Xiao Xinghe

"Hello, Senior Brother Dong!"

"Hello, Senior Brother Dong."

In the last two chairs sat a young man and woman, both cultivators dressed in inner disciple robes.

They rose to greet Dong Lin.

A trace of dissatisfaction seemed to flash through the male cultivator's eyes as he looked at Dong Lin,

but he concealed it well and did not reveal it.

Dong Lin studied the two of them. "And you are?"

"Oh, these two? One is Xiao Xinghe, and the other is Su Lin.

They are honorary disciples Master accepted a few years ago.

Their talent in thunder arts is average, nothing compared to yours, Junior Brother.

They usually do not live on the mountain, so I suppose none of you senior brothers remember them."

Fourth Senior Brother Lu Heng stepped forward to explain.

Everyone nodded in understanding. If not for their master gathering all his disciples together this time,

many of them would not even have known these two probationary disciples existed.

A satisfied smile appeared on Zheng Huayuan's face.

"Good, everyone is here. Since you have all gotten acquainted, we shall hold a banquet today to welcome Dong Lin!"

"Yes!" everyone answered in unison.

After adding one another as friends through their jade tokens, they headed for the banquet.

The dinner was truly lavish, and Dong Lin nearly had to lean against a wall on his way out.

All kinds of delicacies and rare treasures broadened Dong Lin's horizons.

Since it was his first time consuming these heavenly treasures,

his cultivation improved considerably as well. The spiritual energy in his dantian increased by more than ten units.

His divine sense grew somewhat stronger too. The most outstanding dish at the banquet was the meat of a third-rank spirit beast, the Wild Iron Bull.

It was practically an intense body-tempering session for Dong Lin, leaving him exhausted.

Normally, the meat of such high-level exotic beasts was an excellent supplementary resource for body cultivators.

It ruthlessly tempered Dong Lin's originally frail body.

Immortal cultivators generally did not pay much attention to training their bodies, resulting in the generally poor physical condition of cultivators.

Though they were far stronger than ordinary mortals, they were often no match for martial artists who had begun body cultivation.

As a result, cultivators were relatively weak in close combat and greatly feared being drawn into close-range entanglements.

They generally relied only on body-tempering pills or meat to barely strengthen their physical foundations.

After this banquet, Dong Lin's physical strength had increased by a great deal.

This delighted Dong Lin immensely.

"Getting stronger just by eating—there aren't many good things like that."

Back in Thunderwave Hall, Dong Lin silently digested the many precious ingredients he had just consumed.

Little did he know that at the foot of the mountain, Xiao Xinghe's face was so gloomy it seemed ready to drip water.

"Senior Brother Xiao, are you all right?" Su Lin asked with concern as she looked at the sullen Xiao Xinghe.

"It's nothing. Junior Sister Su, go back first. I need to discuss something with Steward Cao."

"Oh, all right. Goodbye, Senior Brother."

Xiao Xinghe and Su Lin were both inner disciples of Heaven Sect.

Xiao Xinghe had been born into the Xiao Household of Cloudfall Commandery City in Hanlin Province, while Su Lin had been born into the Su Household of Redwater Commandery City in Hanlin Province.

As the eldest daughter of the Su Household, Su Lin was also the only child of the Su Household's head.

She had lived in luxury since childhood and had been showered with affection.

Her father, Su Que, had obtained this honorary disciple position for her at great cost because he feared she would be bullied within the sect.

Su Lin herself had not put in any effort, nor had she asked for much.

Unlike Su Lin, Xiao Xinghe was merely an ordinary member of his Lineage.

He had no idea how great a price he had paid to obtain this honorary disciple position.

Unlike Su Lin, that little girl, who at least possessed faint thunder-element affinity,

Xiao Xinghe had only caught Elder Zheng's eye after much maneuvering and coordination, along with a joint recommendation from a chief steward and several stewards.

Xiao Xinghe, however, was a gifted cultivator with an elemental affinity of sixty-nine and affinities for both fire and water.

Ever since he had embarked on cultivation, he had received the Lineage's attention.

Although his talent far surpassed that of most of his cousins,

he was still inferior to the two geniuses from the main branch of the Lineage head.

He had always been suppressed by those two cousins on the path of cultivation.

By a stroke of luck, he had earned the appreciation of a Heaven Sect manager,

who brought Xiao Xinghe into Heaven Sect.

From then on, Xiao Xinghe's life took off like a rocket, as if he had been granted a cheat.

In his second year after entering the sect, he successfully joined the inner sect through his talent.

But after entering the inner sect, Xiao Xinghe discovered that his talent was nothing remarkable there.

Geniuses chosen from one in ten thousand were everywhere in Heaven Sect's inner sect.

The selection to enter Heaven Sect was already strict enough, and as for entering the inner sect,

it required both talent and perseverance. Neither could be lacking.

Thus, unwilling to spend his days being trampled beneath the feet of heaven's favored as a stepping stone, Xiao Xinghe began making plans.

While traveling outside, Xiao Xinghe had once obtained a copy of the Thunderstorm Technique and a Mystic Thunder Crystal from a hidden mountain cave abode.

Xiao Xinghe had originally intended to sell them for money, but then another idea occurred to him.

For Xiao Xinghe had once heard some rumors within the sect.

Black Mountain's Thunder Division had not recruited a suitable thunder-art cultivator for many years,

and intended to select some inner disciples with talent for thunder-element cultivation

to train as honorary disciples.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Xinghe began scheming.

On one hand, through his father's connections within the Lineage, he obtained several extremely precious

magical treasures capable of advancing thunder-art cultivation.

Then, by using the dense thunder-attributed spiritual energy within the Mystic Thunder Crystal, he successfully began cultivating the Thunderstorm Technique.

After arduous effort, he successfully obtained a position as an honorary disciple of the Thunder Division.

Two years had passed. With the Lineage's support, Xiao Xinghe had just obtained a Black Tier Foundation Establishment Pill and successfully achieved Foundation Establishment.

Looking at the Thunder Division, which had not accepted any newcomers for years, he had been planning to use this Foundation Establishment breakthrough

to earn Elder Zheng's recognition and realize his dream of becoming a personal disciple. But Dong Lin's arrival quietly shattered that dream.

Xiao Xinghe watched this immature youth, who had only just reached the Mid Qi Refining Stage, effortlessly obtain the position he had dreamed of.

Jealousy and resentment immediately filled him. The goal he had striven toward for years had been taken by someone else,

leaving Xiao Xinghe furious.

"There probably isn't any chance, Brother Cao."

Amid his unwillingness, Xiao Xinghe revealed a trace of helplessness.

A heaven's favored genius who had entered the cultivation world less than a year ago, yet had already caught Master's attention and been accepted as a personal disciple—

how could he compare to someone like Xiao Xinghe, who had only barely entered the Foundation Establishment realm at thirty with the help of a Foundation Establishment Pill, and who, more importantly, possessed such mediocre talent in thunder arts?

"Junior Brother Xiao, there may still be a turn for the better."

After a moment of silence, Cao Xuan said something startling.

Hearing this, Xiao Xinghe seemed to have grasped a lifeline.

He took two steps closer to Cao Xuan.

"Brother, tell me. What should I do?"

"Don't be hasty, Junior Brother. He is a personal disciple, and the mountain has just been sealed.

During the period of the mountain's closure, it will be difficult to do anything.

We will have to wait until the mountain is reopened before discussing it further."

Cao Xuan patted Xiao Xinghe on the shoulder.

"Five years? But..."

Xiao Xinghe hesitated.

"Five years is not a short time. What if that brat grows into something by then?"

"Don't worry. He has only just entered the Mid Qi Refining Stage.

I had already investigated Dong Lin's background in detail before you came.

Give him five years, and at most he will reach the Foundation Establishment Early Stage.

Dealing with a Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivator will be easy."

Do I really have to endure another five years?

Though unwilling, Xiao Xinghe could only nod helplessly.