Chapter 118: Chapter 114: In the Great Big Sect, Searching, Searching, Searching, Searching
After defeating Xi Mengran and taking her place as an Inner Disciple, Du Youqian became the talk of the Holy Blood Sect for a time.
Defeating Xi Mengran was no small feat.
Becoming an Inner Disciple was also significant.
But to succeed in Foundation Establishment in just five short years, all while being suppressed...
To effortlessly defeat Xi Mengran, who was at the Foundation Establishment Third Layer, while only being at the First Layer himself...
And to comprehend Sword Intent at such a young age...
These were the achievements that truly made the entire Sect take notice.
The name "Yu Fei" was now mentioned in the same breath as the Holy Blood Sect’s most sought-after True Successor Candidates.
But Du Youqian found himself in a predicament.
An "Inner Disciple" was one who had been formally accepted by a master and had a direct line of tutelage.
He had taken Xi Mengran’s position as an Inner Disciple, but he was also the one who had driven her to her death.
Was he supposed to go study under Meng Xiao now?
’Even if Meng Xiao isn’t repulsed by the idea, I certainly am.’
Therefore, he had to quickly find a new backer... no, a new master. That was the proper course of action.
This new back... master, should ideally be a Core Formation Ancestor.
As for their gender, age, or appearance, it didn’t matter. Du Youqian wasn’t picky. After all, with the lights off... oh, right. As long as they were a good teacher, that was all that mattered.
About a month passed. The buzz around Du Youqian had died down, and the hot topics of discussion within the Sect had already moved on several times, yet Du Youqian was still patiently searching for a suitable master.
He had set his sights on several Core Formation Lords with excellent reputations and sent out a few requests for discipleship, but all were politely declined.
It just went to show that in a First-class Sect like the Holy Blood Sect, there was never a shortage of geniuses.
Du Youqian had certainly shown the potential of a genius, but he hadn’t yet reached the point where every lord would be forced to take notice.
Meanwhile, a few other Core Formation cultivators had sent word of their interest in recruiting him.
However, Du Youqian had heard faint rumors that these particular individuals were nearing the end of their lifespans and were likely looking for a suitable body for Possession. He politely declined their offers.
Two other Core Formation cultivators expressed great admiration for Du Youqian and were willing to take him as a disciple, but they had a condition: Du Youqian had to first challenge and defeat a True Successor Candidate, taking their place.
Du Youqian estimated that among the dozen or so True Successor Candidates in the Sect, even the one with the lowest Cultivation was at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
Furthermore, they possessed powerful Magic and were decked out in Top Grade Spiritual Artifacts.
If he were to challenge one, his chances of victory weren’t very high—no more than sixty percent.
’Too risky. Better not.’
After being so selective, Du Youqian found that his options had become quite limited.
The standard for Second-class Sects was having three or more Core Formation Great Powers.
As a First-class Sect, the Holy Blood Sect didn’t have an overwhelming number of Core Formation cultivators either, only a little over twenty. So, when he did the math, there weren’t many left for him to choose from.
If things continued this way, Du Youqian would have to lower his standards and include Perfect Foundation Establishment Cultivators who had the potential to reach Core Formation in his search.
Gu Xiaofang, on the other hand, was full of confidence in Du Youqian.
He was convinced that the only reason Du Youqian hadn’t found a master yet was because he had already been noticed by the Sect Leader or one of the powerful Supreme Elders, and naturally, no one else would dare to compete for him.
To this, Du Youqian’s only response was: ’You’ve got a silver tongue, don’t stop now.’
Gu Xiaofang was a very loyal person. Although his aptitude wasn’t great, it wouldn’t be a problem to nurture him to the Foundation Establishment Middle to Late Stage, as long as one was willing to spare no expense.
Du Youqian planned to use him and Luo Jinyu as his power base in the Holy Blood Sect for the next century.
Thus, while searching for a master for himself, he also began to make arrangements for Gu Xiaofang.
First, he arranged for him to become an ordinary Steward, saving him from the precarious existence of a common Outer Disciple, who never knew if he would survive to the next day.
Another month went by. Du Youqian had given up on the idea of finding a Core Formation Lord as a master.
He began gathering information on the Perfect Foundation Establishment Cultivators within the Sect, preparing to pick a few with decent personalities—those who weren’t temperamental and wouldn’t kill at the drop of a hat—and who had a twenty to thirty percent chance of reaching Core Formation, to serve as candidates for his master.
Calculating the days, Luo Jinyu should be returning from the Evil Pool soon. Du Youqian planned to give him a proper welcome-back celebration, then pull some strings for him to break through to Foundation Establishment and obtain Inner Disciple status as soon as possible.
On this day, Du Youqian was in his residence, supervising the Miscellaneous Tasks servants as they renovated the place, while still waiting for news of Luo Jinyu.
Suddenly, a servant hurried over, stopping three feet away from Du Youqian and bowing deeply, offering up a Golden Foil Jade Slab with both hands.
"My Lord, a letter has arrived from Chun Xiao Master."
’Chun Xiao Master?’
Du Youqian was stunned. An image of a beautiful woman with a stunning face and a figure that seemed ready to burst out of her clothes immediately appeared in his mind.
Chun Xiao Master, Feng Xiaoyi.
’What does she want with me?’
Du Youqian had never even considered taking her as his master.
For one, her reputation wasn’t very good. Besides being capricious, she was also said to have a penchant for sexually exploiting her male disciples.
To put it bluntly, most of the male disciples she recruited were her male consorts.
And these consorts were all disposable, beaten or killed on a whim.
Secondly, she once had a romantic past with Meng Xiao.
Not just a relationship, but a genuine romance.
The two had once been Dao Companions, though they later separated for unknown reasons.
However, in public, they still treated each other with respect and seemed to be on good terms.
Since Du Youqian had killed Meng Xiao’s disciple, he certainly wouldn’t go looking for trouble from Feng Xiaoyi.
He never expected that Feng Xiaoyi would be the one to contact him.
After a moment of contemplation, Du Youqian took the Golden Foil Jade Slab.
Holding it in his hand, he extended his Divine Sense to perceive it.
Within his perception, a beautiful woman with a somewhat hazy face but an even more prominent figure, appearing all the more sexy and alluring, parted her lips.
"Yu Fei, I have been observing you for two months and have become familiar with your deeds. Your actions have deeply pleased me. Upon receiving this letter, come to my residence for a meeting."
’Huh?’
Du Youqian’s eyes widened in confusion.
’What did I do that "deeply pleased" you? Please tell me, so I can change it immediately.’
The trouble was, Du Youqian didn’t dare to refuse.
If it were a male Core Formation Lord, a refusal would be a refusal.
But this Feng Xiaoyi was notoriously capricious.
Moreover, no one ever publicly called her petty—which, on second thought, was the surest sign that she was.
Even offending Meng Xiao, Du Youqian only considered it a bit of a hassle.
If he were to offend Feng Xiaoyi, Du Youqian would immediately activate the Reverse Blood Qi Transformation Technique and die as quickly as possible to get reincarnated, lest this woman’s revenge make his life a living hell.
’Well, I have to go.’
Du Youqian spoke in a calm tone, "Prepare a gift for me to present to Elder Feng."
"Yes!" the Miscellaneous Tasks servants answered in unison.
This batch of servants was, of course, not the same group that had served Xi Mengran.
They had long been replaced.
As for where the previous ones went...
Du Youqian told himself he didn’t want to know. In any case, he hadn’t killed anyone with his own hands, nor had he given the order.
’But surely, now that I’ve become an Inner Disciple, there will always be people willing to curry my favor, just as those people once did for Xi Mengran, right?’
Soon, the servants had prepared a gift.
It wasn’t expensive, but rather something fresh and interesting.
After all, as a mere Foundation Establishment Disciple, you couldn’t possibly compete with a Core Formation Lord in terms of wealth, right?
It’s the gesture of respect that counts.
After inspecting it, Du Youqian tucked the gift into a Storage Treasure Pouch.
Then he performed a divination for himself. The trigrams showed nothing amiss, so he finally set out for Feng Xiaoyi’s residence.
