Why Was There Such a Huge Difference Between People?

Today was a good day, when everything his heart desired could come true...

Chu Xinghe shook off his earlier gloom and skipped all the way back to his residence.

"Junior brother, you seem to have gotten what you wanted. You're in such a good mood," Feng Fei said, smiling at Chu Xinghe.

"You're right, senior brother!" Chu Xinghe nodded and smiled.

"Make sure you don't let the great elder's painstaking efforts go to waste."

Feng Fei had clearly misunderstood. He thought Chu Xinghe was happy because he had gotten the methods for obtaining the divine swords, but that wasn't the only thing that made Chu Xinghe happy. There was also the news Shen Chun had brought him.

Still, reminded of the divine swords, Chu Xinghe hurriedly opened the paper and looked it over.

Of the five swords, the great elder knew the locations of four: Falling Star, Marquis of Xinting, Lone Swan, and Spirit Slayer.

The fifth was called Hidden Moon. The great elder only had a rough idea of its location, not its exact whereabouts, so he hadn't written it down.

Of the remaining four swords, Spirit Slayer was the only one without an exact method for obtaining it. The specific methods for obtaining Falling Star, Marquis of Xinting, and Lone Swan were all written down, and even the cultivation path each divine sword suited was explained in perfect detail.

It was plain to see that for Chu Xinghe's sake, the great elder had truly taken backroom dealing all the way to the end!

Feng Fei was stunned for a moment after reading it.

"The great elder really put his heart into this. This is probably the first time there's ever been a record this detailed."

There wasn't a thing wrong with what Feng Fei said.

As the number one sect under heaven, the Vast Heaven Sect was not only powerful, but also generally fair.

When the Spirit Tomb opened, the elders of the various palaces would usually find ways to look after their own children, but ordinarily they would just tell them that such-and-such was a better fit for them, that it might be in a certain place, or that there might be a certain method...

That was about as far as it went.

Anyone who received that kind of information was basically being treated by the elders as their own flesh and blood.

But what the great elder had written for Chu Xinghe... good heavens... how was this a hint? The only thing missing was for the great elder to go into the Spirit Tomb himself, fetch the divine swords, and lay them out in front of Chu Xinghe for him to pick from.

Everyone else sneaked their disciples a bite to eat. The great elder had pried Chu Xinghe's mouth open, stuffed food inside, and shoved it all the way into his stomach with a fire poker. Afraid Chu Xinghe might have trouble digesting it, he even tossed in a couple of digestive tablets at the end.

So even Feng Fei was a little shocked after reading it.

But Feng Fei didn't think the great elder had gone too far at all. After all, as Feng Fei saw it, Chu Xinghe was certain to walk a path that would lead him to take charge of the Spirit Crane Palace one day, so the great elder would spare no expense to pave that road for him.

"You're right, senior brother. The great elder was probably worried I wouldn't understand." From Feng Fei's expression, Chu Xinghe could tell just how deep the great elder's backroom dealings went.

"Memorize these, then burn the paper," Feng Fei reminded him.

"All right!"

After carefully committing every word to memory, Chu Xinghe burned the paper to ashes in front of Feng Fei.

"Junior brother, remember to keep a low profile. It's enough for you to know these things yourself; you mustn't go giving other people directions at random," Feng Fei cautioned him.

"Don't worry, senior brother!"

Perhaps the rice dumplings that morning had worked, or perhaps it was because he was in a good mood, but that night, his dreams were all sweet.

The next morning, Chu Xinghe went back to watching things rise from the ground while thinking over the next step in his plan.

That afternoon, Chu Xinghe received word that the Spirit Tomb would open early the next morning. Because the sect master was in seclusion, the great elder would personally preside over this Spirit Tomb Gathering.

Once the news came out, disciples from every side had thoughts of their own.

Although some had gotten inside information in advance, it would have been a lie to say they weren't nervous. Even if the information was accurate, they couldn't be sure whether someone else had received the same information.

After all, when it came to backroom dealings like these, the elders of the various factions couldn't exactly sit down for a meeting to discuss where your disciple would go and where mine would go.

So it wasn't entirely impossible for the same information to be given out more than once. If that happened, it would come down to whoever got there first.

Of course, Chu Xinghe's case was unique in the entire Vast Heaven Sect. The locations of the sect's divine swords were not normally disclosed to disciples. Unless an exceptionally suitable disciple appeared, there was no way to obtain one.

Aside from those people, most were ordinary inner disciples of the Vast Heaven Sect. Outer disciples weren't qualified to enter the Spirit Tomb; only after advancing from the outer sect to the inner sect could they enter with the next batch of disciples.

The Vast Heaven Sect had recruited three thousand disciples from across the world this time, and this Spirit Tomb Gathering could be said to determine the future fates of many of them.

Get a good spirit weapon, and the road ahead would be smoother; otherwise, it would be full of bumps and hurdles.

So after the news spread, disciples could be seen in groups of three or five in practically every palace, discussing the Spirit Tomb Gathering. But it wasn't worth a damn, since apart from learning a little about the Spirit Tomb from some senior brothers, the rest wasn't worth a damn.

Which spirit weapon was good, and which suited them? Only a ghost would know.

Amid the nervousness of countless people and the excitement of a very select few, the Spirit Tomb Gathering arrived as scheduled.

Three thousand inner disciples gathered on the training ground outside Haotian Palace, at the very center of the Vast Heaven Sect. Though Chu Xinghe stood at the very edge, he was still the focus of everyone's attention.

"The guy who became a core disciple faster than anyone in history..."

"The black disciple robes he's wearing look so cool..."

"The gold thread woven into them looks even cooler. What a pity. If only I were the one wearing them."

"A core disciple... I wonder when I'll become one!"

"Stop dreaming. To become an elite disciple, you need to have at least reached Great Martial Master and have merits to your name. As for becoming a core disciple, even spending your whole life working at it won't help. Every one of the sect's core disciples is personally chosen by an elder, and they're all destined to become formidable figures in the sect."

Waves of discussion kept reaching him, some pleasant and some not, but Chu Xinghe didn't care in the least.

"Silence!"

With that command, the great elder walked onto the raised platform. His gaze swept over the many disciples below, and he began to speak.

First came a round of praise for the sect.

Then he told the disciples that being able to enter the Vast Heaven Sect meant their ancestral graves were billowing green smoke, and they should cherish the opportunity.

Finally, he gave a brief introduction to the rules of the Spirit Tomb.

The rules were simple: once inside, they could go wherever they liked, but each person had only half a day. If they couldn't choose a suitable spirit weapon within the allotted time, the sect would forcibly assign them a spirit weapon of the lowest grade.

This was also a warning to those who aimed too high: piss in a puddle and take a good look at your reflection to see what you were. Don't set your heart on divine weapons and sharp blades, only to end up drawing water with a bamboo basket.

The great elder's words weren't pleasant to hear, but that was how things stood.

When the great elder finished speaking, the raised platform behind him descended. As it went down, a path leading behind Haotian Palace appeared before everyone.

This was the path to the Spirit Tomb.

Under the guidance of the sect's disciples, everyone began entering the Spirit Tomb one after another.

Chu Xinghe noticed that before he entered the Spirit Tomb, the great elder nodded at him, seemingly deliberately yet seemingly not. It was meant to encourage him.

Chu Xinghe followed the main group through the Spirit Tomb's underground passage and finally entered the tomb through a gate filled with white mist.

What met their eyes was a world resembling an underground cavern. Countless enormous stones stood before them at uneven heights.

All kinds of spirit weapons could be seen embedded in these enormous stones, but they all looked covered in dust at the moment, making it impossible to tell which were better or worse.

While Chu Xinghe was surveying the terrain, some people had already set off. Clearly, these were probably the ones who had received inside information, and they were likely heading for the spirit weapons they had in mind.

But more people stood where they were, looking bewildered. As far as the eye could see, there were too many paths and stones to count, to say nothing of the spirit weapons on them. How were they supposed to choose? It was entirely down to luck.

As Chu Xinghe pondered how to carry out his plan, a clear voice came from behind him.

"Excuse me, are you Senior Brother Chu Xinghe?" A delicate young woman walked toward him.

Chu Xinghe glanced at the young woman's chest... Holy shit... so big... no, wait... that's the Hill Forest Palace emblem... That's right, Chu Xinghe only wanted to see where she was from; he didn't care about the size.

"Hello, junior sister. I'm Chu Xinghe."

"Senior Brother Xinghe, my name is Wan Lin. You're a core disciple, so you should know more than we do. I was wondering if you could help us..."

The others behind her also turned their gazes to Chu Xinghe, but the young woman was prepared to be refused. After all, the Spirit Tomb concerned everyone's own interests, and an ordinary person might not be willing to spend precious time helping others.

But just as the young woman had prepared herself for rejection, Chu Xinghe spoke. "There's no need to be so formal, Junior Sister Wan Lin. Although I'm a core disciple, I know about as much as you do. But I can't shirk my duty to help my fellow disciples. If none of you mind, you can follow me, and I'll do my best to point you in the right direction."

"Ah! Thank you, Senior Brother Xinghe!" Wan Lin and the disciples behind her were so excited they nearly jumped for joy.

Wan Lin's eyes sparkled as she looked at Chu Xinghe. She had heard rumors that he was a righteous man who had risked himself to stand up for someone from his hometown, and that after entering the Spirit Crane Palace, he had earned the praise of countless fellow disciples. Wan Lin had thought they were just rumors, but she had never expected Chu Xinghe, a core disciple, to be so easy to talk to. It made her feel that rumors could be trusted sometimes after all.

"And all the other junior brothers and sisters, if you don't know which way to go, you can follow me too. I'll do my best to point you in the right direction." Chu Xinghe raised his arm and called out, immediately drawing cheers from countless bewildered disciples.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Xinghe!"

"Now I'm truly convinced. No wonder Senior Brother Xinghe became a core disciple!"

"Exactly, exactly... You don't know this, but I ran into a core disciple a few days ago. I called him senior brother, and he didn't even acknowledge me!"

"They're both core disciples, so why is there such a huge difference between them as people?"

Countless people shouted about how righteous Senior Brother Xinghe was as they followed in Chu Xinghe's footsteps.

What Chu Xinghe didn't know, however, was that at that moment, a group of elders in Haotian Palace were silently watching everything happening inside the Spirit Tomb through the Haotian Mirror.

The great elder stood at the front. When he saw that Chu Xinghe was willing to guide his fellow disciples, he felt both gratified and helpless.

He was gratified because Chu Xinghe was such a good-natured child. Even if they weren't disciples of the Spirit Crane Palace, as long as they were fellow disciples of the Vast Heaven Sect, he was willing to step forward and help them.

What left him feeling helpless was that doing this would cost Chu Xinghe a great deal of time, and he might ultimately fail to obtain a divine sword himself.

The other elders also nodded at the sight. They all understood how things worked. Everyone knew about backroom dealings; they just couldn't say it out loud.

Look at their own disciples: every one of them had rushed straight toward the place they had been told about as soon as they entered, afraid they would fall behind and miss out on something good. But looking at Chu Xinghe, everyone knew he must have received the great elder's guidance too, and that it was probably even better than what they had given their disciples.

But what about Chu Xinghe?

When his fellow disciples asked for help, he hadn't hesitated for an instant. That alone had won over more than half the elders present.

As the saying went, when judging a disciple, one couldn't look only at talent; one had to look at character too.