Chapter 7 - Taking a Master

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"Tian Ye?" The 3rd Elder muttered as he looked deeply into Tian Ye's eyes.

Tian Ye sweated a bit before asking in a little nervous tone, "Is there something wrong, 3rd Elder?"

The 3rd Elder got a hold of himself hearing Tian Ye's words and shook his head before letting out a laugh, "It's nothing, it's just that, within the sect, I've never heard of a well-known lineage with the surname Tian before so it can be inferred that you'll be the first generation genius who broke through to the age of 9."

Tian Ye exhaled in relief hearing the 3rd Elder's words, if he had some secret strong background and had enemies, he wouldn't like that one bit even if he was the son of heaven!

Heavenly Luck? Heavenly Opportunities? Bulls…! All of that is accompanied with danger and Tian Ye doesn't like living by the edge of life and death.

All those protagonists were acting like they knew they were main characters but Tian Ye doesn't like that approach. What if he was wrong and was just an ordinary reincarnation with a slight advantage with adult memories from a modern world? Wouldn't he die a dog's death?

And those systems? He'd read them before but never read them all till the end even if he had read one before, in the end, the question still lingered in his mind, what was the system's objective? To help? Why? What if it was using him? What can he do? His strength was then gained from the system, so what happens if it takes over his body?

Although he was a little disappointed he didn't receive such advantages, he was also relieved because he wouldn't be pressured with these thoughts.

Tian Ye liked being prepared because even if life is full of unknowns, when he has tens or hundreds of treasures that can block an attack of an expert one or two major realm higher than himself or treasures that can maybe even kill them, he would be relieved, after all, encountering a higher realm cultivator was like a rare event that only happened once in a while. If he could survive one or two every 20-30 years, he'd be more than happy.

As for heavenly artifacts in attracting dangers like jade beauties? Tian Ye only looks at them in disgust and wants them to go as far away from him as possible.

Well… if one were to offer herself to him he wouldn't refuse… ahem… That's besides the point! We've gotten off-track!

The 3rd Elder who was caressing his beard as he stared at Tian Ye's eyes finally opened his mouth and said, "Tian Ye, if you'd like, maybe…"

Before the 3rd elder could even finish, a loud voice rang out from inside the Elder's Pavilion, "Damned old man! Stop right there! Don't even think about it!"

"Tsk." The 3rd elder clicked his tongue hearing the voice and probably even recognized it depending on his reaction.

The 4th Elder looked at Cui Qi in dissatisfaction as he snorted, "Why didn't you report to me first? I had to hear it from a servant who overheard your conversation with the 3rd Elder to know?! Fortunately, the 3rd Elder old man was too slow!"

The 3rd Elder instantly fumed and retorted angrily, "4th Elder! How dare you! You really dared to arrange for someone to stay on my floor?! Don't you know what hierarchy is?! I'm the 3rd Elder and you're the 4th so you should show me some respect!"

"Respect my foot! I'm stronger than you! If not for the fact that the sweat on the ground after hours of fighting on the stage tripped me while we were in the yearly ranking, I would still be the 3rd Elder! And you wouldn't have the chance!" The 4th retorted.

"Bah, logic of the weak!"

"What'd you say?!" The 4th Elder got even more angry.

As the 3rd and 4th old men fought, Tian Ye looked over in interest before turning his attention to Bai Huan and asked, "Brother Bai, what's the relationship between the 3rd and 4th elder? They seem to get along well."

'You call that getting along well?' Bai Huan's lips twitched but answered Tian Ye's curiosity, "They are both disciples of the previous 1st elder. The 3rd Elder, Gao An, is the junior brother, and the 4th Elder, Duan Li, is the senior brother. Just like you've heard, the 4th Elder lost to the 3rd Elder in the yearly ranking so they swapped positions."

"Yearly ranking?"

Bai Huan naturally enlightened Tian Ye who was ignorant, "The elders would have yearly martial arts competition and the strongest will be the 1st elder, and the 4th elder will be the weakest."

"I see…" Tian Ye nodded in understanding simply waiting for the 2 elders to finish fighting. It wasn't a fight that he could stop considering his current status.

If nothing else, Tian Ye looked forward to them getting physical.

The two elders, at the corner of their eyes, saw Tian Ye's expectant eyes and looked at each other, "Wanna fight?!" The 4th Elder taunted.

"Just like what I want, damned old man!" The 3rd Elder replied in arrogance as he jumped up into the sky, 10 meters from the ground causing Tian Ye's eyes to glow in excitement.

The 3rd Elder grinned as he saw Tian Ye's reaction meanwhile the 4th Elder snorted as he threw a sneak attack by waving his hand, "Crescent Moon Technique, First Movement, Moonlight!"

As he finished waving his hand, a crescent made of blue energy materialized from the 4th Elder's wave of hand.

"Oh!" Tian Ye reacted excitedly. Of course, Tian Ye was purposely exaggerating his reactions so that the elders would show more. He was lacking in information after all, so the fight between them was highly educational.

Seeing Tian Ye's reaction, the 4th Elder smiled happily while the 3rd Elder in the sky had his face turn red from being outshined so he backflipped to dodge using nothing as his stepping platform as he said, "Crescent Moon Movement Technique, Third Movement, Moonwalk!"

As he did, he also waved his hand just like the 4th Elder, "Crescent Moon Technique, First Movement, Moonlight!"

Just like the 4th Elder, the 3rd Elder's wave of hand sent out a blue crescent energy as sharp as a sword.

The 4th Elder dodged by stepping aside and as he did, a mark appeared on the ground as if it had been cut by a sword.

The 4th Elder immediately moved forward to attack the 3rd Elder but suddenly stopped as they heard an angry shout from the top of the Elder's pavilion, "3rd Elder! 4th Elder! What do you think you're doing?! Do you think you haven't embarrassed yourselves enough in front of the young disciple?!"

The 4th elder who stopped, and the 3rd elder who had just descended from the air looked at the top of the pavilion with a pale face.

They both clasped their hands with one hand covering the other and slightly bowed their heads as they apologized, "I apologize, 1st Elder."

The 1st Elder, who was on top of the pavilion nodded slightly, accepting their apologies. Meanwhile, since the voice of the 1st Elder was quite loud, it also caught the attention of Tian Ye and the two guards. Not only them, but also the disciple receptionist on the first floor.

The two guards also clasped their as well to greet the 1st elder who was looking down on them so Tian Ye also followed.

The 1st Elder, who stood on top of the pavilion soon disappeared and in the next instant appeared in front of Tian Ye saying, "What a talent… 9 years old yet have already reached the 1st layer…"

Goosebumps appeared all over Tian Ye's body as he thought in shock, 'I didn't even feel the 1st elder move but only noticed when he was already in front of me! Is this simply the 7th layer or at the peak? What a gap!'

How tall was the Elder's Pavilion? With 5 meters on each floor, it's 25 meters! And the 1st Elder moved in an instant?!

Although Tian Ye was shocked, he was able to easily get a hold of himself and say gratefully, "Thank you, 1st Elder."

As Tian Ye raised his head, he saw that the 1st Elder looked to be in his 40's just by appearance. It can be seen that although the 1st Elder had the same status as the 3rd and 4th elder, his cultivation was higher than them by a lot. After all, the 3rd and 4th elders looked quite similar, they looked to be in their 60s.

The 1st Elder wore white robes as well, but unlike the elderly figure of the 3rd and 4th elder, he had the figure of a man in his prime. He had white hair brought by age and black eyes that had a sharp glint into them.

The 1st Elder nodded in satisfaction seeing Tian Ye's eyes that had no arrogance despite his achievement. He also saw Tian Ye's talent as well as his interaction with the guards that could be said to have excellent demeanor. He was strong yet not arrogant. This was a sect elder figure in his thoughts.

The 1st Elder then spoke, "Young disciple, what do you think about becoming my, Han Yi's disciple?"

Tian Ye was slightly surprised but immediately clasped his fist and said calmly yet loud enough as he bowed his head, "Disciple Tian Ye, greets, Master Han Yi!"

"Good! Good!" Han Yi said happily as he laughed.

The 3rd Elder and the 4th Elder looked at the 1st Elder with a bitter face as they thought.

'We thought you were just here to stop the fight but you were actually here to poach our disciple!'

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