Chapter 707: First Disciple
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Lin Feng retrieved the jade plaques and looked at the group of immediate disciples and said with a smiled, "My words don't change. Everything that is carved here is used for our sect's internal succession. I hope that one day, you will be able to make a name for yourselves outside."
Xiao Yan and the rest looked at Lin Feng and bowed solemnly and said, "We will not disappoint you, master. We will continue to do our best to raise the prestige of our sect."
Lin Feng smiled and waved his hand, "I have always been very pleased with you lot."
His gaze turned to the screen of light next to him and continued, "All of you are pleased with your disciples too."
Xiao Yan and the rest began to laugh. The group of them looked at Yang Qing and Xiao Yan said with a smile, "None of them is more outstanding than Yuncong, who is under Fifth Disciple."
Yang Qing could not help but to chuckle along with the other disciples.
The rest of them continued to smile and said nothing. Actually, Zhou Yuncong's status as the First Disciple had already been decided before the spiritual conference. While it was partially due to the effort Yang Qing had spent in training him, he himself played a role too.
If not, the position of the First Disciple of the Nirvana World would still be empty. As Yang Qing planned to continue taking in disciples, it should not be empty for too long.
Furthermore, Zhou Yuncong had already progressed from the Beginner Foundation Establishment Stage to the Intermediate Foundation Establishment Stage. He had started to form his spiritual altar and began to cultivate the Great Celestial Way of the Eight Trigrams.
While it was not a very systemic training, under Yang Qing's guidance, his foundation was well-established.
It was not because of favouritism on Yang Qing's part, but Lin Feng's special instructions instead. Xiao Yan and the rest knew about it.
Speaking about it, while it may be unfair to the other disciples, Zhou Yuncong's situation was simply too unique. It was extremely dangerous for Yang-Incinerating Entities to cultivate and any mistake may result in self-immolation. In an instant, he may be reduced to ashes with no hope of redemption.
If he did not carefully study the ways of the Great Celestial Way of the Eight Trigrams, or if he did not listen carefully to his master's prompts, Zhou Yuncong may make an irredeemable mistake.
Chen Xingyu of the Great Void Sect was taught the Yin Yang Mantra of the Void by Lin Daohan, who spent a lot of effort following his progress. He did not dare to neglect anything, for the consequences would be a frosty death for Chen Xingyu.
In comparison to Pure Yin and Pure Yang entities, Yin-Terminating and Yang-Incinerating entities were much better at battling. However, the price to pay was an extremely dangerous cultivation process filled with traps.
Lin Feng looked at Yang Qing and said, "Through this spiritual conference, Yuncong was able to increase his experiences. Now, his foundation has been well-established. You can begin to teach him the Great Celestial Way of the Eight Trigrams in earnest in preparation for his core formation."
Yang Qing nodded his head and said, "I understand."
Lin Feng looked at him and said with a smile, "Don't forget your own cultivation too. I know that you are very confident of passing the Tribulation of the Yin Wind now."
"Handing Yuncong over to you is good for both you and him."
Yang Qing smiled and said, "Relax, master. I don't dare to forget about such an important thing."
Lin Feng looked at Xiao Yan and the rest and said, "All of you know what to do after this conference too."
"For the Inferno Precipice, the position of First Disciple is likely to remain empty," said Xiao Yan. "Lin Tong is not yet mentally ready and hence, she can't assume such an important role. Furthermore, neither I nor Zhen'er want her to bear such a heavy responsibility at such a young age."
After discussion with his fellow disciples, the First Disciple would also be responsible for the cultivation of the other successive disciples. If Xiao Yan and the rest were to do closed-door trainings for themselves, then the First Disciple would be in for a long and difficult period.
Even if they did their closed-door training in the Heavenly Cosmic Ray World, the flow of time in the Greater world would not slow. Furthermore, the few of them still wanted to venture beyond Mount Yujing.
"For the little fatty Wuwei, while he matured, he is not suitable for the position of the First Disciple because of his mentality and his mastery level," said Xiao Yan, shaking his head. "Liu Xiafeng isn't too bad, but he is too free-spirited."
"Before this conference, he was hell-bent on challenging Zhou Yuncong. In the end, he almost lost his Grand Sun Primordial Flame. Hence, his performance during the spiritual conference was lacklustre."
Shi Tianhao smiled and asked, "Big Senior, you won't punish him because of that, right?"
Xiao Yan smiled and said, "How could I? In my opinion, his personality matches mine the best. He believes in brotherhood and he is well-respected in both the Inferno Precipice and the entire sect."
"However, with a personality like his, he is not suitable to become my First Disciple, at least not now," sighed Xiao Yan. "He still needs a period of training, if not, while he may have the burst, he cannot last long. Also, he does what his heart tells him to and he seeks short-term thrills. He cannot see far ahead into the future and in some cases, he may worsen a situation."
As Xiao Yan said that, he also drew from his own personal experiences. He like Liu Xiafeng's personality as he himself liked freedom too.
After Lin Feng placed the responsibility of the First Disciple on him, he underwent many trials and tribulations. In comparison to his youthful self, many of his views changed. He was still head-strong, proud and loud, but in many other things he acted bravely and thoughtfully.
"You have another person in mind, don't you? That's why you can't make up your mind?" Lin Feng looked at Xiao Yan and asked with a smile.
"Hehe, I can't hide anything from master," laughed Xiao Yan
The other disciples watched this exchange, confused. Zhu Yi's gaze flashed and then he smiled while pointing at Xiao Yan, "Is Big Senior eyeing one of the new Foundational Disciples we recruited during the sect-opening ceremony?"
Xiao Yan did not deny it. He nodded and said, "Looking at his performance on the Heart-Revealing Steps, I am impressed. If he becomes a successive disciple and chooses not to join me, it's fine. If he does join me, I will spend extra effort cultivating him."
"The future First Disciple of the Inferno Precipice will be either him or Liu Xiafeng."
As he said that, Wang Lin, Shi Tianhao, Yue Hongyan and the rest thought about it for a while. Then, they realized who he was talking about. "Is it the youth called Tang Jun?"
"Correct," said Xiao Yan. "It's him."
Shi Tianhao's mouth twitched as he said, "In terms of calibre, he does seem most-suited to be your disciple, Big Senior."
Lin Feng looked at Zhu Yi, who said, "The First Disciple of the Heavenly Temple is not yet decided too."
Yang Qing asked quietly, "Do you plan to give it to Yang Tie, or do you want to wait for Yunsheng's return?"
Yang Tie was still in the Beginner Foundation Establishment stage. During the spiritual conference, he unfortunately clashed with Huang Zhenting, who was in the Advanced Foundation Establishment stage, and thus he did not have much chance to perform.
Not only did he join the sect late, his mastery was not very high either. Very few outsiders would consider him for the position of First Disciple of the Heavenly Temple.
However, Zhu Yi, Xiao Yan and Yang Qing all planned to give special attention to Yang Tie's cultivation.
Ying Luozha's mastery was decent and his battling abilities were fearsome. However, he was not a good candidate for the position of the First Disciple. He himself did not want it too.
Zhu Yi replied, "Right now, it's too early to say. We need to look at Yang Tie's circumstances. If all go well, then Yang Tie may become the First Disciple of the Heavenly Temple."
Yue Hongyan sighed and said, "If not for the Great Zhou Empire, Yunsheng would have been Second Senior's top choice for the position of First Disciple."
Zhu Yi shook his head, "One can still turn around after a single wrong step, but one will still miss much in the process."
Xiao Yan asked, "Do you plan on saving his relative from the Great Zhou Empire?"
"Correct," said Zhu Yi. "I will soon act on this matter."
Next, without waiting for anyone to ask, Wang Lin said quietly, "I have not yet decided who will be the First Disciple of the Forest Abode."
"I have other plans for Tian Quan, and Xingfei still needs practice."
Hearing that, Lin Feng smiled and nodded his head. While Wang Lin appeared cold and quiet, he thought through things very thoroughly. Earlier on, when he mentioned Dao Yuting and her circumstances that were linked to the Dual Polarity Peak, Wang Lin was able to understand his master's intentions.
Everyone began to nod their heads and then, Yue Hongyan said, "The First Disciple of the Blizzard Valley will be Zhao Huan."
Shi Tianhao smiled and said, "What if you have better disciples in the future, Fourth Senior?"
Yue Hongyan's eyebrows danced as she said with a smile, "Then, it's up to him"
Yang Qing laughed from the side and said, "I don't have much of a choice, do I? Right now, Yuncong is not suited for the position of the First Disciple, however after he forms his core and improves his self-control, he may be more suited."
Shi Tianhao smiled and said, "The First Disciple of the Wasteland Valley will be Huang Zhenting."
"Wanqiu's personality is too soft and while Huang Zhenting is not fully mature, it's still fine. With Wanqiu watching over her, nothing bad may happen."
His fellow disciples pointed at him and laughed, "Lucky Zhenting is not a troublemaker like you."
Lin Feng waved his hand and said, "That's enough. Every bring your own disciples back to your respective abodes and carefully summarize the lessons from this spiritual conference. Despite it being held in the Dharma Hall, there are still many lessons we can learn from it."
Xiao Yan and the rest nodded their heads as they went off.
Lin Feng sat quietly in the Grand Heavens Pavilion as he watched the void tremble.
A tall, handsome youth appeared in the center of the Grand Heavens Pavilion. He wore a purple robes with gold embroidery and he was tall and slim. His skin was white and his brows perfect. As he appeared, one could smell a faint fragrance in the air.
Lin Feng's mouth twitched as he heard the youth coyly said, "My lord, I haven't seen you in a long while, do you miss me?"
Who else could it be but Miao Shihao?
"Eh, are you in your Advanced Nascent Soul stage?" After interacting with Miao Shihao for so long, Lin Feng had grown slightly immune to him. He disregarded his girly ways and looked at Miao Shihao. He noticed that after Miao Shihao had completed his closed-door training, he was in the peak of the Advanced Nascent Soul stage and was only a step away from the Immortal Soul stage.
When he mentioned that, Miao Shihao sighed and said, "Your Brother Shihao wants to stop his closed-door training after he reached the Immortal Soul stage. I was so close!"
The look of worry then disappeared from his face as he smiled, "However, I have a plan for that. I stopped my closed-door training just in time."
"Oh, that's good," said Lin Feng uninterestedly.
Wait, something's amiss!
Lin Feng squinted his eyes and said, "Just in time... what do you mean?"