of his own crimes?” It was clearly you who swept first.

The two men casually cast accusations at each other, leaving Fang Yang confused and completely unable to understand what they meant.

Seeing that Feng Ye was about to strike back again, Fang Yang hastily called out to stop him: “Shixiong!”

Feng Ye’s words stuck in his throat. Fang Yang quickly explained his reason for coming here: “They’re calling all junior disciples for a meeting. I came here to get you.”

A meeting? Feng Ye raised his eyebrows. It seemed he had guessed correctly. For Cao Zirui and Xue Ren to come back one after another, something big must have happened.

With this in mind, Feng Ye no longer paid attention to Hao Chen. He tossed his broom aside and gestured for Fang Yang to lead the way.

After just two steps, Hao Chen caught up with them.

Feng Ye couldn’t help but glance back at him. He wanted to directly drive Hao Chen away. After all, Hao Chen was a disciple from outside and wasn’t qualified to attend this kind of inner sect meeting.

But…..Feng Ye wanted to see Hao Chen be rebuffed, so out of spite, he didn’t warn him.

When they were about to arrive, he would watch as Hao Chen was stopped, and wave to him with feigned helplessness.

Just thinking about it made him happy.

The meeting place was the main hall square near the mountain gates. Behind the square was a thousand-step staircase leading directly to the peak of the mountain. Although not many people would walk it, those who would ascend to the top were all inner disciples, most of whom had already established their foundation and could fly on their swords. There was no need to climb the mountain via the stone staircase.

This stone staircase was just for face. Others would see this thousand-step stone staircase as soon as they stepped through the mountain gates and see its magnificence, with the style of a first-class sect.

Although Lingxiao Sword Sect was about to fall out of the ranks of those first-class sects, they still had to save face. At the least, they could bluff people and attract more talented new disciples.

Feng Ye’s plan was very good. When they reached the entrance to the main hall square, they were stopped by their fellow disciples on duty.

With a feigned look of regret on his face, Feng Ye gave Hao Chen a shrug: “Fellow Daoist Hao Chen, it appears you and I must separate for a while.”

His expression was one of regret, but his tone was clearly one of enjoyment.

Hao Chen raised his eyebrows, and was just about to reply when the voice of a middle-aged man interrupted their conversation: “What are you doing here? Go gather up.”

Fang Yang greeted the man as he walked over: “Greeting the administrator.” This was the person he had gone to borrow a key from that night.

The administrator then noticed Fang Yang, and belatedly glanced at the two people standing next to him. First, he looked at Hao Chen. The white daoist robe with golden trim was from…..Tiangong Pavilion…..

So that was to say, the one next to him was…..the administrator’s eyes lit up, the flames of gossip burning within them.

The disciple on duty briefly explained the situation to the administrator, who simply gave a casual wave: “Let him in. The topic of discussion isn’t a secret. Besides…..”

The deacon gave Hao Chen a kind look, then looked at Feng Ye and said: “He’s family.”

Family?

Feng Ye: “ ? ”

Hao Chen: “ ? ”

Fang Yang: “ ? ”

The three of them had identical question marks above their heads as they were inexplicably allowed to pass.

But they very soon found their own reasons. Fang Yang believed that his words had convinced the administrator that night, and that the administrator also felt that his Useless Shixiong and Hao-dage had a good relationship and were as close as brothers. Thus, they were considered family.

However, Feng Ye and Hao Chen understood matters more simply: Tiangong Pavilion and Lingxiao Sword Sect had been friendly for generations. Thus, they were considered family.

One the reason had been deduced, Hao Chen could only wave his fan and continue the previous topic of discussion, the corners of his lips tilting up: “Fellow Daoist Feng Ye, it seems the heavens do not wish for us to part.”

Feng Ye: “……” Heaven is blind.

The three of them walked to the center of the square, where quite a number of people had already gathered. They stood in twos and threes, discussing with their companions what the meeting would be about.

“Why did they call us all here in the middle of the day?”

“Yeah, I want to cultivate a little longer so that I have a better chance of passing the inner sect assessment in three days.”

Two junior disciples griped while another junior disciple next to them wore an unfathomable smile: “Inner sect assessment? This year’s assessment will have to be delayed. After all…..”

He stopped at the best moment, and those drawn in by it felt as if a cat’s claws had scratched their hearts, making them uncomfortable with curiosity.

Feng Ye and the other two happened to be standing nearby, and couldn’t help but prick up their ears when they heard this.

The two junior disciples urged in unison: “Chen-xiong, do you have any inside information?”

“Yes, ah. Chen-xiong, we’re friends, so don’t keep us in suspense.”

The junior disciple surnamed Chen saw that the suspense was almost over, and since it wasn’t a secret anyway, he spoke truthfully: “Do you know about the Floating Island Secret Realm?”

Floating Island Secret Realm?

Never heard of it, Feng Ye and the other two thought in unison.

“What’s the Floating Island Secret Realm?”

One of the disciples speaking with Junior Disciple Chen didn’t seem to be aware of it either.

The other one looked at his companion with contempt and said: “You should know that there are three thousand worlds in this universe.”

His companion nodded.

Standing nearby, Feng Ye and Hao Chen also nodded subconsciously. Fang Yang was even more confused. He came from an ordinary family background, and before coming to Lingxiao Sword Sect, he didn’t even know that there were still cultivators in this world.

Therefore, he was very lacking in basic information about the cultivation world. Lingxiao Sword Sect had only taught him basic techniques and knowledge this year, and everything else was placed in the library for disciples to study by themselves.

And one needed to have trained within the sect for one year before being granted access to the library. Fang Yang had not yet completed that year of training, so he had never been inside and naturally lacked knowledge of the three thousand realms, which was of no use in basic training.

Fortunately, the person explaining feared that his companion was only pretending to understand, so he explained further: “The world we live in is just one of three thousand worlds. In addition to this one, there are also three thousand worlds, big and small, within it.”

“Some worlds are vast and boundless, filled with spiritual energy, such as the heavens where the gods reside. And some worlds may seem vast, but compared to the heavens, they can only be considered average. And their spiritual energy is also less, just like the world we live in. Below this, there are countless smaller worlds.”

“The Floating Island Secret Realm is a small world. The entire world is only the size of a floating island, but despite its small size, it contains many secrets, and the richness of spiritual energy is comparable to some spiritual oases.”

“As we all know, many rare spiritual plants like to grow in places rich in spiritual energy. Therefore, this Floating Island Secret Realm can be described as a treasure trove, with elixirs everywhere. Although it’s a bit exaggerated, the description isn’t far off.”

One companion nodded in sudden realization: “Oh, so this Floating Island Secret Realm is a really good place. I’m sure one could gain a lot just by going inside once.”

“That’s right,” the companion who had just explained said, then changed the subject: “But when it comes to a place like the Floating Island Secret Realm, people will probably be scrambling to get inside, and those like me who are only at the Qi Refining stage may not have the opportunity.”

The topic turned back to the junior disciple surnamed Chen, who shook his head and smiled: “Zhang-xiong only knows one side of the story, but not the other. The entrance connecting the Floating Island Secret Realm to our world only opens once every ten years, for one day.”

“Once the ten-year period was up, countless cultivators used to rush in and plunder its resources without restraint. But those natural treasures often take decades or hundreds of years to grow.”

“Once all of its resources were exhausted a hundred years ago, the Floating Island Secret Realm finally showed signs of collapse. The excessive influx of cultivators not only plundered its spiritual energy, but because those cultivators didn’t belong there, their own spiritual energy also destroyed the balance of such a small world.”

“Some bigshots asserted that the Floating Island Secret Realm can no longer accommodate cultivators above Foundation Establishment stage, and even within this stage, the power level must be strictly controlled within a certain amount. Otherwise, the Floating Island Secret Realm will really collapse, and this treasure land that opens once every ten years will no longer exist in this world.”

“So our Lingxiao Sword Sect, which was ranked first at the time, took the lead in working with the other top ten sects to establish a set of rules. Those who enter the secret realm can only be in the Qi Refining stage or Foundation Establishment stage. And the number of available slots must also be limited to a certain range.”

The other two gradually understood his meaning: “Chen-xiong, you mean that…..this year is the tenth year?”

Surnamed Chen nodded and said affirmatively: “And it opens in five days. Therefore, our inner sect assessment will inevitably be postponed. This meeting is likely to discuss how to select the list of disciples who will enter the Floating Island Secret Realm.”

The eyes of the other two lit up. This was a hard-won opportunity.

In contrast, Feng Ye and Hao Chen eavesdropping in the corner wore unusually calm expressions.

It’s only a small world rich in spiritual energy, Hao Chen thought with disdain.

Feng Ye was also disinterested in such a small world, but he vaguely felt that this place sounded familiar. Where had he heard about it before?

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[1] Secretly crossing the Wei river = cheating under cover of diversion. ⮐

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Chapter 9 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 11