Chapter 2 Redwood Sect

When it was founded over one thousand years ago by Daoist Redwood and his two brothers, the Redwood Sect was divided into three mountains. The center mountain belonged to Daoist Redwood and had traditionally been the strongest of the three mountains. The left mountain was Mo Yuanzhi's livelihood, and the right mountain was Mo Bozhi's. Although the three mountains were under the same banner, they largely operated separately. The public tests this time were started by the left mountain, which had always been the weakest mountain. 

The red-robed Gu master, whom Han Zifeng now knew as Brother Gou, brought the newly awakened Gu masters through the gate, but before they could arrive at the left mountain territory, an old man dressed in a fancy silver robe stood in their path.

"Is the left mountain truly so selfish to recruit four A grade talents? Foolish! The left mountain does not have the resources to nurture four rank four Gu masters. As the first sect master once said, 'Separated by distance, together in spirit,' I believe the center mountain should raise two of those A Grade disciples to take the load off your shoulders." The old Gu master said. As his words came to an end, a similarly dressed middle-aged woman came from the left mountain's area.

"Elder Chen, what you speak of is not lightening the load, but poaching disciples. If you truly had the sect's best interests at heart, you would ask to split the disciples between the three mountains. Instead, you neglect the right mountain and weaken the familial ties between mountains?" The middle aged elder argued.

"You misunderstand Elder Ruan, I indeed have the sect's best wishes at heart. The right mountain has recently accepted disciples as well, so they also have no resources to spare."

"The right mountain certainly has the resources to nurture an A Grade talent." A youthful elder said while landing gracefully between the two other elders, "I have a proposal. What if the center and right mountains each took one A Grade talent off your hands? In addition, we can each supply some resources to ensure your A Grade talents have enough to meet their needs. 

The other elders' faces darkened. The newcomer was Mo Qiushuang, a rising star among the elders, breaking through to rank three in just four years. At the age of twenty-two, he advanced to rank three peak stage, and it was rumored he was now preparing to advance to rank four. The two elders combined might not be able to deal with him.

"Our left mountain will not easily give up their talents, but your proposal isn't impossible. Tell me, what resources did you have in mind to help these talents?" Elder Ruan asked.

"Hmm, we are willing to supply forty-no, fifty Red Hair refiners as well as 200 contribution points. Elder Chen, is that in line with your opinions?"

"Hmph, my center mountain is no pushover! We can add ten kilograms of Fairy Dust and one-hundred-fifty-thousand primeval stones along with the same 200 contribution points."

Weighing the pros and cons in her mind, Elder Ruan was silent for a moment. An A Grade talent was a potential rank four battle strength, but it was only in potential. Not to mention, although it was greatly exaggerated, the left mountain truly would run thinly on resources if it tried to raise four A Grade talents. It was better to send off at least one of the talents. 

"Very well then," Elder Ruan took a Gu from aperture and recorded the information in the public records, "fifty Red Hair refiners, ten kilograms of Fairy Dust, one-hundred-fifty-thousand primeval stones, and four hundred contribution points in total. Go ahead, take your picks."

Elder Chen and Mo Qiushuang smiled, recording their information as well before Mo Qiushuang walked up to the four A Grade talents leading the newly-accepted disciples. The first one to pop out at him was Han Zifeng, who stood at seven feet tall with a muscular frame. This would be a good choice, but one other disciple stood out even more.

"I want this one." Mo Qiushuang said as he put his hand on Lu Tianxi's shoulder. Elder Chen raised his eyebrows in surprise, but didn't make a sound. 

"I'll have this one, then." Elder Chen said as he walked over to Han Zifeng.

Elder Ruan sneered, but did not respond, merely telling Brother Gou to bring the remaining disciples to their new residences inside the sect.

…

Tianxi followed Mo Qiushuang to the opposite side of the mountain range's peak, where the gate to the right mountain stood. On the way, he communicated with Zifeng telepathically to determine the limits of their mind-reading ability. With constant estimations of distance, they would be able to tell the rough range once the ability split. 

"Your name is Lu Tianxi?" Mo Qiushuang asked politely, unbefitting of his status as a powerful elder. 

"Yes, Elder Mo. My father was previously a member of the Redwood Sect, but was granted permanent leave after my mother died."

"I see. Then you should already know some about the inner workings of the sect?"

"Indeed, although my father was a member of the center mountain, so my information may not be entirely relevant. I was told that the sect uses a system called contribution points, divided into two levels. Individual contributions can be used by disciples to purchase materials and Gu worms, while official contributions are used by the mountains to make trades between each other. At the end of every year, the official contributions of each mountain are turned into ranking points, determining how many council elders the mountain can appoint."

"Your father sure said a lot. Currently, our right mountain has a narrow lead over the center mountain, while the left mountain is further behind. However, the sect's true leader is appointed by the council elders every ten years, so there are still another two years before the right mountain has a chance to take the leader position from the center mountain. These are matters you will need to pay attention to in the future, but now is the initial time for you to cultivate a strong foundation. We're here, come in." Elder Mo explained as they arrived at a large hall. 

The wooden hall building was decorated with gold and silver linings, each row emitting a luminescent light. The sun had long set, the dark background accentuating the beautiful architecture. The inside of the hall was heated by a fireplace in the center, which gave a nice homely environment to the braided wooden seats of the long table. Elders dressed in silver and gold robes sat around, now focusing all their attention on Mo Qiushuang and Lu Tianxi. 

"Is this the new A Grade talent?" One of the golden-robed elders asked.

"Indeed. I had to give up fifty Red Hair refiners and two hundred contribution points, but this young Gu master already has great insight into the world. Whichever one of you takes him as a disciple will be pleased."

Tianxi had already expected this. Elder Mo was a young elder with a bright future ahead of him, he had no time to accept a disciple. Instead, he let the elders of the right mountain decide among themselves.

"Old Gang, haven't you been looking for a disciple recently? This one should be a good seed for you." Another of the golden-robed elders said after a brief silence. 

"Please, this old man has been looking for a few B Grade talents to nurture, an A Grade talent is too much for my final years." A decrepit old man in a silver robe replied.

As the silence continued, Mo Qiushuang started to consider Lu Tianxi himself. From their conversation on the way to the elders hall, Elder Mo was very pleased with Lu Tianxi's maturity. It didn't seem as if he would need to spend too much time instilling core political principals, only teaching a bit of refinement and giving advice. After imagining a coin flip mentally, Mo Qiushuang spoke resolutely, "If none of the elders have the time to take on another disciple at this time, I believe I would be a suitable master for this disciple."

The elders looked at Qiushuang with surprise. This young elder was a prodigy in both cultivation and human relations, having tricked most of them multiple times. The elders couldn't help but think about what Qiushuang was plotting. 

"Elder Mo, you shouldn't limit your time spent cultivating by taking a disciple. I myself wouldn't mind taking on this disciple." A gold robed elder probed. Before Qiushuang could respond however, a hoarse voice spoke from the head of the table.

"Qiushuang will take this disciple." He said. His voice wasn't particularly powerful, even being weak in some aspects. What grasped Tianxi's attention was how confident he sounded, as well as the unique purple-gold robe he wore. 

"Grand Elder! I understand." Most of the elders in the hall said simultaneously.

Tianxi opened his eyes wide. This man was no ordinary elder, but the leader of the whole right mountain, a rank five Gu master, the Right Grand Elder! 

Early in his childhood, Tianxi's father had told him three absolute things to never do in the Redwood Sect. The first was to not make private transactions between disciples, which the sect heavily cracked down upon. The second was to not enter a blind confrontation with another disciple, a high-risk event with little reward. The third was to never under any circumstances offend the Right Grand Elder.

Tianxi turned to Elder Mo and cupped his fists with a bow, "Master," he acknowledged. Qiushuang frowned in response, but Tianxi couldn't see with his head facing down.

"Disciple, your matters have been attended to. I'll explain more tomorrow, but for now we should head to my residence."

In the Redwood Sect, disciples were stuffed in small dorm rooms, while elders were given their own homes. Considering this, Elder Mo first brought Tianxi to his two-story house made of a lighter-colored wood. 

"White wood," Elder Mo mentioned to Tianxi as they reached the front door. "It's a rarer kind of wood, not as strong and stable as red wood, but for the purpose of calming the mind it has an exceptional effect. It took a lot of effort to acquire the wood for this, but because of that effort cultivation should be a little bit faster."

"Interesting," Tianxi started, "master, from what my father told me, disciples reside in dorms supplied by the sect. If I may ask, why did we go to your house instead of my dorm?"

"No matter. While most disciples indeed reside within dorms, A Grade talents are rare, and the sect mandates that they must become personal disciples of an elder. Except for those old and conservative elders, most elders allow their disciples to reside in a spare room. We have these large houses anyway, and there's no need to keep every room."

"Thank you master."

"Oh, and one more thing. The sect library is open from five to ten, so just show them this pass when you visit." Elder Mo said, handing an odd silver token to Tianxi. 

Lying in his room's bed, Tianxi started a communication with Zifeng telepathically. The latter had already settled down as well, but their connection had yet to separate. From the estimated distance apart, Tianxi assumed the range to be more than five kilometers.

"Tomorrow we should be able to refine our vital Gu. The largest advantage of having two bodies means only one needs to read all the required books, allowing more time for the other to focus on cultivation. To avoid unnecessary suspicion, we should alternate the information gathering duties." Tianxi said internally.

"That makes sense. By the way, the elders of the center mountain believe I would be best suited for a combat role. What did the right mountain say about you?" Zifeng responded.

"There wasn't any such conversation on my side. Recommending a combat role… they probably think you're too dumb for anything else. My father always said combat is only one of the three main aspects of Gu cultivation."

"..."