Yao Shen coughed lightly into his fist to mask his bemused expression, as Zhou Hui valiantly fought against the smile that threatened to creep up on his face.

“You may…. try,” Yao Shen finally replied, his voice somewhat stifled as he saw the enthusiasm reflected in Duyi’s expression.

“Thank you, Master,” Duyi answered with a gracious bow before Yao Shen could retract his statement, the flames of passion within his heart only burning brighter.

Yao Shen’s face twitched slightly, as he held back a strong urge to sigh, while Zhou Hui seemed to be on the verge of tears from how desperately he was trying not to laugh. Yao Shen wasn’t averse to the path of body cultivation, and neither did the idea of a female body cultivator rankle at his sensibilities. The issue at hand was far simpler— body cultivation was a path of extremes, requiring an incredible tolerance for pain, a willingness to bear physical punishment, along with extensive investment in elixirs, balms and pills whose cost no disciple was capable of shouldering alone.

One would wonder why Yao Shen’s disciples’ path diverged so heavily from his own, and it was often a topic of contention among the inner disciples. Few cultivators knew that Yao Shen himself had never intended to take more than one disciple, who he would pass down his complete legacy to. He had taken Shadow as a disciple entirely by chance, and Xiaoli’s discipleship had started as an asylum seeker. He had come to love the former as a daughter, making him overprotective in her training, while the latter’s temperament was not suited for combat.

Only Duyi, who shared the same thirst for martial strength that had once driven Yao Shen’s actions, mirroring the single-minded, crazed pursuit of ascension that had defined his journey to Soul Emperor, was suitable to inherit his legacy. Except there was one crucial distinction between the two, one that made all the difference. A master naturally wanted their disciples to surpass their accomplishments, and Yao Shen was no different— Duyi was talented, far more talented than Yao Shen had ever been, in a particularly offensive element as well.

“Do not pressure your junior sister though, Duyi. She has had a…. troubled experience in the sect, and may not take kindly to your guidance,” Yao Shen cautioned, though he was not too worried given Duyi’s nature.

“Understood, Master,” Duyi replied, a sombre expression wiping away all traces of joviality on his face as his gaze hardened.

“Come, then. Let us proceed,” Yao Shen walked forward as Duyi stood to the side, letting Zhou Hui pass through first before he fell in line, a step behind the two.

A minute later they stood outside the entrance to the fourth floor, Yao Shen unlocking the entrance without further ado. A strong wave of Qi swept past them as the door creaked open, causing the ambient Qi in the stairwell to rise at a staggering rate. The three of them hurried in and Duyi manually shut the door behind them to stymie the leak.

Few outside Yao Shen and his disciples had seen the layout of the fourth floor, and for good reason— most outer and inner disciples would go green with envy at the pile of peak-purity spiritual ore stacked in the center of the floor, encased by a concentric formation that comprised of two silver runic circles embedded in the tiling. The larger circle encircled the circumference of the floor, while the smaller circle was placed around the shimmering pile of ore— the formation serving a dual-fold purpose: extracting Qi from the spiritual ore and maintaining a high level of ambient Qi in the environment by releasing it periodically.

The formation let a cultivator directly absorb Qi from the environment instead of slowly siphoning it from the ore, but the costs involved in its upkeep were so steep that not even legacy family disciples enjoyed such treatment. However Yao Shen only had three disciples, and like any mortal father who had grown up lacking resources, he wished to offer the children under his wing nothing but the best.

Yao Shen’s gaze shifted from the formation after taking a glance at the ore reserves, to the western part of the room where a single bed was situated. Yanyue was sleeping peacefully on the bed while Shadow was seated on a chair next to her, gently clasping her hand with both of her own to monitor her Qi flow and pulse.

Her perception detected Yao Shen’s approach and she hurriedly withdrew her hands, a light blush coloring her cheeks as she averted her gaze. The sudden jerking movement caused Yanyue’s eyes to snap open, grogilly trying to make sense of her surroundings.

A few seconds later, Yanyue’s eyes went wide with shock as she noticed the ambient Qi in the environment, sitting up on the bed before she knew it. Her instincts screamed at her to cultivate, for even a few hours of cultivation in this chamber would translate to weeks of cultivating with medium-purity spirit stones, and never had she seen such extravagance, no, decadence, in her life.

Thankfully reason prevailed as Yanyue reminded herself that she was now an honorary disciple of the Patriarch, her stature and importance in the sect incomparable to before. She turned her gaze to her elder sister, who for some reason found the ceiling very enrapturing at that moment. Had she been waiting at her bedside the entire time she was unconscious?

The approaching set of footsteps attracted her attention, and Yanyue let out a mental squeal as she saw her Master accompanied by one of the elders that had been present in the council meeting. She hurriedly fumbled around in bed, getting back to her feet as she anxiously tried to straighten out her rumpled robes.

“At ease, Yanyue,” Yao Shen scanned Yanyue’s meridians and Qi flow with his divine sense, and only when he concluded that she was fine, and it had indeed been emotional fatigue that had caused her to faint, did he smile lightly. “This will be your living quarters from now on, for as long as you are willing to stay with us,” he added reassuringly, hoping that he had eased one of her anxieties.

“Thank you, Patriar…- Master,” Yanyue corrected herself mid-sentence and gave Yao Shen a deep, respectful bow, partly in order to conceal the shock reflecting in her eyes. She was…..allowed to cultivate here? For as long as she wanted? That alone was a gift that she would likely be unable to repay in this lifetime, possibly saving her years of cultivation in the inner sect. Had she not already broken down twice in the last twenty four hours, perhaps this time it would have been tears of gratitude that were shed.

“Rise, child,” Yao Shen gave her a light pat on the shoulder, snapping her out of her thoughts.

She straightened her back with a little more gusto, as she continuously reminded herself that she was no longer the hapless inner disciple who failed to procure even the most basic variation of the healing arts, but the disciple of the most powerful cultivator in the Azlak Plains.

“Good,” Yao Shen acknowledged, and then continued, “This is your senior brother and my second disciple, Duyi Xiong.”

Zhou Hui stepped to the side, and only then did Yanyue notice the hulking figure of the young man who’s presence had previously been overshadowed by the two Patriarchs. Yanyue’s watched as the red haired man approached, and she could not help but feel slightly intimidated— his bulky, muscular arms were easily double her own in circumference, but it was more the silent intensity the man radiated with every step he took, his eyes glowing with a bright passion she herself had long forgotten.

“It is nice to meet you, junior sister. We have much to discuss,” Duyi boisterously stated, but his tone still managed to come off as friendly and encouraging.

Yanyue meekly nodded her head, wondering exactly what one had to eat to get a physique like that. The rumors were largely at odds when it came to Yao Shen’s other two disciples, since they hardly made public appearances. Duyi’s physique only served to further confuse her, for few cultivators found it worthwhile to train the body when the elements were more effective in almost all situations, and she found herself wondering what element he cultivated.

“Oh, Yanyue,” Yao Shen added, his eyes twinkling with light mischief.

“Yes, Master?” She asked, the term of endearment and respect flowing far more naturally on her tongue.

“I have prepared a small gift that will aid you on the path of cultivation. I suspect it should be arriving soon,” Yao Shen gave Yanyue a warm smile, wondering how the girl would react to being gifted a priceless Nascent Soul Natural Treasure when mere spiritual ore managed to impress her. He….. almost felt bad. Almost.

Of course, Yao Shen was not frivolous enough to leave such a priceless treasure in the guardianship of a foundation establishment disciple, so he used his divine sense to inform Duyi and Shadow of the specifics. Shadow’s expression remained unchanged, but Duyi’s expression was far more entertaining— his eyes were on the verge of popping out as he stared at his new junior sister with unconcealed shock in his eyes, sizing her up and down as he pondered upon same question Yanyue had not too long ago: what did his new junior sister eat to have such earth-shattering, heaven-defying good fortune?

On the other hand, Zhou Hui felt especially stifled at the thought of Xue’s Family’s Heart-Cleansing Sea Pearl being referred to as a ‘small’ gift.......but he supposed that they had it coming.

“I am grateful for your consideration, Master,” Yanyue replied graciously, entirely unaware of the true value of the gift.

“Now, I have matters of import to discuss with Patriarch Hui, we shall disturb you young ones no further,” With that, Yao Shen and Zhou Hui moved to the southern end of the room, where three plush spiritual beast hide divans rested, flanked with shelfs on either side that contained scrolls, beast-hide tomes and other literary treatises on martial and elemental theory and techniques.