Zeng Fei roused in shock and pain, flailing his hands in front to try and defend himself.
Freezing. Wet.
His conscience became aware he was submerged in cold water.
Wait, no - not that wet.
He blinked open his eyes to see the oddest entity standing in front of him, holding a large jug at an angle which left no doubt as to who had rudely awakened him.
Behind it, an astonishing landscape scene stretched out under the evening light, revealing that he was presently at high elevation: fog obscured everything in the far distance except for seven peaks that poked out of the white blanket.
He realised he must be on one of the eight peaks of the Treading Infinity Sect - these peaks were visible everywhere in the Outer Sect.
Shaking his head and unclogging the water from his ears, he heard the Eighth Grand Elder now: “Ah, he’s awake. Good job, Butler-bot.”
Frowning quizzically at the unexpected name, he made a double-take on the odd entity that had awoken him.
It was an anthropomorphic puppet attired in a black morning coat, a white bow tie, and nothing else. Its body, made of varnished mahogany, was stunningly beautiful, and while humanoid in frame, it wasn’t a crude attempt to ape the human form as could be seen from the angular contours and unnatural sleekness of its figure.
Forget function, this puppet was a masterpiece in form, the work of a true artisan. Well, except for the design choice to have buttons as eyes and a line for the mouth…
Zeng Fei had to make a triple-take and quadruple-take at the puppet, which turned towards the Eighth Grand Elder standing beside, bowed, and then departed. Its movement was so smooth it was almost at human levels, as good as any robot from Boston Dynam***.
Grand Elder Mi Mi, meanwhile, tilted her head at him, wondering what was making him gawp like this.
“That puppet…” he prompted.
“Hmm?” She cast a questioning look towards Butler-bot, before finally catching onto his meaning and giggling. “Ah, I forget how novel it can appear to others. That’s a puppet crafted by your second senior brother to help around the house.”
“Ah, okay.” So he had a senior brother who was proficient in puppet making: that was sure to come in handy.
“Good thing you’re awake now,” Grand Elder Mi Mi continued. “I thought I’d been going at a okay speed, but you were out before I knew it. Sorry, it’s been a long time since I interacted with someone at the Qi Refining realm.”
She took hold of his hand again and tugged him onwards. “Anyway you’re fine now, so come on.”
Finally taking stock of his surroundings, Zeng Fei noted that the ground was perfectly level, which meant that this must be the sole mountain peak with a flat top, unimaginatively nicknamed by the Outer Sect Disciples as ‘Flat-Top Mountain’.
It had been presumed this feature was natural, but now standing on the perfectly level ground, it occurred to Zeng Fei that it almost looked like someone had sliced a good portion the mountain peak off, as absurd as it sounded.
The other thing that caught Zeng Fei’s attention was the mansion ahead. Naturally, he’d spotted it earlier on - it was impossible to miss - but it was now while focusing on its grandness that he realised how excessively rich Grand Elder Mi Mi must be.
Of course, that could have been guessed from her rank alone, but there was a difference between logically deducing something and literally observing it in front of you. This point was particularly prevalent here as Zeng Fei had full-on misread the Grand Elder on first glance, owing to her lack of aura and homely appearance.
Thankfully, the ride on the cloud had cleared any doubts about her power, and the mansion here now corrected any misconceptions he’d held about her status. All of a sudden, he felt very small and very subservient to her, realising only now how lucky he’d been that she’d not become offended by his request for another master.
There was a puppet wearing a flannel straw hat tending to the garden ahead of the mansion, but the Grand Elder didn’t allow him to dawdle and stare as she brought him inside, where many more puppets were going about their duties.
A few steps into the entry hall was a table with multiple items on, seemingly all prepared for him.
First up were new robes, the black robes of… to be honest, he had no clue.
He knew the colour and intensity of colour signified your faction/area of expertise and rank. I.e. he could safely assume Wang Li would be in a light grey robes the next time he saw him, Sun Ru in light red, and Dong Fu in light brown. But as for jet black, he had not the foggiest - never had he heard it mentioned as the colours of a faction.
To make matters more confusing, Grand Elder Mi Mi herself wore a sunny knitted cardigan, dust-coloured barrel leg trousers, and sandals - if there was any meaning to her clothes, Zeng Fei was willing to wager that it was one beyond the comprehension of even the most eagle-eyed video essayists on Youtu**.
A better example of the clothes-colour system in play was the Sect Leader, whose crystal white robes slotted him neatly into place amongst those in his faction, such as Elder Ma who wore off-white robes.
Grand Elder Mi Mi recreated the form of the black robes in translucent qi and superimposed it over his body - she squinted, changing the length and cut several times before growing satisfied.
“Tailor-bot, please make the changes I’ve specified to these robes.”
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A puppet wearing a fancy hat nodded and took away the robes to another room.
The Grand Elder addressed Zeng Fei. “Those are standard issue robes, so they are waterproof, dirtproof, and fire resistant. They also have limited protection against qi.” She sighed. “Unfortunately, I have no talent in refining or tailoring, so this is the best I can do. But when your senior sister leaves her seclusion, I will ask her to make you custom clothing to your liking.”
Zeng Fei was taken aback as he’d never expected such personalised care, certainly not from someone this powerful.
He bowed to show his gratitude. “No, this is already much to my liking. Thank you, Master Mi Mi.”
“Alas, your senior sister will likely force you all the same.”
“Huh?”
“Ahem.” His master coughed to divert attention, and had the next item float up. It was a grand-looking amulet that must have been many times more valuable than Zeng Fei’s own life.
The string was attached to a gem half the size of a palm, which had black and white spilling into each other like a messed-up taijitu; and the Treading Infinity Sect’s insignia was engraved into its centre, with smaller, indecipherable inscriptions carved around the perimeter.
“Every joiner is given a standard-issue amulet that proves their identity as an Inner Sect Disciple of the sect. But since you are my personal disciple, you will instead have this custom amulet that further identifies you as such.”
She took it in her hands and gestured for him to bend his neck down. She placed it over his head, then clapped. “With this, you are now officially my disciple.”
It reminded him he’d not followed the protocol in the Council Hall like the other disciples had done. Now, having been graced by the Grand Elder’s generosity and consideration over the last few minutes, he could see that had been a mistake.
He moved to rectify it at once by kowtowing on the ground. “I, Zeng Fei, recognise Grand Elder Mi Mi as my master. I plead you to forgive my earlier transgression and to take care of me going forward.”
“Mm.” His master seemed pleased by his words, showing her sloppy smile as she helped him up.
She next brought over a box of pellets with a strong medicinal smell. “As you are in the Qi Refining stage, these Energy Gathering Pills will greatly aid your advancement. These are all I have on hand, but if you ask your senior sister, she can easily craft more for you.”
Zeng Fei accepted the box of twenty pellets, and bowed to show his gratitude. So it seemed he had one senior sister, who was a mix of a refiner and an alchemist, and at least two senior brothers, one of whom was a puppet master. That sounded far more convenient than having seniors who were solely battle maniacs.
“It’s also tradition for the master to gift their disciple a magic artefact upon accepting them. But since I don’t know what you’ll like, I’ll leave that to Crooked Cao - I’ve told him to let you select a treasure of your liking from the Myriad Treasures Pagoda. Though there’s no hurry since you’ll have to wait till you’ve reached Foundation Establishment anyway to utilise the artefact.”
“Many thanks, Master.” Given how kind and gentle Grand Elder Mi Mi was, he couldn’t help but wonder why those Elders had reacted the way they had when they’d learnt he was going to be her disciple.
Could it be his master’s faction was currently weak to the point of non-existence - which would explain why he’d never heard about it - and those Elders had been fearing he was the golden boy who would revitalise her power base?
“Mm. As for guidance on your cultivation technique, that is where your master will be lacking.” She bowed towards him, flustering Zeng Fei.
“Not at all, Master. This is already more than enough for your humble disciple.”
But Grand Elder Mi Mi was insistent. “No, the reality of having a master is not just for material goods but also to provide spiritual guidance so that you have the smoothest path to higher realms. But I don’t know how much I’ll be able to help given you inherited a unique art from an ancient cultivator.”
Zeng Fei had further developed his cover-up since speaking to Elder Ma, but he wasn’t given a chance to respond with it here as his master continued.
“Don’t worry, neither the technique nor the inheritance is of concern - we Grand Elders discussed it already, which is why it was determined that your master would have to be a Grand Elder as an ordinary Elder would struggle to give any guidance at all.”
“Master, if you’ll forgive my rudeness, could I ask why you were chosen?”
Zeng Fei’s original plan had been to go under an ordinary Elder like Elder Ma and slowly accumulate his strength like transmigrators always did in the novels he’d read.
Of course, he was now pleased to have the generous Grand Elder Mi Mi as his patron, aka master - his gamble to impress the sect seniors having worked out beautifully - but he remained curious why her specifically. Could it be she’d volunteered?
“I am the youngest of the Grand Elders: it’s been a while since the others had to guide a disciple seeing as most of their disciples are now Elders themselves, so I suppose that was a factor. But it was more so because you share similarities with my other disciples.”
The revelation widened Zeng Fei’s eyes. “They also cultivate ancient arts?”
“Not at all,” she said, batting it down. “Your senior brothers and sister have each created their unique cultivation arts and are, therefore, equally difficult to guide. Hence, I do have some experience in dealing with such disciples.”
She clapped. “But that can all wait for another day. I’m sure you’re exhausted from everything you’ve been through today. Usually Inner Sect Disciples would select a cave in their respective peaks as their home, but you can choose a room here in my mansion and stay for as long as you like. It’s already too big for me alone.”
This was music to Zeng Fei’s ears: the spiritual energy here was many times denser than it’d been in his old mud hut, probably denser than anywhere else in the sect too given this was a Grand Elder’s abode. Though her comment did make him wonder why she was living in such a large mansion if she found it too big - must be to preserve face amongst her peers, he presumed.
She must have detected his thoughts. “I used to have a nice cottage further down this peak, but it was your eldest senior brother who declared it wouldn’t do given my status. So he sliced away the peak, put down this mansion, and demanded that I live here from now on. I eventually moved in just so he’d stop pestering me, but then he went and publicly announced that the fact my mansion was on the summit, more elevated than any of the others’, reflected my standing as the greatest amongst the Grand Elders, and that if they didn’t like it, they could suck it.”
Zeng Fei just stood there blinking, wondering if she was pulling his leg. Surely there was no way his eldest senior brother had actually forced her to move into this mansion just to have an excuse to trash-talk the other Grand Elders, right?
That would not only be trampling all over their face but hers too!
Yet from the way Grand Elder Mi Mi ruefully shook her head, Zeng Fei was inclined to believe his eldest senior brother may have done exactly that...
“It’s fortunate they all saw it for the joke it was, and let it pass without any punishment.” She sighed, wearing the expression of mothers everywhere who had their hands full with a problematic child.
Right, there was definitely no way such proud and powerful individuals like Grand Elders would let that kind of disrespect fly without punishment… Was she really under the belief they’d forgiven him just because they’d told her as much?
“I’ve said to that boy time and time again to stop with his silly pranks, but he just won’t listen. And recently it’s like the other two have also caught whatever crazy bug he had. But I’m sure you won’t turn out that way, right Zeng’er?”
Suddenly the pitiful and wary looks from the Elders in the Council Hall made sense to Zeng Fei: it was not because of who his master was, but who his seniors were…