The events of the peak meeting swiftly spread to the entire Saint Genesis Peak, causing the disciples from the two original factions to cheer upon hearing it. They had after all suffered a great deal of grievances at the hands of Lu Hong"s faction, unable to strike back before Zhou Yuan"s appearance due to the latter"s overwhelming might. Moreover, Lu Hong"s faction had also never bothered hiding their disdain for the other two factions.
This naturally created an irreconcilable grudge between the two parties.
The current situation was a drastic change from before. Zhou Yuan had seemingly appeared from the sky and brought about a complete reversal. Lu Hong"s faction no longer dared to act as haughtily as before, especially since even the chief disciple position had landed in Zhou Yuan"s hands.
In addition, elder Shen Taiyuan was currently in possession of the peak master seal, making him the subst.i.tute peak master. As such, this faction"s status had also instantly risen.
Shen Taiyuan had even made the bold and daring move of using the authority of the subst.i.tute peak master to request Lu Hong"s faction"s return to Sword Cometh Peak. This was naturally a very welcomed development to the other two factions, because Saint Genesis Peak would finally be of one mind and heart with the removal of this poisonous barb.
Although Saint Genesis Peak"s strength would fall substantially due to losing Lu Hong"s faction. The disciples from the remaining two factions felt more confident than before. After all, didn"t they have a chief disciple that had created several amazing miracles?
Who could dare say for certain that the Saint Genesis Peak with only two factions would not be able to create a sensation once more in the Genesis reservoir ceremony?
…
Saint Genesis Peak, in a certain stone pavilion.
Zhou Yuan was seated within it, while Zhou Tai, Zhang Yan and Lu Yan sat opposite him.
"Who could have expected that the chief disciple position of Saint Genesis Peak would land on junior brother Zhou Yuan"s head." Zhou Tai gazed at Zhou Yuan and sighed. However, his words were mainly in admiration. After all, the chief disciple position had been won by Zhou Yuan through his own strength, and no one had any doubts about it.
He chuckled and looked towards Zhang Yan as he teased, "Junior brother Zhang Yan was the least optimistic about junior brother Zhou Yuan before."
Zhang Yan immediately felt rather awkward as he let out a dry laugh. However, he responded in a straightforward manner, quickly lifting his tea cup as he said, "I was indeed blind previously, and did not realize junior brother Zhou Yuan"s abilities. I will use this tea in place of wine to apologize."
He put the cup to his lips and downed it in a single fluid gulp.
He had previously felt ill will towards Zhou Yuan due to how Shen Taiyuan was giving so much attention and emphasis to the latter. Zhang Yan had felt that Zhou Yuan did not deserve to be regarded so highly, hence resulting in his previous att.i.tude.
However, the eventual outcome made him understand the gap of judgement ability between himself and Shen Taiyuan. In addition, he was not someone who refused to accept reality, thus why he had cleanly apologized.
Zhou Yuan chuckled upon seeing this and returned the gesture by downing his own cup of tea.
By the side, Lu Yan bit her lips when she saw this, feeling somewhat ashamed and embarra.s.sed. Her beautiful eyes seemed to flow as she looked at Zhou Yuan, no longer overly fierce and critical like before.
"Saint Genesis Peak has recently reopened, and we"ll have to work together to make Saint Genesis Peak stronger. There"s no need to worry over such small matters." Said Zhou Yuan with a carefree smile.
"I"ve invited the three of you here with the intention of discussing the upcoming Genesis reservoir ceremony. I"ve only been around for a year after all, and have yet to experience it, so I"ll be needing you guys to help me understand its various intricacies." Zhou Yuan went ahead with the main topic.
With the mention of the Genesis reservoir ceremony, the trio"s expressions turned serious.
Zhou Tai slowly said, "Though it had felt great when teacher Shen requested Lu Hong"s faction to leave Saint Genesis Peak… without them, our strength has dropped drastically."
"I believe chief disciple Zhou Yuan already has a rough understanding of the ceremony?" Asked Lu Yan as she looked towards Zhou Yuan.
Zhou Yuan nodded.
"Every year, the sect will stimulate the Origin Dragon vein during the ceremony to increase the influx of Origin Dragon Qi into the reservoir. This will result in more and stronger aquatic beasts, which also makes it the most dangerous period in the Genesis reservoir."
"This is a huge threat to the disciples from the various peaks, and a small mistake may even result in being surrounded by the aquatic beasts and be team wiped."
Lu Yan slowly said, "If a team is wiped out too early, the amount of Genesis essence collected will definitely be extremely small, and the eventual evaluation will naturally not be good. You should understand that entering the Genesis reservoir may not be a big deal for people like us, but for the disciples below purple sash, they only have this single chance over the entire year."
"If we mess up, it will be a huge loss for them."
"Hence, you need to pay extra attention to such matters this time. As the new chief disciple, let"s disregard what the other peaks will say, but if we do poorly in the Genesis reservoir ceremony, the Saint Genesis Peak disciples below purple sash will be very disappointed."
Zhang Yan nodded in agreement as he sighed and said, "Junior brother Zhou Yuan, this responsibility is very heavy."
Zhou Yuan nodded with a solemn expression. He understood that many Saint Genesis Peak disciples had placed their hopes onto the upcoming ceremony.
"Of course, doing well will also be tremendously beneficial. Due to the rapid increase in quant.i.ty and quality of the aquatic beasts during the ceremony, a nine dragon baptism may even appear…"
"Do you know why the Chosens will be present at every Genesis reservoir ceremony? They"re hoping for these very conditions, because a nine dragon baptism can only appear during the Genesis reservoir ceremony." Lu Yan hurriedly added on, afraid that she had dampened Zhou Yuan enthusiasm.
However, it was extremely difficult to attain a nine dragon baptism, and even Chu Qing had never enjoyed one over the years.
"Nine dragon baptism huh?" Zhou Yuan was tempted. He had already tasted an eight dragon baptism, making it and any baptism below less effective for himself. Hence, the nine dragon baptism had definitely roused his interest.
It could strengthen his Genesis Qi foundations.
However, he quickly put away such thoughts. Although he had yet to experience the difficulty level of the Genesis reservoir ceremony, there was no way that it would be easy. Moreover, Saint Genesis Peak"s current state was indeed very pitiful, especially when compared to the other peaks that had several dozen factions, vastly superior numbers, chief disciples and even Chosens.
On the other hand, all they had were a meagre two factions and a few hundred disciples in total. Their chief disciple had only recently taken his position, and was still very fresh, while a Chosen was nowhere to be seen.
Zhou Yuan was silent for a while, before he asked, "How has our performance been over the previous years?"
The trio exchanged a look, clearly feeling rather embarra.s.sed as they answered, "Usually a low grade evaluation. Everyone will get a two dragon baptism, while our best is only a three dragon baptism."
The final appraisal at the end of the ceremony was divided into three ranks, low grade, mid grade and high grade. Saint Genesis Peak usually ended up with a low grade two dragon baptism, which was at least better than nothing.
"That"s only with Sword Cometh Peak"s help, although they charged twenty percent of our Genesis essence as a protection fee." Zhou Tai laughed bitterly. "However, I"m afraid Sword Cometh Peak won"t be lending us any aid this year."
Zhou Yuan had won the chief disciple position, causing a huge loss for Sword Cometh Peak. It would already be very forgiving if Sword Cometh Peak did not hit them while they were down during the ceremony, let alone hoping that they would lend a helping hand.
Lu Yan glanced at Zhou Yuan as she grinned cheekily. "I"ve heard you are on pretty good terms with senior sister Li Qingchan of Snow Lotus Peak. How about you go over and suggest our Saint Genesis Peak gives them a protection fee this time? Since you"re also quite handsome, maybe we"ll even get away with ten percent."
The corners of Zhou Yuan"s lips twitched. Wasn"t this some kind of pretty boy seduction tactic? That would be too pathetic!
"Hehe, though there aren"t many people in Saint Genesis Peak, you guys seem to be quite busy…"
While they were conversing, a faint laughter was suddenly heard. Zhou Yuan and the rest lifted their heads, to find a figure slowly walking over. In a few flickers and steps, he appeared inside the pavilion.
Zhou Tai and the rest were startled by the appearance of this individual, and could not help but blurt out, "Bai Liche?!"
The visitor was the chief disciple of Sword Cometh Peak.
He paid no heed to Zhou Tai and the rest, merely sweeping them a faint gaze of disdain with unfriendly arrogance in his eyes.
He sat down at the stone table, and poured himself a cup of tea. His att.i.tude of showing no regard for the others made a sliver of anger flash in the eyes of the Zhou Tai trio.
Lu Yan icily snorted. "This is Saint Genesis Peak, what"s a Sword Cometh Peak chief disciple like you doing here?"
Bai Liche lifted his cup, continuing to ignore them as he took a sip. Only then did he cast an indifferent gaze at the expressionless and silent Zhou Yuan, and displayed a faint but arrogant smile.
"I"m here of course to point out a way for you guys to preserve your dignity."