Chapter 56:

As he went down his mountain peak and passed through the sect ground, there were many people scattered around; some entering the sect, others exiting, while a few others loitered around.

But when they saw Huang Xue, gossips immediately began to circulate around these fellows.

“Hey, isn’t that senior-apprentice Huang Xue?”

“Mmn! He finally came out after all this time. Could those previous rumors be true…?”

“No way! Why would the Shen clan’s third young master do that? I don’t even think there’s any enmity between Yang Chen and him previously…”

Huang Xue naturally understood that those people were referring to the rumor about him slaying Yang Chen back in the Grand Valley Tomb. He had already been informed of these events and topics by one of the Shen clan’s informants. Even in his short seclusion, Huang Xue did not forget to pay attention to the changes in the outside world, especially in Six Ocean Sect where he is currently residing in.

But in the end, the rumors were merely rumors. Huang Xue indeed did not kill Yang Chen - it was Luo Ke who did. Although there may have been a slight trace of Huang Xue’s involvement that led to Yang Chen’s death, ultimately, it was not himself who acted out the deed.

Therefore, Huang Xue did not mind the rumors, not caring to neither deny or confirm such worthless speculations.

Walking towards the sect’s main hall, Huang Xue was still greeted by several other sect disciples who had a rather positive relationship with him. After a short while, Huang Xue entered the main mall.

Inside, Huang Xue looked around before his eyes landed on the back of a familiar gray-haired figure. A faint smile appeared on his face as Huang Xue walked over towards that person.

Not many people in the main hall minded Huang Xue’s presence, since the hall was filled with hundreds of people per day. Only a few people who were nearby may have recognized Huang Xue, but that was it.

Huang Xue walked up to the gray-haired figure as he cupped his hands:

“Greetings, Elder Hong Wu.”

The gray-haired elder, Hong Wu, turned around and looked at Huang Xue with a slight surprise.

“Oh? Huang Xue you finished your seclusion?”

“En. I just finished today. Since, I have...gained quite a bit these past few days, there was no need for an extended period of seclusion.” Huang Xue replied.

(Note: “En” = It’s like an acknowledgement-type of word; like yes, yeah, mmhmm, etc.)

“So, tell me, what do you need? Don’t tell that a great young master of the Shen clan would simply come greet me right after coming out of seclusion?” Hong Wu said with a smile, yet not a smile.

Huang Xue smiled as he looked at the thirteenth elder. Out of the entire upper echelon of the Six Ocean Sect, Huang Xue had only came in contact with Hong Wu the most. And given Hong Wu’s carefree character and his care for him, Huang Xue had quite a good impression of this person. Especially, how the other party catches on fast.

“Hahaha, Elder Hong Wu is apart of the upper echelon in the Six Ocean Sect. Given the sect’s great strength, naturally Elder Hong Wu’s position is high and lofty; for a third young master like me to want to come greet you can be no more fitting and normal.”

“Cut the load of flattery. Just tell me what you need.” Hong Wu waved his hand as he glanced at Huang Xue.

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Huang Xue thought for a moment before he began: “Since Elder Hong Wu says so, then I would indeed need a little help from you, elder. Don’t worry, it does not require you to do anything, but rather, to answer something for me.”

“Hm? And your question is?”

“Simple. I want to know, just how does one become the sect master?”

“....”

Hong Wu was about to reply to Huang Xue when his mind froze at the latter’s question.

“Hold on...can you repeat your question again? You said...you want to become the sect master?” Hong Wu asked as he squinted his eyes at Huang Xue.

“Well, that wasn’t my question, I just wanted to know how could one become the sect master. As for me desiring that position...heh, I can’t say I’m not interested.” Huang Xue said, with a faint roguish smirk on his face.

Hong Wu sucked in a deep breath as he tried to cool the bubbling anger in his chest.

“To think that at such a young age, you’re already thinking about becoming a sect master...while it’s good to aspire towards something high, but this is a bit too much.” Hong Wu thought to himself. “In the end, could this child be just like the other young masters of those fancy, major powers? Not understanding the immensity of the heavens and earth, and overestimating oneself…”

Hong Wu cleared his throat after a while and said coldly: “Ahem. Hmph! It’s a little too early for you to care about such matters. Perhaps after you train for several tens or hundreds of years, may you have the qualification to aim for the sect master seat.”

“Elder, you’re not answering my question though.” Huang Xue cut in.

Hong Wu’s lips twitched before he continued: “As for your question, I cannot answer it. However, if you were to achieve 1st rank on the Sea Disciple Ranking tablet, then we may discuss a bit more on this topic. If not, then you’ll just have to wait until you’re stronger.”

“First rank? What does these things have to do with becoming a sect master? Isn’t it just seeing who’s fist is big enough to overwhelm the other? Or seeing which person could garner the most support from the sect?” Huang Xue questioned with a frown.

“Heh, you still haven’t been in the sect long enough, so you must not know about this. But I’ll tell you. The thing is, our Six Ocean Sect heavily follows the belief that the top seedlings of the sect are the hope for the sect’s future, even more than other sect’s. In fact, the title of “Six Ocean Master”, and elders have almost always been selected from the top rankers of the Sea Disciple Ranking!

“So if you manage to take the 1st rank on the Sea Disciple Ranking, then it would not be an exaggeration to say that you’ll be qualified to be a running candidate for the sect master seat.”

At the thirteenth elder’s words, Huang Xue turned his head to look at the grand tablet situated at the center of the hall.

Previously when Huang Xue came here, he had merely glanced through the list of people on the Sea Disciple Ranking. He had no interest towards it, nor did he bothered to keep them in his memory. But now that he knew the importance of this ranking, his eyes shot straight up towards the top of the tablet. Beside each rank, the name, age, and cultivation of those prospective holders were displayed in glowing cyan letters.

Rank 1 - Zhu Zhu Meiying. Age 20. Tian realm, 6th stage.

Rank 2 - Shen Cai. Age 20. Tian realm, 4th stage.

Rank 3 - Du Minghan. Age 20. Tian realm, 3rd stage.

Rank 4 - Yang Zhetian. Age 24. Tian realm, 2nd stage.

Rank 5 - Shen Hai. Age 19. Tian realm, 1st stage.

Huang Xue’s eyes gleamed with a strange light as he looked at the names.

“Oh? Seems like that child Shen Cai is pretty good. However...this first ranker, huh...what a huge disparity of strength between the 1st rank and 2nd rank. Seems like this ‘Zhu Jingfei’ child is quite talented, reaching the mid-Tian realm at the age of twenty. Mmm, she’s comparable to the lesser outer-court disciples of my Godly Supreme Hall; this in itself is already quite good for a place like the Long Dynasty.” Huang Xue mused to himself.

Elder Hong Wu cleared his throat as he said: “Therefore, before you think about things like becoming the sect master, you should first at least try to enter the top ten rankings. Anyways, if there is nothing else, I’ll have to go attend to my other matters. If you need me, you can find me at the Elder’s Courtyard.”

The Elder’s Courtyard was a special area where many of the sect elders’ resided. The density of Earth and Heaven Qi in that area is five times greater than any other parts of the sect. The sect disciples are typically not permitted to enter this courtyard without the permission of a sect elder.

Having said his words, Hong Wu looked at Huang Xue who was still in thought. After a short while, Huang Xue turned back to the elder and said: “Thank you, Elder Hong Wu. I will be sure to your words in mind. There is nothing else I need as of now.”

Elder Hong Wu nodded before he turned to leave. “Alright, then take care to be diligent with your cultivation! I’ll be leaving now.”

As the thirteenth elder left, Huang Xue had a faint smile on his when he turned to look at the ranking tablet again.

“While I can increase my true body’s cultivation quickly, to do so may be a bit too unnatural. The first five realms are simple to cultivate. Though, instantly taking over the 1st rank may bring unneeded trouble. I’ll have to give it some time before I make my move. For now...climbing to the 3rd rank would be good.”

This way, even though it would be astonishing, it wouldn’t be too surreal. Huang Xue’s true cultivation was already at the 9th stage of Jie Hai, and once he broke through to the Tian realm, his strength would once again amplify.

The main point is to begin bringing the attention of the sect’s true upper echelon to himself; to have them consider him as ‘important’.

If the Six Ocean Sect is true to their beliefs, then the brighter he shone, the more strongly they would support him. Even if he did not become the sect master, Huang Xue may still be able to command a large portion of the sect’s resource and use them to support Luo Ke.

It was only if it was impossible to achieve this, without becoming the sect master, would Huang Xue truly aim to host a coup d'etat.

Now that Huang Xue had found Luo Ke, one of the three destined ones he was looking for, there was now no need to remain low-key. It was fine to go out and “exercise” a bit, as long as he did not utilise his other two clones. But then again, it was not as if he could depend on his clones to come help out each time; that was simply unrealistic in a dire life-or-death situation, no matter how omnipotent he may be.

The fact remained that his true body was still currently lacking.