As everyone looked up, a group of disciples inside the sect could be seen dashing towards the entrance, all of them uniformed in the Duanzhen Valley's black robe. Once the group had drawn closer, everyone's gaze was naturally drawn to the person at the front; after so much chatter about who would be the Duanzhen Valley leader for this mission, they were all curious about whether it would be Ye Tianlong or Wu Xiangtong. Yet, a single quick glance gave an unexpected surprise.
Wu Xiangtong was a part of the group, yes, but the gentle and quiet Wu Xiangtong had only come in the second position. The person at the lead was a fair-looking youth with a large saber behind his shoulders and a grin on his face.
The group of disciples just outside the sect entrance were all surprised. "Who is this? Is that the one from the rumors…?"
"I, Duanzhen Valley Leader Fang Xing, have brought along a total of ten disciples from our branch for this Duty Talisman mission. Please kindly verify!" Fang Xing loudly proclaimed to the elder responsible for managing this particular mission once he and his party had arrived.
When Fang Xing's identity was confirmed, everyone looked even more confused. Although there had been rumors going around about him beating both Shen Hujun and Murong Ying through unspeakable methods, his cultivation level was only in the fourth tier, right? With such a level, he shouldn't even be permitted to take this mission; how could he be his branch's leader?
Just what on earth was Duanzhen Valley's chief elder trying to play at?
"Okay. I believe you all know the rules for this mission and I don't have to repeat them again since your shifu should have already let you know. The Duty Talisman is right here. This mission is extremely important and dangerous, and you will all be facing off against demons and wild beasts. Please, stay safe. This will be considered a B-Grade mission for the lead disciples and a C-Grade mission for everyone else, and everyone will be rewarded accordingly upon return!"
"Thank you, Elder!" Fang Xing answered loud and clear, accepting the talisman before passing it off to Wu Xiangtong to keep safe. He then turned his gaze towards the rest of the disciples from the other branches and signaled for Wu Xiangtong to activate the spirit vessel they would use as the main form of transportation.
Almost immediately, Wu Xiangtong threw a miniature ship-like spirit tool into the air, and it soon expanded outward into a large ship called a spirit vessel. It utilized Spirit Stones as fuel to fly large distances, and even though its speed wasn't very fast and it was quite unwieldy, its size and capacity allowed it to carry a great amount of people and luggage. As the giant vessel stabilized, all of the disciples bowed towards the sect entrance before leaping or flying onto the vessel with [Levitation].
Xu Linyun was the only one who did not join them on the vessel and merely sat on her white crane while flying ahead. Her crane was much faster and agile than the spirit vessel, and thus she played the role of vanguard to alert everyone before trouble arrived.
Of course, Xu Linyun having her own mount was something that the other disciples all envied. Within the entire Qing-Yun Sect, the only other people aside from Xu Linyun and Xiao Jianming to have their own spirit beast as a mount were some of the higher-ranked elders. It was actually a lot harder than it seemed to have a spirit beast as a mount, as not only did the owner have to nurture and maintain a relationship with it, but the owner was also responsible for providing the mount with resources for cultivation. With all of these troublesome requirements, it was definitely a luxury to have a spirit beast mount, and anyone who could afford it was certainly out of the ordinary.
The entire spirit vessel vibrated and left the ground. The job of driving the spirit vessel was naturally assigned to a Duanzhen Valley disciple, as the valley's disciples also studied how to handle large spirit vessels used for transportation. Fang Xing had arrived on the vessel quite early and found a comfortable resting spot for himself. After he had made himself at home, he looked towards the cabin entrance with a cold smile, as though waiting for someone.
Just as expected, a cyan-robed woman soon entered the cabin following behind a group of Danxia Valley disciples. Her facial features were dainty, yet there was a tint of paleness as well. Her lips had a bright shade of red from cinnabar[1], and her robe was tailored to enhance her curvaceous features, making her even more tempting. This woman was none other than the one who had almost taken Fang Xing's life back at the Yunyin Summit—Lin Qinxue.
Before Fang Xing had even boarded the vessel, he had noticed that this woman was one of the disciples chosen from the Danxia Valley; her apathetic gaze had locked onto him as soon as he appeared. He had ignored her at the time, but he looked to her with unkindness now that she had boarded the ship, only for Lin Qinxue to unexpectedly only pass him by without even taking notice. When she drew close for a second, however, Fang Xing noticed a sudden tension in her muscles and a hint of her murderous intentions towards him. With Fang Xing's acute senses, he immediately knew that Lin Qinxue had never given up on killing him.
"Heh heh…." As Fang Xing watched Lin Qinxue pass in front of him, he let out a sudden laugh and turned towards Wu Xiangtong. "Shixiong Wu, look at this girl's thick a**...." Since Lin Qinxue clearly hadn't thought of letting him off, there was no way he'd let her go, either. Fang Xing decided to provoke her first; passively waiting to be provoked himself was not his style.
Upon hearing such words from Fang Xing, all of the disciples on the vessel turned their attention in unison towards the one who had made such a crude comment. All of their gazes were filled with horror, surprise, and astonishment, as though looking at a monster. In the world of cultivation, no one would have heard of anyone speaking in such a crude manner.
Although cultivators were naturally bound to worldly emotions and desires, they still sought tranquility and calm. Even a youth would most likely put on the appearance of a wise old man. Although it was possible for them to inwardly drool with lust at someone's curvaceous features, the most they would do was take another subtle look; just who would actually speak so bluntly?
Wu Xiangtong had his focus on the spirit tool that he was slowly wiping, and the tool slipped right out of his hands with a loud 'clang' sound. He quickly picked it up and spoke in nearly a whisper, "Little Shixiong Fang, please do not speak such words…."
Within the Qing-Yun Sect, there were no specific rules as to who was to be called Shixiong or who was called Shidi. When it came to such terms, as long as they were in the same general hierarchy, people would often just refer to each other based on either age or battle prowess, or just out of complete respect for the other person. It was not uncommon to see two people calling each other "Shixiong", and this was true for Wu Xiangtong and Fang Xing.
Fang Xing looked at Wu Xiangtong in surprise. "Why? Is that still too small for you?"
Wu Xiangtong shyly took a quick glance from the corner of his eyes, his face turning red. He remembered the advice from his shifu before their departure and didn't dare to lecture Fang Xing on his right or wrongs, but tried to softly persuade him instead, "We're all sisters and brothers from the same sect. It's not a good idea to say that her… you know, big or small, it's not very nice…."
Fang Xing gave Wu Xiangtong a look of derision before continuing, "You have no life experience whatsoever. Did you not know that big a**es are great for having lots of babies? I'm complimenting her. Let me ask you, when you're looking for a wife, isn't that something you'd be looking at, too?"
Wu Xiangtong continuously shook his head. "No!"
"Hrm, I agree though. This woman is a tramp who does not follow the teachings for women. If you married her, you'd only end up cheated on by her!" Fang Xing replied.
Wu Xiangtong was now truly flustered. "No, that's not the reason…."
Fang Xing looked at him with a face full of confusion. "You think she's not bad? Then you should hurry and go ask her out." Fang Xing then yelled out at Lin Qinxue, "Hey, busty! Our Shixiong Wu from Duanzhen Valley has taken a liking to you. How about you go sleep with him sometime."
"Uhh… ahh… um…." This caused Wu Xiangtong's face to grow even redder with embarrassment. He quickly walked to the front of the ship with his hands covering his face, no longer wishing to be sitting next to Fang Xing any longer.
The ship was so quiet that only Wu Xiangtong's hasty footsteps could be heard, while everyone else looked at Fang Xing with anger. To use such words against a female disciple was more dishonorable than any insult! There might be hatred and feuds between different disciples, but there was almost no one who would insult someone so blatantly!
From afar, Qin Xing'er and the dark-faced man also halted in their steps at such a sight. They had originally wanted to come by and greet Fang Xing, but now both of them walked to the side while cringing their brows. It could be said that with these few sentences, Fang Xing had successfully earned himself a great deal of notoriety, and anyone who was friendly to him now would likely follow suit.
"You…. How shameless!" Lin Qinxue was shaking with anger, but she controlled herself without letting it erupt and merely stabbed at Fang Xing with her hateful gaze. Beside her stood another Danxia Valley disciple in the same cyan-colored dress who began to point at and scold Fang Xing instead. There were also three or four more female disciples from Danxia Valley close by, all of whom wore unfriendly expressions towards Fang Xing.
Fang Xing looked to the female who had pointed at him and scolded with derision, "Yo, black eel, I wasn't even talking about you, so why are you yelling?"
The female disciple that Fang Xing had named "black eel" was slightly tanned[2], but her features were nevertheless nothing short of beautiful. She had always taken offense when people mentioned her skin tone, and now that Fang Xing had called her "black eel" so directly, her teeth began to grit with annoyance. "Stupid brat, who do you think you are to be so vulgar? You're the black eel!"
"Black eel, why are you so dark?"
As though something had been triggered within, the woman was so furious that she was about to dash over, only to be stopped by someone at her side. The disciples had been strictly commanded not to fight with each other before they left; it could be said that if anyone decided to start a physical conflict, they would be punished upon return no matter their reason. At bare minimum, the mission's rewards would certainly be gone.
"Where in Qing-Yun did such a disgusting disciple come from?"
"That's right, acting like a bandit, does he even know how to spell 'dishonor'?"
"How do we have such a person in our sect? This is downright disgraceful!"
A few Danxia Valley disciples gave up on the thought of violence and began to attack Fang Xing with words instead.
Fang Xing didn't mind and cursed back at them one at a time. "Hey, short potato, were you the one that said I'm not cultured? If you're so cultured, why are you so short?
"Crater face, where's your appearance after joining the Qing-Yun Sect? You couldn't find anyone that could fix it for you before you joined, huh?
"Oh, and you, you're so flat you look like a man. Don't tell anyone that we're from the same sect; I don't want to lose any face…."
"..."
The verbal war that soon followed was so intense and large-scale, it could even be recorded in the Qing-Yun Sect's historical records.
[1] cinnabar: a bright red mineral. Commonly used in the old days as a form of aesthetic pigment (makeup) such as lipstick and blush.
[2] In Chinese culture, tanned skinned is viewed as unattractive. Pale skin is a sign of beauty as well as a symbol of wealth, as rich girls don't need to expose their skin to the harsh sunlight to do jobs such as farming and hard labor.