Chapter 36: The Eldest Disciple

  The conversation with Liu Qingfeng determined a future development direction of the Shushan School, which is to form an alliance with the Huashan School to some extent and then jointly deal with the Pingzhou branch of the Tianle Gang.

  In fact, such a choice is also the most desirable for Hu Shan Pai. Because no matter what, Tian Le Gang is an outsider, and at this time, people's localism and xenophobia are relatively strong, and the disputes caused by regional conflicts are countless. Even the development of the school often takes into account these factors.

  If it weren't for the fact that Tianle Gang's strength was indeed too powerful, then the Jianghu people of Pingzhou would absolutely not have allowed Tianle Gang to become the top power in Pingzhou.

  This can be seen from the branches of Tianle Gang in other regions. Except for the place where the old house of Tianle Gang is located, other branches are at most an ordinary force in the local area and cannot be considered top-notch. Many local sects can suppress Tianle Gang steadily.

  Even in those places, Tianle Gang still needs to be low-key and humble to some extent, which is completely different from the situation here in Pingzhou.

  Although the Pingzhou Wulin people also wanted to suppress the Tianle Gang, they were unable to do so due to their own weak strength. The Hushan Sect, as a representative force in this region, also wanted to suppress the Tianle Gang and make local forces the representatives of Pingzhou Wulin. However, Pingzhou is located in a remote area, and there are no martial arts inheritances here, making this goal seem unattainable.

  Ye Wen and the emergence of Shu Shan Sect, on the other hand, brought some hope to Liu Qingfeng. Because Ye Wen's Shu Shan Sect has a broad prospect for development, as long as Liu Qingfeng says, as long as he gives Ye Wen enough time, it is absolutely not a problem for Shu Shan Sect to rise and become one of the top two sects in Pingzhou.

  It's just that the two of them unintentionally had a bit of a conflict with Tianle Gang, and if Tianle Gang takes this opportunity to destroy such a powerful force, it would be a huge loss for Pingzhou Wulin. At the same time, Hu Shan Pai will once again return to facing the pressure of Tianle Gang alone.

  It was precisely these numerous considerations that led Liu Qingfeng to decide to get along with the Shushan Sect, and even when necessary, to persuade his own master brother to preserve the heritage of the Shushan Sect, absolutely not allowing the Tianle Gang to destroy this sect.

  He believes that in a decade or so, the grown-up Shu Shan and Hu Shan factions will join forces, and the situation of Tian Le Gang dominating Pingzhou will never happen again.

  See off Liu Qingfeng with two apprentices gradually disappearing from his line of sight, Ye Wen took his newly accepted apprentice Yue Ning back to Shushan.

  This time, Ye Wen did not take the small path up the mountain as before, but instead walked slowly up from that main road. Along the way, he saw many disciples of various sects on Book Mountain, some of whom did not recognize Ye Wen and therefore ignored him.

  Some of them seemed to have heard Ye Wen's name and knew about the incident more than half a year ago, so they showed a mocking expression, but didn't come up to provoke him.

  There were also some news that was more informed, knowing that Ye Wen had beaten Yu Dahai with one palm at the Yue Shan Pawnshop, so when they saw Ye Wen, they smiled and greeted him, with a bit of intention to get along with this young master.

  For these people, Ye Wen wouldn't keep a cold face and pretend to be a master, nor would he be overly enthusiastic. He smiled and responded with a few words before continuing up the mountain. On the other hand, some people who didn't know the situation found it strange that some people actually took the initiative to greet Ye Wen.

  "Why were you so enthusiastic about that useless person just now?"

  That person was asked with a face of disdain: "How long haven't you been down the mountain? Your news is outdated, hurry up and go find out! Brother advises you one sentence, don't provoke this master, otherwise you won't have good fruit to eat!"

  The man who was previously questioned suddenly became enraged and cursed, "Are you out of your mind? Do you think I'd still try to curry favor with that useless thing? Unless he sends that beautiful sister-in-law to my room, I might consider..."

  Just as he was about to finish speaking, someone covered his mouth, and then there were some vague murmurs that gradually faded away, and Ye Wen couldn't hear them even if he wanted to.

  "Hmph, I'd rather you all continue to look down on me. Just wait a little longer, and the entire literary world will know what kind of person Ye Wen is!"

  He turned his head to look at his apprentice and found that Yue Ning's expression had not changed all the way. It was just that he was still young, although he covered it up quite well, some of the doubts in his eyes were still discovered by Ye Wen.

  Ye Wen didn't explain anything, he believed that after a period of time, the apprentice would understand everything by himself. He was too lazy to waste his breath. Moreover, as a master, it wasn't necessary for him to explain everything clearly to his own apprentice.

  As for Yue Ning, he was indeed somewhat perplexed. Along the way, many people had all sorts of reactions when facing his master, which made him a bit confused about what was going on.

  If some people's respect for the master was something he had expected all along, then many people's disdain for the master made him very puzzled. He couldn't understand why his father, who attached great importance to him and specially chose him as a master, would be treated with such disdain by others.

  "Didn't Father make a mistake?"

  As soon as this idea emerged, it was quickly denied by himself. He believed in his father's vision, so the only explanation is that these guys simply didn't know how formidable their master was.

  "It must be so!"

  At a young age, Yue Ning firmly believed that his father would not deceive him. He still remembered the words of his father, Yue Hang, before he left: "You must take good care of your master and elders, treat your master just like you treat me! Whatever your master asks you to do, you do it, don't ask too many questions! Do you understand?"

  This kind of entrustment is enough to prove that his father attaches great importance to this master, if he is really a person without skills, how could his father make such an entrustment?

  As they climbed the mountain, Yue Ning had already figured out a lot of things. By the time they arrived at the entrance of Mount Shu Sect, there was no longer any confusion in his eyes. This, on the other hand, surprised Ye Wen, who hadn't expected this kid to be so much smarter than he had anticipated.

  "This little guy, if properly trained, might just become an elite of our Shu Shan Sect!"

  Of course, the entire Shu Shan Sect only had him and his own sister disciple, now there is only one more sect master disciple, not even ordinary disciples or outer sect disciples, what elite or non-elite doesn't make any sense.

  Taking Yue Ning, they walked to the front of the mountain gate and after knocking twice with force, the gate directly opened and they went in. During the day, the Shu Shan Sect's mountain gate was usually not closed, only at night when resting would it be closed and locked.

  As Ye Wen entered the mountain gate, Ning Ruxue, who was practicing sword in the courtyard, saw her own senior brother bring a young child in. She blinked her eyes, and after confirming that it wasn't just her imagination, she put away her sword and went to greet them.

  "Master Sect Brother is back!"

  Because she didn't know what kind of person this young man was, but after all, he was an outsider. Ning Ruxue gave Ye Wen enough face, not only immediately greeting him respectfully, but also slightly bowing to him, which made Ye Wen confused and unsure of the situation.

  Ning Ruxue looked at Ye Wen for a long time without getting a response, and when she raised her head to look at him, he was staring back at her with an odd expression. This made her glare fiercely at her senior brother, which finally brought Ye Wen back to his senses: "Oh! Oh! I'm back!"

  "How can it be so fast?" Last time Ye Wen came back and said he was going to Jiangzhou in the south, this trip went and returned without more than a month is simply impossible to come back, who would have thought that just down the mountain for half a month and already back, let Ning Ruxue feel strange.

  Ye Wen smiled: "Something happened on the road, Xu Jia Gongzi - that is, the one you saw that day, changed his mind shortly after passing through Linshan County, so we turned back!"

  Ning Ruxue heard this and muttered a sentence: "The rich young master, will only make trouble!" But her voice was very small, if Ye Wen wasn't close by, he might not have even heard it.

  Two people walked in while talking, and before long they arrived at the main hall of Shu Shan Sect, which was usually used to meet important figures from other sects or discuss important matters. However, since Shu Shan Sect had just been established and its reputation was not yet prominent, there were no visitors coming to pay respects, nor any significant events taking place.

  Most things were discussed and decided during meals with their elder brothers and sisters, so this main hall has been rarely used since its construction was completed.

  Ye Wen brought Ning Ruxue directly to the main hall, which made her quite curious, and she asked: "What's going on today, Shixiong?"

  Ye Wen nodded and pointed to the child who had been keeping a distance of two meters behind him, saying: "This is the head of Yue Mountain Escort Bureau in Shu Shan County, the eldest son of Yue Hang, who has just become my apprentice today. Although our school is small and weak, this apprenticeship is a big deal and cannot be taken lightly!"

  Ning Ruxue was shocked to hear that it was actually the Master's eldest brother who had accepted a new disciple, and this was no ordinary disciple, but the eldest one. This was absolutely not something to be taken lightly. Rarely did he agree with his own Master's words so strongly, nodding repeatedly: "Master is right, this matter cannot be handled carelessly! Although our Shu Shan Sect is not a major sect, it concerns the inheritance of the sect, and we absolutely cannot afford to be sloppy!"

  At this time, Dangxia was more enthusiastic than Ye Wen, and even wanted to find Zhao Shu to choose a auspicious day for Yue Ning to enter the door and pay homage to his teacher.

  This made Ye Wen look stunned, and he said: "Don't be so exaggerated?"

  Ning Ruxue shot him a withering glance: "I see that Master Brother has finally come to his senses, but it's still like this! Taking in a new disciple is no trivial matter, how can you not plan carefully? Don't bother with this, Master Brother, I'll discuss it thoroughly with Aunt Zhao and choose an auspicious day to handle it properly."

  Ye Wen was stunned, and muttered to himself: "It's not like it's a wedding or a funeral, why make such a big fuss..." However, he also understood that this matter of the eldest disciple was related to the inheritance of the sect, and for a sect, it was indeed a huge matter.

  In addition, if we count the current generation of Mount Shu School as one generation, then there is no second-generation disciple. Yue Ning's entry into the school was the first chief of the second generation and also the personal transmission of the sect leader, so in terms of status, it is indeed worthy of a grand entrance ceremony.