Chapter 45: I

Immortals also have appetites. The Drunken Wind Pavilion has long enjoyed a high reputation among low-rank disciples. Little Wei Yuan had only heard of it and never imagined he would have the chance to eat there. Upon entering, a waiter led Little Wei Yuan to a quiet courtyard where Bao Yun's victory banquet was being held.

There were three large tables in the room, and Little Wei Yuan was led directly to the main table. Little Wei Yuan's cultivation progress was currently at the bottom of the class, so how could he be embarrassed to sit at the main table? He turned to go sit at a side table, but as soon as Bao Yun saw him, her eyes lit up. She rushed over, grabbed him, and pressed him into the seat next to her, even separating him from Cui Yu by one chair.

There were ten people at the main table. All five who had received the Patriarch's favor were there, along with five others who were either exceptionally gifted in cultivation or from prominent families.

Little Wei Yuan now understood very well that being from a prominent family was synonymous with top-tier cultivation talent.

Once everyone had arrived, Bao Yun stood up and said, "Dear fellow disciples, I am very happy that you could all grace me with your presence. I will toast you first!"

Everyone hurriedly stood up and drained their cups together. With Bao Yun's visualization diagram appearing, she was guaranteed at least a Heaven-rank foundation and had a bright future for an Immortal foundation. The Bao family was a top-tier noble clan, and Bao Yun possessed such talent. Everyone present had long since opened their wisdom; if they didn't cling to her thigh now, when would they? In a few years, they wouldn't even have the chance.

Little Wei Yuan also tilted his head back and drained his cup. He immediately felt a line of fire enter his abdomen, followed by surging spiritual power exploding within. In his sea of consciousness, the visualization diagram appeared, and it began to rain again, with the ground visibly expanding by a large margin.

Little Wei Yuan was shocked. This one cup of wine was enough to equal thirty days of bitter cultivation! If he drank a whole bottle, wouldn't it equal a year of hard work?

Little Wei Yuan found it hard to believe. Looking at the dishes on the table, he didn't recognize a single one, knowing only that they were magnificent and that strands of spiritual energy were constantly overflowing from them. Forget eating them; just smelling them was beneficial to his cultivation.

After the toast, Bao Yun continued, "The reason I invited everyone to gather today is mainly for the Sect Minor Examination three years from now. I have already received news that this examination will be a confrontation between us and the disciples of the Zhigu Sect. We all know that the Zhigu Sect has several times our numbers, so I heard they have already regarded victory in the Minor Examination as being in the bag and are already discussing how to divide up the sect rewards. Furthermore, they even said they would post the examination results on a ranking board for the whole sect to see."

Everyone present was at an age where they feared nothing. The Zhigu Sect was clearly looking down on them, and many were immediately enraged.

Bao Yun looked at the expressions of the crowd and added, "They have already sent people to find me, saying that if we surrender, they will let us lose with some dignity, and there will be no need to post the ranking board."

Cui Yu was immediately furious. He slammed the table hard and cursed, "Arrogant!"

Xiang Xiaoyu maintained his cold expression and asked, "Who said that?"

Bao Yun sighed and said, "Xu Yin'an."

A strand of killing intent suddenly appeared on Xiang Xiaoyu.

Cui Yu was curious and asked, "What is the background of this Xu fellow?"

Xiang Xiaoyu kept his cold face and said nothing. Bao Yun said, "Speaking of which, he also came from Yu Yangjun, but he didn't participate in the centralized instruction like we did. There is another thing: his family has always wanted to propose a marriage to mine."

Cui Yu understood immediately and said angrily, "How truly overestimating oneself! I was wondering why he specifically came to find the Senior Sister to say such things; it turns out he wanted to use us to establish his prestige! Hmph, if he wants to step on us to climb up, he'll have to see if he has the ability!"

Xiang Xiaoyu nodded heavily, though he remained silent.

Bao Yun sighed again, "Although my father has already refused once, that Xu brother does have some talent, and the Xu family isn't too bad. If they truly win by a landslide this time, perhaps my father will look upon him more favorably?"

"He won't win," Xiang Xiaoyu said.

Cui Yu also said, "I remember who this person is now! Although the Xu family is one of the Seven Surnames, they have always been at the bottom, just making up the numbers. How can they compare to our families? If that Xu brother of yours were some stunning genius, that would be one thing, but I see his talent as mediocre, far worse than mine. And he dares to propose to the Bao family? If we don't beat him until he's scattered and fleeing during this Minor Examination, I, Cui Yu, might as well quit!"

Someone nearby whispered a reminder, "There seem to be four from the Cui family on the Zhigu Sect side."

Cui Yu said indifferently, "No fear! Among them, there is only one from the main branch, and he is a concubine-born son whose talent is inferior to mine. If you encounter them, just beat them to death; I'll take responsibility for any consequences!"

Bao Yun waited for the crowd to quiet down after their clamor before saying, "Actually, this can be considered my private matter. Even if we lose, it's impossible for me to agree to him; at worst, I'll just be gossiped about behind my back."

Cui Yu said solemnly, "We are fellow students studying together; to humiliate you is to humiliate all of us! Besides, they still plan to post the ranking board, which means they intend to use us as stepping stones! So what if they have more people? This cannot be tolerated; let's fight them to the end!"

"Fight," Xiang Xiaoyu said.

Children of this age were at the stage where their hot blood was just beginning to boil. They would rather die standing than live on their knees; how could they surrender without a fight?

Bao Yun finally had a smile on her face. "Since everyone is determined to fight, let's set up a plan and start preparing from now on. Since it's a faction confrontation and we have fewer people, everyone is very important. However, some fellow students don't have as many resources, and their cultivation might be dragged down. Therefore, I want to set up a public fund. Students with the ability can put some immortal silver into the fund, and other fellow students who need resources but lack the silver can borrow from it."

"Of course, the silver in the public fund is to be borrowed, not given. Fellow disciples can borrow as much as they need and pay it back within ten years."

Bao Yun's idea was simply whimsical, but including Little Wei Yuan, more than half of the students were moved. After all, those from prominent families were the minority, and most were from ordinary noble families. For most small families, providing the basic cultivation for a disciple in the Profound Heaven Sect was already extremely strenuous, so for most people, immortal silver was never enough, and their cultivation progress was inevitably dragged down.

In ten years, the vast majority of Profound Heaven Sect disciples would be able to forge a Dao Foundation. Even the worst Human-rank foundation would have the ability to take on basic sect missions, and their earning power would be incomparable to that of the Body Forging Realm. Therefore, Bao Yun's condition of repayment within ten years could be described as extremely generous.

Seeing the eager eyes of the crowd, Bao Yun said, "Since I proposed it, naturally I will go first. I will contribute thirty thousand taels of immortal silver!"

Thirty thousand?! Little Wei Yuan almost slid off his chair.

The eldest young lady of the Bao family had thrown out more than two hundred years' worth of his monthly allowance in one go, sixty times more than the pocket money the True Lord Fenhai had given him.

Cui Yu was not to be outdone. "I will also contribute thirty thousand!"

Xiang Xiaoyu said, "The same."

Then a few more children from prominent families contributed ten thousand each, totaling one hundred thousand taels.

Little Wei Yuan was already a bit numb, feeling as if they weren't talking about immortal silver at all. Even if they were grains of rice, one hundred thousand grains was no small amount.

Bao Yun was very happy. "The public fund will be kept with Senior Brother Cui and managed by Senior Brother Cui, myself, and Junior Brother Xiang Xiaoyu. How about that?"

Xiang Xiaoyu waved his hand. "I won't manage it."

Cui Yu smiled. "Junior Brother Xiao is focused on cultivation, so forget it. I'll take on these miscellaneous tasks."

Bao Yun added, "There are twenty-one people on the other side who received the Patriarch's favor. These people must naturally be handled by the five of us who received favor. The remaining fellow disciples will deal with those who didn't."

Cui Yu nodded. "Twenty-one on the other side, five of us; we just need to take on four each."

"Simple," Xiang Xiaoyu said.

Seeing that Little Wei Yuan hadn't opened his mouth to speak, Bao Yun asked, "Does Junior Brother Wei have any questions?"

Little Wei Yuan hesitated. "My cultivation progress is a bit slow, and I'm afraid I'll drag everyone down."

Cui Yu was not from Yu Yangjun and hadn't participated in the Martial Assessment. Hearing Little Wei Yuan's words, he immediately said, "Don't be afraid! If you can't beat them, Junior Brother, I'll take two more!"

(End of chapter)