Xiang Shaoyun was now staying in the Cloud Margin Pavilion. He currently resided within an elder estate owned exclusively by Long Hui, and he became a follower whose membership wasn't officially recorded in the Cloud Margin Pavilion.
In truth, a follower was essentially a servant. In the Cloud Margin Pavilion, such people had almost no status. Fortunately, Xiang Shaoyun was a servant of a high-level elder, which separated him from ordinary servants.
There were only several dozen followers residing in Long Hui's estate; most were Transformation Realm cultivators and a few were Astral Realm cultivators. The reason all of them had willingly become Long Hui's followers was in hope of receiving the slightest bit of guidance in cultivation during Long Hui's free time. Just that would be enough for them to benefit greatly.
After all, all these followers weren't exactly people with incredibly outstanding talent. They were either disqualified disciples of Cloud Margin Pavilion or people Long Hui had subdued outside the pavilion. Otherwise, they wouldn't have willingly stayed as followers.
Apart from the followers, Long Hui had two disciples as well. One was a newly advanced King. He wasn't too young, and his name was Qin Yu. The other disciple, Zhuo Yi, was about 20 years old and was a seventh-stage Transformation Realm cultivator. He was one of the most talented personal disciples in the pavilion.
Qin Yu was the eldest disciple of Long Hui and had been promoted to a common elder after becoming a King. Thus, he could move into his own personal elder estate. However, he seemed to hold Long Hui in high esteem and still remained with him even after his promotion.
After all, the estate of a high-level elder like Long Hui was very large. It could easily house hundreds of people. As for Zhuo Yi, he still wasn't qualified to move out. Therefore, he naturally still resided within the estate.
Xiang Shaoyun's appearance did not attract much attention in the residence. Most people were only astonished at his young age. Long Hui told them that Xiang Shaoyun was a distant relative who would be staying temporarily. Nominally, Xiang Shaoyun was a follower. However, he did not need to perform any tasks, and he was even given an exclusive residence within the estate.
Just like that, Xiang Shaoyun started his peaceful life within the estate.
The Cloud Margin Pavilion was worthy of being the strongest organization in the Cloud Margin City. Their inner pavilion was completely enveloped by a massive formation that gathered spiritual energy from its surroundings, resulting in an extreme abundance of spiritual energy in the air. It was a very good place to cultivate.
In the residence, Xiang Shaoyun silently stabilized his foundations as he contemplated on his next step.
...
Meanwhile, Wen Jinrui and Wang Jiaohua had just arrived at a relatively small estate. Only the freakishly talented disciples of the Cloud Margin Pavilion could own these estates. As for this particular estate, it belonged to none other than a genius of Cloud Margin Pavilion, the person known as the Lightning Kid.
The Lightning Kid was the Young Lightning King's little cousin from the same clan. He similarly cultivated the overbearing power of lightning, and with his Lightning Spear, he almost had no opponent.
If it wasn't for the genius that had appeared from the Chen Clan, he would definitely be the brightest genius of his generation in Cloud Margin City. Wen Jinrui and Wang Jiaohua were here because they were both members of the Lightning Alliance, a faction formed by the Lightning Kid.
In each generation of Cloud Margin Pavilion disciples, geniuses with absolute confidence in themselves would appear. During the rise of these people, they would not forget to suppress other geniuses and subdue them one by one so as to grow their prestige. Subduing others would be greatly beneficial for one's future. Whether it was for one's status or for one's future power struggle in the pavilion, these subdued geniuses would be a great help.
In the current young generation of Cloud Margin Pavilion, there were three main factions. The strongest faction was none other than the Lightning Alliance. More than half of the inner disciples were part of this alliance.
Second to it was the Red House, which was a faction catering mostly to females. Li Yaxuan was in it, and of course, they still had males in their ranks. Chen Zilong, a genius strong enough to not fear the Lightning Alliance was one such male.
As for the third faction, it was a faction of those not willing to join the other two factions. It was known as the Free Society, symbolizing their pursuit of cultivation without restriction. It was the weakest of the three main factions.
Wen Jinrui and Wang Jiaohua waited for a good while, yet their alliance leader was nowhere to be seen. Rather, a young man came out and berated, "Both of you are an utter embarrassment to the Lightning Alliance!"
"Sorry, Guardian Qiu. We have been incompetent," Wen Jinrui said.
Wang Jiaohua's arrogance was also nowhere to be seen. She apologized alongside Wen Jinrui, "It's our bad. But the other party is really too arrogant. He shows no respect whatsoever for our Lightning Alliance."
"Hmph. Do you think I am not aware of the real story? Your cousin was the one who started all that!" the guardian said with a cold snort. He paused slightly and continued, "This is supposed to be your private affair, but since Gong Qinyin of the Red House has interfered, it is now an affair between the two factions. I will help you out with this, but you need to pay me enough contribution points."
"Don't worry, Guardian Qiu. We already have the contribution points ready," said Wen Jinrui. He then lowered his voice and continued, "Guardian Qiu, a new batch of king-grade weapons have been released by my clan. Some of them are of an element that is very suited for your use. In any case, we are not doing anything with those weapons. Do you want me to get one for you?"
The guardian raised his brow before a pleased smile formed on his face. "Um, that's very thoughtful of you. I will get some men to figure out the identity of that person before deciding what to do next."
"Thank you for the trouble, guardian," Wen Jinrui thanked cheerily.
Although losing a king weapon caused his heart to ache, it was worth it since he was able to make Guardian Qiu move against Xiang Shaoyun. One ought to know that this Guardian Qiu was one of the four greatest guardians of the Lightning Alliance and was one of the strongest experts of their faction. He was a personal disciple of an elder, and his full name was Qiu Chonglei with a cultivation level of eighth-stage Transformation Realm.
More importantly, only those capable of punching above their weight were qualified to become guardians of the Lightning Alliance. Thus, each of these guardians were people who common sense didn't apply for.
...
Xiang Shaoyun was unaware of all that. After staying at Long Hui's estate for a night, Zi Changhe arrived, and with him, a middle-aged man. The man was none other than Zi Changhe's master, Liu Xinji.
Liu Xinji looked to be about 40 years old—a King in his robust years. He had a medium build and a short hair that gave him a clean and strict look. He was once a vice palace master of the Martial Hall Palace. But after his breakthrough, he left for the Cloud Margin Pavilion instead of staying to help.
Xiang Shaoyun once heard from Zi Changhe that Liu Xinji originally came from Cloud Margin City. When he was young, he was sent to the Martial Hall Palace for an unknown reason. And after becoming a King, it was only natural that he returned.
The third-stage King Realm cultivator stared straight at Xiang Shaoyun and asked, "So you are the young genius Xiang Shaoyun Changhe has spoken of?"