Chapter 203: Grand Elder

“This concubine, Situ Qing, pays respects to the Family Patriarch and all elders!”

Supported by Mu Feng’s arm, Situ Qing stepped forward and curtsied. She then turned to Mu Feng beside her and continued, “Feng’er, this is Feng Taiqing, the Grand Elder known as Taiqing Zhenren. He has been the guardian of our Mu Manor for countless generations. Kneel and bow to him as your master!”

Become his disciple?

Mu Feng looked at the Grand Elder, who radiated formidable authority without needing anger, and whose power seemed unfathomable. Suddenly, he understood.

The Grand Path was ruthless. As expected, once the old Family Patriarch decided something, nothing could shake his resolve. Now, arranging for him to become a powerful Grand Elder’s disciple… it was merely compensation!

“Brother Mu Feng, hurry, hurry and take him as your master!”

Seeing Mu Feng hesitate, lost in thought, the strange yet lively Mu Qingzhu grew frantic. “Hurry! Brother Mu Feng, didn’t you say you wanted Aunt Wuyan as your master? I went through so much effort to have Sister Qingling plead your case. I begged Aunt Wuyan, who doesn’t take male disciples, to find a Grand Elder even stronger than herself. Elder Taiqing! He’s the oldest and most powerful Grand Elder in our Mu Manor! Hurry, hurry and kneel to take him as your master!”

Mu Qingzhu was frantic; she would have knelt and bowed on Mu Feng’s behalf if she could.

The speaker might have been thoughtless, but the listener paid heed. That very day, after hearing Mu Feng’s impossible wish to become Aunt Wuyan’s disciple, she started scheming. Over the past several days, she’d exhausted herself with effort, finally persuading the old Patriarch and Mu Qingling, among others, to contact Taiqing Zhenren, who had been in seclusion for hundreds of years. Out of consideration for Mu Wuyan and the old Patriarch, Taiqing Zhenran agreed to emerge from seclusion to see if Mu Feng possessed any latent talent worth accepting as a disciple.

Early that morning when they ascended the Heavenward Platform, seeing the silent, imposing Elder Taiqing, Mu Qingzhu worried he might set the bar too high and refuse Mu Feng. But who could have imagined that now, when the unfathomably powerful Elder Taiqing hadn’t even spoken a word, Mu Feng, who arrived late, was dawdling and refusing to kneel and bow!

Mu Feng’s hesitation took everyone by surprise. Immediately, more gazes turned toward him from within the depths of the clouds. The mighty Taiqing Zhenren first showed shock and surprise, then his expression steadily darkened.

Hu…

On the towering Heavenward Platform reaching into the clouds, a cold wind howled, and the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.

Battered by the cold wind, Mu Feng remained silent for a long while before speaking evenly. “Qingzhu, I thank you for your kindness, and thank everyone here for your goodwill. However, I, Mu Feng, was originally just a down-and-out scholar, a mere ant in the mortal world. How could I possibly dare, where do I get the qualifications, to bow before a lofty Grand Elder and call him master?”

Alms offered condescendingly – even if it were a lavish feast, even if he were starving to death – Mu Feng wanted no part of it!

According to Mu Manor’s age-old traditions, whenever a Grand Elder selected a disciple, they must choose among the young generation who have already broken through to the Elite Realm. Now, having reached merely the Mortal Realm Peak, he was offered such a chance; there was no need to think deeply to know it was definitely the old Patriarch’s arrangement. Mu Qingzhu, being still young and naive, only saw the surface without understanding the real reason behind it.

To state it nicely, it was the old Patriarch’s compensation. To put it bluntly, it was merely charity!

Such charity might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for an ordinary person, something to weep with gratitude over. But to Mu Feng, it was utterly contemptible!

As the last disciple over countless ages of the Ancient Shaman Sect, and as a Great Blood-Refining Sorcerer who once struck terror into hearts during the Ancient Era, he had absolutely no need to abandon the core for trivialities, wasting vast time and effort cultivating other techniques. As long as he cultivated the Blood Refining Art to its Ninth Layer, reaching the peak of cultivation was far from a madman’s delusion. Why should he lay down his dignity and accept someone else’s charity?

“Young man,” the seated Grand Elder at the cliff’s edge suddenly stood up, his face dark as water. Immediately, an oppressive, almost suffocating heaviness swept forward. On every person present, their clothes flapped violently without any wind. Mu Feng, at the forefront, felt his Spiritual Soul tremble. The shackles within his body groaned as if an invisible, mountain-high weight pressed down, gradually bending his spine.

“Not at all, Grand Elder Taiqing. I, Mu Feng, disrespect no one,” Mu Feng said. “I simply have other plans. Cultivation is important, but learning is equally essential to me. In a day or two, I must depart for Jiangling Prefecture’s Xiangshan Academy.”

Mu Feng’s abdomen suddenly heaved; a gurgling sound emanated from within his body. Stirring the seething, scorching blood qi within him, he gradually straightened his posture under Grand Elder Taiqing’s heavy pressure. Though merely a pitiful mortal, his strength and willpower were unexpectedly formidable, causing others to take notice.

“Good, very good! Truly, Mu Yuan’s son carries his father’s unyielding spirit!” exclaimed Elder Taiqing.

Grand Elder Taiqing took a step forward, initially preparing to punish this arrogant Mu Feng for not knowing his place. But seeing Mu Feng’s resolute expression and his now upright figure, he suddenly changed his mind. With a cold snort, he turned and left. Stepping off the Heavenward Platform, he vanished in a flicker.

“Mother, let’s go.”

As soon as Grand Elder Taiqing left, the crushing pressure dissipated like smoke. Mu Feng breathed a silent sigh of relief, supporting his mother as they turned to leave. From start to finish, he never spared another glance for the old Patriarch not far away.

Soon, he would leave Mu Manor, departing far from this crucial Southern Borderlands town. Perhaps he would never return, wishing no further entanglement with the Mu family.

Under the cold wind’s lash, Mu Feng walked farther and farther away, supporting his mother. Watching his departing figure, the white-robed Mu Wuyan sighed. She led her disciple Mu Qingling away, disappearing into the thick misty clouds.

“Wait for me, Brother Mu Feng! You blockhead, wait for me!”

It wasn’t until Mu Feng’s figure was nearly gone that Mu Qingzhu snapped out of her daze. Stamping her foot angrily, she picked up the hem of her long skirt and chased after him. Soon, the wind-whipped Heavenward Platform held only the old Patriarch.

“Could I… could I truly have been mistaken? All these years… entirely wrong?” the blind old Patriarch murmured sorrowfully.

Turning abruptly, he realized that even the servant Zuinü, who had always stood silently behind him, was already gone. Alone on the desolate peak reaching high into the clouds, he felt profound loneliness. After a long while, he stood, took flight, and departed, masking his loneliness with a restored calm and resolute determination.

“Mother, I’m sorry.” Having distanced themselves from the mountain peak, Mu Feng looked at his mother beside him, her hair prematurely gray, and felt a pang of guilt.

“What’s done is done; no need for regret.”

To Mu Feng’s surprise, his mother didn’t scold or show anger. Only a deeper worry graced her face. “Feng’er, you’ve grown up. There’s little left for me to teach you now. Refusing Grand Elder Taiqing’s tutelage wasn’t entirely a bad thing; it allows you to pursue your studies at Jiangling Prefecture peacefully. It’s just…” Her voice trailed off momentarily. “In a few more years, when you turn twenty-one, you will face another great calamity. Whether you can endure it again… well, that will depend entirely on yourself.”

“Your son understands. I will prepare well in advance.”

Mu Feng nodded. Though countless questions swirled inside him, he asked nothing further. On the day he broke through to the Elite Realm, his mother would surely tell him everything. Then, at last, the full truth would be revealed.