Chapter 41: Master and Disciple
Three days later, Yu Nianzhen came out of the pool.
His body was cold, but his mind was very calm.
Although he had told the elders that he was confident in his choice of master, his mind was unsettled.
He worried about gains and losses, but three days in the pool had calmed his mind.
Since the timber was already a boat, he could do nothing but row forward.
Yu Nianzhen left the bathroom to get ready.
When he entered his room, he discovered a robe, shoes, and some accessories on his jade bed.
Custom required a disciple to wear new clothes when he recognised a master. Knowing this, Yu Nianzhen planned to wear the robe he bought at the outer sect resource hall.
However, he did not expect his master to make other preparations.
"Is this vengeance for taking an extra token?"
His face scrunched, and his eyes shone with ice when he saw the robe.
It was red and had the same flamboyant style as Yang Xu’s. The only difference was that his robe had silver flowers instead of gold ones.
His hands shook when he touched the robe, and his teeth gritted in anger.
For differentiation purposes, personal disciples wore different robes from other disciples.
When he became his master’s disciple, Yu Nianzhen thought he could escape the fate of wearing the light blue uniform of the inner sect.
Unfortunately, he had jumped from the pot and into a roaring fire.
At this moment, he couldn’t help but curse his master’s outlandish taste.
"Let’s get through the ceremony first."
He took a few deep breaths and forced himself to calm down.
After calming down, he wore the unsightly robe and held up his hair with a silver guan.
A quarter of a shichen later, he arrived at the south courtyard and found his master in a large room.
The room was empty, and his master was standing at the centre.
"Good." Yang Xu nodded in approval when he saw Yu Nianzhen.
Yu Nianzhen didn’t say anything, but his eyes reddened in anger.
"Have you made up your mind to worship me as your master?"
Yu Nianzhen had made up his mind in the pool.
However, he was now tempted to change it.
When he thought he would have to wear the red robe from now on...
In the end, he forced down the temptation and spoke.
"This disciple has made up his mind."
The words were said through gritted teeth, and Yang Xu almost laughed in schadenfreude.
Although they hadn’t known each for a long time, he could tell that his disciple had a low-key personality.
Knowing that, he intentionally prepared the flamboyant robe.
In his mind, this was not only revenge for how arrogant his disciple was when he asked for the token, it was vengeance for future arrogance.
Every time he saw his disciple in that outfit, he could feel a small sense of accomplishment.
"If you have made up your mind, kneel and give three bows."
A person’s knees are made of gold, but Yu Nianzhen did not feel wronged to bow to this person.
He felt that Yang Xu was unreliable, but the man had an innate nobleness that could not be faked.
Soon after, Yu Nianzhen knelt and gave the first bow.
The atmosphere felt solemn, and the bow was as heavy as a mountain.
The second bow was even heavier, and after the third, the heaven and earth qi rioted around the two.
Yang Xu saw this, and his eyes turned more solemn.
He also had a master, and when he performed the master ceremony, such a scene did not occur.
Although he had never seen this phenomenon, he had read about it.
For most people, a master was a teacher.
A disciple would accept the master’s teachings, and in turn, they would respect the teacher and inherit their skills.
However, the original meaning of the ceremony was different.
Originally, one’s master was their parent.
A true master and disciple relationship was like one between a child and their parent.
This kind of relationship was difficult to achieve, and Yang Xu had not expected that they would reach this level.
When Yu Nianzhen was soaking in the pool, Yang Xu also took time to reflect.
Initially, he was a bit reluctant since his disciple had a sword origin, which was different from his nine suns origin.
No matter how talented, Yu Nianzhen couldn’t inherit his true art.
However, Yang Xu’s mind had settled after three days of reflection.
Although he couldn’t pass down all his skills, he would treat this disciple with sincerity.
Thankfully, the boy had also thought the same, which triggered the heaven and earth response.
"Good." Yang Xu said, and a smile curled his lips.
"Stand up."
Yu Nianzhen stood up and looked at his master.
"This is what I have prepared for you. You can refine it with a drop of blood."
Yang Xu placed a jade ring on Yu Nianzhen’s palm.
Although Yu Nianzhen had never seen one, he knew that the ring was a storage ring.
It was a precious gift, and he sighed in relief.
He hoped that his master would be worthy of his sincerity, and this proved that his choice was not wrong.
"Thank you, master." Yu Nianzhen said and removed a porcelain bottle from his storage bag.
"This is my gift to master."
The master ceremony required the master to give a gift, but the disciple was not required.
Yu Nianzhen was a meridian awakening realm cultivator. Because of this, Yang Xu didn’t expect to receive something useful from him.
However, his breath stagnated when he saw the leaf in the porcelain bottle.
"This..., this is..."
Yang Xu was flabbergasted.
"I heard that master was injured, and I thought that this thing can help."
"How do you have this?"
Yang Xu was too surprised, and out of shock, he asked an inappropriate question.
All cultivators had their secrets, and it was taboo to investigate other people’s treasures.
"Sorry, you don’t have to tell me this." He immediately came back to his senses and looked at Yu Nianzhen apologetically.
"This disciple doesn’t mind saying."
At first, Yu Nianzhen was unsure about giving the gift. However, Yang Xu had given him a rare storage ring which showed his sincerity.
Because of this, he also made up his mind to reciprocate the sincerity.
"I received it in the ten-storey pagoda."
When he first received the gift, Yu Nianzhen found that he could not open the jade box.
After thinking about it for a while, he guessed that he needed to refine it with a drop of blood.
Luckily, his guess was right, and the box opened after he refined it.
However, Yu Nianzhen could never have guessed that the box contained the tree of life.
The tree of life was one of nine sacred trees.
Its leaves could heal serious injuries, and its fruit was one of few treasures that could repair a broken origin.
Unfortunately, Yu Nianzhen’s tree was only a young seedling.
It was one metre tall, with three branches, and only ten leaves.
It would take ten thousand years for the tree to mature and another three thousand years to bear fruit.
Until the tree bore fruit, they could only use the leaves to stabilise Yang Xu’s injury.
"Master can feel your sincerity, but this is what the pagoda gave to you. I can’t take it."
Although the leaf of the tree of life was beneficial to him, Yang Xu didn’t dare to take it.
It didn’t show on his face, but more than happy, he was frightened.
The ten-storey pagoda was a powerful spiritual treasure, and all its rewards were based on a cultivator’s need.
Some would receive suitable weapons, others would get cultivation techniques, but his disciple had received the best healing elixir!
This showed that his disciple was about to face a life-threatening catastrophe.
When Yang Xu thought of this, he couldn’t help but worry.
"Master doesn’t have to worry; I have reserved enough for myself."
Yu Nianzhen looked confident, but Yang Xu wasn’t convinced.
However, it wasn’t good to refuse his disciple’s filial piety.
He took the gift but didn’t plan to use it for the time being.
"This thing, you must not tell or show it to anyone else." Yang Xu warned.
If he was still a nascent soul peak cultivator, he could cover his disciple if the tree of life was revealed to the world.
However, he was weak now.
The tree of life was a heaven and earth treasure, and its appearance would cause a bloody war.
"Master can rest assured; I will only tell Jiang Yue."
Yang Xu rolled his eyes.
How could this brat be thinking about a dao companion when he wasn’t even fourteen?
Yang Xu looked at his disciple, and a brilliant idea flashed in his mind.
"Come with me, master will speak to you about adult affairs."
Yu Nianzhen saw the cheeky look on his master’s face and felt apprehensive.
He had a bad feeling that he was about to be lectured about the birds and bees.
