Cloud Gathering Palace (1/3)
"Ehem."
I heard a cough as soon as I eat the chocolate. I turn my head and sees the sect master coughing softly as he looks at us.
Err…
I'm truly very sorry okay! The goddess was the one who forcefully held me down lying on the couch!
Instantly, I cover my face with both of my hands to hide my now red face in front of everyone.
The goddess, who forcefully fed the chocolates in her hand seconds ago, glances at the sect master before she straightens herself from forcefully feeding me to casually filling up her cup of tea as if nothing happened.
…
Silence follows soon after. Except for the moon goddess casually sipping her tea, no one was talking nor doing anything except for thinking such thoughts.
F*ck! It's very awkward! Just how can you be calm in this state?!
Even the greatest of people don't behave that way like you usually do, moon goddess!
Seeing my shameless master casually sipping out tea from her cup, I straighten myself up and picks a chocolate from the basket before moving away from the moon goddess very slowly.
However…
Just as I tried to move away from her, an overwhelming force holds my body down, tying me to the same position to where I sat on.
I look at the casual moon goddess with a doubt. Instead of her looking at me, she just simply sips out tea before once again, refilling her cup of tea.
If I could rate the shameless goddess beside me from one to ten, I would probably rate her… wait…
I forgot that she can read my mind.
Immediately, I wipe off the thought of rating the goddess beside me. Nope! I did not rate you haha…
Please forgive me.
"Fellow cultivator Xiare." The sect master, who coughed earlier, looks at me before continuing, "Here is your reward for escorting Eumi Hyare to the forbidden mountains."
After ending his words, the sect master head in front of me and gave three black pouches. Err… what's this?
I bow in front of the sect master. The sect master, in return, nods back at me as he accepts my bow of gratitude.
Slowly, I take the three pouches on the hand of the sect master. Heh, I suppose the pouches are light enough to carry.
As soon as I pick one of the three pouches on the sect master's hand, immediately, I regretted my words earlier.
F*ck! It's too heavy!
Just by looking at the palm-sized pouches on the hand of the sect master, I initially thought they were light to carry but nope! They're not!
Looking at the other two pouches, I gulp my saliva. F*ck! I can't even carry one pouch yet you expect me to carry three as if I'm strong as a mountain? Heck, I would rather let you keep them rather than carrying them to my doom!
As I think about carrying the three pouches, I immediately think of my bones cracking. Nope, I would rather keep my bones strong than to carry these pouches.
"Use your Qi." The moonlight goddess telepathically said to me as she notices that I am struggling to pick up the black pouch.
In my mind, I nod at her words. Although this master of mine is so shameless that she did not care everything around her, at the very least, she's still a master, right?
Gently, I take a breather before using the cold Qi around me. As soon as I use the cold Qi, the pouch immediately changes its weight, from a heavy pouch to a very light one.
After using the cold Qi around me, I take the three pouches from the sect master with ease. Heh, I never thought they are actually very light. You three fooled this lady ya know?
Wait...
Why am I talking to a pouch? That doesn't make any sense.
Anyways!
I once again bow to the sect master for giving me the three pouches. The sect master nods back in return before sitting on a couch casually.
Likewise the moon goddess, the sect master picks up a cup before refilling it with tea.
Wait a minute…
Just how deep is that teapot?! Is there no end in that seemingly small teapot?! You are all using that teapot without end ya know?
As I was thinking about the seemingly endless teapot, Eumi, who was previously talking with Lux, sits near me.
F*ck, I am now sandwiched with two different OP characters. Since my body is being tied down near the goddess who is on my left side, I can't make any movement except for hands and face.
Sigh… what poor luck do I have today…
"Xiare." Eumi looks at me very closely before whispering, "Why is the Moon Goddess near you?"
Trust me, you don't want to know.
"I guess she li—" Halfway through my speech, I was interrupted by someone. It was the moon goddess.
"She's my disciple." She said, making everyone across the room look at her with mixed expressions.
"Eh?" The fox girl was dumbfounded upon hearing the goddess' words.
"Hmm." Eidenweiss, who was looking at us from the very beginning, just nods in return as if he finally concludes and understood everything.
"He.." Fira, who was casually sipping tea, was shocked at what she had heard.
"Keh!" Yue Shin, who was also sipping tea, suddenly chokes his tea as he hears the words of the sacred moon goddess.
"Oh!" Hanbai, on the other hand, was instead not surprised and instead, he pretended to be surprised at the sudden revelation. Err.. you don't need to fake it ya know?
"Ehhh?" Eumi, who initially asked me why is the moon goddess near me, was too shocked at the moon goddess' answer.
Except for both Lux and the sect master, almost everyone else gave their reactions at the the moon goddess' sudden revelation.
Sigh…
"Is that true?" Eumi asks me with her eyes showing amazement. Err.. technically, I should be the one saying that I'm her disciple but as of this moment, who cares, right?
I nod at Eumi with a simple smile. Well, the goddess was the one that asked me if she could become my master so yeah, I am now her disciple.
"Waaaa~ cool!" Eumi smiles at the fact that I have the moon goddess as my master. Err…
"I see now, Moon Goddess." The sect master, who was casually drinking tea, suddenly talks as if he now know about something.
"Ah." The moon goddess responds back to the sect master, agreeing to the sect master's thoughts
Eh? What are they thinking? Can someone please explain what they are thinking to this poor lady?
Wait…
I shouldn't be called as a poor lady! I am now a rich lady! Heck, after this, I will head down to the auction house and sell everything not suitable for me! Heh, I really am a genius!
Therefore, I should be called a rich lady right? Hahaha!
…
…
I'm sorry about that. My ego suddenly became big.
Ehem!
"Although I could prepare the grand halls for a place where you and your disciple can live in, I don't know if you like the grand halls or not." Said by the sect master as he thinks about something.
Err… a place to live in? Hmm…
"Just get me a simple palace hall like yours and I'll be satisfied." The goddess said as she casually drinks her tea.
I look around to check if there's anything simple across this hall. Nope, there's none.
Just which part of the simple palace halls here is simple for you, goddess?! Everything here looks grand ya know? Even the statues are meticulously crafted! Just look at the designs! Are they not grand enough?!
"Hmmm…. let me check…" The sect master goes back to thinking after responding to the goddess.
For a few seconds, there was nothing but pure silence.
"There's a palace like this near the Moonlight Medicine Order." The sect master said before summoning a floating map out of nowhere.
Looking at the floating map, I suddenly realize something. That's the map of Moonlight Sword Sect!
Eh? You don't know the location of the Moonlight Sword Sect? Wait a minute, I'll tell you about it.
You see, the Moonlight Sword Sect is one of those sects that control and governs their land rather than leaving the land up to the mortal factions to govern.
Because of this, the territory of the Moonlight Sword Sect is so huge that the sect controls the entire continent! Yep, an entire continent.
If the Moonlight Sect is compared to the largest mortal empire, the empire would surely lose face since the Moonlight Sword Sect governs thrice than what they have.
However, the location of the Moonlight Sword Sect is very very far to the other lands and factions. You will need to spend a couple of years by ship to get to the Moonlight Sword Sect. If you are a mortal, that is.
And so, the neighboring countries near the sect are oceans away from the sect.
As for cultivators and flying ships, it would take months to get to the Moonlight Sword Sect.
Yes, this lady is not kidding. I have spent months just to get to the Moonlight Sword Sect to become a cultivator.
Ehem, anyways!
Judging from the disciple's abode where both I and Eumi live at from the southernmost of the map, the gap between the second realm abode to the Hall Of Illuminating Lights on the map is so close that I think the gap between the two is only just a meager distance of five centimeters
Although in reality, the gap between the two places is a whopping sum of thousand kilometers or more.
Yes, this lady is not kidding. I rode Astara earlier and flew for a while before finally reaching the Hall Of Illuminating Lights!
And that's not including other places such as the Blue Moon Hall or the Central Grounds within the sect.
That's how big the Moonlight Sword Sect is.
"I see…" The goddess looks at the map before nodding. She seems occupied at the moment.
"So, the Medicine Order is near the Cloud Gathering Shrine, am I correct?" The goddess looks at the sect master as she asks the sect master.
Eh? Medicine Order? Cloud Gathering Shrine? Where can they be found on the map?
As I was curious about where they are, I narrow my vision at the floating map. Since the map was too big, I can easily see every marked place on the map.
Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you these: The Moonlight Sword Sect also consists of different factions, with each different phases of moons as their names. For example, there's certain faction called "Rainy Moon" that controls a very very small area of the sect. Although they control it, the Moonlight Sword Sect governs what to do with it.
The same goes for Orders, classes and the others. They all have territories within the sect.
Although the middle, south, and northern part of the Moonlight Sword Sect can't be claimed by factions and other groups since these areas are the so-called "Neutral Areas."
Ehem, that's what I heard, at the very least.
Anyways…
As I finally see a picture of a pagoda rising up to the heavens on the map, I immediately narrow my focus near the pagoda and found the Medicine Order on the western side of the pagoda.
The Medicine Order is located at the western area of the Moonlight Sword Sect. The western area is also the place where the Blue Moon Hall is located at.
However… as for the distance between our home to the Medicine Order…
F*ck! It's too far! If I started walking right now to get to the Medicine Order, it would take me years at most!
Also, the Blue Moon Hall is also far away from our abode! I would rather enjoy my carefree life at the disciples abode rather than going to the Blue Moon Hall by walking!
"Disciple Xiare." The moon goddess calls out my name. Eh? Was I wondering for a long time?
I look around and see the fox girl and the others heading to the hall doors. Only the goddess and the sect master was seating on the couches, drinking tea.
"Ye-yes?" I ask. Err... I'm sorry for missing out the important talk okay? I really am.
"Let's go to the Cloud Gathering Palace." The goddess replies back as she sips her last tea.
"O-okay?" I said back. Okay, I guess?
I guess it's another sightseeing adventure, right?