“So what, you two don’t have the time to instruct my young Taoist friend s.h.i.+ao Chen and don’t want us to invite him to join our sect, either? s.h.i.+ao Chen is just a nominal disciple in your Luoyun Valley, and he is free to go to another sect since he doesn’t get your attention there. You don’t have the right to intervene.” Xuanqing didn’t want to give up. His robe puffed up, he was ready to fight against the Qingyun Taoist and the Alchemy Taoist.
Ming Sha took a step forward and looked at the Qingyun Taoist with his gloomy eyes and said in a low voice, “Good, you two should not get involved in this because it is totally up to s.h.i.+ao Chen. Otherwise, we two don’t mind becoming your enemies in order to find a way out.”
Although the three elderly Xuan didn’t speak up, they stood up silently and walked to the back of Xuanqing andMing Sha to show their support.
Qingyun Taoist and Alchemy Taoist looked at each other and both of their faces turned gloomy immediately, as such a scene also made them unrest. Xuanqing and others were absolutely right that s.h.i.+ao Chen was just a nominal disciple of the Luoyun Valley, so he could leave for other sects at any time according to the rules in the cultivation world. Besides, nearly all the sects of the Beihua State were gathered here today, if the two of them insisted to intervene, they might irritate all the cultivators for breaking the rules. Therefore, even if Luoyun Valley had two Gold Core cultivators here, they couldn’t afford the outcome.
But if they completely sat by and did nothing, it would definitely be a disaster for the Luoyun Valley if s.h.i.+ao Chen joined another sect. The two old men would be so regretful that such a refining genius who had stayed in their sect for one year joined another sect right after his talent was revealed.
“s.h.i.+ao Chen, my young friend, tell us what your choice is. Don’t feel burdened. As long as you agree to join us, we will do whatever we can to protect you. You have my word.” Seeing that Qingyun Taoist and Alchemy Taoist were nervous, Xuanqing started to expect s.h.i.+ao Chen to join the Earth Spirit Sect. If he joined them, even if the Luoyun Valley had two Gold Core cultivators, the Earth Spirit Sect wouldn’t be that inferior to it.
“Exactly, if you want to join any one of us, the three sects will protect you at our best. We will never let you and your entire family get hurt.” Ming Sha’s eyes were s.h.i.+ning bright as he said so.
Since the Luoyun Valley had already had two Gold Core masters, if they had another third-grade alchemist... The two old geezers must have determined that they would never let Luoyun Valley get this kid.
The three elderly Xuan stood up at the moment and said together, “This young man is also welcomed by our Flaming Sect.”
The three big sects were all pus.h.i.+ng the limits and Qingyun Taoist and Alchemy Taoist both looked upset as they had no better solution for that. They stared at s.h.i.+ao Chen tightly for fear that he might choose to go to another sect immediately.
s.h.i.+ao Chen was a bit stunned and comed to his senses after a long while. He nodded with a bitter smile. Long before, he was suffering from people’s ridicule because he was just a n.o.body. But now since he had shown them his alchemy talent, he was the most wanted one among them all. This was just how things worked out, s.h.i.+ao Chen shook his head slightly as he didn’t really care about that.
“Seniors, please listen to me.” s.h.i.+ao Chen bowed with respect as those people standing in front of him were all Gold Core cultivators who could easily smash him, so he treated them with full respect.
“Speak out, my young friend.” Xuanqing and the others looked at each other and said with expectations.
s.h.i.+ao Chen nodded and said loudly after pondering a few seconds, “I used to be a disciple of the s.h.i.+ao family in the s.h.i.+ao town. I’m very lucky to know that there are cultivators here, and it was the sect which granted me the qualification to join you and saw so many wonders.”
“After the spiritual root test, I was about to be sent back home to live an ordinary life. But I was so lucky to be accepted by Chief Master and study cultivation and refining methods. He also gave me the herb garden. It was all because of his great kindness that I can have my achievements today.”
“Although I am not a very upright person, I perceive myself as a man who can tell right from wrong. Since all I have right now is given by Chief Master of our sect, it would be so ungrateful of me tochoose another sect. Therefore, thank you all who show me your kindness and favor, I am not going to join another sect. Even if I am just a nominal disciple of the Luoyun Valley, I will stay.”
s.h.i.+ao Chen said sincerely. Although his voice was plain, his grat.i.tude was obvious and firm.
“Great, well said!” Hearing that, Qingyun Taoist suddenly felt relieved and looked at s.h.i.+ao Chen with satisfaction. He then turned to Xuanqing and the others, saying, “Hey, thanks for your offers, my Taoist friends, but I think my disciple doesn’t have the luck to take them. However, you can rest a.s.sured that s.h.i.+ao Chen will definitely enjoy the best treatment in our Luoyun Valley.”
“Great, s.h.i.+ao Chen. Today I am going to take you as my official disciple, and I wonder if you would take it or not.” The Alchemy Taoist looked at s.h.i.+ao Chen with great expectations.
“I, s.h.i.+ao Chen, am now your disciple, Chief Master!” Hearing that, s.h.i.+ao Chen kneeled directly without hesitation and made the grand gesture of three bows and nine kowtows.
“Alright, my good disciple, just get up.” The Alchemy Taoist’s eyes were full of joy as he helped s.h.i.+ao Chen get up and pa.s.sed a white jade bead into s.h.i.+ao Chen’s hand, saying, “This is the Sword Bead, and it can turn into a spiritual sword if you insert your spiritual power in it. It is one of the best weapons, and I used to use it before I formatted the pill. Today I give it to you as a present from your master.”
“Thank you so much, Chief Master!” Hearing that, s.h.i.+ao Chen was surprised. This Sword Bead was quite cool and sharp, so it must be a really extraordinary treasure since the Alchemy Taoist had used it until he reached the Gold Core stage.
“s.h.i.+ao Chen is now a disciple under my direct guidance. Will you give up, my Taoist friends?” The Alchemy Taoist turned around and smiled with great satisfaction.
“Hum! Since it is the choice of s.h.i.+ao Chen, we don’t have any objections about it. But I still have something to say, if s.h.i.+ao Chen has any complaints about the Luoyun Valley, he can just come to our Earth Spirit Sect in the Dingjin Mountain. I will keep the gate open for him at any time.” Xuanqing scoffed but felt helpless. Anyway, it was s.h.i.+ao Chen’s own choice, so he could do nothing about it.
Ming Sha looked very gloomy and after a long while he sat down with a scoff. No one knew what he was thinking about.
“No worries, Xuanqing, my Taoist friend. I won’t treat him badly since he is a great alchemist already.” Hearing that, Qingyun Taoist laughed and said after a short break, “Come here, s.h.i.+ao Chen.”
s.h.i.+ao Chen was stunned and took a few steps forward to kneel down, saying, “I am here.”
“Today I appoint you as the Master of the Pill Pavilion in Luoyun Valley. This position is very important and you’re ranked under me and Alchemy Taoist. In addition, I would like to take the chance to announce that the s.h.i.+ao family in the s.h.i.+ao town will be protected by Luoyun Valley for a thousand years. Within the 10 centuries, we will guard the prosperity of this family as long as our Luoyun Valley exists.”
Thousand years of all-around protection! This was definitely the highest reward a family could receive in the cultivation world.