"Congratulations junior brother Xi. No, it should be senior brother Xi now."
Tianyi smiled as he thanked Wei Daying for the praise. Contrary to the peacefulness and solitude familiar to Jade Peak Palace, numerous guests filled the halls and conjured a festive atmosphere.
Members of the Buzhou Immortal Sect ranging from Foundation Establishment Disciples to Unity Venerables inhabited the halls. But these were not the usual members of Jade Peak, but acquaintances that Tianyi had met before. None of them shared too deep of a relationship with him.
His mother was absent, as were the numerous other Immortal Elders of the Sect. In their eyes, Tianyi transcending the Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation, although impressive at his young age, was not significant. Should he ascend to the Immortal Realm, only then Tianyi would be qualified to have their congratulations. But it was not so for those under the Immortal Realm. To them, Tianyi achieving the Nascent Soul realm was a near miracle.
Tianyi recognized a few of them. They were the children of the Elders of the Buzhou Immortal Sect that he had met before. He had derisively called them silkpants back then. Those near his age were few and far between.
He still remembered when he refused to associate with them because of their immaturity. Those that were present were, in fact, the cream of the crop. Half of the silkpants Tianyi's age were still in the Qi Gathering Realm, having yet to break through into the Foundation Establishment Realm.
As for those older...
Tianyi smiled as a Core Formation Master raised a toast to him, and both sipped the wine from their cups. He was not close with those older than him before they had ostracized him due to the difference in age and seeing him as a little brat. They disdained his low cultivation base, but now most of them could only gaze at him from below.
A Nascent Soul Grandmaster also toasted Tianyi. It was a far cry from the lofty attitude from before when Tianyi first met him. Tianyi's smiled widened.
"Senior brother Lin, your words back then impacted me very deeply. I have to thank the motivation you imparted into me all those years ago. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have reached this height so quickly." Tianyi said, a courteous smile on his face. The smile inside Tianyi's heart, however, widened even more as Lin Mu's smiled stiffened.
It was a lie. To be honest, Tianyi could have cared less about this senior brother of his. But the stifled smile on senior brother Lin's face was just too satisfying for Tianyi.
"I am overjoyed that my words back then gave junior brother Xi proper motivation." Lin Mu said. His grip tightened around his cup. Although he could be considered a core member of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, his father, Elder Lin, was just an Outer Elder that failed to enter the Unity Realm.
"But you mustn't let your success go to your head. Realm isn't everything. The Dao is most important in the end." Lin Mu said, bringing out a senior's disposition as if lecturing an overeager junior.
A dark flame smoldered in Lin Mu's heart as he looked at Tianyi's peerless face. Had he been born Xi Mengfei's son, then he, Lin Mu, would have even more remarkable progress than the little twerp in front of him. It took him over fifty years to reach the Nascent Soul Realm without any aid from his useless father. Lin Mu had been quite proud of that.
But as if to mock him, Tianyi reached the Nascent Soul Realm before he had even reached twenty! Thinking of the snotnosed brat that had approached him all those years ago, Lin Mu clenched the fist hidden within his sleeves. If back then...
"Naturally," Tianyi said. "I don't see what the big deal is. I was quite surprised when so many people came to congratulate me. Once I reached the Immortal Realm, I'll definitely invite senior brother Lin to the celebration then."
For a moment, Lin Mu's face turned white, then raging red, before it returned to normal, only slightly paler. "Naturally, then I'll have to congratulate junior brother on your future success." Lin Mu said, his lip taut.
"Congratulations junior brother Xi," Before Lin Mu could speak anymore, a new voice cut in and joined the conversation.
"Many thanks, senior sister Ji," Tianyi said as he smiled sincerely at the gentle-looking woman.
"Still, I'm quite surprised." Ji Shuye said. "To think that in a blink of an eye, you would have already reached the same realm as me. It took you five years to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm from the Qi Gathering Realm, and then another five years from Foundation Establishment to Core Formation. Going by this pattern, don't tell me you're going to reach Unity Realm in five years?" Although her voice was light, the envy in her voice wasn't hidden at all.
"Don't joke with me, senior sister," Tianyi said. "It wasn't exactly five years in between."
"Same difference." Ji Shuye said.
"Senior sister Ji, did eldest senior brother also come?" Lin Mu asked. Ji Shuye could be said to be descended from a cultivation clan in the Huang Realm. But to the Buzhou Immortal Sect, there was no difference between her and a disciple from a mortal family. Lin Mu rathered admired how Ji Shuye rose through the realms. It was a pity in his eyes that she started to focus on spiritual cultivation instead of concentrating solely on martial cultivation.
"Yushan said that he was busy," Ji Shuye said. "He also told me to apologize for him for not attending junior brother Xi's banquet."
Tianyi waved his hand. "No worries, I didn't really expect a banquet to occur. It just sort of happened. Besides, senior brother Xia is the eldest disciple. He has many duties to attend, so it is natural that his time is precious."
"Thank you for understanding," Ji Shuye said, relief hidden within her eyes.
"Strange, I don't recall eldest senior brother having any prior appointments," Lin Mu said, his eyes trying to read Tianyi's facial expression.
"Who knows, perhaps something urgent came up. Senior brother Xia is the eldest senior brother for a reason. Us normal disciples will probably never understand." Tianyi said as he looked at Lin Mu.
Lin Mu nodded. "Eldest senior brother is indeed the eldest senior brother for a reason. We normal disciples will probably never be able to accomplish the same things as eldest senior brother." There was not a hint of grievance or unwillingness in Lin Mu's voice, surprising Tianyi.
"Indeed," Ji Shuye said. "Yushan often visits Jade Peak. Truthfully I'm quite surprised at how often he visits."
Tianyi shrugged, "Perhaps it's the project, junior sister Jiang and my older cousin are working on. He seemed quite interested in the Xiyi Formation Cards."
"I've heard about them. Quite a number of the junior brothers and sisters are buying them. Now that you've reached Nascent Soul Realm, perhaps it's time to create Nascent Soul ranked Formation Cards?" Ji Shuye joked.
"Eh, maybe sometime in the future. I just entered the Nascent Soul Realm after all." Tianyi said, voice not very interested. Tianyi's eyes drifted away and widened slightly as he saw Daoyi drinking cup after cup with a few unknown males.
Ji Shuye followed Tianyi's line of sight. "Is that junior sister Daoyi? I've only seen her from afar. She is drinking quite a bit."
"Indeed," Tianyi said, and he began to walk towards Daoyi.
"Senior brother, congratulations again," Daoyi said, her cheeks slightly flushed, as she raised her cup to Tianyi before drinking it without waiting for Tianyi.
Tianyi sighed helplessly. He didn't drink from his cup. He rather disliked the wine brought out for the celebration. It wasn't just the wine in his cup, he disliked a great majority of the wine for their bitter taste.
"Junior sister, I know you like wine, but you shouldn't drink too much," Tianyi said. Then he looked towards the three junior brothers talking to Daoyi. All of them could be considered to have a good appearance. "Who are these people?"
The facial expressions of the three slightly paled before they respectfully greeted Tianyi. Although their appearance was older than Tianyi, and probably their age as well, their cultivation was lower than Tianyi's cultivation.
"Mao Guanglie greets senior brother Xi."
"Jia Weimin greets senior brother Xi."
"Yan Yun greets senior brother Xi."
"I have some things I have to discuss with junior sister Jiang, if you would..." Taking the incredibly obvious hint, the three disciples quickly left.
"Junior sister," Tianyi looked at Daoyi. "just because they kept toasting you, you shouldn't continue to drink without reserve. What if you get drunk?"
"You're wrong senior brother," Daoyi revealed a mischievous smile. "I was the one that kept toasting them."
Tianyi blinked as he observed the area. He only now noticed the ten plus empty wing jugs. A distance away, several disciples ranging from Foundation Establishment to Core Formation were sitting on chairs, unable to get up or flat out knocked out. There were even a few who were still conscious, walking around with unsteady footsteps. And judging by the wide berth the other people gave them, the aroma of wine must have clung to them heavily.
Tianyi felt his lips twitched as he directed his sight back to Daoyi. She gave him an innocent smile.
"That's...you know what? Nevermind." Tianyi ultimately decided not to say anything. He looked back to see a stunned Ji Shuye staring at him, or rather Daoyi behind him.
"Senior sister?" Tianyi called out.
"Huh?" Ji Shuye said, she blinked before covering her lower face with her blue sleeve. "I was struck by a sudden thought, don't mind me."
"Daoyi, you've never met her before. But this is senior sister Ji Shuye." Tianyi introduced the two.
"Jiang Daoyi greets senior sister Ji," Daoyi said. Then she looked at the man who was slightly behind Daoyi. "This senior brother is?"
"Ah right, I almost forgot," Tianyi said as he glanced at Lin Mu. "This is senior brother Lin Mu. He's ascended the Nascent Soul Realm for quite a while now, despite his appearances."
Daoyi ignored the strange way Tianyi introduced Lin Mu and greeted Lin Mu as well.
Tianyi blinked as he looked between Daoyi and Ji Shuye. Now that both of them were standing close to one another, he discovered that both of them actually had quite a similar air to them.
After having chased away the rogues that wanted to integrate themselves with Daoyi, Tianyi left Daoyi with Ji Shuye, who seemed to want to talk.
It didn't take much thought as to why they wanted to integrate themselves with Daoyi. Being the disciple of a Grand Elder of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, her status was nobler than many elders, much less the descendants of those elders. Some were even the direct descendants of an Immortal Elder, just that the clan had just grown too numerous for them to stand out. Making friends with Daoyi for resources wasn't exactly a bad idea. Tianyi just didn't expect these proud sons of heaven to use a honey trap to lure Daoyi.
"Junior brother Xi," Tianyi smiled and toasted with the newcomer who came forward. Tianyi would probably forget ninety-nine point nine nine nine percent of the people who came to toast with him today.
"Don't you remember who I am?" The youth, who appeared to be nearing there mid-twenties in appearance, said in shock seeing as Tianyi didn't recognize him.
"My apologies, we met before?" Tianyi said.
"I guess you wouldn't have remembered. We met when you were five. I'm Su Bojing." The man said.
Tianyi frowned as he tried to put the man's face to anyone in his memories. "Sorry, but I can't remember."
"No worries." Su Bojing waved it off. "Junior brother Xi, have you heard about the Heavenly Connection Gathering?"
"Congratulations junior brother Xi. No, it should be senior brother Xi now."
Tianyi smiled as he thanked Wei Daying for the praise. Contrary to the peacefulness and solitude familiar to Jade Peak Palace, numerous guests filled the halls and conjured a festive atmosphere.
Members of the Buzhou Immortal Sect ranging from Foundation Establishment Disciples to Unity Venerables inhabited the halls. But these were not the usual members of Jade Peak, but acquaintances that Tianyi had met before. None of them shared too deep of a relationship with him.
His mother was absent, as were the numerous other Immortal Elders of the Sect. In their eyes, Tianyi transcending the Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation, although impressive at his young age, was not significant. Should he ascend to the Immortal Realm, only then Tianyi would be qualified to have their congratulations. But it was not so for those under the Immortal Realm. To them, Tianyi achieving the Nascent Soul realm was a near miracle.
Tianyi recognized a few of them. They were the children of the Elders of the Buzhou Immortal Sect that he had met before. He had derisively called them silkpants back then. Those near his age were few and far between.
He still remembered when he refused to associate with them because of their immaturity. Those that were present were, in fact, the cream of the crop. Half of the silkpants Tianyi's age were still in the Qi Gathering Realm, having yet to break through into the Foundation Establishment Realm.
As for those older...
Tianyi smiled as a Core Formation Master raised a toast to him, and both sipped the wine from their cups. He was not close with those older than him before they had ostracized him due to the difference in age and seeing him as a little brat. They disdained his low cultivation base, but now most of them could only gaze at him from below.
A Nascent Soul Grandmaster also toasted Tianyi. It was a far cry from the lofty attitude from before when Tianyi first met him. Tianyi's smiled widened.
"Senior brother Lin, your words back then impacted me very deeply. I have to thank the motivation you imparted into me all those years ago. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have reached this height so quickly." Tianyi said, a courteous smile on his face. The smile inside Tianyi's heart, however, widened even more as Lin Mu's smiled stiffened.
It was a lie. To be honest, Tianyi could have cared less about this senior brother of his. But the stifled smile on senior brother Lin's face was just too satisfying for Tianyi.
"I am overjoyed that my words back then gave junior brother Xi proper motivation." Lin Mu said. His grip tightened around his cup. Although he could be considered a core member of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, his father, Elder Lin, was just an Outer Elder that failed to enter the Unity Realm.
"But you mustn't let your success go to your head. Realm isn't everything. The Dao is most important in the end." Lin Mu said, bringing out a senior's disposition as if lecturing an overeager junior.
A dark flame smoldered in Lin Mu's heart as he looked at Tianyi's peerless face. Had he been born Xi Mengfei's son, then he, Lin Mu, would have even more remarkable progress than the little twerp in front of him. It took him over fifty years to reach the Nascent Soul Realm without any aid from his useless father. Lin Mu had been quite proud of that.
But as if to mock him, Tianyi reached the Nascent Soul Realm before he had even reached twenty! Thinking of the snotnosed brat that had approached him all those years ago, Lin Mu clenched the fist hidden within his sleeves. If back then...
"Naturally," Tianyi said. "I don't see what the big deal is. I was quite surprised when so many people came to congratulate me. Once I reached the Immortal Realm, I'll definitely invite senior brother Lin to the celebration then."
For a moment, Lin Mu's face turned white, then raging red, before it returned to normal, only slightly paler. "Naturally, then I'll have to congratulate junior brother on your future success." Lin Mu said, his lip taut.
"Congratulations junior brother Xi," Before Lin Mu could speak anymore, a new voice cut in and joined the conversation.
"Many thanks, senior sister Ji," Tianyi said as he smiled sincerely at the gentle-looking woman.
"Still, I'm quite surprised." Ji Shuye said. "To think that in a blink of an eye, you would have already reached the same realm as me. It took you five years to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm from the Qi Gathering Realm, and then another five years from Foundation Establishment to Core Formation. Going by this pattern, don't tell me you're going to reach Unity Realm in five years?" Although her voice was light, the envy in her voice wasn't hidden at all.
"Don't joke with me, senior sister," Tianyi said. "It wasn't exactly five years in between."
"Same difference." Ji Shuye said.
"Senior sister Ji, did eldest senior brother also come?" Lin Mu asked. Ji Shuye could be said to be descended from a cultivation clan in the Huang Realm. But to the Buzhou Immortal Sect, there was no difference between her and a disciple from a mortal family. Lin Mu rathered admired how Ji Shuye rose through the realms. It was a pity in his eyes that she started to focus on spiritual cultivation instead of concentrating solely on martial cultivation.
"Yushan said that he was busy," Ji Shuye said. "He also told me to apologize for him for not attending junior brother Xi's banquet."
Tianyi waved his hand. "No worries, I didn't really expect a banquet to occur. It just sort of happened. Besides, senior brother Xia is the eldest disciple. He has many duties to attend, so it is natural that his time is precious."
"Thank you for understanding," Ji Shuye said, relief hidden within her eyes.
"Strange, I don't recall eldest senior brother having any prior appointments," Lin Mu said, his eyes trying to read Tianyi's facial expression.
"Who knows, perhaps something urgent came up. Senior brother Xia is the eldest senior brother for a reason. Us normal disciples will probably never understand." Tianyi said as he looked at Lin Mu.
Lin Mu nodded. "Eldest senior brother is indeed the eldest senior brother for a reason. We normal disciples will probably never be able to accomplish the same things as eldest senior brother." There was not a hint of grievance or unwillingness in Lin Mu's voice, surprising Tianyi.
"Indeed," Ji Shuye said. "Yushan often visits Jade Peak. Truthfully I'm quite surprised at how often he visits."
Tianyi shrugged, "Perhaps it's the project, junior sister Jiang and my older cousin are working on. He seemed quite interested in the Xiyi Formation Cards."
"I've heard about them. Quite a number of the junior brothers and sisters are buying them. Now that you've reached Nascent Soul Realm, perhaps it's time to create Nascent Soul ranked Formation Cards?" Ji Shuye joked.
"Eh, maybe sometime in the future. I just entered the Nascent Soul Realm after all." Tianyi said, voice not very interested. Tianyi's eyes drifted away and widened slightly as he saw Daoyi drinking cup after cup with a few unknown males.
Ji Shuye followed Tianyi's line of sight. "Is that junior sister Daoyi? I've only seen her from afar. She is drinking quite a bit."
"Indeed," Tianyi said, and he began to walk towards Daoyi.
"Senior brother, congratulations again," Daoyi said, her cheeks slightly flushed, as she raised her cup to Tianyi before drinking it without waiting for Tianyi.
Tianyi sighed helplessly. He didn't drink from his cup. He rather disliked the wine brought out for the celebration. It wasn't just the wine in his cup, he disliked a great majority of the wine for their bitter taste.
"Junior sister, I know you like wine, but you shouldn't drink too much," Tianyi said. Then he looked towards the three junior brothers talking to Daoyi. All of them could be considered to have a good appearance. "Who are these people?"
The facial expressions of the three slightly paled before they respectfully greeted Tianyi. Although their appearance was older than Tianyi, and probably their age as well, their cultivation was lower than Tianyi's cultivation.
"Mao Guanglie greets senior brother Xi."
"Jia Weimin greets senior brother Xi."
"Yan Yun greets senior brother Xi."
"I have some things I have to discuss with junior sister Jiang, if you would..." Taking the incredibly obvious hint, the three disciples quickly left.
"Junior sister," Tianyi looked at Daoyi. "just because they kept toasting you, you shouldn't continue to drink without reserve. What if you get drunk?"
"You're wrong senior brother," Daoyi revealed a mischievous smile. "I was the one that kept toasting them."
Tianyi blinked as he observed the area. He only now noticed the ten plus empty wing jugs. A distance away, several disciples ranging from Foundation Establishment to Core Formation were sitting on chairs, unable to get up or flat out knocked out. There were even a few who were still conscious, walking around with unsteady footsteps. And judging by the wide berth the other people gave them, the aroma of wine must have clung to them heavily.
Tianyi felt his lips twitched as he directed his sight back to Daoyi. She gave him an innocent smile.
"That's...you know what? Nevermind." Tianyi ultimately decided not to say anything. He looked back to see a stunned Ji Shuye staring at him, or rather Daoyi behind him.
"Senior sister?" Tianyi called out.
"Huh?" Ji Shuye said, she blinked before covering her lower face with her blue sleeve. "I was struck by a sudden thought, don't mind me."
"Daoyi, you've never met her before. But this is senior sister Ji Shuye." Tianyi introduced the two.
"Jiang Daoyi greets senior sister Ji," Daoyi said. Then she looked at the man who was slightly behind Daoyi. "This senior brother is?"
"Ah right, I almost forgot," Tianyi said as he glanced at Lin Mu. "This is senior brother Lin Mu. He's ascended the Nascent Soul Realm for quite a while now, despite his appearances."
Daoyi ignored the strange way Tianyi introduced Lin Mu and greeted Lin Mu as well.
Tianyi blinked as he looked between Daoyi and Ji Shuye. Now that both of them were standing close to one another, he discovered that both of them actually had quite a similar air to them.
After having chased away the rogues that wanted to integrate themselves with Daoyi, Tianyi left Daoyi with Ji Shuye, who seemed to want to talk.
It didn't take much thought as to why they wanted to integrate themselves with Daoyi. Being the disciple of a Grand Elder of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, her status was nobler than many elders, much less the descendants of those elders. Some were even the direct descendants of an Immortal Elder, just that the clan had just grown too numerous for them to stand out. Making friends with Daoyi for resources wasn't exactly a bad idea. Tianyi just didn't expect these proud sons of heaven to use a honey trap to lure Daoyi.
"Junior brother Xi," Tianyi smiled and toasted with the newcomer who came forward. Tianyi would probably forget ninety-nine point nine nine nine percent of the people who came to toast with him today.
"Don't you remember who I am?" The youth, who appeared to be nearing there mid-twenties in appearance, said in shock seeing as Tianyi didn't recognize him.
"My apologies, we met before?" Tianyi said.
"I guess you wouldn't have remembered. We met when you were five. I'm Su Bojing." The man said.
Tianyi frowned as he tried to put the man's face to anyone in his memories. "Sorry, but I can't remember."
"No worries." Su Bojing waved it off. "Junior brother Xi, have you heard about the Heavenly Connection Gathering?"
