Chapter 31: Freshmen Competition

Hong Wu stared at Huang Xue for a brief while before he issued a hearty chuckle. “Hahaha, it seems my little warning still fell on the deaf ears of student Shen. Ahh, or should I say as expected of hot blooded youths like you. However, there are truly no core disciple events as of now. Instead of worrying about those, I believe you would be more interested in the upcoming freshmen competition next month.”

“And this freshmen competition is…?” Huang Xue asked.

“A small bonding event for all the incoming disciples this year; to get to know the rest of your fellow students. All new disciples are required to attend.”

“There are more?” Huang Xue suddenly asked. “You mean to say besides the ones that were admitted today, there are other groups of admitted students?”

Hong Wu laughed as he replied: “Of course! While the Six Ocean Sect is the main location for examinations, that does not mean we have not set up testing in other far away regions to gather talented students! And based on the reports I’ve received, there should be a fresh batch of five hundred and one freshmen!”

Huang Xue slightly frowned as he thought to himself. “Hoh...so it seems my site was not the only testing place; seems like Yue’er forgot to inform me of those other locations. But then again, it would not matter anyhow. I’ll get to meet the rest at this freshmen competition then…”

Then, saluting the elder, Huang Xue said: “Thank you, elder, for satisfying this one’s curiosity.”

“No problem, is there any else you would like to know?”

“No, that was all I wanted to ask.” Huang Xue replied.

After a brief chat, the thirteenth elder left the room. Huang Xue once again closed his eyes as he sank into meditation.

Since he was now a core disciple, the only thing that Huang Xue had to do in the Sect was simply to train.

Like this, a month slowly passed by.

During that period of time, the news of Huang Xue’s status as a core disciple spread throughout the Six Ocean Sect like wildfire. News of a freshman entering the school as an inner disciple and then directly promoted into a core disciple sparked great awe, jealousy, and indignation from many students. Several of those students felt that it was unfair and had adamantly opposed the arrangement, wanting to seek out a proper explanation for the abrupt promotion.

However, when it was revealed that Huang Xue actually had a Heaven Root talent that was not seen in a thousand years, a large portion of the opposing voices died down. And when the fact that Huang Xue descended from the Shen clan was spread out, all remaining oppositions were forced into silence. This was the absolute oppression by might and raw influences!

Although there was originally no such “third young master” of the Shen clan, it was later spread that the third young master Huang Xue had actually been sent away to another land in the early years to properly refine himself. That was supposedly why the “third young master” had not been seen, much less heard of, for the past several years in the Long Dynasty. And with the source coming from the Shen clan itself, and with even all of its members having mouthing the same story, there was little doubts to be expressed.

And even if some people still had doubts, they could only keep it within their heart in face of the massive power known as the Shen clan. As for other major clans, they reassuredly had their own secrets or two as well, so they did not bother with the Shen clan’s matters too much.

After the student body came to accept Huang Xue’s status as a new core disciple, many admirers naturally began reveal themselves. To be a core disciple meant one was at the peak of the Sect in terms of disciple status. Such illustrious title and powerful family background made Huang Xue a beloved entity among many young women practitioners, and an envied god among men.

As Huang Xue himself, he did not pay too much of an attention on these rumors. He only cared mainly about rumors that surrounded exceptionally talented or abnormal students of the Sect. As such, over the month he did not indulge in cultivation, but rather continuously toured around in the Six Ocean Sect and its surrounding mountains.

As for his two clones, Huang Xue did not have them stay within the Sect, but rather had them go out and search for some rare medicinal ingredients he may need. He had also sent them to the other places that were seen in his divination, the places where his supposed destined ones were to be at, to gather more clues.

And in the Six Ocean Sect, several times, Huang Xue would engage in a few idle talks with some fellow students who would often approach him on their own whim. Huang Xue did not reject them, as he was also able to learn a bit more about the other famous students in the Sect, and certain circumstances that are not publicly listed. He did not meet any of the more “famous” disciples who were described by his fellow students.

Those people were often away on trainings or missions, so they were rarely seen in the Sect. This was also the reason why Huang Xue had been able to meet with Shen Cai and Shen Han. who were Shen Lin’s sons, in the sect ground.

For instance, Huang Xue found out that there were actually student created factions in the Six Ocean Sect. These groups were often formed to offer a set of protection and connection for students within the school, especially for freshmen. Not only that, being apart of a large faction was also a symbol of strength. That was mainly the case with older groups, since most freshmen factions would usually disband shortly, with many of its member persuaded to join a greater fraction, lest the new faction wish to face continuous pressuring by the other senior factions.

In the Six Ocean Sect, the current most well-known student factions were the Lost Cloud Guild, the Tian Zhu Association, and the Du Alliance!

When Huang Xue first heard about the Tian Zhu Association, he was bit interested to discover that it was originally created by a freshman. And that person was naturally a descendant of the Tian Zhu clan!

Due to the Tian Zhu clan’s influence, no one dared to disturb the Tian Zhu Association when it was first created. Over time, given its rapid growth, the association easily became one of the top student factions ever since, with its leader position being passed solely onto the next Tian Zhu clansman who enters the Six Ocean Sect.

In fact, Huang Xue later found out that although there were several people from a single family clan, only the Tian Zhu clan sent only one of its own to enter the school.

“If I remember correctly, the name that was listed at first place on the Sea Disciple Ranking...Zhu Meiying, was it?” Huang Xue mused to himself inwardly as he stood listening to a group of students, who were huddling around him, chattering away.

The surname ‘Tian’ was the given family name for those of the Tian Zhu clan.

Other than this, Huang Xue learned a bit more about the other famous Sect disciples, from all three student courts: the Outer, Inner, and Core.

Due to his constant appearance within the halls and courtyard of the Six Ocean Sect, conversing with the other disciples, Huang Xue gradually became known as an amicable and easy-going character among the other student body. Even though none had seen Huang Xue fight yet, just given the former’s status and gentleman-like demeanor in conversations, Huang Xue’s popularity had unknowingly spiked up during that one month period of spent gathering tidbits of information…

***

After the passing of a month, on a certain hot day, a mass of students could be seen approaching a certain location, directly north of the Six Ocean Sect.

A large Sect event was finally about to take place on this day; and that is, of course, the Six Ocean Sect’s Freshmen Competition!

The day prior to the contest, a notice was given to every single freshmen students.

As such, at the edge of an enormous forest, a great number of students was gathering together by the minute. This was the starting point of the appointed freshmen competition!

The participating students were all extremely excited as they chattered among one another. There were even non-participants loitering around the surrounding, paying close attention to the competition. Those people were mainly from the second year and a few year students, who have come to assess the talent of this year’s freshmen. There were several inner court disciples who came to watch as well.

In the Six Ocean Sect, it did not matter if one was a third year student or a first, as long as that person has sufficient talent they would be able to enter the inner court. If not, they could only to stay as an outer court disciple for the rest of their time in the Sect.

With fierce competitions going on within the school, senior students would often take note of incoming students so that they could better understand any potential threats to them in the future. Besides that, the freshmen competition was also the perfect opportunity for large student factions within the Sect to recruit talented students, inevitably increasing their manpower.

Even though there was a lot of people, a certain divide could be seen in the crowd; with three conspicuous groups standing out. At the center of such groups were naturally Ji Xiong, Yang Chen, and Mei Hua.

After entering the Six Ocean Sect, with the influence of their family background, these three talented cultivators had gathered a decent number of followers over the month. But they did not declare themselves a part of a faction. And according to rumors, only Yang Chen seemed to have been joined up with the Tian Zhu Association; his status within the group was also said to be placed near the top as well!

Although the sudden promotion of Yang Chen’s status in the Tian Zhu Association made some others displeased, they had no say in the matter. After all, many of them have heard about the rumors that both the Yang Clan and Yin Clan were retainers of the Tian Zhu Clan. So, to have Yang Chen receive an immediate high position within the Tian Zhu Association may not have been that unexpected.

Besides the three groups, it could also be seen that there were a few other groups in the freshmen crowd. In particular, there were two large groups standing right in front of the entrance, each of them had a bold flag raised behind them. Obviously, they were a part of a faction.

In one large assembly, a red flag with the character “Du” was imprinted on it in black ink; the other one, a dark green flag, had a symbolic image of a curled up black cloud. At the cloud’s center, red star shaped dot, five inches in diameter, could be seen.This was the emblem of the Lost Cloud Guild!

Out of the three famous factions within the Six Ocean Sect, the Lost Cloud Guild had the largest number of members. That was because the guild had no restrictions, and any one could hope to join its ranks. However, that was not the case for the other two factions that has strict requirements for memberships in place.

The Tian Zhu Association had the least number of members, but the quality of cultivators within this faction were all extremely talented. This was the reason why they could stand up to the other large factions, and even surpass them a little in terms of strength!

Standing at the forefront of the group with the “Du” flag, was a black haired young lady in light red robe. On her various body parts, there were several slim black armors covering them. Her facial features were shapely, like flowers; but there was a touch of fierceness within her lily eyes. An aura filled with pride and arrogance could be felt from her presence; and her pure white skin reflected her youthness at the age of sixteen.

She was the current leader of this Du Alliance group of freshmen, Du Qianxin; and was one of new recruits that did not take the exam at the Sect, but rather near the Du Province. That was one of the several other places where the Six Ocean Sect’s examinations were held.

After passing with an Earth Root talent and a cultivation at the fourth Jie Hai stage, Du Qianxin naturally joined the Du Alliance that was created by those Du clansmen who had entered the Six Ocean Sect before her!

The current leader of the Du Alliance was her own elder brother, Du Minghan. With her status as the younger sister, Du Qianxin was naturally given the seat of vice-leader upon entrance, inciting hidden envy from others.

On the Lost Cloud Guild’s side, a young man, looking to be around sixteen to seventeen years old, in a plain gray clothes could be seen standing at the forefront. His long black hair and amicable appearance gave others a pleasing impression of this youth. With a slightly muscular physique, this man was the leader of the freshmen group, who had joined the Lost Cloud Guild, Zhang Bifan!

With his family background, second stage of Jie Hai cultivation, and Mortal Root talent, Zhang Bifan had the best potential out of all the freshmen who joined the Lost Cloud Guild.

As such, he was effectively elected to be the small group captain. No one knew why Zhang Bifan decided to join the Lost Cloud Guild, but rumors said that the large faction had offered the former a great deal of benefits in order to recruit him!

While the freshmen were talking with another, suddenly, a powerful pressure washed over the crowd. Without sound or reason, everyone felt a strong aura bearing down on them, especially for the low leveled cultivators.

For those who had a strong foundation like Yang Chen, Mei Hua, Du Qianxin, and the likes, the pressure was only uncomfortable, but bearable. As for the upperclassmen, with their high cultivation base, they only frowned when they felt the energy. Just who is it that’s so audacious as the actually unleash their aura like this?!

Before long, these people traced the aura back to the figure of an approaching youth in simple white robe, With his snow hair, which was now neatly tied up, flowing lightly behind him, Huang Xue walked towards the edge of the forest with a faint smile on his face. He kept going until he was standing at the center between the Lost Cloud Guild and the Du Alliance.

Ignoring the curious bystanders, Huang Xue simply stood there as he let his aura flow freely from his body, his face the epitome of obliviousness and ataraxia...