141 Sect Leader Fang

Nearly two weeks passed as Ed meditated upon his water mana. He failed to split it from his other mana, but his overall control still managed to make improvement. During the journey, he had occasionally opened his eyes to check on his surroundings, but there was nothing particularly interesting to see. They passed through many ordinary villages and cities, just like the ones he had passed on the way to the Fire Dragon Sect. Only Beijing itself had been somewhat interesting due to its size and it being the capital of China. But even there, things were very old-fashioned, causing him to lose interest rather quickly.

Having gone west from Beijing, they passed through rough hilly terrain covered in forest. Fortunately, the area was regularly kept clean by the Purple Origin Sect, so they ran into no mutants during the journey, though they did see some ordinary deer and even a leopard.

After traveling for nearly two hours through the rough terrain, they reached a mountain that stood over 2,000 meters tall. The base of the mountain was covered in a strange mist that stopped them from peering inside. The wedding procession continued forward anyways, sticking to a paved path on the east side of the mountain that led to the top. Even with the rough terrain, it didn't take them very long to climb it.

As they moved up the mountain, the mist seemed to disappear, though it was still visible in the air just a bit away from the mountain itself. There were many crude huts along the lower reaches of the mountain, with cultivators often meditating nearby.

"Those are outer sect members." Tai explained as he pulled his horse near Ed.

"Outer sect members?" He questioned.

"Right." Tai nodded. "Most sects have similar structures, though the setups vary. The Purple Origin Sect assigns the lowest class members to the outskirts of the mountain. If they want to live the high life, then they'll need to earn their way to becoming an inner sect member so that they can join the inner sect. Other than that, there are usually core sect members that are made up of the greatest geniuses that will likely take on the mantle as the next generation of sect elders and leaders."

"It sounds like a pretty simple hierarchy." Ed replied.

"True." Tai agreed. "But internal politics of sects are a mess more often than not. Especially at the Purple Origin Sect, where the seven other sects basically compete against each other. There are various cliques, and invisible fights are always going on behind the scenes. Try not to make any enemies while we're there."

"Sure." He nodded, not feeling too concerned over it.

Soon, they reached the upper portion of the mountain, and the looks of the mountain did a complete 180. It wasn't quite a city like the Fire Dragon Sect, but it was much livelier than the lower part of the mountain. There were paved tile paths leading to various buildings, many of which were restaurants or training halls. Crowds of cultivators happily chatted, sparred, or meditated. In the distance, individual houses could be seen in rows. They looked ancient in style, appearing like four separate buildings joined together in a square. The arched roofs were decorated in colorful green and red tiles, with the walls being pure white.

"Each of those buildings has a courtyard and other buildings inside." Tai explained. "They're fairly convenient for housing guests and parties."

"I see." Ed nodded.

The wedding procession continued even higher until they came near the peak. The entire way up, not a single sect member had interrupted them. It seemed that they recognized the Fire Dragon Sect symbols and didn't want to get involved in whatever big events were on their way.

Suddenly, the wedding procession stopped in front of a large building near the very top of the mountain. Four purple walls stood in front of them, a tall guard tower sitting at each corner. Beyond the walls was a tall castle, appearing like a wide pagoda. Purple roof tiles decorated the building at several different levels, as if someone had stacked multiple buildings atop each other. Even farther behind the castle was the very peak of the mountain, where a giant marble statue of a muscular man stood. The statue held a giant axe and appeared as if it was going to cleave the mountain in half. The sun was just starting to set, painting the castle and statue in a purple light.

Suddenly, the drums picked up tempo as the trumpets blew loudly. The wedding procession announced their presence in style as the music steadily grew louder.

The front gates of the castle walls slowly swung open, revealing an old man with sharp features. He had a long white beard and wore simple robes that were a mix of light and dark purple colors. He held his head high and had his hands crossed behind his back. His aura radiated authority and demanded respect.

'The hell?' Ed wondered. Even from where he sat outside the gates, he could feel an unusual pressure that seemed to just exist from nothing. Looking around himself, he saw that the other wedding procession members were involuntarily kneeling towards the old man. Only Ed, Tai, Huo, and some of the stronger espers were able to resist.

"Old man!" The old man shouted. "The hell kind of game are you playing?!" He questioned.

"Old man?" Huo frowned. "You're the old man, old man! Who are you calling old man?!"

"Obviously you're the old man, old man!" The old man grinned.

Huo returned the grin. "Alright, enough joking, Chonglin. I've come today to discuss something important."

"Really?" Fang Chonglin's eyes widened in surprise as he examined the wedding procession. "I couldn't tell. I just thought you came to steal my good wine and gorge yourself on my good food."

"Nonsense!" Huo shouted. "In fact, I've brought plenty of good wine and delicacies with me today!"

"Oh?" Chonglin rubbed his long beard as he turned to the west and stared at the setting sun. An awkward silence enveloped the area as he stood silently like that for nearly a minute.

At first, Huo thought that Chonglin was thinking about the reason for his arrival, but he quickly grew impatient. "Old man!" He shouted. "What are you doing?!"

"Ah, excuse me." Chonglin coughed into his hand and turned back towards the group. "I was making sure the sun over there was setting. For a minute, I thought for sure it was rising from the west today. You see, I seem to lose track of time often at my age. Well, I'm sure an old man like you understands."

Having heard the entire conversation, Ed leaned near Tai and whispered. "Weren't they supposed to be on good terms?" He questioned.

"Mm." Tai nodded. "But the Purple Origin Sect Leader is a difficult man to deal with even on a good day. Plus, he's probably figured out why we're here. He'll squeeze as much fun out of it as he can."

"Tsk." Ed clicked his tongue. "Why are espers always so eccentric." He complained, knowing that he was really just calling the kettle black.

Huo had climbed off his elephant to speak more privately with Chonglin while Ed and Tai chatted. Suddenly, Chonglin pointed in their direction. "YOU TWO!" He shouted. "Where is your proper respect?! Can't you see you're interrupting the conversation of two old men!"

Tai froze in shock. Ed however, was unusually calm. 'This guy really likes to cause trouble...' He sighed to himself. He and Tai had spoken so quietly that not even those around them could hear them, let alone Chonglin.

"So, this is the boy you want to marry my beloved granddaughter?" Chonglin rubbed his beard. "I don't like him. No respect. No talent." He shook his head. "Tsk. Tsk. He's also quite a bit older. How about we discuss this again in ten, no, make that twenty. Yes, let us discuss your proposal again in twenty years when the kids are a bit older and wiser."

"TWENTY YEARS?!" Huo bellowed loudly. "HAVE YOU GONE SENILE, OLD MAN?!"

"Humph." Chonglin snorted, brushing his beard aside as if it was the long wavy hair of a woman. "Have I gone senile?!" He shouted. "You show up to my home unannounced, trying to take away my only granddaughter, and you ask if I'm senile?! You're lucky I haven't fucking blown your shitty brat into millions of pieces for even thinking about it!" He spun around, and reentered the castle, the gates slamming shut behind him.

An awkward silence loomed as Huo's face turned dozens of shades of red from anger. After several minutes, the gates cracked open again, revealing a thin young man with long white hair and bright blue eyes. If one didn't look closely, one might even mistake the man for a pretty young woman. Only his white men's robe told otherwise. "Sect Leader Long." The man politely smiled. "I've been asked to show you and your... sect members to guest lodging for the night."

"Humph." Huo snorted angrily but nodded. He had lost enough face for one day and was in no mood to argue with a junior.

"Ugh." Tai groaned. "That's Fang Bai."

"Who?" Ed questioned.

"The adopted son of Fang Chonglin." Tai answered. "We don't get along well. He's a couple years younger than me, but he always beat me in everything." He ground his teeth. "But now that I've finally obtained purple mana, I'll surpass him! A genius at one stage of cultivation won't necessarily be one at the next stage!"

"Is that so?" He replied, not really understanding since he didn't know the next stage of cultivation yet.

Fang Bai led them back down the mountain, though still within the upper portion of it. Surprisingly, the Purple Origin Sect actually had a big enough courtyard with enough rooms to house their entire group in one place.

Ed was situated in a small house near the center of the courtyard. He sat just outside it, the sky now dark. Many cultivators could be heard as they merrily chatted and gossiped over what had happened, though it seemed most supported Tai and Huo in their endeavors.

'I didn't really expect things to go smoothly... but even I didn't think it'd go this poorly.' Ed chuckled to himself, feeling unexpectedly happy at the turn of events. He didn't want to admit it to himself nor anyone else, but deep down he knew that he didn't want Yuki and Tai getting married. He drank some rum that had been brought along in the procession while staring at the bright moon. His mood was far too good to sleep, and so he stayed awake all night while relaxing.

...

The next day. Huo and Tai disappeared, seemingly to try changing Sect Leader Fang's mind.

With nothing else to do, Ed decided to try fulfilling his original goal. He was here as the representative of Harmony, and wished to formalize the alliance between himself and the Purple Origin Sect. Not only that, but he also needed to acquire a cultivation technique for his sect. If possible, he'd also like to join the sect so that he could learn the further stages of cultivation.

Regardless of what he wanted, he needed to talk directly to Sect Leader Fang. No one else would have the proper authority to agree to any of his wishes. However, there was a problem he faced in doing so. He was a guest with no privilege to leave the courtyard. Huo and Tai were one thing, as they were recognized officials of the Fire Dragon Sect. But Ed was only a foreign cultivator with no formal background.

'Well, hopefully things will go okay.' He sighed to himself as he prepared to leave the courtyard. He didn't know what the sect members would do if they caught a foreigner wandering around in the heart of their sect, but they probably wouldn't try to kill him on sight at the very least. And so, he left the courtyard, preparing to explore the sect and attempt meeting with Sect Leader Fang.