Chapter 261 : Twelve Peaks (3)
When the final test started, most of the youths gave it everything they had, wishing they could show off everything they've learnt all their lives to the Qing Yun Clan's Sovereign and Elders. Some recited from medical classics, some pointed out the various acupressure points on paintings of the human body they had brought along, and some presented elixirs that they had supposedly concocted themselves.....
There were all kinds of presentations, made in many varied ways. Very soon, it became just like a fish market.
Jun Wu Xie had not rushed to react from the start, and only watched quietly as the youths turned the final assessment into a circus as they tried their hardest to present themselves in the best light possible.
Qin Yue and the others frowned, and as the situation got more and more rowdy, the frowns on their faces grew deeper and deeper.
"What a fracus! Do not get me involved in things like this ever again. If there are any that catches your eye, bring them back with you, and get the rest off the mountain." Qin Yue could not stand to see anymore of the childish behaviours and the absence of talents among them, and stormed off in a huff.
Qin Yue was usually absent from the monthly recruitment on the fifteenth of each month, and came infrequently just to watch. And every time that he came, he had always stormed off like he did today.
Mu Chen watched with cold eyes as Qin Yue left, a sneer at the corners of his mouth.
Qin Yue was as diplomatic as he always was. The good ones among the applicants had already been spotted by Qin Yue before they even entered the mountain and secretly brought within the Qing Yun Clan. He would not have any interest in these 'leftover' applicants here, and was rushing back to see and assess his new recruits.
The show he put up today here, was for the benefit of the Elders.
Mu Chen turned his eyes back to the front and looked at the applicants with neither pity nor compassion.
It was not their fault that the youths were blinded by their enthusiasm and exuberance, but it became their fault if they were blinded by it and did not use their brains, showing the lack of intelligence. These youths are just anxious to show off, without knowing what the Qing Yun Clan was looking for.
Just as Mu Chen was losing interest as well, he noticed something interesting.
A tiny petite figure was standing in the midst of the crowd, observing everyone around him with a cold stare, looking as if he wanted nothing to do with this crowd. The chill emanating from those eyes, did not seem fitting on someone of such a tender age.
For no apparent reason, Mu Chen found his interest stoked. Maybe it was the cold personality, or it might be the eyes, but they all just made Mu Chen feel, that that petite youth was different from the others.
As if the youth had felt his gaze, the youth raised his head and looked Mu Chen straight into his eyes and weaved his way out of the crowd in the direction towards Mu Chen.
Mu Chen watched the petite youth as he approached from far, but otherwise made no other move.
Several Qing Yun Clan disciples saw Jun Wu Xie walk out from the crowd and continued to approach closer to the Elders. They immediately stepped up and moved to stop the youth from getting any closer.
"The assessment has not ended, and you are not allowed to move freely within the Qing Yun Clan." A lad looking to be in his early twenties frowned and looked at the petite Jun Wu Xie. 'This youth was rather bold to dare approach the Elders!'
This had happened many times before, but it was usually resolved when the Qing Yun Clan disciples threw a word of warning, and the offender had always backed off.
But Jun Wu Xie had no intention of backing off. When she was stopped, she stood her ground and raised her head.
"I'm sorry! We'll take our leave immediately!" Qiao Chu, who had followed behind Jun Wu Xie, noticed the gradually darkening faces of the Qing Yun Clan disciples and had shot forward to stand beside Jun Wu Xie, trying to pull her back while he persuaded.
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Chapter 262 : First Impression (1)
Jun Wu Xie stood unmoving, rooted to the spot. Before Qiao Chu could even react, Jun Wu Xie stretched out her hand and gripped the wrist of the Qing Yun Clan disciple.
In the next moment, the disciple was flung heavily to the ground!
"How dare you! Are you tired of living!? The Qing Yun Clan will not tolerate such impunity!" What audacity! Laying your hands on our disciples even before being accepted!?
The shouts that erupted shocked the crowd. They had been focused on displaying their best talents when the shouts shocked them into silence as they stared at the scene where the shouts had come from.
When they saw what had happened, they were all visibly stunned.
Was that brat asking to be killed? He dared strike a Qing Yun Clan disciple? Did he even want to enter the Qing Yun Clan!?
Some were shocked, some were smiling in glee. Everyone was competing for a spot to enlisted into the Qing Yun Clan, and with every competitor that dropped out, it just meant a higher chance for the rest.
All of them thought, Jun Wu Xie had just forfeited her chance!
Qiao Chu was frozen in place, and sweat trickled down his face. This kid was usually so quiet, and without any warning, he had suddenly placed them both in such deep trouble!
They were still being assessed for goodness sake, and Jun Xie just suddenly decided to strike at a Qing Yun Clan disciple right before the Elders! They would definitely be thrown off the mountain next!
"I'm so dead! Brother Hua is so gonna kill me." Qiao Chu cried tearlessly as he stood beside Jun Wu Xie. Realising that Jun Xie had just stirred a hornet's nest, Qiao Chu nevertheless readied himself to take on the Qing Yun Clan disciples. Even if both of them were to be thrown out, he must never allow the Qing Yun Clan to lay a hand on this genius right beside him.
Looking at his thin arms and legs, Jun Xie would not be able to take a beating. If anything untoward was to happen to the genius, Brother Hua won't be the only one beating him up.
Not only the eyes of the mass of youths were attracted to the scene, even the Elders turned to look towards Jun Wu Xie.
The Elder with a long flowing white beard frowned and exclaimed with annoyance: "Kids nowadays, have no respect for rules and regulations. The Sovereign had not been wrong, this is a circus!"
Mu Chen stared darkly at Jun Wu Xie, but did not say anything. No one had noticed, that when the silent Ke Cang Ju had turned to see what had created such a ruckus, his eyes had flashed a moment, but had been suppressed just as quickly.
Just as the disciple was about to make his move, Jun Wu Xie suddenly said: "Spirit level orange, third stage, upper body veins and arteries congestion, lower body hollow, cold artery constricted....."
A string of names of the body's veins and arteries overwhelmed the disciple as his hand froze in mid air, his mouth gaped open in amazement as he stared at Jun Wu Xie.
What Jun Wu Xie had mentioned earlier were the major arteries that were critical to the development of spiritual powers. As a disciple of the Qing Yun Clan, he was naturally aware of the condition of his own veins and arteries within his body. An orange leveled spirit at twenty over years of age was nothing noteworthy in the Qing Yun Clan, and he had always pursued vigorously to become skilled in medicine or attain higher spiritual powers, but a detailed diagnosis of his body's veins and arteries by his Teacher had told him exactly what Jun Wu Xie had just said!
"How..... how did you know?" The disciple asked, his face pale.
Jun Wu Xie retracted her hand from the man's wrist, and wiped at her fingertips carefully with a handkerchief before she said slowly: "With Flame Tailed Flowers, you can treat the midsection to relieve the upper body congestion, use the leaves of Moist Luck plant to soak in baths to clear out the lower body, and....."
Jun Wu Xie went on without pausing as she gave the solutions and treatments for every condition that the man's veins and arteries were inflicted with. When she finished, she took a step back and stared at the stunned disciple.
If her long narration had fallen on the ears of the youths behind her, it might not have meant anything to them. But the Elders of the Qing Yun Clan were all well versed in Medicine, and they only needed to hear those words and they fully understood the significance of those very words!
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Chapter 263 : First Impression (2)
The looks of impatience and annoyance disappeared from all the faces of the Elders. Even the face of the oldest Elder among them showed an expression of shock after hearing Jun Wu Xie's words.
The nurturing and development of veins and arteries was the most complicated among the various fields in the study of Medicine. The intricate weave of the multitudes of intertwined veins and arteries within a human body alone was enough to give anyone a headache, needless to say the study and knowledge required in the corrections and treatments needed when a problem is uncovered!
With the countless veins and arteries greatly intertwined, and even when only a small section was inflicted, the problems that surface could affect the entire being. Even if the specific treatment were to be identified, many could not be sure that the treatment might not cause any damage to other adjoining veins and arteries! Hence, when problems occur within a person's veins and arteries, it was the hardest to treat and rectify, as the treatment was not subject to just the inflicted section, but a treatment that encompassed the entire body!
That petite little youth had not only managed to diagnose the disciple's condition in such a short period of time, but had further managed to introduce a series of treatments targeting the various inflictions. What really shocked them was, the individual treatments recommended for the respective inflictions had sounded simple, and independent. But if all the treatments were to be carried out collectively, the result would be astounding! While it relieved the pain of the upper body, it would also clear out the lower body. While it nurtured the lower body, it nourishes the upper body against its deficiencies......
The treatments Jun Wu Xie proposed were closely linked, if you looked at the string of treatments individually, it would not seem impressive. But if you were to look at them as a whole, the series of treatments complement and complete a cycle, and the Elders were not able to see any side effects that might occur from it!
How old was this youth? And he understood so much about the intricacies of the nurturing and corrections of the human body's veins and arteries!?
"Elder Mu, was what the little youth said correct and true?" The other Elders' understanding of veins and arteries were inferior to Mu Chen's, and in order to verify what Jun Wu Xie had said, they had to check with Mu Chen.
At that moment, Mu Chen was not the least bit interested in the queries from the other Elders. The moment that petite youth had said those words, his eyes had been fixed and had not left from Jun Wu Xie!
He had fully immersed himself into the study and research of veins and arteries for more than a decade. He had been extremely gifted from a young age, and all the hard work he had put in had enabled him to surpass anyone in the understanding and knowledge of veins and arteries throughout the whole Qing Yun Clan. Hence, no one there knew better than him how perfectly complete the series of treatments that Jun Wu Xie proposed was!
Even for him, he might not be able to come up with something like that!
"That youth there, I want him!" He had no intention of explaining in details to the other Elders, the usually calm and stoic Mu Chen had suddenly declared the he wanted Jun Wu Xie to be enlisted within the Cloud Treading Peak and taken under his wing!
With Mu Chen's unmistakable words, the other Elders should understand by now right?
What that youth said must be true! Or Mu Chen would not act so uncharacteristically to lay claim on an applicant!
It must be known that Mu Chen had seldom accepted any applicants as disciples into the Cloud Treading Peak in the months past, the amount of new disciples he accepted in a year could be counted with just one hand.
Seeing that Mu Chen had picked up a real treasure, the other Elders' eyes were turning rather green. Compared to the other childish and and pathetic attempts by the other youths, Jun Wu Xie calm and affirmed gift in Medicine made them feel all that very much worse, and they all felt like snatching him away from Mu Chen!
Such a rare gem that appeared this time and Mu Chen was being rather selfish to claim him just like that.
The other Elders were green with envy, but they did not say a word more. The youth was gifted in his knowledge of veins and arteries and it was different from their areas of expertise anyway. Mu Chen would be in a better position to guide him.
The other youths were still waiting for the situation to explode when they saw the youngest Elder walk towards Jun Wu Xie, and their smiles widened as they waited to see Jun Wu Xie get thrown out off the mountain.
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Chapter 264 : First Impression (3)
Mu Chen walked up and stood before Jun Wu Xie, staring at the unusually calm youth before his stern expression broke into a smile.
"What's your name?"
"Jun Xie." Jun Wu Xie replied.
The youths who were anticipating the expulsion suddenly felt that situation seemed rather odd, as the Qing Yun Clan's Elder was being rather mild. Shouldn't he be throwing Jun Wu Xie out by now?
"Will you be interested to come to the Cloud Treading Peak?" Mu Chen asked gently.
Jun Wu Xie was surprised, but her face showed no emotion.
Mu Chen's words created a stir among the applicants as they had expected to see Jun Wu Xie thrown out for her actions, but they could only stare at Jun Wu Xie in shock at what was happening.
How did it come to this?
The brat who challenged and offended the sanctity of the Qing Yun Clan should have been taken down! But he had been earned the interest of the Elder of Cloud Treading Peak instead!?
If he were to be accepted into the Cloud Treading Peak, he would immediately become a full fledged disciple of the Qing Yun Clan!
Who would have thought that Lady Luck would cast her smile upon such an unremarkable petite youth!?
All that was needed was just for Jun Wu Xie to agree, and she would become a disciple of the Qing Yun Clan, a true and earnest disciple of the Qing Yun Clan's inner house!
That was a stroke of luck that many of them could only dream of, and the other youths harboured a deep jealousy as they clenched their jaws in rage.
While waiting to hear Jun Wu Xie's reply, another voice sounded suddenly!
"Hold it, Elder Mu." A sharp and sinister voice suddenly spoke and it could be clearly heard by all present. Ke Cang Ju seemed shrouded in gloom as he walked towards Mu Chen, his hideous face was unreadable.
Mu Chen frowned, his displeasure with Ke Cang Ju visible.
"What's the matter, Elder Ke?"
Ke Cang Ju dragged his feet over the distance, his bowed back making him look more sinister. The hem of his robe had old bronze bells attached to it and they jingled with every step that Ke Cang Ju took.
"Those two lads there, I want them." Ke Cang Ju raised his hand, and a wrinkled bony finger pointed at Jun Wu Xie and the stunned Qiao Chu who stood beside her.
Mu Chen's heart sank at that moment.
"Elder Ke, what is the meaning of this? I had earlier declared that Cloud Treading Peak would accept her as a disciple. If Elder Ke is in need of more disciples, go look elsewhere!"
Ke Cang Ju scoffed: "Does that mean Elder Mu is making things difficult for me? I will have these two lads today! If Elder Mu has any objections to it, you can go take it up with the Sovereign. If the Sovereign agrees with you, I will hand over the lad, Jun Xie, over to you. If he disagrees, it would be better if Elder Mu remains silent."
Mu Chen clenched his fists, hidden within his sleeves, as he stared furiously at Ke Cang Ju. Everyone knew he was on extremely bad terms with Qin Yue, and Cloud Treading Peak had always received the least resources. In contrast, Ke Cang Ju enjoyed the best support and was on friendliest terms with Qin Yue. If he were to go ask Qin Yue, Qin Yue would never stand on his side and would surely reject him.
This fella, was obviously hijacking!
The two Elders started arguing in front of everyone, and it only made the others youths who were deeply jealous of Jun Wu Xie hate her even more.
What was so great about that brat that he was able to cause two Elders of the Qing Yun Clan to argue and fight over him!?
Unknown to everyone, the Jun Wu Xie whom the youths were jealous off, did not feel a single bit of joy. She frowned slightly at Ke Cang Ju who had suddenly just butted in. She had not expected that Ke Cang Ju would step forward to snatch from Mu Chen.
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Chapter 265 : Hidden Cloud Peak (1)
Ke Cang Ju looked sneeringly at Mu Chen and glanced at Jun Wu Xie. He did not see any joy on Jun Wu Xie's face but saw a frown in disapproval.
"Kid, it's your honour to be accepted into the Hidden Cloud Peak. If you are to reject me, you can get the hell out of Cloudy Peaks now."
From snatching to threats, Ke Cang Ju's methods were outrageously domineering and Mu Chen's face was dark with fury. The other Elders might not agree with Ke Cang Ju's methods but they all maintained their silence. Though Qin Yue tried to portray himself to treat the Elders equally, they all knew how much he favoured Ke Cang Ju.
Not to mention that Ke Cang Ju was snatching a favoured disciple from right under Mu Chen's nose, even if Ke Cang Ju were to cripple the lad called Jun Xie now, Ke Cang Ju would not be persecuted by the Qing Yun Clan.
Jun Wu Xie narrowed her eyes and looked at the hideous Ke Cang Ju, her frigid eyes flashed with cold. Suddenly, she felt a slight tug at her sleeve as Qiao Chu whispered by her ear: "Jun Xie, do not do anything rash. You just wanted to get into the Qing Yun Clan, and getting in through the Cloud Treading Peak or the Hidden Cloud Peak does not make a difference right?"
Qiao Chu voice betrayed his anxiety, he knew that with Jun Xie's prowess in his medical skills, there was nothing the Qing Yun Clan could teach him. There must be an ulterior motive behind his intention to get into the Qing Yun Clan, and instead of rejecting Ke Cang Ju and getting thrown out, why not go along with his wishes for now.
Jun Wu Xie closed her eyes and held back her murderous intent.
"I agree." She spat out the words coldly.
And Ke Cang Ju broke into a hideous smile.
"Kid, you will soon find out that you had made the right choice today." Ke Cang Ju cackled eerily in laughter, ignoring the fuming Mu Chen and just turned to leave.
Jun Wu Xie stared upon Ke Cang Ju's departing back and her eyes were filled with chill.
He would soon know, how lethal a mistake he had just committed.
Mu Chen took a deep breath, and forcibly suppressed the raging fire within. He tried hard to maintain a face of calm, but the tightness in his mouth betrayed the rage within.
"If you still find that is a need in the future, you can come look for me in the Cloud Treading Peak. My invitation to you, will still stand." Mu Chen said softly to Jun Wu Xie.
He did not care what kind of atrocities Ke Cang Ju had committed, but the youth before his eyes was a sincerely highly talented individual and he did not want the youth to be despoiled under the hands of Ke Cang Ju. He would not let go of the slightest chance, no matter how miniscule, for the chance to have the highly gifted child live.
"Thank you." Jun Wu Xie looked at Mu Chen, sincerely grateful. Jun Wu Xie could feel Mu Chen's sincerity.
Mu Chen nodded helplessly. With Ke Cang Ju's interference, Mu Chen had lost all desire to accept any new disciples. The best candidates had already been taken, and the rest were beneath his notice.
Mu Chen had not known, his rare offer made today, would be the one that changed his life.
With two Elders leaving, the rest of the youths were getting flustered. But to fight for the remaining spots, they tried their hardest to present their best.
For Qiao Chu and Jun Wu Xie who had been selected to enter the Hidden Cloud Peak, they retreated quietly and stood to the side in stark contrast to the other flustered youths.
"I know you wanted to go to the Cloud Treading Peak, but we were left with no choice. Rest assured though, with me around, not even that hideous monster from the Hidden Cloud Peak would be able to touch you." Qiao Chu said to reassure Jun Wu Xie.