Inside one of the rooms in the courtyard the young man had already changed into his jade-green robes and sat cross-legged on the wooden bed.
Knock, knock, knock
Knocking sounds could be heard coming from the door.
"There it's" the young man slowly opened his eyes stepping down from the bed, after waking up from sleep earlier he had decided to stay in his room and observe his shrine for a bit before leaving the room.
And in his perspective the sect elders didn't seem friendly. So he decided to wait and see if they would come get him. After living as a slave for a long time he naturally developed a cautious mind and always thought things through before making any moves.
"Elders"
The young man opened the door slowly while having a kind smile on his face and eyes closed, he did not dare look at the elders in the eyes but instead immediately kowtowed as he opened the door.
"Ptff"
But much to his surprise the young man heard a mocking sound and immediately lifted his head up to see who exactly was standing in front of the door.
Obviously It wasn't any of the two elders. A young handsome man with long black hair dressed in jade-green green robes and a white headband on his forehead stood at the door.
"Haha, we're fellow disciples now, there's no need to bow so deeply, but I understand you've been a slave your whole life, it's a habit that's hard to change" the handsome young man chuckled as he looked down at the kneeling young man.
"Oh it's you brother hao Jun" the young man calmly got up from the ground.
After seeing the young man being calm. hao jun had a look of disappointment, he purposely brought up the young man's past as a slave in order to read him.
"This hao jun is really a schemer, he acts as if he's our leader every time he gets the chance" the young man knew hao jun was trying to suppress him because of his former slave status and be the dominant disciple between the four of them.
Former slave or not, in the jade wind sect they were all treated the same way, the elders only care about who can survive under their harsh conditions, from the beginning where they started climbing the mountain up to this moment many young people have died, and even though only one young girl had died during the martial masters ritual it was still the same, only strength mattered here. The dead are considered losers and would be completely forgotten about the next day.
"we've already gathered, you're the only one left"
"Alright let's go then" they both walked forward arriving at the center of the courtyard not long after.
At the center was a small pond, where multiple fish of different colors could be seen. The ground was paved with stones.
"Hehe, I've already noticed it in the shrine we slept before but jade wind sect is truly wealthy." One of the youngsters who stood in the courtyard said as he looked around with shining eyes.
"You guys probably have no idea since you've been slaves your entire lives but back in my village jade wind sect is known to be one of the righteous paths leaders, it has hundreds of years history" hao jun folded his arms over his chest. Speaking arrogantly.
"Is that why these youngsters came to join tge sect the other day" one of the youngsters thought to themselves.
"Anyways few days have passed since the martial masters ritual.." just as one of youngsters was talking a figure suddenly appeared from the gate of the courtyard.
they all started kowtowing.
They heard the footsteps of the figure getting closer and closer but none of them had the courage to lift their heads up and take a peek at the person walking towards them.
"Get up" a calm voice echoed through their minds and they all got up. the person standing before them was a middle-aged woman. Even though the woman wasn't a beauty. She had deep calm eyes, and looked as if she could read others minds. The youngsters couldn't help but be amazed after seeing her eyes.
"You've all done very well, you've passed the trails we set up, as such you'll be rewarded today"
"follow me, I'll take you to the sect's storage, and each of you can pick any martial arts manual you want"
"Yes, elder" the youngsters cupped their fists as they all shouted at once. excitement could be seen on their eyes. Some were even shaking due to excitement, it has been a week since they became disciples and this was the first time they were being rewarded.
"Finally, i can learn martial arts, we've spent a fortune to come to jade wind sect and risked our lives to climb the mountain but we made it" Hao jun thought to himself as he looked at the girl standing beside him.
The girl smiled and nodded after meeting his gaze.
They all began walking forward, following Feng Jing. After a few moments, they arrived at an old, tall wooden house. The house seemed as though its glorious days were long gone, but upon closer inspection, one could still feel its majesty.
"Why does everything in this sect seem so old?" One of the youngsters thought to themselve. As they wouldn't dare say that out loud
creeak..
Feng Jing pushed the door open.
The youngsters peered inside and saw the entire house covered in countless cobwebs with dust.
"Ahem, as disciples of jade wind sect it's also one of your duties to take care of the sect's properties.." after seeing the condition of the house feng jing looked towards the youngsters as she spoke calmly.
"Yes elder, jade wind sect is no different than our house, we will take care of this, the youngsters cupped their fists toward feng jing, speaking diligently.
"Good, after you're done, each of you may only take one martial arts manual from the lower floors" feng jing smiled and put her index finger up telling them to only take one manual
"Disciples will do as elder says"
"Come see me in the courtyard once you're done"
.....
"Cough cough"
"Aside from the courtyard and the shrine we slept before, everything else seems so old and neglected" the youngsters were coughing due to the dust as they swept the house.
"Look at all these martial arts manuals!" One of the youngsters noticed multiple bamboo books stacked together on a wooden table"
"They're left out in the open… shouldn't treasures like these be sealed away in a vault?" one of the youngsters leaned forward looking at the martial arts manuals
"Jade wind sect is a powerful sect who would dare to snatch these away, unless they're martial masters. climbing the mountain alone will be the end of them."
"The mountain..."
At these words. the wooden house fell silent.
the youngsters exchanged uneasy glances, fear flickering in their eyes.
A few weeks ago as a test they had to climb jade dragon mountain in order to join the sect and many slave youngsters same age as them have lost their lives while climbing the mountain.
None of them had any idea how many days it took them to reach the mountain peak,
Not only was the mountain enormous, there was also a deadly wind that was constantly trying to knock them off the mountain.
"Sigh, let's finish this quickly so we can choose our martial arts manuals" one of the youngsters spoke breaking the silence in the wooden house.
.....
"I can't understand anything written in here," one of the youngsters thought as he held a martial arts manual. The manual was made of thick bamboo. Although there were illustrations of martial arts moves, there were also many written words he couldn't comprehend.
"Brother, are you having trouble reading?" A soft voice came from behind him.
Without a rush he slowly turned around to look and saw a beautiful young woman with a pale, smooth face. dressed in jade green robes.