Chapter 0280 – Visiting To Discuss Marriage
“Junior Apprentice Brother Bei, you and Ning Cheng can be said to be somewhat familiar with each other, can you help me out in explaining a few things to Palace Master Sang.” The old man who was sitting at the main seat looked at the middle aged old man and spoke with a smile.
The old man was none other than one of the three Deputy Academy Heads of the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect, while the one woman he was accompanying was Palace Master Sang, one of the seven Palace Masters of the Floating Snow Palace, Sang Jiezhu. As for the middle aged scholar, he was none other than the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect’s Elder Bei Youfa, who was very optimistic about Ning Cheng.
Elder Bei hesitated for a bit before he spoke, “Palace Master Sang, although Ning Cheng was able to accomplish a few things but it was something solely out of luck, in all honestly his cultivation is simply too low, only at the Profound Core 1st Level. Just the cultivation of the Floating Snow Palace’s Core Disciples is already in the Soul Essence Realm, while the cultivation of your True Inheriting Disciples is even higher. Moreover, each one of the female disciples of the Floating Snow Palace is someone equivalent to a maiden fairy in the mortal world, how can a small Inner Sect Disciple of my Rainbow Fall Sword Sect enter their eyes? Moreover warrant Palace Master Sang to personally come to my Rainbow Fall Sword Sect?”
Sang Jiezhu just gave a smile and said, “Ning Cheng is definitely someone with extraordinary potential, although his cultivation is only at the Profound Core 1st Level, I believe that with his ability, he would soon become the focus of development within the academy. Combined with the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect’s world famous Small Spiritual Domain, for Ning Cheng to advance to the Soul Essence Realm, I believe that it would not require much time.”
The Rainbow Fall Sword Sect’s Deputy Academy Head Tantei Fei on hearing these words also gave a smile and said, “In the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect, in order to use the Small Spiritual Domain, even if one had extraordinary future potential, they would have to make a huge contribution towards the Academy, moreover the Small Spiritual Domain is also not a panacea.”
Sang Jiezhu simply did not seem to care about such a thing, and still spoke with a smile, “After my Floating Snow Palace’s True Inhering Disciple Zheng Nianyun went back and spoke about the matter regarding Ning Cheng, it caused a lot of the female disciples of my Floating Snow Palace to hold him in high regards. Ning Cheng also has a great future, maybe he might even become a True Inheriting Disciple soon. As such my Floating Snow Palace naturally cannot wrong him, Yin Kongchan is one of my Floating Snow Palace’s disciple with the best qualifications, I believe that even with her appearance and qualification, she barely is worthy of Ning Cheng......”
“Yin Kongchan? Palace master Sang, are you referring to the Yin Kongchan, who took the ninth spot among the top Soul Essence Realm Disciples of the ten major academies?” Bei Youfa spoke out with an incredulous expression.
Yin Kongchan already possessed the cultivation level of the great circle of the Soul Essence Realm a few years ago; at this moment, there was a high chance that she was now a cultivator in the Soul Sculpting Realm. Moreover, Yin Kongchan’s appearance was absolutely no less inferior to his own Rainbow Fall Sword Sect’s Luo Ziyan. With this immeasurably excellent disciple, how can she be barely worthy of Ning Cheng? It was not that Ning Cheng could not marry other people, but why would the Floating Snow Palace want their most outstanding disciple to marry Ning Cheng? Moreover, why would they even advocate a marriage alliance between the academies?
“That’s right, a few years ago, the listings of the top ten Soul Essence Realm Disciples from the major academies had a huge change, and Kongchan really took the ninth spot.” Sang Jiezhu spoke out casually.
Bei Youfa and the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect’s Deputy Academy Head gave a glance at each other before Elder Bei spoke up, “Palace Master Sang, Ning Cheng still is cultivating in seclusion in the Small Spiritual Domain, we also cannot arbitrarily call the shots on such a matter, moreover only after he comes out would he be able to reply to you.”
“Of course, it is only natural, since this matter is related to martial nephew Ning Cheng, so of course; this matter would require his personal approval.” Sang Jiezhu empathetically replied.
After saying that, she was just about to ask as to when Ning Cheng would be coming out when Tantei Fei suddenly spoke up, “What a good day is it today, for even the Severing Emotion Dao Sect’s Elder Shi to also grace my Rainbow Fall Sword Sect?”
Tantei Fei stood up and spoke with an apologetic voice to Sang Jiezhu, “Palace Master Sang, please allow me to receive Elder Shi.....”
Sang Jiezhu also spoke up with a smile as if she did not care about such a thing, “Perhaps I know the reason why Senior Apprentice Sister Qionghua decided to bless us with her presence. Deputy Academy Head Tantei should definitely receive her, I have also not seen Senior Apprentice Sister Qionghua in a long time, it would also be good to get together with Senior Apprentice Sister Qionghua and catch up about the old days.”
Unfortunately, Tantei Fei could only give an exasperated nod. He knew that although Sang Jiezhu spoke in a nice and polite manner, but the fact was that the Floating Snow Palace and the Severing Emotions Dao Sect have a huge rivalry between them.
Just a short while later, Tantei Fei came in with a woman wearing a white robe. The woman’s face was expressionless, bordering on coldness. This female cultivator held her hair in a simple bun, and was carrying a large sword strapped to her back.
The woman on coming in also saw Sang Jiezhu, and was slightly stunned for a moment, before she immediately restored her expression to what it was originally, before she cupped her fists towards Bei Youfa and spoke, “Severing Emotions Dao Sect’s Shi Qionghua greets Senior Apprentice Brother Bei......”
“Cluck Cluck, Senior Apprentice Sister Qionghua truly is getting more and more beautiful as the years pass by; even my heart is moved looking at you.” Although this Shi Qionghua did not take the initiative to greet Sang Jiezhu, but Sang Jiezhu actively took the initiative to make a greeting to this Shi Qionghua.
Her words were also not wrong, although Shi Qionghua had an eternally cold expression on her face, but she was absolutely beautiful. Not only was she matchlessly beautiful, even her delicate and pretty appearance was by no means vulgar, combined with her not so ordinary name, one simply couldn’t help but compare her to an exquisite jade. If she stopped at a place, then it would feel as if she was a mass of light clouds wrapped together, making other people who gazed at her to feel a sense of inferiority.
[TL Note – ‘Exquisite Jade’ here is written as ‘Qiong Yu’ in Chinese which has an almost similar pronunciation to ‘Qionghua’ which is her name, that translates to ‘Exquisite Flower’.]
“Does not dare, Junior Apprentice Sister Sang is also not ugly to look at.” Shi Qionghua’s tone was flat, as she returned a sentence without any flavour.
Seeing the two people exchange words that might lead to further provocation, Elder Bei quickly led Shi Qionghua to sit down, and personally poured a cup of top quality spiritual tea for Shi Qionghua.
As Shi Qionghua took a sip of the spiritual tea, Elder Bei also spoke up in a polite voice, “For Elder Shi to visit my Rainbow Fall Sword Sect is truly an honour for my Rainbow Fall Sword Sect......”
Shi Qionghua still spoke in a plain manner, “Although I am here for some matters, but am unaware of if your Academy’s Ning Cheng is still available?”
“Once Ning Cheng came back, he went into seclusion inside the Small Spiritual Domain; it could be guessed that he would not be coming out within a short period of time.” Elder Bei quickly replied, while in his heart he was vaguely feeling that Shi Qionghua’s purpose in coming here might just be similar to that of Sang Jiezhu.
Sure enough Shi Qionghua gave a slight frown, before he replied, “Ning Cheng’s cultivation is truly quite low. Cultivating in seclusion is also a good thing.”
Tantei Fei could help but speak up, “Could it be that Elder Shi knows Ning Cheng?”
Shi Qionghua also replied immediately, “I do not know about Ning Cheng, but since this time Ning Cheng saved my Severing Emotion Dao Sect’s True Inheriting Disciples Xu Yingdei and Bu Mei, I specifically came here to thank him. I also asked about him from Bu Mei, and found that Ning Cheng is quite a good disciple. Moreover, my disciple Yingdei also has quite a good impression of Ning Cheng; as such, I also want to propose a marriage between Ning Cheng and Yingdei. If Elder Bei can agree to it, then our two factions can also be joined through the marriage.”
Sang Jiezhu gave a soft smile and spoke, “Severing Emotions Dao Sect actually took the initiative to talk about love, it is indeed somewhat unusual.”
Shi Qionghua once again showed a slight frown. Tantei Fei on seeing this immediately stepped in between them and spoke, “I on behalf of my sect’s Disciple Ning Cheng thank the two of you for showing such love. It is just that Ning Cheng is still in seclusion, and this matter also needs to go through him personally. So, once Ning Cheng comes out, I will let him personally go to the Floating Snow Palace and the Severing Emotions Dao Sect to return the courtesy.”
“If that is the case, then I will be taking my leave first.” Shi Qionghua was unique in this regard, as she walked out as fast as she came in.
Seeing Shi Qionghua leave, Sang Jiezhu also stood up and gave a smile to Elder Bei as she spoke, “Although I will also be taking my leave now, but I am definitely looking forward for martial nephew Ning Cheng visiting my academy.”
Elder Bei also quickly spoke up, “The seven Palace Masters can rest assured, once Ning Cheng comes out, I will certainly advise him to go visit the Floating Snow Palace.”
......
After seeing off Severing Emotions Dao Sect’s Shi Qionghua and Floating Snow Palace’s Sang Jiezhu, Rainbow Fall Sword Sect’s Elder Bei finally spoke up, “Senior Apprentice Brother Tantei, what do you think about Shi Qionghua and Sang Jiezhu? This is simply too weird, Ning Cheng is just an Inner Sect Disciple, is it truly necessary to propose a marriage alliance between the academies?”
Tantei Fei gave a sneer, “If I did not guess wrong, then these two academies have set their sights on Ning Cheng’ things.”
Bei Youfa couldn’t help but angrily speak out, “Ning Cheng saved the pitiful lives of the disciple from their academies, and yet they still lust over trying to deduce Ning Cheng’s possessions, it is something that a good person would not do. Senior Apprentice Brother Tantei. If Ning Cheng really agreed to it, I really do not know how they would deal with him. Wouldn’t they simply grab Ning Cheng’s things before they then disposed of Ning Cheng? Doesn’t this mean that the Severing Emotions Dao Sect and the Floating Snow Palace have simply degraded to such a low?”
Tantei Fei shook his head and spoke, “It might not be that way. These two academies are also counted among the top ten academies within the Tian Continent. As to why the Severing Emotions Dao Sect is willing to allow their disciple to become Dao Companions with Ning Cheng, it is something that could be guessed quite easily. If one wanted to cultivate to the pinnacle in the Severing Emotions Dao Sect, then they would have to let go of their feelings, in other words sever their emotions.”
“To be honest, Shi Qionghua came here to simply find a puppet for the disciples from her sect. There are quite a few female disciple who seem to have developed some feelings towards Ning Cheng and are now in need of severing their emotions. Once Ning Cheng turns into a waste in their hands, not only Ning Cheng would voluntarily hand over his good things to those people, he would also become something equivalent to a dog to be stepped on by the people there. Since she came here to look for Ning Cheng, then it just shows that their True Inheriting Disciple Xu Yingdei already has some sort of an impression of Ning Cheng, which might need Ning Cheng’s body as a release for those emotions.”
“Sigh, I knew that something like this might happen, however this is something that the rest of the elders from the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect might just agree upon.” Elder Bei sighed.
Tantei Fei also sighed, “The truth is even I am somewhat tempted to take action. Although that Severing Emotions Dao Sect’s Shi Qionghua did not speak about it, but I know that they would definitely have to split the spirit stone mine that they found in our Rainbow Fall Sword Sect. With helping a True Inheriting Disciple wanting to sever their emotions, plus a nine-coloured Mirage Stone, and an unknown quantity of Spiritual Enhancement True Nectar, I’m afraid that the Severing Emotions Dao Sect has long since calculated their profits, and would absolutely not suffer in the process.”
“I will definitely not agree to it, I have already seen that this Ning Cheng is quite an honest fellow. Although he might have some Spiritual Enhancement True Nectar on him, along with even a nine-coloured Mirage Stone, but these are all the disciple’s own gains. Unless a disciple themselves is willing to contribute it to the academy, the academy will also not take the initiative to deprive them of their gains.” Bei Youfa immediately replied with decisiveness.
Tantei Fei immediately put up his hand, “These are things that we simply cannot control. If the Academy Head and the rest of the elders are in favour of this, then we trying to oppose it would simply be useless. However, the Academy Head is quite an upright person and should not agree to it. However, what truly went beyond my expectations is the proposal of Floating Snow Palace’s True Inheriting Disciple Yin Kongchan marrying Ning Cheng. If the Floating Snow Palace insists on their disciple Yin Kongchan and Ning Cheng tying the knot as Dao Companions, then the advantages might actually be much greater than what we would get from the Severing Emotions Dao Sect.”
“You saying that the Floating Snow Palace would be willing to share their Soul Refining Snow and Ice Domain, would they really share it with our Rainbow Fall Sword Sect?” Bei Youfa carefully asked a question.
“I’m afraid so, I estimate that they also are after Ning Cheng’s nine-coloured Mirage Stone and the Spiritual Enhancement True Nectar. But what I truly don’t understand is why did they chose Yin Kongchan for this.” Tantei Fei gave a nod and replied.
Bei Youfa once again sighed and spoke, “If that is the case, then I no longer have any way to help Ning Cheng. All I can do is give him some more time in seclusion inside the Small Spiritual Domain. I know a thing or two about Yin Kongchan from the Floating Snow Palace, Yin Kongchan is someone who is wholeheartedly focused on the Dao, even if she and Ning Cheng became Dao Companions, I estimate that she would not truly enter into dual cultivation with Ning Cheng.”
“Whether this is truly as it is or not, we cannot guess it, but one thing for sure is that there definitely is a deeper reason behind such a thing. For both these academies, even if they were just after Ning Cheng’s Mirage Stone and Spiritual Enhancement True Nectar, it still arguably would not be a bad idea. They already have countless ways to make Ning Cheng willingly come up to them. Is there really a need of any other reason for them to do this? Or is it that our Rainbow Fall Sword Sect truly in the dark about it?”