“It’s hard to say,” Wu Qian Qian said reluctantly, in an uncertain manner.
“Oh? Hard to say? How is it hard to say?” Kong Jing Feng was very interested, looking at his beautiful niece, he smiled and asked softly.
“My impression of them, compared to all the rumors, there is a big difference,” said Wu Qian Qian as she furrowed her delicate eyebrows. “According to rumors, Shi Qian Shan is a mature adept who can take on many responsibilities by himself. Very meticulous and careful. But now he has made me feel very disappointed.”
“But the second disciple, Chu Yang, according to the rumors, he is a reserved, eccentric individual, but honest. Only today, I see that he has potential. He looked like a coward and was afraid of trouble, but inside he actually seems… “
Wu Qian Qian thought for a little, unable to find a word to describe her impression. She finally said, “In short, this person is an enigma. I cannot understand him. As for the third disciple, Tan Tan is exactly like the rumors, he really doesn’t know his place.”
After listening to her, both men became silent once more, their brows wrinkled tightly.
A very long after, Wu Yun Liang stood up and walked slowly towards the wall in front of him. Reaching out with one hand, he revealed a white piece of paper within a painting hung upon the wall. On this white paper, from top to bottom, there was a list of names. A total of forty name, each name had a check mark next to them written in red. (TLN: So I re-read this in the Chinese, surprisingly much clearer than the Vietnamese translation.)
There are ten names in the back of the paper with two check marks next to them. There were two names, occupying the first and second places, with three check marks. The names of these two were Xue Ye Meng and Qin Mu Shang.
Li Jian Yin’s name occupied position number nineteen and Shi Qian Shan’s name occupied number thirteen. Chu Yang and Tan Tan’s names were not on this paper.
Wu Yun Liang took a brush and considered for a moment. He crossed out Li Jian Yin’s name with a red line, erasing the three words Li Jian Yin from the list. After that, he thought a bit. Moving his pen to the bottom, he wrote two words: Chu Yang.
Then, Wu Yun Liang added after Chu Yang’s name a mark ‘?’. After finishing, he took two steps back. He raised his brows and thought. Then he once again brought his brush up and crossed out Chu Yang’s name, leaving only the question mark.
“I fear this will cause big waves and strong winds.” Kong Jing Feng said with a frown. “Internally, our Beyond the Heavens Sect is now very unstable. And this happened today. Junior Martial Brother Meng will also be affected by this.”
“Junior Martial Brother Meng won’t be affected at all. With his personality, unless the Beyond the Heavens Sect perish, he doesn’t let anything else bother him.” Wu Yun Liang shook his head with an air of confidence. However, after that, his face became dark. “About Shi Qian Shan… is it really true?”
Such air, seems like a paper tiger. (TLN: Wu Yun Liang’s earlier confidence was shaken by the matter with Shi Qian Shan.)
“Yes,” Wu Qian Qian’s impression of Shi Qian Shan, even though ordinary people call him ‘mature and respectable’, but in her mind, he was a dim chicken, moreover he was a dim and blind chicken.
There is really no cure! Wu Yun Liang breathed a deep sigh.
With this event, the two people did not say much. Obviously they also did not hold anything to heart. After all, this was only a childish game of the younger generation. It had no effect on the big picture.
Currently on the faces of the two, there were uneasy expressions showing obvious worry.
Wu Yun Liang waved dismissively. Understanding this, Wu Qian Qian exited without a sound.
“Eldest Brother, Little Brother has an idea…” Kong Jing Feng probed.
“No need to hurry,” Wu Yun Liang waved his arm sleeve with a gloomy countenance.
Kong Jing Feng remained quiet for a while, then said with a low voice, “Since the founding of the Beyond the Heavens Sect to us, it has only been seven generations. When our ancestors founded this sect, they brought us to the top of world of cultivation of the Lower Three Heavens. We enjoyed the respect of the royal family and a lifetime of honor. But the second generation, right away, had a confrontation with the imperial family of the Great State of Zhao, making the reputation of the school decrease by a thousand meters. All of our experts were hunted and killed everywhere. More than half died. Luckily, two of our ancestors in their old age unwittingly helped the royal family with a great favor. It was then that the confrontation ended. This event helped the Beyond the Heavens Sect slowly reestablish itself, getting back the nine peaks and one garden.”
“With the third generation elders, everyone were great talents. One by one, all exceptional. It was believed that the sect would return to its former prosperity, but unexpectedly, because there were so many talents, it led to internal conflicts of the nine peaks and one garden. After a brutal fight, they killed each other. The Beyond the Heavens Sect once again suffered a major blow. The only thing that could have been done was to issue an order prohibit from fighting and killing each other. Until now, the nine peaks and one garden, with the exception of the garden of Junior Martial Brother Meng, every other place are all secretly plotting, hidden waves are crashing intensely. The ten top disciple from the eighth generation continue in mortal battles. It can be presumed that the Sect will suffer from large losses again.”
“The Beyond the Heavens Sect, those years, went from one of the top schools and depreciated to the point that it is now. Only a second rate school.”
Kong Jing Feng’s voice started out a little hesitant, but it became more and more heated. “Eldest Martial Brother, at first glance, the nine peaks and one garden, seems grand, but every place has its own agenda. Younger Brother thinks that it might be better not to have it at all!” (TLN: he’s saying it’s better to not separate the sect into ten areas)
“Our sect is so divided, there are surely traitors. The Beyond the Heavens sect is in a state of great danger. There were Seven Great Sects back then. Today, there are only six remaining. That open position for seventh has been eyed by Hong Chen Xuan and Xin Jian Zhai for a very long time now. They are our strongest opponents! But Divine Sword Pavilion and Black Blood Union both have blood feuds with us. They want to destroy us even more.” (TLN: More characters and sects, I will have to make a character reference sheet soon)
“The destiny of the Beyond the Heavens Sect is now like a bell hanging on a thread!” (TLN: the big bells in temples; basically a precarious situation) With a sad countenance, Kong Jing Feng said, “Eldest Martial Brother, we can’t not hurry!”
“What you’re saying, how could I not know?” Wu Yun Liang breathed a long sigh. “You’ve only talked about the Jiang Hu and external factors. But our true crisis, you have yet to talk about it.”
“Our Beyond the Heavens Sect, these past few years, there are almost six hundred male disciples in the eight generation. Some are useful, but that number is meager. On the part of the female disciples, ten years ago, there were no more than fifty. But now, there is almost one hundred fifty! Although they have limited potential; in looks, they are beautiful like flowers…”
Wu Yun Liang sighed. He put his hands together and walked to the window. He said quietly, “This is an omen of the death of our sect!”
“Beauty will only invite tragedy,” Wu Yun Liang said casually. “In a prosperous place like this, beauty is a resource. This is fundamentally the root of our curse. The condition of our Beyond the Heavens Sect now has become very urgent. Only waiting for the eighth generation to walk the Jiang Hu will naturally lead to endless disputes!”
“It is the root of trouble, but it also might be a resource!” Kong Jing Feng dismissively said, “Them walking in the Jiang Hu, that may give our Beyond the Heavens Sect a chance to recruit more support. We don’t yet know.”
“Do you think it is possible?” Wu Yun Liang sarcastically smiled. “Beauty in the eyes of the vast majority of the powerful, is only tool.”
“Currently, our Beyond the Heavens Sect suffers from chaos on the inside and enemies on the outside. If we follow your suggestion and force the nine peaks and one garden to become one around one power center, I am afraid that it will immediately cause division! The sect will fall into ruins.” Wu Yun Liang said heavily. “By then, if our external enemies took the opportunity to attack, our Beyond the Heavens Sect would be destroyed right away.”
“Severe illness can lead to excessive medicine use. Your words are not bad, however, if you are critically ill, you start to arbitrarily use medicine as you wish, this will only lead to death! Moreover, our enemies from afar, not just these…” Wu Yun Liang paused as if there were something else difficult to say.
Unconvinced, Kong Jing Feng said, “So should we just let it continue to decline? So just go with the will of the sect and let everything slowly go downhill?”
“We need to borrow external powers…” Whenever Wu Yun Liang spoke the word ‘borrow’ his face became very troubled, stressing each syllable, the look in his eyes was like someone facing drastic measures. Subsequently, he did not say anything and with a taciturn look, he turned toward the wall with the list of the thirty nine names and a single question mark. He looked at the list for a long time without speaking.
“But the other ones… the females disciples, how to handle that matter?” Kong Jing Feng let out his inner thoughts and immediately rose.
TLN: There’s been a bunch of edits since the first few minutes I put this up. I am truly sorry. m(__)m