The Nine Cauldrons
chapter-179

“Commander!”

“Commander!”

As Teng Qingshan walked by, all of the men from the Black Armored Army saluted him respectfully. Teng Qingshan first entered the Black Armored Army by passing the sect’s monthly examination. Within only a year’s time, he had risen up to become the First Commander of the Black Armored Army, at the age of seventeen nonetheless! There were countless men in the Black Armored Army who revered Teng Qingshan.

Teng Qingshan gave a slight nod and headed towards the area where the core disciples trained.

“Look, it’s Commander Teng!”

Three young female disciples approached opposite from Teng Qingshan. When Teng Qingshan passed by them, the eyes of the three young ladies lit up as they called out together, “Commander Teng!” They eyes were locked onto Teng Qingshan, hoping that he would talk to them. Their hopes were unfulfilled, however, as Teng Qingshan only nodded and passed by them.

They turned to look at Teng Qingshan’s ass as he walked further away.

“Commander Teng has the demeanor of a great expert,” A young lady in ponytail exclaimed.

“In terms of seniority, Commander is considered our Martial Uncle. We should be addressing him as Martial Uncle Teng!”

“Martial Uncle Teng? It’s not good to call him Martial Uncle, as that makes him sound old. He is only seventeen this year, a year older than me. Commander Teng is really awesome, isn’t he? To be ranked first on the «Hidden Dragon Ranking»? Come to think of it, Second Martial Sister, didn’t you say that you wished to go shopping with Commander Teng? Why didn’t you speak up? Did you freeze up or something??”

“Keep your volume down. I only said that for fun,” The wide eyed young lady blushed.

These young ladies had practiced martial arts since they were young, making their bodies in very good shape. They were at the peak of their youth, and whenever they played around and frolicked about, they would always catch the attention of many young male disciples. In the Gui Yuan Sect, many male disciples would look for fellow female disciples to marry. However, regardless of whether they were male or female disciples, they were separated by different standards.

Take Teng Qingshan for example. Because he was ranked at the top of the «Hidden Dragon Ranking», and because he was the appointed First Commander of the Black Armored Army, there was certainly quite a number of people in Gui Yuan Sect who held crushes for Teng Qingshan.

……

Climbing the flight of steps, Teng Qingshan came into the study of his teacher, ‘Zhuge Yuanhong.’

“Teacher!” Teng Qingshan stood at the door and called out respectfully.

“Oh, Qingshan, come in quickly.” Zhuge Yuanhong put down the book he was reading as he smiled and said before he took a good look at Teng Qingshan. “Qingshan, from your expression, you seem to be in a good mood. How were your returns from the Boorish Desolate this time?” No matter how strong one may be, he would not be able to determine if another person had attained the Innate Realm.

After all, the Innate True Origin was hidden in the Dantian, and no one had the ability to see through it.

The most they could do was to make a rough judgement based on a person’s spiritual state.

“My returns were not bad. In the Boorish Desolate, disciple had gotten the Scarlet Fruit.” Teng Qingshan said.

Hu!

Zhuge Yuanhong’s eyes lit up. “Qingshan, have you attained the Innate Realm now?”

“Yes, Teacher,” Teng Qingshan said. At the same moment, his whole body and his hair started to exude a crimson colored glow. Suddenly, Teng Qingshan was like a God of Fire as he stood there, the scorching Innate True Origin caused a wave of heat to pass through the study.

“Good!” Seeing this, Zhuge Yuanhong was overjoyed and a wide grin broke out on his face. “Haha, Qingshan, you did a good job. A seventeen-year-old innate expert, haa…you are the second person in a thousand years across the whole of the Nine Prefectures to accomplish this! The first in five hundred years!”

The population was dense across the world of the Nine Prefectures.

There was a population of two to three thousand just in Jiangning Country alone, and close to three billion in Yangzhou. There was a population of twenty to thirty billion population across the Nine Prefectures. To be born, age, get sick, and eventually die, most people do not live past a hundred years old. One could well imagine across the history of a thousand years, how many people there were. Amongst this uncountable population, in a span of a thousand years, there were only two such geniuses, including Teng Qingshan.

And within a span of five hundred years, Teng Qingshan was the only one!

“Teacher, then who was the first one in the past thousand years?” Teng Qingshan was a bit curious.

“It was a monk from the Buddhist ‘Mani Temple’ by the name of ‘Xiang Fanchen’. This Xiang Fanchen was definitely brimming with talent, a character who was unmatched in his generation. The year he turned sixteen, he attained the Arhat realm which, in Buddhism, is the equivalent to our ‘Innate Realm’.” Zhuge Yuanhong said.

“Xiang Fanchen?” Teng Qingshan took note of this name.

This Xiang Fanchen had attained the Arhat realm at the age of sixteen. His talent was definitely greather than his own. Teng Qingshan was very clear…he had trained the Xing Yi Martial Arts for over twenty years in his previous life, but Xiang Fanchen had relied on himself.

Zhuge Yuanhong smiled and said. “But Xiang Fanchen was different from you. He had a stubborn personality.”

“In history, this Xiang Fanchen was known as the ‘Demonic Monk’. Firstly, it was because his talent surpassed that of a demon’s, and secondly, it was describing his personality! The year Xiang Fanchen turned fifty-six, he turned his back on the Mani Temple, ventured the world, and created a period of violence and terror! It could be said that back then, across the Nine Prefectures, only the ultimate experts of the Eight Supreme Sects would be able to hold their own against this Xiang Fanchen, but it would still be with much difficulty. There was no one who could kill him, and when he was over a hundred years old, Xian Fanchen was unrivaled! Thereafter, it may be because he felt lonely, and thus eventually secluded himself and barely showed his face in the world.”

Teng Qingshan gasped.

According to the study of psychology, most geniuses acted without concern for others.

“Since this Xiang Fanchen was unrivalled, did he not reach the realm comparable to that of Emperor Yu, Heavenly Emperor of Qin Mountains, Grandmaster Shi Jia, and the Poetic Sword God ‘Li Taibai’?” Teng Qingshan asked.

“He didn’t.” Zhuge Yuanhong shook his head.

“Since he was unrivalled, how would others know that he had not reached a realm as high as that Emperor Yu?” Teng Qingshan questioned.

Zhuge Yuanhong smiled and looked at Teng Qingshan. “Xiang Fanchen’s strength was different from that of Emperor Yu. Emperor Yu was unrivalled and could dominate the Nine Prefectures alone! You still don’t understand this now, but when you reach my level, you will understand…the difference between Xiang Fanchen and the four men.”

Teng Qingshan nodded.

“But this Xiang Fanchen was someone from over six hundred years back. He had long died and returned to the earth,” Zhuge Yuanhong said ruefully.

No matter how powerful a genius, he would not be able to fight against time.

……

The fragrance from the incense burner in the study had turned lighter, and Zhuge Yuanhong sliced another piece of incense and placed it in the incense burner.

“Qingshan,” Zhuge Yuanhong smiled and said, “You are gifted with extraordinary talents, and may also be unrivalled in the future. But Teacher needs to remind you not to aim for something beyond your grasp. Talent is one thing, but an individual’s efforts, luck, and other factors are another. You have the «Dark Moon Spear Technique» but are merely using it as a reference for the creation of your own spear art. On the other hand, Xiang Fanchen was trained in one of the four Heaven Class manuals «Golden Buddha». Therefore, it is going to be very very tough for you to catch up to Xiang Fanchen.”

Zhuge Yuanhong attempted to deal a blow to Teng Qingshan to prevent him turning too complacent.

“Teacher, I understand.” Teng Qingshan nodded.

The other party had one of the four Heaven Class manuals, the «Golden Buddha» while he only had the Earth Class manual «Dark Moon Spear Technique». The gap was very big.

“Mmm, since you have already attained the Innate Realm, based on our Gui Yuan Sect’s rules, you will be raised to the level of ‘Law Enforcing Elder’. Our Gui Yuan Sect now has two Law Enforcing Elders, and you will be the third,” Zhuge Yuanhong smiled and said, “I plan to choose a good date to make this announcement.”

Teng Qingshan naturally abided by his teacher’s orders.

“Haha, Qingshan, Teacher has a private issue to discuss with you,” Zhuge Yuanhong suddenly said.

Teng Qingshan looked at Zhuge Yuanhong, puzzled.

“It’s like this, Yun Er spoke to me, saying that he is on quite a good relationship with your sister ‘Qingyu’. Moreover, the two of them seems to like each other…Therefore, I’d like to discuss with you, if you are not against it, we can let them spend some time together for a while, and then let them get married next year. What do you think?” Zhuge Yuanhong said.

“Little Yun and my sister?” Teng Qingshan could not help but smile.

Teng Qingshan was well aware of the relationship between Zhuge Yun and his sister. When his sister had just come to Gui Yuan Sect, she did not know many people and spend most of her time with the siblings, Zhuge Yun and Zhuge Qing. With two young men and a lady spending most of their time together for half a year, it would not be weird for love to sprout.

As for Zhuge Yun’s character, Teng Qingshan was very pleased. If his sister really did get married to Zhuge Yun, he would be assured.

“Teacher, it is not that I object, but this matter would need to get my parents’ consent,” Teng Qingshan said.

“Oh, your parents…Your parents seem to not have come to our Gui Yuan Sect all this time. Find a time to bring your parents over, or even better, to get them to stay here. It would be easier for you siblings to take care of them,” Zhuge Yuanhong said.

“Mmm, I’m preparing to get my parents over to stay for a few days during the annual worship this year,” Teng Qingshan smiled helplessly and said, “My parents cherish the members of the clan and do not wish to stay here permanently.”

“Oh.”

Zhuge Yuanhong picked up a teacup at the side and took a sip before he smiled and said, “Qingshan, putting the matter of your sister and Yun Er aside, let’s talk about you. You will be turning eighteen after the annual worship and should get married! You are now concurrently listed on the «Earthly Ranking» and «Hidden Dragon Ranking», and are also the top of the «Hidden Dragon Ranking». You are also the First Commander of our Black Armored Army and will soon be a Law Enforcing Elder! Many Elders, Protectors, as well as my Martial Brothers and such had brought up the issue of your marriage to me. There are some ladies who are not bad from their family or from their kin and friends. You can meet them if you have time.”

Teng Qingshan was astonished.

Teacher was acting as a matchmaker?

“Teacher, this…” Teng Qingshan could only shake his head.

Gui Yuan Sect was like a country by itself. After all, it controls a population of two to three million and had quite a few strong powers within the sect. It would not be strange to have a lady from the sect marry to him to pull him in.

“You do not take a fancy to those ladies?” Zhuge Yuanhong smiled and said, “Your expectations are quite high! How about it, let Teacher introduce a nice lady to you.”

Teng Qingshan was stunned.

“All men and women should get married when they reach the age to do so. This is the natural order of things.” Zhuge Yuanhong smiled and said. “My daughter Qing Qing will also turn sixteen soon. The number of people who came to propose marriage almost crushed our door sills. But I think you are quite a good match with Qing Qing. Qing Qing is good in the four arts of zither, chess, calligraphy and painting, and is also good in culinary skills. She is two years younger than you and would be a good match. It’s not humiliating for you if I marry my daughter to you? If you’re not against it, as a father, I’ll make the decision for Qing Qing…When your parents come, just let them know before we can decide on a date for the marriage,” Zhuge Yuanhong smiled and said.

This Zhuge Yuanhong was not satisfied to be just a teacher, he wanted to become a father-in-law.