William Anderson
Stories
6
Chapters
2,147
Words
340.2 K
Comments
0
Reading
1 d, 4 h
-
The dining room fell into shocked silence. Next to Muchen, Elder Yang sighed. Finally, a chorus of laughter broke out down below. After a moment, another disciple walked over and prodded the sleeping disciple awake. Junfeng blinked lazily as he sat up, lacing his fingers together and stretching out his arms as he looked around the room. Give him credit, it didn't take him long to figure out what was going on. "How much?" he asked, absently scratching the back of his head. The good impression Junfeng had…-
55 •
-
-
The Iron Bones sect was of modest size, in the sense that all of its members could fit into one dining hall. That small group of people, though, represented a great deal of combat power. From his spot on the stage, Muchen could see the sect's development pipeline laid out before him. Seated at the edge of the room, the youngest cohort ranged in age from eight to twelve. Muchen could see twenty of the little kids, clustered around their instructors as they ate. According to Elder Yang, once enough of them…
-
55 •
-
-
The layout of the Iron Bones sect was simple and straightforward. A cluster of buildings formed the administrative heart of the sect. To one side were the residences of the sect disciples, while on the other was temporary housing for guests like Muchen. As a representative of a foreign sect, they were happy to offer him free room and board for at least one night. As a representative of a largely unknown upstart of a sect, the room he was assigned was decorated very simply. Simply, but not cheaply. Muchen…
-
55 •
-
-
Diplomacy between sects was a tricky business. The comprehensive idea of something like diplomatic immunity was, of course, a distant dream. On the other hand, most sects adhered to some basic civilized norms of behavior and at least didn't outright murder messengers. Provided that the messenger didn't overstep their bounds. Basic survival, therefore, dictated that one remain within the bounds of courtesy. Muchen was a reasonable person, and didn't mind being polite. Especially when he was talking to…
-
55 •
-
-
After the planning meeting, Muchen didn't see Zihan much. Xinyi had been serious about taking a promising student under her wing. She had also been serious about the remedial lessons Zihan would be enduring. Muchen felt a bit of jealousy, but only a bit. If anything, he was grateful that his own martial training had eased off quite a bit. Life in the newly christened Flower Mountain Sect soon settled back into a comfortable routine. Muchen continued to cultivate diligently, using the electrical generator…
-
55 •
-
-
Muchen never would have dared to introduce this idea at an established sect. Trying to wrench the management rights away from an entrenched master-disciple relationship would lead to open revolt. Even now, with students a mere hypothetical possibility, Zihan couldn't hold back her disagreement. "How can you teach a student if you can't tell them what to do?" she asked. "A teacher for a day, a parent for life." "When it's time to learn, of course students will be expected to follow directions," Muchen…
-
55 •
-
-
Muchen parted ways with Zihan when it was nearing dark. He felt confident that he had managed to dispel most of his personal doubts. While it was still possible that she could lose faith in their sect and choose to flee to greener pastures, he had managed to impress her at least a little bit with their electrical setup. Over the coming days she would be receiving instruction directly from Xinyi. While it would be a challenging experience, Muchen expected she would advance by leaps and bounds in the…
-
55 •
-
-
While Muchen kept plugging away at his cultivation, the hired hands from Li Village moved on to further construction projects on top of the mountain. After another few weeks of effort and another dent in Muchen's silver stockpile, their little compound at the waist of the mountain had been transformed. The rammed earth buildings were gone. In their place were a trio of brick houses. One for Yize and Chuhua, one for Muchen and Xinyi, and a third left vacant for their new student. While their design was…
-
55 •
-
-
The flickering sparks cast harsh shadows on Xinyi's face that shifted several times a second. The strobe light effect was strangely harmonious with her manic grin. "It's suitable for the Storm Dragon scripture," she said, her voice carrying easily over the cacophony of sparks. Muchen nodded, then approached the meditation space. He was dressed in a pair of shorts and a relatively close fitting shirt. While he had grown accustomed to the typical flowing cultivator's robes, his current setup didn't allow…
-
55 •
-
-
Any sect with serious aspirations had to be strong in three areas: its secret techniques, its people, and its physical infrastructure. Of those, a complete set of secret techniques was the hardest to come by. Muchen had acquired the Storm Dragon scripture in a stroke of good fortune. Pairing it with an electrical generator gave his nascent sect a standard method for its disciples to build their foundations and work on accumulating their golden cores. Together with the martial techniques Xinyi was willing…
-
55 •
-
- Previous 1 … 27 28 29 … 215 Next
