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4.5 - The Elder Meeting
🕑 Added 2024-08-08 22:00:01 +0000 UTCAtop the highest of the central peaks of the Shrouded Peaks Sect sat the Elder’s Grand Hall. The only way up was a staircase numbering ten thousand steps, and despite her advancement, protocol demanded that Zhang Lifen climb them. It stung at her pride. However, she knew where she stood, and she knew well that she wouldn’t have received a summons if she weren’t meant to take a lesson from this.
And so she walked.
The gate to the hall was as grand as any in the Imperial City. Or so she’d heard. She’d never actually been to the capital, but the gate here was certainly grand. Its wooden facade and roof tiles were painted a brilliant red. Elaborate carvings and gold leaf decorated the bronze-bound gates. Qi thrummed all throughout the structure, drawn up from the mountain and then along the single most intricate and powerful formation script in all the Shrouded Peaks Sect.
The Elder’s Grand Hall, like the sect itself, had stood for nearly a thousand years, watching over the wilds to the west, controlling the only true point of access to the Dawn Palace—the prison of the Sunset Empress. Within these walls, the visiting Dragon Emperor handed down the first assignment. It was within these walls that the Shrouded Peaks Sect planned and carried out its true purpose.
As Zhang Lifen finally reached the top of the stair carved into the living stone of the elder’s mountain, the wooden gates, easily three times as tall as she was, swung open. Within lay the first of several grand halls. Yet more formation scripts acted as wards and defenses within. Intricately carved pillars and bronze statues bearing the likeness of mighty warriors lined either side of the hall. Powerful constructs that would come to life and assist in the defense of the sect should they be activated. Each was roughly equal to a middle Sixth Realm cultivator. One hundred of them lined the hall.
Beyond lay another set of doors, and beyond those another entry hall. This one was much shorter, and the only occupants were a pair of awakened Celestial Flame Lions. Sect leader Zhou Shanyuan himself raised both lions to the peak Seventh Realm, and they were both well over five hundred years old.
They shifted at her approach, sensing the water aspect of her qi, but didn’t bother to even look at her. Zhang Lifen bowed to each in turn, cupping her fist. Although they were each more intelligent than the most brilliant of mortal scholars, they didn’t bother to speak to her. She was, after all, too far beneath them to be worthy of their notice, let alone speech. When she’d completed her obeisance and they made no move to stop her, she continued through the next set of doors.
These were even larger than the last, and they finally led to the Elder’s Hall proper. At the far end waited Leader Zhou Shanyuan, First Elder Cai Weizhe, and First Disciple Yi Xiurong. If she’d had any previous doubts that she was in for an earful, those doubts vanished as soon as Zhang Lifen lay eyes on who awaited her.
Still, she kept her head high as she crossed the hall. She ignored the paintings of dragons and phoenixes that adorned the walls—powerful living techniques that would come to life at Leader Zhou’s command. Instead, she kept her eyes fixed on the trio of immortals before her. She may have been in trouble, but she still had her pride. She had, after all, acted wholly within her remit.
When she reached the far end, she greeted each of them, bowing over a salute. “Master Cai,” she began. “Leader Zhou, Elder Sister Yi. This Lifen has answered the summons.”
Zhou Shanyuan waved a hand. “Be at ease, Disciple Zhang. There is much we must discuss.”
She dipped her head in Leader Zhou’s direction, relaxing fractionally. Whatever this was about, and whatever further punishments they saw fit to burden her with, it seemed that she wasn’t in too much trouble.
Sect leader Zhou Shanyuan was nearly eleven hundred years old, although one wouldn’t guess by looking at him. He appeared to be a man in his late fifties, or perhaps early sixties. With broad shoulders and a powerful chest, his posture and bearing spoke of strength and vitality that even immortals would be envious of.
He kept his beard to an immaculate point, and his hair was the color of new steel, falling down his back nearly to his waist. He held it back in the common fashion, with an elaborately worked crown hairpin, no doubt a treasure in its own right. His robes were of the finest make and shimmered with a faint silvery glow.
Although the formation script of his chair, another treasure and masterwork of craftsmanship, kept his presence such that Zhang Lifen could barely sense it, she’d experienced it time enough. He was a timeless mountain, reaching to heaven and into the very bones of the earth at once. He was power—eternal and unyielding. He was stone and steel. He could strike with ten thousand times the power a cataclysmic avalanche, and even that would be more of a casual swat coming from him.
After all, he was the founder of the sect’s cultivation traditions, and the creator of the White Mountain Body Art. He cultivated earth and metal aspects of the five phases, and combined them into the powerful and enduring mountain aspect. At the late Eighth Realm, only Master Cai surpassed him in power. It was only because Cai Weizhe’s advancement had been crippled when creating the Dawn Palace that Zhou Shanyuan led the sect.
To either side of him stood Master Cai Weizhe and First Disciple Yi Xiurong. Master Cai’s presence was a familiar one—and comforting, under the circumstances. The alabaster tower reached to heaven, each of its four faces corresponding to one of the guardian beasts. For all his power at the peak of Divine Soul Apotheosis, Master Cai’s presence felt comparatively gentle, owing to his long cultivation of life qi, along with heaven and radiance.
Then, of course, there was Yi Xiurong. She was much like Zhang Lifen, a peerless talent of her generation. She cultivated the unrelenting empyrean light of heaven. The very quintessence of purity, radiant qi was harsh, glaring, an uncompromising. Much like Yi Xiurong herself. She was beautiful, with skin like the finest white jade, but her features were cold and severe. An understated flower hairpin was the only thing holding back her hair, one of her few concessions to vanity.
Her presence was likewise harsh. A brilliant colorless star shone down from on high, bathing the world in stark, purifying light and flame. Nine golden orbs slowly circled her star, each one a miniature sun itself. At just over twice Zhang Lifen’s age and at the early Sixth Realm, she was already a monster—her power outstripped many of the experts among even the ducal clans of the empire.
It was, much to Zhang Lifen’s chagrin, Yi Xiurong who spoke next.
“Junior Sister Zhang,” the first-ranked core disciple began. “You have made our objectives much more difficult than necessary.”
Zhang Lifen lifted her chin as she did her best to return Yi Xiurong’s imperious gaze. “I’ve done nothing that wasn’t permitted.”
“Strictly speaking, no. But isn’t that ever your excuse? You’ve become rather the expert at bending the rules as far as you can manage without breaking them.” Yi Xiurong kept her features calm and her hands folded in her gown as she spoke, but her words were sharp as knives.
“I fail to see how providing sisterly advice to my disciple is in any way a breach of the sect’s rules, in the letter or spirit,” Zhang Lifen said, affecting her best casual tone.
“That has more to do with consequences than rules and you know it,” Yi Xiurong snapped, her famous temper finally getting the better of her. Zhang Lifen schooled her expression, suppressing a smile. It was far too easy to needle Senior Sister Yi.
Leader Zhou held up a hand for silence. “What’s done is done,” he said. “Now we must concern ourselves with cleaning up the mess Disciple Zhang has caused.”
“That’s hardly fair—”
“Silence,” Master Cai said. “This is not the time.”
That finally got through to her. Zhang Lifen gave her martial father a salute. “Of course, Master Cai.”
“Cai Weizhe is correct,” said Zhou Shanyuan, drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair. “You know full well the damage you’ve caused. If you wish to explain yourself, do so to your shifu on your own time. As I’m sure you’re aware, we’ve far less information that we’d like and we must act swiftly. While we still can.”
Yi Xiurong took over for Leader Zhou at some unspoken signal, stepping forward and a bit too far into Zhang Lifen’s personal space. “We were, at least, able to confiscate the advancement resources from Sha Xiang and Cui Bao before their departure. While you’ve been occupied ensuring that we have the necessary fighting strength for the coming actions against the Sunset Court, we have discerned the nature of the ingredients and narrowed down locations from where they were sourced.”
She resisted the urge to step back in the face of the more powerful woman’s advance. It didn’t matter that Yi Xiurong could crush her in a stand-up fight and they both knew it—it was about keeping up appearances at this point.
“I’ll have you recall that the reason I’ve been so occupied is as punishment rather than by any action of my own choosing,” Zhang Lifen pointed out.
To her credit, Yi Xiurong ignored the barb and continued. “Further, our geomancers found the location of a spirit stone mine while investigating the possible sources for the ingredients. It’s well hidden and protected by obscuring formations. Given the extent to which those responsible have gone to hide it, and the evidence of… questionable methods, we are confident this operation is associated with the Sunset Court.”
“See? Things worked out after all,” she said, flashing a brilliant smile at the first disciple.
“I don’t think you realize how close we were to tracking the emissary of the Court reliably,” Master Cai said. “We’ve never had such access to one of those cores. We know the pacts that their bearers form link them to Jin Xifeng. By observing Sha Xiang, we also learned they somehow link the bearers to each other. The plan was to use Sha Xiang to root out the court itself.”
Zhang Lifen did her best not to deflate at that, as the enormity of what she’d done finally sank in. Track the court? They’d been searching for a method to do that for hundreds of years at this point. She’d no idea that Sha Xiang’s demon core had been the key to that.
“I am truly sorry,” she said. It was really all she could say.
“You can make it up to the sect by following your next assignment to the letter,” Yi Xiurong said, the corners of her lips quirking ever so slightly upward. Zhang Lifen supposed she could let Yi Xiurong enjoy the insignificant victory at least that much.
“Anything, elder sister,” she said.
“You’ll be tracking down Cui Bao. We have reason to believe he’s still in contact with the emissary. At least, indirectly. He’s been moving around quite a bit, staying on the northeastern edge of sect territory and just across the border, in the territory administered by the Mo clan.”
“The Mo clan?” Zhang Lifen raised an eyebrow at the name.
“Yes, the very same Mo clan that we’ve been throwing mountains of spirit stones at after your disciple maimed one of their scions,” Yi Xiurong said.
Zhang Lifen tilted her head in an unspoken question.
It was Leader Zhou who answered. “The Mo clan isn’t affiliated with the court so far as we can tell. Mo Zhiqiang himself hadn’t even been inducted. He was mostly Sha Xiang’s lackey.”
How a commoner girl from the southern forest had managed to position herself above one of the Mo was beyond Zhang Lifen, but she didn’t question Zhou Shanyuan. Instead, she asked, “What am I to do with Cui Bao, then?”
“Nothing,” said Master Cai. “Your task is to observe. Watch his movements and gather whatever information you can. We lost the best opportunity we’ve ever had, so we’re going to make the most of what we have left.”
“But the disciples,” she began.
“I will see to their development while Junior Sister Zhang is otherwise occupied,” Yi Xiurong said. For the second time in the meeting, the first disciple allowed herself to bask in her victory. Then she added, “We’ll be sending Disciple He and Disciple Tan after the spirit stone mine. Two early Fourth Realm disciples ought to have little trouble cleaning that up.”
“But the Mo—”
Leader Zhou cut her off. “We’re not throwing two of our most talented inner disciples upon a sacrificial altar. The Mo have been appeased for the time-being, and won’t know that Disciple He is anywhere near their territory. If they’re affiliated with the court and are aware of the mine’s existence, seeking revenge for its destruction would admit as much. The sect would then be within its right to wage a full scale offensive against them.”
That satisfied her, at least for now. “When do I leave?”
“Tomorrow,” Master Cai answered.
Zhang Lifen indicated her assent and turned to go. As the sounds of further discussion between the two elders and the first disciple faded behind her, her thoughts turned to He Yu. At least he would be in good hands with Yi Xiurong. She was the first-ranked core disciple for a reason, and whatever dislike lay between her and Zhang Lifen, Yi Xiurong kept the interests of the sect above all else.
No, that wasn’t what bothered her. What bothered her was how huge of a mistake she’d made. Things had been going so well, at least by her estimation. She’d thought that by teaching Sha Xiang a lesson, He Yu would grow ever closer to reaching for his absurdly untapped potential. At the very least, she’d learned that her initial hunch about him had proved right. And if the sect leadership wanted to throw him against the court? Well, that just meant they saw it, too.
Maybe they could salvage her mistake and spin it into the first real victory they’d had against the court in centuries.
Comments
Tommy
Ruh-roh! Lifen shit the bed by sending hey yu after shu Xiang, no two ways about it. Ah well hopefully she’ll learn from her mistake here. Obviously HY is gonna get embroiled in some danger scenario at the mine. My guess is sleeper agents with demon cores hidden there! Excited to see what happens this arc :):):) Thanks for the chapter!
