Chapter 109 – Return
(Mustang: We are starting the fourth volume of the series, ‘The Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon’.
This is the first chapter for this week.)
Bi Fan used the Jade tablet that he had been provided with, and returned to the Yang Shan peak in an instant.
Even though the Yang Shan peak served as the residence to Ling Xin Ya, deputy of the Quinyang Sect, most of the Quinyang school disciples didn’t live here.
Bi Fan returned to the peak, and no had even found out about it.
However, Bi Fan still wanted to meet his master once, since he thought that his master might have gotten a little worried.
Ling Xin Ya had treated him pretty well, and Bi Fan wasn’t the kind who’d forget favors, and violate justice.
Bi Fan had just made his return to the Yang Shan Peak, when he ran into his senior, Yang Feng.
“Young one, you finally came back. Master has asked about you several times. Every time, he’d say that he was beginning to regret sending you into the Devil’s Abyss.” Yang Feng laughed.
Yang Feng’s had a silly laugh, but even then, it was still quite friendly.
“Thank you Brother. Now that you mention, it is my fault, I must have caused Master a lot of anxiety. Is the Master in?” Bi Fan asked.
He was a little touched, as he hadn’t expected Ling Xin Ya to worry about him that much.
In most of the Sects, especially the populated ones, the Masters never really bothered about their disciples’ life and death. They only focused their attention on those very few, highly talented, disciples.
Ling Xin Ya was the deputy of the Quinyang Sect, so he wasn’t really expected to bother about ordinary folk much.
Bi Fan had somehow managed to become his direct disciple, which was nothing short of a miracle.
Yang Feng said: “Master is undertaking a closed-door practice; but Master said that, whenever you come back, you must meet him right away.”
Bi Fan wouldn’t neglect his Master’s orders, and quickly followed Yang Feng’s lead, as he prepared to pay his Master a visit.
“Master, young Bi Fan, has safely returned.” Yang Feng informed in advance.
After a while, a singular voice came from within the residence: “Ah, Bi Fan, you came back. Come in.”
Bi Fan and Yang Feng, both, entered into Ling Xin Ya’s practice chambers.
His chambers, were as simply as always, and they both found themselves prayer mats to sit on.
Ling Xin Ya, carefully, measured Bi Fan up for a moment, smiled, and then said: “Great!! You’ve managed to reach the peak of the ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer in such a short time. Sending you inside the Devil’s Abyss for training, was worthwhile after all.”
“Thank you Master. It wasn’t my intention to cause you so much worry.” Bi Fan apologized respectfully.
“Do not apologize; your increase in strength has been worth it all. There are barely a few months left, and you must prepare to partic.i.p.ate in the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon compet.i.tion. You must take advantage of the time that’s left, and use it to practice here at the peak of Yang Shan. If you have any doubts, you can consult you senior, Yang Feng, and if you still need help, then you can come to me.” Ling Xin Ya’s face was smiling now.
Bi Fan was turning into a good student, and he was beginning to like him even more.
Bi Fan was talented, persistent, and courageous; he had all the prerequisites to make a strong fighter one day.
Ling Xin Ya was finally ready to train Bi Fan properly, as most of his other students weren’t up to the mark. Honestly, he only had two other decent disciples, both of whom didn’t come back very often, while his other students lacked the basic requirements. Bi Fan on the other hand, was ripe for training.
Ling Xin Ya wanted to train Bi Fan up, with the intention of turning him into the supporting pillar of the Yang Shan peak.
This world is full of compet.i.tion, so much so, that there’s a lot of compet.i.tion even within the same Sect.
In fact, compet.i.tion was one of the founding roots of any faction.
There are thirty six branches, each with its own peak of residence, under the Congress of the Quinyang Sect, and each of these peaks have their own disciples. So naturally, there is a lot of compet.i.tion amongst these branches.
Ling Xin Ya was the deputy of the faction, which was a very high position; so obviously, a lot of other Masters wanted his spot.
Since the Yang Shan peak hadn’t produced any spectacular disciples so far, the other branches of the faction had started using the same against him, and had started questioning Ling Xin Ya’s position.
If things didn’t change soon, then the Yang Shan peak would eventually fall under the control of another.
The Yang Shan peak was the designated spot for the Deputy’s residence. The man, who occupied the position of the Deputy, would have the right to reside at the Yang Shan peak.
Ling Xin Ya has been living at the peak of Yang Shan for over a hundred years; naturally, he didn’t want to vacate it.
In recent years, Ling Xin Yan has been spending a lot of time looking for good disciples, in order to train them, but unfortunately, he hadn’t succeeded in find anyone worthy.
At the last selection tournament, he took a shine to Bi Fan, and wanted to see what Bi Fan’s true potential was.
Bi Fan had raised his strength to a significant level in a very short time, and had even returned intact from the Devil’s Abyss, after spending almost three months in the realm. At present, he had started considering Bi Fan a very valuable talent; and Bi Fan had finally pa.s.sed Ling Xin Ya’s real test.
“Master, would it possible for me to take a trip to Yu Nu Feng first? It’s been a while since I’ve been out, Xiao Feng, and the others, must be worried.” Bi Fan said.
“Of course, that’s not an issue. You must go and say ‘h.e.l.lo’ to them.” Ling Xin Ya smiled: “In future, don’t shy away from making such decisions, and there’s no need to consulting me either about such things; I’m not that old-fashioned.”
“Thank you, Master!” Bi Fan said.
Ling Xin Ya said: “Yang Feng, you will train with your younger Brother. You must help him make the breakthrough to the next layer before the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon tournament. The odds of him getting a better rank are higher, if he makes the breakthrough.”
Ling Xin Ya wasn’t aware of Bi Fan’s physical strength yet, and he had no idea about Bi Fan’s real capability yet. He just wanted Bi Fan to get a rank, which was high enough to sound impressive.
Since he had already decided to mentor Bi Fan properly now, he wanted to give Bi Fan as much exposure as possible.
“Master, when I was inside the Devil’s Abyss, I managed to procure Jungle Python eggs. Please decide its fate, Master.” Bi Fan took out a Jungle Python egg.
Bi Fan had thought about this very carefully. Ling Xin Ya was already quite fond of him, but if Bi Fan made some significant contributions to the Sect’s future, then Ling Xin Ya would defend him with even more vigor.
“What? You actually managed to procure Jungle Python eggs!” Ling Xin Ya was completely astonished.
He took the egg, and carefully inspected it over and over again: “This is a real Jungle Python’s egg, and it’s alive as well. How did you manage to get this?”
“After entering into the Devil’s Abyss, I united with a few other disciples, and we managed to form a team of four. We were barely able to kill off a Jungle Python, and unexpectedly managed to get our hands on the eggs it had laid.” Bi Fan said.
Ling Xin Ya said: “Well, since you’ve won this egg, I give it back to you. I hope it serves you well.”
“Master, I was hoping that you’d give it to a Brother who deserves it more than I do.” Bi Fan refused to accept it.
Ling Xin Ya said: “You’ve procured this egg with your hard work, so you must be its Master.”
“Master, I really don’t require it. I’ve already got a pet, a Chimera, so I don’t need a Jungle Python. And… I have more Jungle Python eggs. So please accept the egg, Master.” Bi Fan smiled.
“You Boy… are very good, and you’ve done very well. Yes, I will accept your gift.” Ling Xin Ya said: “Again, ask your Brother for anything that you need, and he’ll help you arrange the necessary provisions.”
“Yes Master, I will.” Bi Fan said.
Now that Ling Xin Ya had accepted the Jungle Python’s egg, Bi Fan was confident that his Master would show more care to his progress and well-being.
Furthermore, Bi Fan had also, tactically, used this opportunity to inform his master about the Chimera. So now, he wouldn’t have to face any questioning about it in the future.
Due to the whole Jungle Python affair, Ling Xin Ya hadn’t even payed any attention to the matter surrounding the Chimera, and was unlikely to inspect any deeper into it in the future either.
Owing to his selfless behavior, Bi Fan had already managed to win Ling Xin Ya, and Yang Feng’s recognition. So now, they were both quite likely to be more generous to him.
Soon after, Bi Fan related a few more encounters of his adventures inside the Devil’s Abyss, but decided to conceal some of the most important ones.
Like the incidents involving the deaths of Jian Shen’s Tian Feng, and Gu Feng, and the death of Li Xuan Feng etc. These incidents needed to stay a secret, otherwise, the consequences of their leak, were bound to bring endless trouble for him.
If the Zheng Qi, or the Jian Shen Sect, came after Bi Fan, seeking revenge, then even Ling Xin Ya might bow out, and may not protect Bi Fan.
The severity of the matter required Bi Fan to be very discrete.