It took Feng Li several seconds to finally turn back to look at Feng Xue. A few years back, when he came to this restaurant, he had just been declared a crippled young master. He accidentally, or may be in a good luck, met a young lady who introduced herself as the daughter of the restaurant owner.
At that time, he was just a little over five years of age with a lot of tenderness and 'immaturity'. The young girl back then had, of her own accord, offered to refer to him as a brother even after only meeting for the first time, with no past relations whatsoever.
"Big brother, I'm talking to you, rascal, aren't you hearing me?"
"Oh, I heard you, it's just that the whole meeting with this girl and how friendly she is makes me feel like..."
"Feel like what? Are you trying to say you have feelings for her already?" Feng Xue interrupted him with a fuming tone.
Looking at the fuming girl in front of him, Feng Li was speechless, not knowing how to respond to her at all.
It was at this time that Feng Xue realized that she had misspoken, and her face turned pink from embarrassment. It was true that she had grown up over the past few years to the current her. Despite this, she was still a small girl after all. How could she not be embarrassed in such a situation?
"I meant to say I feel like the whole situation is too fishy and there is more than the eyes can see."
Feng Li had a vast amount of memories and experience from his past lives. Although he had not actively been with women, he was still able to discern what Feng Xue was thinking at the moment, and that is why he chose to elaborate his words further.
"Don't think so deeply about the situation. Now tell me, will you be joining the Myriad Dao sect, or are you thinking of staying here and continuing to be the Young Master of the strongest family in Emerald City?"
"Strongest?
"Yes. Our family is amongst the top families; don't you know that after all this time?"
"Little Sister, there is always a man beyond a man, a mountain beyond a mountain, and also a peak above another. To reach the peak of martial arts, you need to understand that whenever you reach the peak, you will realize that there is another mountain with a much taller peak than the one you are standing on. Our family is just strong here, but compared to the behemoths out there, we are just but insects that can be pinched between their fingers."
"Just insects that can be pinched between their fingers..."
Feng Xue began reminiscing on his words and seemed to be very much intoxicated by them, as her face became even more resolved and more determined as her playful nature began receding and was replaced with maturity and a thirst for strength and dominance.
Maybe she wanted the strength to protect herself, or maybe she wanted the strength to stand above the world, or even maybe to be able to protect the ones she loved. All these reasons made her resolve to become more powerful.
Feng Li did not know that the words he had just said casually had completely changed Feng Xue's mind, and for this reason, her future would no longer be the same!
*****
Misty City...Rainblood Sect.
At this time, in one of the five peaks constituting the sect. At the Dao Peak, a large throne lay at the centre of the huge divine hall where the sect master reigned and commanded his subjects.
Several individuals were standing below the large throne as they all had their eyes gazing up at the man gracefully seated on the majestic throne.
The man had a youthful appearance of one not more than 25 years of age, though from a closer view, one would sense that in his eyes hid a great sense of knowledge, age, and experience that could not belong to a man his age.
Blood rain imperial bloodline!
This bloodline did not just stand as a name but one amongst the strongest in the region. When fully awakened, one will achieve slowed growth as well as a boost in strength for a limited time in combat.
While the bloodline is strong, awakening it is only a dream, but not easily achieved by most of the Blood Rain Sect clan descendants.
In the whole founding clan of the Blood Rain Sect, only a few genius-level practitioners had been able to fully awaken the bloodline. Awakening this bloodline is even harder than ascending to the heavens!
At this time, a middle-aged man stood in the middle of the hall with a respectful attitude while gazing up at the man seated on the large throne standing at the end of the hall.
"Speak"
The sect master on the large throne spoke as his voice reverberated across the hall, as a gigantic momentum oozed out from him even though he was restraining his aura at the moment.
He was at the late Nascent Soul Realm level seven!
Fan Bufeng was the name of the Blood Rain Sect; he was once a renowned genius amongst his peers in the olden days, and he finally got to succeed in inheriting the sect master's seat at a very young age.
"Honoured sect master, word has reached us that a messenger has been going around informing people of the forthcoming intake of new disciples that extends to our region, where they intend to recruit some disciples from around here.
"And what does that have to do with us, Bu Fao!" The sect Master furiously asked with a commanding momentum.
Bu Fao is the Dao Peak master of the Blood Rain Sect. He has a cultivation of the early sixth level of the nascent soul realm. Although the gap between him and the sect master was just a single minor realm boundary, coupled with the fact that the Sect master has the Blood Rain imperial bloodline awakened, he could easily dominate him like a child if the two were to fight.
"Some strong families around are going to have some of their promising geniuses join those prestigious sects, which will increase their influence around here, which will not be a good outcome for us as a behemoth of this region." Bu Fao Said with a sly smile on his face.
"That is a good observation and conclusion you have come up with. The sect will reward you well for this. Fan Qian, have all the sect peaks select some of the promising disciples and have them go to the misty city center. I believe the sect's messengers will conduct the selection there. Make sure most of them get a chance to join a prestigious sect. That will boost our control over here.
****
Meanwhile in Emerald City...
Feng Li and Feng Xue both returned back to the Feng Mansion from the restaurant a few minutes after Mei Yao left the restaurant. On their way back, the two were enshrouded in utter silence as both of them were deeply making considerations on whether they should take the chance of joining the Myriad dao sect on of the most prestigious sects in the Eastern territory.
Reaching inside the divine hall, the two immediately caught the attention of everyone inside. Feng Li discovered that there was a large number of people currently gathered here.
"Young master and Lady Xue, we were just about to call out to you for this discussion, which also has a lot to do with the two of you, as it has with everyone of the younger generation. As you all know, those prestigious sects from all over the Guan province are currently recruiting a new batch of disciples into their sects in a few days."
"As the saying goes, 'this is the era of the younger generation; we old bones can only do by supporting you lot'. Come in; I have already spoken a lot." One of the elders said with a smile.
"Thank you, Elder." Both Feng Li and Feng Xue replied.
At the very corner of the hall sat a few of the Feng family disciples who were currently carrying faces filled with eagerness and determination. Looking at these disciples, Feng Li could vaguely guess what was being discussed by now.
"Li'er, Xu'er, both of you join the other disciples so that we can commence with our family discussions already." Feng Tian said slowly.
The two slowly walked towards the rest of the students and sat down next to each other. At this moment, in one corner, a young man had a cold expression as he watched the two of them seated next to each other as he slowly clenched his fist. The expression written on his face was unreadable, as no one could tell exactly what he was thinking of.
"This morning, words from a trusted source reached us that it is now time for the top sects in the Guan region to conduct their recruitment, and for the first time in history, our Northern region. This is an opportunity that no sect or family around is going to try and miss as it relates to the future of families. As a family, we have decided to select fifty of the best of the younger generation to participate in the trials for joining these sects." The Feng family patriarch said while slowly scanning through the crowd of disciples seated in the hall.
Soon, the thin elder who was responsible for carrying out the talent measuring ceremony for the likes of Feng Li five years ago stood up with a list in his hand, standing just a few meters in front of the group of youngsters.
"This is not a matter of fairness or equality, but a matter of your abilities and talent that you have displayed since you began cultivating in this family. If you happen not to be on this list, then it means your luck and talent were not high enough and that you were not destined for this and should rather put your efforts into cultivating harder."
It just took a mere ten minutes for the elder to read out all the names of the fifty selected students. Among these students were;
Feng Li
Feng Xue
Feng Bu
Feng Xu
Feng Qian
And many more youngsters with promising talents in the family....
Those who were not on the list should slowly stand up and leave the hall and remember this is not the end of your journey but just the beginning of it. As for the rest of you, early tomorrow morning the messengers from various sects will be conducting their tests to determine your qualifications for whether you can proceed to the main sect for recruitment trials. Be there on time." The thin elder said and directly disappeared from the hall without any word.
****
At this time, as the meeting was being held in the Feng family divine hall, similar meetings were being held in the Yang and Li families, and fifty of their best disciples were selected to take part in the qualifications the next day.
As so many vagabond cultivators were also preparing eagerly for the next day to find a turning point in their lives, possibly being admitted into a prestigious sect.
It did not take long, and night had already covered the whole of Emerald City, as anyone familiar with this city would undoubtedly say that there was something different about the city today. Normally, the city is covered by a lot of bustling noises and errands here and there and small fights at random, but today was awkwardly silent as though everyone had left the city.
If one were to find a better sentence to describe this, it would undoubtedly be 'Silence in Emerald City.'