Chapter 131: Induction (Patreon)

When Hu Chen felt the ripple in the Dao of Earth, he had just begun to contemplate whether he should just leave. He had, after all, been sitting and waiting here for several hours now without hearing back from Meixiu Xia or anyone else and the sun was about to set. Perhaps, he’d thought, they’d just forgotten about him.

Those thoughts vanished in insignificance when his soul sense picked up on that ripple, a subtle shift in the fabric of reality. It was similar to the feeling of a Dao Contemplation Cultivator breaking through to the next stage, but it was not the same. Hu Chen had only felt this particular kind of event once before: It was the result of a cultivator reaching the Dao Contemplation Realm in the first place.

It took a moment for him to process this information, then another one to understand who must have been the one to ascend just now. He drew in a sharp breath as he realized the full scope of events that had just gone down. If he was correct in his assumptions, the person he had just witnessed swear himself as a disciple to Elder Xia was not just any senior member of the Peng Family, it was its future leader!

Hu Chen’s hands began to tremble, and he put down his cup of tea – which had long cooled down – before he could spill anything. He’d just been made an accomplice in a political coup of monumental proportions against his will.

He closed his eyes and tried to steady his breathing. He knew and had always known that he was just a pawn for the Pillar Families’ Heads to play as they wanted. Still, this was an entirely new degree of it. Not only was it even more blatant than anything he’d been made to do before, but it was also an entirely self-serving move by Elder Xia and would put him into a terrible position with the other Pillar Families, should his involvement ever come to light.

Hu Chen wiped the cold sweat of his forehead and realized he’d curled his hands into fists without noticing. He hated being treated like this. He hated Elder Xia for putting him in this position, he hated the Pillar Families for making him their pawn in the first place and more than anything he hated his own cowardice for making him continue to play along.

Before he had the time to lament any further, the door opened and a servant entered.

“Excuse me, Elder Chen, but Elder Xia has sent for you. She asked me to escort you to the estate’s reception hall.”

Answering only with a short nod, Hu Chen rose and wordlessly followed the servant out of the room. As he walked down the corridor, a question occurred to him: How should he address Hao Peng now?

On the one hand, he wasn’t technically an elder until he had been inducted into the council by the patriarch. On the other hand, addressing him as a senior member now that he had reached the Dao Contemplation Realm might be construed as a slight, especially coming from someone like him who was now both lower in status and probably already weaker than the Peng Family’s new head.

Hu Chen hadn’t yet found a resolution to the conundrum when he arrived at the Peng Family’s reception hall. Inside stood Elder Xia and Hao Peng alongside a small group of people – all of the Dao Attunement Realm –, some of he knew to be members of the Peng Family’s leadership.

“Elder Chen. I believe you can see now why I wanted to spare you the hassle of leaving prematurely?”

“Of course, Elder Xia. I must thank you…”, he turned to Hao Peng, “…because it afforded me the honor of being among the first to congratulate you for your breakthrough and for joining the ranks of us elders.”

Hu Chen bowed deeply.

“I thank you for your praise, Elder Chen.”

Hao Peng nodded, but unlike earlier he didn’t bow anymore. Hu Chen forewent lingering on the dismissive treatment, instead feeling glad he had managed to avoid the dilemma of how to address him.

“It is only natural. Occurrences like this are a rarity after all.”

Hu Chen moved to join the group. The Peng Family’s members were all feigning excitement as they congratulated Hao Peng again and again, but it was rather obvious that in truth, none of them were too happy about his breakthrough. Many of them would probably have hoped to be the one to achieve his position themselves, something that would now be blocked for them, probably for the remainder of their lives, and even the ones who hadn’t held that hope were probably somewhat aware that their family was currently being made subservient to another.

After a while of sustaining a polite if tense conversation, Elder Xia spoke up, addressing the Peng Family’s members.

“If I may interject, with all due respect, I believe it would be appropriate if you gave your family head some space. We are about to receive some more company.”

Indeed, it didn’t take long before Hu Chen’s soul sense picked up on several approaching figures as well.

Elder Zheng Rong was the first to enter, followed shortly by Elder Liang. While their expressions, unlike those of the Peng Family’s members were inscrutable to Hu Chen, he knew that it was highly likely that those two had been involved in the internal conflict of the Peng Family themselves and he hypothesized that they had rushed here in an attempt to start mending their relationship with the new Elder as quickly as possible.

As the other elders arrived one after the other, Hu Chen did his best to do what he always did when the elders gathered in one place: slink into the background. He wanted neither to answer questions of why he had been here before the other elders, nor to be drawn into any potential developments between the factions and individual interests.

Luckily, becoming part of the background was one of the few things that Hu Chen was genuinely good at. It wasn’t so much a stealth technique like those that someone like Elder Zhong could apply to achieve the same, as it was simply the fact that, by comparison, he truly was a rather insignificant individual. So long as he projected that fact outwards, remained quiet and stayed somewhat off to the side while also not breaching from the crowd, he would simply slip out of the other elder’s attention beyond a couple of polite phrases that he’d occasionally exchange.

This time however, a while after he’d ‘disappeared’, Hu Chen suddenly felt a gaze resting on him for an extended period of time. When he turned around, starred into the eyes of one of the elders he feared the most: Liu Wei. He seemed to be contemplating something, though he gave him a polite nod when their eyes met.

Before Hu Chen could figure out how to respond, his attention was drawn away by a newly arrived presence: Graceful and dignified as always, Patriarch Zhao strode into the hall with measured steps. He did as the other elders did, bowing in deference as the man who seemed to exude authority like no other, he had ever met walked past them and towards Hao Peng.

“I see the Peng Family has finally brought forth a new elder. Hao Peng, formally senior member of the Lunar Peaks Sect, allow me to formally congratulate you for your breakthrough. As anyone present here can attest to, what you have accomplished is no small feat.”

Hao Peng bowed deeply before he answered.

“I am deeply humbled by your gracious praise, esteemed Patriarch. I only hope that I will be worthy of it.”

“As our ancestral customs dictate, your accomplishment today already proves your worth. In accordance with that, you shall be inducted into the council of elders by my hand. Please kneel in deference to our ancestors.”

Hao Peng fell to one knee and lowered his head.

“Hao of the Peng Family. From this point onwards, you shall carry the title of an elder of the Lunar Peaks Sect, and you may don the appropriate robes and symbols to signify that position. To the outside world, your world shall carry the endorsement of the sect and to those inside the sect it shall be that of a leader who helps to guide our path.”

It was a ritualistic induction just like the one Hu Chen had received himself over fifty years ago, but right now it reminded him only of the eerily similar scene he had witnessed take place earlier this day. As the newest elder of their sect rose, Hu Chen couldn’t help but glance at Meixiu Xia. As was to be expected, her face didn’t express the slightest hint of her dealings.

After Hao Peng’s induction into the council had been completed and everyone had congratulated him once more, the gathering soon began to resolve. Hu Chen left the room when about a third of the elders had bid their farewells. He was never among the first to leave a gathering and never among the last to stay behind.

As he walked out of the Peng Family’s estate and strolled towards the forest, he pondered what the events he witnessed today might mean for the future of the sect. The past couple of years had been pleasantly peaceful for him, a welcome respite from the flurry of events that had shaken the sect before. Now, he had a feeling that this peace wouldn’t last much longer.

Hu Chen stopped in place and looked at the sky, sighing. He didn’t have too many years left in him anyway. He was already pushing three hundred years of age, the base expected natural lifespan of a cultivator of his level. While most tended to live a little longer in practice, someone with a botched cultivation like his certainly couldn’t expect that. All that he still dared to want from his life was to spend this last small part of it in peace.

So caught up in his lamentations was Hu Chen that he completely neglected to pay attention to his surroundings or even his soul sense. So when a voice called out for him just as he was preparing to take off into the air, he flinched in surprise.

“Elder Chen. A moment of your time.”

“O-Oh my, E-Elder Wei. Yes… Yes, of course. How can I help you?”

Elder Wei had approached him from behind. His white hair and beard shone in the moonlight like freshly fallen snow and his face was filled with the same contemplative expression he had carried earlier.

“My apologies, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s nothing, I was just… lost in thought.”

Hu Chen awkwardly tried to laugh it off in an attempt to hide his nervousness. Was Elder Wei suspecting something? Could he possibly have caught onto something already? If Hu Chen recalled correctly, he had been one of the last people to arrive at the reception hall, so he couldn’t have known of his early presence.

“You see… there’s something I’d like to discuss with you in private. I’d appreciate if you could take the time to visit me on one of the following evenings.”

Hu Chen paused for a moment. That didn’t sound like an accusation… but it also sounded immensely terrifying! Still, it was not like he could just turn down an invitation like that… especially since that would make him seem incredibly suspicious. And at least it was an invitation extended in person, not through a servant like those of the Pillar Families he so often received.

“I… of course. I don’t have a lot on my schedule right now, so I could visit you as early as tomorrow, if that is to your liking.”

“Hmm… Yes, that would be great.”

“I assume I shall meet you at the Training Hall’s headquarters?”

“If possible, I’d rather you come to my private abode. As I mentioned, this is a private matter.”

Hu Chen barely kept himself from flinching. Elder Wei’s residence was located deep in the forest without adjacent settlement. There was no reason to suspect Elder Wei was intending to harm him… but if he wanted to, there’d be no one to help him there. In truth, it didn’t matter, he supposed. The difference in power between the two was large enough that a single gesture would suffice to end Hu Chen’s existence where he stood.

“I see. Then I will come to your pagoda at sunset.”

“Thank you for taking the time. I bid you a good night, Elder Chen.”

“It’s nothing, Elder Wei. Have a good night as well.”

Hu Chen bowed and Liu Wei returned the gesture. Then, the Lunar Peaks Sect’s most powerful elder took off and disappeared into the night sky. Once he was gone, Hu Chen’s shoulders sacked. What in the world was he getting himself into?