Free Web NovelChapter 20: Chapter 19: North Mountain
「Five days later.」
Wen Qingye stood on an open-air stone dais at Qig Mountain Academy. The cyan rock gleamed, and the lush, verdant surroundings adorned the platform beautifully. It was surrounded by a dense sea of people, a crowd so vast it seemed to have no end. They were all new students from the Celestial Martial Country, come to join Qig Mountain Academy.
Feeling that the surrounding noise was too clamorous, Wen Qingye walked to a corner. Just as he was about to close his eyes and rest, a figure suddenly ran up to his side.
"Wen Qingye!"
A clear voice interrupted Wen Qingye’s reverie. He looked toward the sound and saw Gao Yuerou. Dressed in pale blue, she stood there with a charming grace, her lively eyes fixed on Wen Qingye, her cheeks slightly flushed.
Wen Qingye smiled. "Oh, it’s you. I thought you passed the assessment. Why didn’t you go to the Purple Sun Prefecture? What brings you here?"
Gao Yuerou smiled and said, "My brother went to the Purple Sun Prefecture, so I didn’t want to go. He’s always bossing me around, and I don’t want to live in his shadow."
Wen Qingye chuckled and said no more.
After a moment, Gao Yuerou looked at Wen Qingye, her eyes wide, and asked in a low voice, "Which mountain are you planning to join?"
Qig Mountain Academy was established on the edge of the Hundred Break Mountains. It was divided into an Inner Courtyard and an Outer Courtyard, and the Outer Courtyard was in turn divided into four mountains: East Mountain, West Mountain, South Mountain, and North Mountain. Each of the Four Mountains had its own teachers, instructors, and a Mountain Master to guide cultivation. For new students, choosing a good mountain was of the utmost importance, as it determined their access to vast resources and how quickly they could improve their strength.
Wen Qingye shook his head. "I don’t know."
"It seems like someone will come to assess us soon. Oh, right, whatever you do, don’t..."
Before Gao Yuerou could finish, an old man emerged from nearby. His hair was snow-white, and his eyes held a keen light. He scanned the crowd, then announced in a resonant voice, "The sorting will now begin!"
The moment the old man finished speaking, a man stood up and shouted, "Where is Xia Moyu? He belongs to my East Mountain, and no one is to even think of stealing him!"
"Bullshit, Liu Zhonghao! Just because you claim Xia Moyu for East Mountain, that makes it so? I might as well say everyone here belongs to our West Mountain. Does that make it true?" a young man retorted, stepping forward with a disdainful expression.
Liu Zhonghao’s face darkened with anger. He glared at the man and said, "What, Wu Jian? You planning on stealing him?"
"So what if I am? Who’s afraid of who?" Wu Jian sneered. ƒreewebɳovel.com
"Fine. Let’s see who’s better then."
"There’s no need for you to fight. Sister Xiangyang has already called their names." A woman walked out calmly and said to the crowd below, "Xia Moyu, Han Bang, Xu Jie. I wonder if the three of you would be willing to join our South Mountain?"
"South Mountain? That woman is from South Mountain?"
"I’ve heard that South Mountain has a ton of female disciples. I wonder if it’s true."
"Of course it is! Let me tell you, South Mountain generally only recruits two kinds of people: geniuses and women. Now, which do you think there are more of?"
Hearing that the woman was from South Mountain, the surrounding crowd looked at the three named students with envy. But their strength was indeed extraordinary. None of them were even twenty years old, yet they were all at the Refining Essence Second Layer Heaven. Xia Moyu, in particular, had already reached the Refining Essence Third Layer Heaven.
The three were overjoyed to hear this and naturally nodded in agreement.
Wu Jian and Liu Zhonghao stood there looking utterly helpless. The name ’Sister Xiangyang’ was enough to make them give up the fight immediately.
Although South Mountain had picked off several exceptionally talented disciples, there were still a few with good potential left. The two men selected some more before they were finally satisfied.
After that, the remaining disciples simply had to step forward and register. Though they would also join East, West, and South Mountain, their treatment would be a far cry from that of the personally invited students. Those who were called by name either had powerful backgrounds or exceptional talent, and their status would undoubtedly be much higher than that of an ordinary student.
With his sharp eyes, Wen Qingye noticed Gao Yuerou heading toward South Mountain. He mulled it over for a moment. ’Something’s odd,’ he thought.
’First, who exactly is this Sister Xiangyang? Why does everyone seem so afraid of her? And aren’t there Four Mountains? Where are the people from North Mountain?’
As Wen Qingye stood at the back, lost in thought, an old man suddenly ambled up beside him. Beaming, he said, "Young man, I can see you have uncommon potential. Any interest in joining my North Mountain? The benefits are absolutely first-rate."
"And you are?" Wen Qingye asked, puzzled.
Hearing that Wen Qingye didn’t refuse him outright, the old man grew even more excited. "I am Lil Ya, the Mountain Master of North Mountain! As long as you come to my North Mountain, I will absolutely give you the best treatment! Primordial Stones? We have them! Pills? We have them! Martial Arts? We have those too! We have everything, and plenty of it!"
Cradling his sword, Wen Qingye found the situation rather amusing. "Any beautiful women?" he asked.
Lil Ya froze for a second. He glanced at Wen Qingye, then leaned in close to his ear and whispered, "You come, and I’ll make sure there are. How about it?"
Hearing the old man’s words, Wen Qingye couldn’t help but laugh.
Lil Ya whipped out a roster. "What are you hesitating for, young man? Come on, sign right here, and you’ll officially be with North Mountain."
Wen Qingye jutted his chin toward the other students. "Why don’t you go recruit those guys? They look pretty good. Their aptitude and cultivation are way higher than mine."
"Ah, they’re different from you," Lil Ya said, shaking his head. ’How could they be the same?’ he thought. ’They look too smart to be fooled. You’re the only one who doesn’t know what’s going on, a total greenhorn. If I don’t pull you in, who can I pull?’ Of course, Lil Ya would never say this out loud.
"That’s a strange thing to say. I think I’ll go ask them," Wen Qingye said, feigning confusion.
Hearing this, Lil Ya panicked. "Don’t! Look, they’re all busy. Why don’t you sign the roster first, then you can ask all the questions you want. Take your time asking."
Wen Qingye blinked. "Is there something fishy about this North Mountain? You seem awfully desperate to pull me in."
Lil Ya’s expression didn’t even twitch. "How could that be? You shouldn’t let your imagination run wild."
But Wen Qingye was nobody’s fool. How could Lil Ya possibly trick him?
Wen Qingye said regretfully, "It seems you’re not going to tell the truth. In that case, forget it."
"Wait, wait! I’ll talk, I’ll talk!" Lil Ya said hurriedly. "Our North Mountain doesn’t have many disciples at the moment. We urgently need some to bolster our ranks."
Wen Qingye knew as soon as he heard this that there must be some special reason why they hadn’t been able to recruit anyone, forcing a Mountain Master like Lil Ya to come out and recruit disciples personally. ’Just what could that reason be?’ Wen Qingye wondered, his curiosity piqued.
Lil Ya looked at Wen Qingye. "So? Are you coming to our North Mountain or not?"
"You’d better not go back on your promise," Wen Qingye said, looking at Lil Ya.
"Don’t worry! Pills? We’ve got ’em. Primordial Stones? We’ve got those too..." ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
Wen Qingye cut him off. "Alright, alright. Give me the roster."
Wen Qingye wasn’t particularly picky about these things. As long as he was given some resources for his cultivation, he would be satisfied.
Lil Ya quickly handed over the roster, and Wen Qingye wrote his name on it without hesitation.
Lil Ya looked at the name Wen Qingye had written, his emotions getting the better of him. "Good! A good name, a very good name! My North Mountain... finally has a student."
Wen Qingye’s heart skipped a beat. ’What does he mean by that?’ he thought. ’What does he mean, North Mountain "finally has a student"?’
The surrounding crowd heard Lil Ya’s words and all turned to look at Wen Qingye, their faces filled with shock.
Feeling a little strange, Wen Qingye asked Lil Ya, "What’s with that look on their faces?"
Lil Ya quickly composed himself and said with great delight, "They’re all just a bunch of nobodies. Pay them no mind. Let’s go. We’re heading back to our North Mountain right now."
