Way of the Devil - Chapter 232
Chapter 232: Meeting (5)
Early the next morning, disciples of many sects walked out of the inn and rushed outside of the city.
The constant flow of the carriages with sect members quickly became a wonderful sight in the White Bell City.
Many ordinary people also came outside to watch the activity. Some of the elderly knew a bit of the insider details. They knew that the top schools were hosting a “gathering”.
Lu Sheng and He Xiangzi sat together alongside little umbrella girl on a carriage headed towards the meeting place.
Their carriage was black and branded with the sign of the Prime Devil Sect, a purple burning human face, on the side.
The human face mark occupied almost the whole surface of the carriage’s side, and was easily noticeable from a distance.
Sitting in the carriage, Lu Sheng looked outside the window as he curbed his breath.
There were many curious children on both sides of the street, all of them followed by their families. The children’s pure eyes lit up with curiosity; they were completely clueless just what kind of people were on the carriages. One could only see their awe and prudence when they faced their parents.
The parents hugged their children tightly for fear that they might bump into the carriages.
“Do the normal people that live in the White Bell City know the Noble Families of the sects?” Lu Sheng asked carelessly.
He Xiangzi sat across from him, holding a cup of tea in her hands. The tea was already cold, and she still hadn’t drunk it. There was no telling what she was thinking.
After hearing Lu Sheng’s question, she snapped back into focus.
He Xiangzi thought for a moment and replied, “In their eyes, we are the nobles from the top. We don’t need to make contact with them apart from eating or drinking. So ordinary people look at us as if we were the other isolated side of the world.”
“I suppose so… Ordinary people have no bloodline like nobles and therefore lack any potential, so the sects don’t recruit them. So, for the average person, although the sects are powerful, they have nothing to do with them. It is like looking at another world.” Lu Sheng nodded understandingly.
“Actually, it’s not that bad. There are also sects of the ordinary people here. They just aren’t popular. They’re also used to help the Noble Families manage ordinary people, acting together with the government. The average person is more likely to join the sect in the name of practicing martial arts,” He Xiangzi replied.
“I understand,” responded Lu Sheng.
The two watched the scenery outside the window for a while. The driver just followed closely behind the Fine Garden Sect’s carriage, so there weren’t any worries about getting lost.
“Speaking of it, we are going to go to the Silent Mountains. This time, we will be in three places in the mountain range: the Echo Palace, the Ink Sound Valley, and the Jasper Palace.
We are in the lower three grades, ranked 64th, corresponding to the Jasper Palace. I heard that that palace is the top sect’s palace, bestowed by the previous dynasty. However, later in national civil war, the palace was destroyed, and only partially restored later. The palace is huge,” He Xiangzi whispered.
“Who are the opponents?” Lu Sheng asked.
“There should be a list after we get there.” He Xiangzi wasn’t sure, either.
“We are ranked 64th. How many places are there in the Hundred Lineages?” Lu Sheng suddenly thought of this.
“…A total of 64.”
“…Okay.” Lu Sheng was speechless. No wonder the Prime Devil Sect had suffered to this point, it was all because of their rank.
Sect teams approached the destination. They quickly reached the mountains. There, everybody got off the carriages and started to walk into the mountains along tidy gray stairs.
Each sect had its own unique characteristics.
The power of the lineage brought by the Divine Weapons and the Devil Blades was a great enhancement of resilience, and allowed different individuals to acquire different blood Secret Arts.
Naturally, the secret techniques included a speed boost.
The sects’ secret techniques couldn’t beat the Noble Families, since the latter were united. Only the correspondence between the lineages and the secret techniques were different because of the differences between strengths.
Lu Sheng and the others got down from the Prime Devil Sect’s carriage and saw the other teams from far away showing off their skills.
Some were like mortal warriors, their bodies fluttered into the mountain forest.
Some looked lazy, and simply walked forward steadily toward the mountains at a seemingly slow, yet actually not slow, pace and soon disappeared in the mountains.
There was also a sect team holding deer. After leaving their carriage, they rode the deer into the mountains.
Of course, there were only a few of them. Lu Sheng looked over and found that most of the teams were moving on foot.
Then, a disciple from the Fine Garden Sect came by.
“Senior Sister He Xiangzi and Senior Brother Lu Sheng, Brother Lu asked me to tell you that we are going ahead. We’ll meet at the Jasper Palace.”
“Good.” Lu Sheng nodded.
On this journey, he was the first seat. This was something that was not declared to the outside world and could be used to surprise the opponents. Therefore, the decisions along the way seemed to be those of He Xiangzi’s, while in fact, Lu Sheng was making all of them.
This idea was thought up by He Xiangzi. Although Lu Sheng felt that there was no need for it, under her insistence, it was not practical to refuse.
After the disciple from the Fine Garden Sect left, the middle-aged driver approached the two.
“If the two of you can’t find the place, I can guide you. I take only one black coin.”
“No, we can find it ourselves.” He Xiangzi touched the moneybag and shook her head.
The Prime Devil Sect had no source of income, and after the resource points were taken, there wasn’t even enough to cover the expenses of training. Even black coins would eventually add up.
“Well then, I wish that your sect may win the first battle.” The driver returned to the carriage with some disappointment and turned away.
This carriage did not belong to the Prime Devil Sect, but was one of the means of transportation specially arranged for the sects of the upper three grades of the Hundred Lineages. The driver was not an ordinary person, either, but a disciple who came out to perform tasks from a sect.
The top three grades were big sects, and many of their disciples, not unlike the Prime Devil Sect, were dilapidated.
Lu Sheng and He Xiangzi stood on the grassland as carriages around them began to turn around and return. Many of the remaining disciples also hurried towards the stone steps either quickly or slowly.
“Let’s go too.” Lu Sheng glanced around. The road had already cleared.
“Yes, teacher is waiting for us right now.” He Xiangzi nodded.
The two followed the team and started to move into the mountains as well.
The forest was lush, the dark-green tree branches shaking from the wind. The stone steps extended all the way up, and there was someone who guarded them a bit in the distance.
“Fortunately, we did not spend that money.” He Hongzi felt lucky. “It would have been such a waste to spend that black coin. There are so many guards here; if we are lost, we can just ask them. There is no way we can get lost here.”
“Maybe the driver just wanted to earn some money.” Lu Sheng smiled.
After walking for not too long, there appeared a square in front of them.
On the open ground, a gray and white palace pavilion stood. There was a big archway with words “Jasper Palace” on it in front of the gate.
At the palace gate, there were a few old men sitting cross-legged. All of them had white hair and long beards, clad in robes and full of imposing manner.
There were already men from some sects handing something to the elders.
“The Jasper Palace is the site of the Heaven Lotus Sect from the upper three grades. They should be the staff of the Heaven Lotus Sect responsible for the affairs of the meeting,” He Xiangzi whispered to Lu Sheng.
As soon as these two arrived here, some Taoists approached.
“Dear friends from the Prime Devil Sect, please go to the elders to submit the documents, and then go rest in a room. The Internal matches segment of the Meeting will officially start tomorrow. Today, we will have a convention of the meeting soon.”
The Taoists gave the nameplate of the Prime Devil Sect to Lu Sheng and He Xiangzi.
The young Taoist looked behind them and found out that they were the only people there. He asked with some doubt, “Err, excuse me, when is the rest of the people from your sect coming?”
“It’s only us,” Lu Sheng said calmly.
He Xiangzi, on the other hand, had the impulse to run away. A sect only had two people participating in the meeting… This was kind of a broken record in its own way…
The Taoist froze and quickly responded, “Only two people?”
He wasn’t surprised, since there were too many special existences among the sects, including a one-man-school.
He was not a disciple, but a member of the subordinate forces. No sect members here were people he could afford to provoke. So, he responded with respect no matter how the disciples reacted.
“Well, this is the Prime Devil Sect’s command token. Please store it carefully. Unlike the name token, this is the stage in which your two people are involved.”
“Xiangyi, here!” Chen Yunxiang and a few junior sisters waved at them not too far away.
Lu Sheng and He Xiangyi quickly completed the handover, and stepped forward to meet Chen Yunxiang.
Chen Yunxiang was eager to take care of her sisters and asked in a low voice, “Why are you guys so late? Where is your residence? We have some relationships with the Jade Sound Clan, and we can arrange for everyone to stay together.”
“I haven’t arranged it yet,” He Xiangyi said in helpless voice. “You called me when I just got here.”
As the last rank of all sects, the Prime Devil Sect was almost falling out of the Hundred Lineages; except some friendly sects, they had no connections with the other people.
It was to the extent that Lu Sheng felt a bit skeptical. Was he really involved in a big meeting? It felt like playing single player all the way here. Almost all sects were in front of them, and the Prime Devil Sect was the last one.
“Junior Sister Yunxiang, come here, let me introduce you to my new sisters.”
Chen Yunxiang still wanted to speak, but was quickly pulled away by a woman from another sect, then got surrounded by a lot of acquaintances.
Chen Yunxiang couldn’t ignore another person’s greeting, so He Xiangzi and Lu Sheng were left alone.
“Forget it, let’s register first.” He Xiangzi sounded helpless.
Lu Sheng nodded, then glanced around. Except some Taoists arranging lodgings and running errands, there were no ordinary people here—everyone radiated the aura of sect disciples.
“The Prime Devil Sect…”
The two came to register and reported their sect’s name.
The old man searched for the name on the roll.
“The Prime Devil Sect is at C27, so your place is…. in the Grace Garden in the 5th area. Tisheng, guide these two.”
“Yes.” A small Taoist quickly came forward.
At this point, the rest of the sects were almost all registered. The Prime Devil Sect was the last one again.
“Doesn’t it feel like we’ve been isolated?” He Xiangzi smiled bitterly at Lu Sheng.
“It’s ok.” Lu Sheng smiled back.
“Except friends, nobody wants to maintain any relation with us because they think we are going to drop out of the Hundred Lineages anyway.”
Lu Sheng was speechless. It was so miserable that the Prime Devil Sect had come this far…
