Mo Tianliao crossed a bridge and reached Wotian Cove.
The cove was extremely big, several times larger than Woqing Cove, with majestic structures within. There were pavilions and spacious houses connected by bridges. The houses had opulent roof decorations and had an amazing view of the mountains together with the cranes living there. The whole sight was breathtakingly beautiful.
Upon entering the cove, Yan Lie’s disciples came forward to welcome him, “The banquet will be held in the Yufeng Pavilion, may shishu please proceed.”
Flying on swords in the three coves was forbidden, only walking on foot was allowed, hence although Mo Tianliao could not currently fly, he wasn’t embarrassed and leisurely walked to the east towards Yufeng Pavilion.
Yufeng Pavilion was an open-roof flower pavilion, and was very spacious. Today, numerous long wooden tables were arranged neatly inside, with many people already seated. Yan Lie’s seat was on a raised stone platform.
Yan Lie was the main direct disciple of the sect leader Tianlang Zhenren, the highest-ranking disciple amongst the first-generation disciples. He was a fire attribute genius.
Originally, with elders present, huge birthday celebrations were forbidden, however Yan Lie was extremely popular with many disciples clamoring to organise a banquet for him. Adding his recent advancement to the Nascent Soul stage, the sect leader was also very happy and approved of this banquet.
“Shishu’s seat is the first seat from the east.” The disciples Mo Tianliao met along the way led him to a jade table near the front.
Mo Tianliao nodded and walked towards the table.
The silver patterns on the black silk robes were dazzling to the eye under the sunlight. With a closer look, the black-clothed figure seemed to devour all the light, giving an inexplicable sense of oppression.
The moment he walked in, the originally lively hall suddenly became quiet.
Mo Tianliao ignored their reactions and walked to his seat. He lifted his robes and sat down cross-legged.
The direct disciples of Xuanji Zhenren had not yet arrived, the disciples currently sitting at the same table were all direct disciples of the sect leader with calm and composed temperaments, seeing Mo Tianliao they nodded in greeting.
The hall gradually became lively again, the second-generation disciples sitting behind began to whisper amongst themselves.
“It turned out to be him!”
“Such a strong spiritual power, who is it?”
“Didn’t you know? Apparently the new direct disciple of Qingtong Zhenren was accepted because he was just too handsome.”
Mo Tianliao lifted the jade pot in front of him and poured himself a glass of wine. He took a sip, the initial taste was sweet, with a rich body, really high quality.
Su Wen silently sat at the table behind Mo Tianliao, and quietly introduced those disciples sitting with Mo Tianliao to him .
There were a total of five direct disciples under the sect leader, excluding Yan Lie, two were present today. The one wearing purple robes with a baby face was the second direct disciple Zi Mo, and the one wearing white robes with a severe expression, sitting down quietly drinking wine, was the third direct disciple Bai Luo.
“The fourth-ranked direct disciple, Mo Xiong shishu went out with my shifu to cultivate. As for the fifth-ranked direct disciple, Lang Zi shishu is still young, he has never attended this kind of banquets.” Su Wen whispered.
Mo Tianliao inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement and looked at the two men sitting directly beside him.
Yan Lie was a very conscientious person, seating Mo Tianliao at the very front, while his two shidi sat slightly behind, showing respect for Woqing Cove. As for the seats opposite, they were apparently reserved for the disciples of Xuanji Zhenren.
Zi Mo was sitting beside Mo Tianliao, looking very restless. When he saw Mo Tianliao look over, he could no longer suppress his eagerness and spoke, “My name is Zi Mo, the second direct disciple of TianLang Zhenren. You can address me by Zi Mo shixiong or Zi shixiong, how do I address you?”
“Shixiong is polite, I am Mo Tianliao.” Mo Tianliao replied warmly.
“Then I will call you Mo shidi from now on!” Zi Mo looked very happy, “This is very good, you definitely must not learn to be like your da shixiong, always so fierce!”
Mo Tianliao smiled slightly and did not answer.
Zi Mo elbowed his third shidi, “Xiao Bai, come and greet our shidi!”
“Greetings to Bai shixiong.” Mo Tianliao cupped his hands in greeting.
Bai Luo placed his wine cup down and slowly looked over. He paused for a moment, then cupped his hands in greeting. “Bai Luo greets shidi.” Although his appearance resembled a strong warrior, his voice was weak and soft. Mo Tianliao could not help but freeze in shock for a moment.
“Come, previously we didn’t talk at WoYun Hall. Today counts as our first meeting, let’s have a toast!” Zi Mo smiled and refilled the cup of wine for Mo Tianliao. Mo Tianliao also helped his two shixiongs to refill the wine in their cups. The three of them drank together, and the atmosphere became comfortable.
Of course, that meant that Zi Mo began chattering to Mo Tianliao endlessly, while Bai Luo quietly drank wine by himself, occasionally turning his head to glance at them and listen to their conversation.
As they were talking, there was a disturbance outside, the disciples of the Xuanji Zhenren had arrived with a mighty air.
The disciples of Xuanji Zhenren were the most, there were about a dozen of them, but there were only three direct disciples, the rest were normal disciples.
Among the three cove masters, Xuanji was the one who took in the most direct disciples, but his temperament was unpredictable, often taking them in on a whim. After two days he would change his mind, demoting them to a normal disciple.
A group of people came over, headed by a man dressed in colourful robes, he had a handsome face and a slender figure, wearing dark green robes with a crimson gauze outer robe, and a bright yellow belt around his waist.
“Yo, Hua Qing, why didn’t you wear your Bai Die Chuan Hua big dress today?” Zi Mo asked loudly upon seeing them.
The man who originally was calm stumbled a bit and gritted his teeth, “Shut up! Who said it was a big dress!”
“Where is Yuan shixiong and Yu shidi?” Zi Mo then turned around to introduce the group to Mo Tianliao, that person at helm was the second direct disciple to Xuanji Zhenren, named Hua Qing, he loved to wear robes with flowery patterns, those behind were all normal disciples and those who didn’t have titles, and could be ignored.
“Yuan shixiong is in seclusion, Yu shidi went out with shifu,” Hua Qing glared at Zi Mo, then went over to sit at first seat on the right. The two tables behind were empty, Bai Luo and Zi Mo were both unwilling to go over and sit with him. Hua Qing reached out and grabbed the youngest disciple, “Cheng shidi, come here and sit.”
Mo Tianliao raised his eyes. That man was the recently selected disciple of Xuanji Zhenren with the divine spirit attribute, named Cheng Xi, and hadn’t had a title bestowed on him.
Cheng Xi declined out of politeness for a while, then eventually sat down.
Mo Tianliao looked down, touched cups with Zi Mo, and slowly drank. Cheng Xi was somewhat proud, letting him sit at another table was befitting of his status, unexpectedly the shixiongs behind him looked at Cheng Xi with jealousy and mockery, piercing through him with their gazes.
“Haha, sorry for keeping shidis waiting,” a clear voice came from a distance, soon, a red-clothed Yan Lie surrounded by the insuppressible spiritual aura from recently advancing to Nascent Soul stage quickly went over and sat on the main seat. He smiled and said, “I sincerely thank everyone for attending today’s birthday banquet. Yan Lie is endlessly grateful, respectfully giving a toast!”
As he said that, he picked up the wine cup in front of him and downed it.
With his straightforward attitude, everyone was easily pleased, congratulating and toasting to him.
Mo Tianliao raised his eyes and looked at Yan Lie. Yan Lie had a pair of charming peach blossom eyes, always with a smile on his face. His speech was neither fast nor slow, very pleasant to listen to, it was no wonder that he had very good relationships with the rest of the disciples of Woyun Sect.
“Today celebrates all of us, normally training is so dull and we rarely get to relax, if you’re not drunk you aren’t allowed to leave!” Yan Lie said with a smile, while servants came in serving plates of fruits, vegetables and fish.
Mo Tianliao looked at the dishes in front of him. Although immortal beings did not have to eat, they could still do so. However those upright immortals only drank some wine to give off an air of immortality, at the most only eating a few bites of fruits. They rarely ate the steaming and fragrant dishes.
“This chicken leg is delicious, Xiao Bai, try one too!” Zi Mo placed it on a plate, smiled and pushed it to Xiao Bai.
Xiao Bai turned his head and glared at him coldly, pushing the plate of chicken in front of him to Mo Tianliao.
“Hey, if you’re not eating it then give it to me, why did you give it to him!” Zi Mo was unhappy, reaching to take it back.
Mo Tianliao snatched up the plate, “Bai shixiong gave this to me.”
Zi Mo widened his eyes, “Good boy, give…”
Cheng Xi, who was sitting opposite, saw this commotion and pursed his lips, “To give in to our elders is a sect rule. How can Mo shidi snatch shixiong’s things?” Zi Mo was obviously higher-ranked than Mo Tianliao, only lacking a title. That double attribute Mo Tianliao was already lucky enough to get in using his looks, and even became the direct disciple of Qingtong Zhenren, yet he still boldly disrespected the sect leader’s direct disciple…
The lively atmosphere was disrupted, Hua Qing rolled his eyes. This shidi really was too blind, could he not see they were only playing around? What’s more, they were direct disciples, while he himself was not, what was the meaning calling Mo Tianliao shidi?
Yan Lie came in a timely manner and diffused the awkward situation, “Mo shidi’s presence today has made me very happy, come, let us have a toast. In future if there’s anything troubling you in the sect, feel free to approach me.”
Mo Tianliao stood up, “Many thanks to shixiong, this disciple pays his respects to shixiong.”
After drinking the wine, Mo Tianliao signalled to Su Wen to present Woqing Cove’s gift; some lingshi and immortal grass, “The disciples of Woqing sincerely present this gift to wish shixiong a happy birthday.”
Yan Li smiled and accepted the gift, passing it to his disciple Chi Feng behind him.
“Our master is in seclusion and could not make it today, this disciple presents a gift on behalf of his master, to congratulate shixiong on advancing to Nascent Soul stage.” Mo Tianliao took out a delicate box and presented it, with the lid open. The box contained a fist-sized, exquisite-looking big bell!
Yan Lie looked at the big bell, mouth twitching slightly. He immediately closed the box and held it in his hands. He turned to the east and bowed, “Shidi thanks shishu for the gift.”
Hua Qing also conveniently took out his shifu’s gift. It was in a long box, held by Cheng Xi, with the lid tightly closed.
Cheng Xi saw that Mo Tianliao’s box was open, containing something shiny and glittery inside, obviously a rare treasure. He wanted to give his shifu face, and decided to open the box before presenting it to Yan Lie.
Mo Tianliao raised his eyes, at a glance there appeared to be nothing in the box, but inside was actually a delicate, long, hemp rope! Indeed just a hemp rope. To those master cultivators, it was simply just an authentic hemp rope, without a single ounce of spiritual energy…
Hua Qing immediately closed the box and glared stonily at Cheng Xi, then smiled and passed it to Yan Lie.
Yan Lie pretended to have not seen the contents of the box, respectfully accepted and turned to the west to bow in thanks.
The banquet thus ended with a seemingly warm and brotherly atmosphere.
Mo Tianliao returned to Woqing Cove and went to see shizun.
“The sect leader has just come and is meeting with the cove master.” The maid stopped him with a blank expression.
“I see, I will come back later.” Mo Tianliao turned and went back to his quarters. His white cat was nowhere to be seen, there was only a bed with bed sheets that were torn and scratched.
Mo Tianliao frowned, then turned and went out to find his cat, thinking about the places where that furball often went, heading towards the rear mountains.
hi! i’m churrosrgr8, the new translator for WCDSP. it’s my first time tling a chinese novel and it’s also xianxia T.T i translate and edit all by myself so if there’s any mistakes just comment/lmk on discord! for now i’ll probably be able to churn out one chapter a week hopefully i’ll be able to increase it in future!