Today is Nangong Yue’s seventeenth birthday. If it were the birthday of the daughter of the head of the clan, it would be a special event for other sects. But Nangong Xiu's family is frugal, and they won't waste the sect's money for personal reasons, so they just celebrate briefly.
Lu Duofu lived in a poor place and did not have such specialties. His parents died early and he lived in a beggar's den for a few years. He did not know his birth date, only that he was almost sixteen years old. However, since he entered the sect, every time the family celebrates Nangong Yue's birthday, they also include Lu Duofu. Not only do they have to boil an egg for them, but they also have to celebrate.
Baiyunxi bought new clothes for each of the two children. Nangong Yue is wearing a pink immortal skirt, with a delicate nose and skin as white as snow. When I reached that station, I looked like a human fairy who had stepped out of a brocade painting.
Lu Duofu was dressed in black and full of energy. The age of fifteen or sixteen is the age when men develop the fastest. Two years ago, Lu Duofu was almost a head shorter than Nangong Yue. In the past two years, he ate more and practiced more. Now he is almost as tall as Nangong Yue, and he has completely lost his skinny appearance when he first came to Yunyinmen. He looked like a strong young man.
"Little Fuzi, when dad brought you back, you were only a little taller, but now you are as tall as me. It seems that you will be called Dafuzi in the future." Nangong Yue made exaggerated gestures on her chest and teased with a smile. road.
Looking at Nangong Yue's beautiful face with a beautiful smile, Lu Duofu turned away with some embarrassment: "What the hell, didn't Senior Sister say that? I will always be your little lucky son."
This was what Nangong Yue said when she took him to see the sea that day. Unexpectedly, Lu Duofu remembered it clearly. At that time, Lu Duofu was short and short, and Nangong Yue always regarded him as a child. Now facing Lu Duofu, who was as tall as herself, and hearing him repeat what he said that day, Nangong Yue suddenly felt shy for some reason.
The two of them were speechless, and suddenly they heard an old voice coming from outside the door: "I can smell the fragrance outside. It seems that I came at the right time." Lu Duofu turned around and saw old man Mu carrying a bottle of wine. Gourd, walked in with a smile. There were several people following behind him, including the peak masters and elders of various peaks.
All the important people from Yunyin Sect were here, so naturally they came to celebrate Nangong Yue's birthday. Although Nangong Xiu intended to keep his beloved daughter's birthday simple, he did not invite guests. But after all, he is the leader of a sect. Even if he intends to make things simple, the other peak masters and elders have to know the etiquette, and they have to come when they should.
"Yue'er, Duofu have met Uncle Mu, Uncle Li, Uncle Zhang..." Nangong Yue and Lu Duofu saluted together. The elders beamed with joy, and each person took out two red envelopes and distributed them to Nangong Yue and Lu Duofu.
Nangong Xiu greeted the guests to take their seats. After all the guests were seated, Nangong Yue and Lu Duofu helped Baiyun Xi serve food and drinks. After a while, the table was filled with wine and food, and everyone was chatting while eating.
After drinking for three rounds, the master of Luoxia Peak, Li Wenliang, said: "Brother, I see that Duofu has been practicing very hard recently and seems to have reached the third level of the martial arts master realm. Can we consider letting him worship the gate wall?"
Yun Yao Tang is located at Luoxia Peak. Lu Duofu often goes there, so he sees Li Wenliang a lot. Over time, Li Wenliang took care of this younger generation. So while I was in a drunken mood, I brought up the matter of Lu Duofu's entry.
Everyone was stunned for a moment, then relieved and expressed their support. Lu Duofu has never been able to become Nangong Xiu's official disciple due to his broken bloodline. Now that he can practice, he should have some understanding of this matter.
Nangong Xiu suddenly said: "This matter cannot be done yet. According to the sect rules, it must be decided by the Elders Council. Junior Brother Li, I cannot break the rules by abolishing the public affairs for personal reasons." Nangong Xiu brought up the sect rules, and everyone suddenly Speechless, after all, the rules were set by the ancestors.
The leader of Hanyan Peak, Wen Hongbo, said: "Senior Brother, I think it's okay to make an exception in this matter. Duofu, this guy has only been able to train to the third level of the martial arts realm in just one and a half years. Such progress is extremely rare in the history of our Yunyin Sect. Yes, we should recruit such talents as soon as possible."
Nangong Xiu looked gloomy and said, "That's true. We all see Duofu's qualifications. But his path of cultivation is too difficult. I really don't know how far he can go. How can I risk the future of Yunyin Sect to make such a dangerous move?"
As soon as these words came out, all the elders looked at each other and didn't know how to respond.
Lu Duofu is good, but the fatal flaw of Juepui has always existed. I would like to ask how far a person who can only rely on self-created exercises can practice? Maybe we just stand still. The direct disciples of the head of the sect are responsible for the future of the sect. Who dares to bet this on a child whose future is uncertain. It's not that Nangong Xiu looks down on Lu Duofu, but that as the leader, he must prioritize issues from the sect's perspective.
Li Wenliang was obviously drunk, and he said nonchalantly: "In my opinion, we can change the sect's rules. It's been thousands of years, and things have changed, so we should be more flexible. Let's let Duofu get started first, and as for the future The heir, at worst, senior brother, you can just accept another apprentice. I propose a show of hands." After saying that, he raised his hands.
It seemed like it was child's play. Everyone just took it as a drunken remark made by Li Wenliang and did not vote.
Zhang Shan of Guwu Peak patted Li Wenliang on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Junior brother Li, you are drunk. We all like this kid Duofu, but we still have to wait for the decision of the Elders Council. It will take a few more days. There is no rush here. For a while.”
Everyone laughed and said: "That's right, just wait a few more days."
Li Wenliang laughed: "Pedant, the Presbyterian Church, the elders are all here, doesn't it mean it can be opened now? Is there any stipulation in the sect rules that says where the Presbyterian Church must be held?"
Everyone was silent. Although Li Wenliang said drunken words, he could not fault him. The ancestors of the Yunyin Sect did not stipulate when or where the Elders' Meeting must be held.
After a long time, Old Man Mu raised his hand and said, "Wen Liang is right, I agree."
"Uncle Master..."
Old Man Mu took a sip of wine and sighed: "Everyone, I want to ask you a question. When I was founded, Yunyin Sect was so powerful that no powerful people from all over the world dared to offend me. But now I can only settle down in a corner, even the small Langya Pavilion. They dare to bully us, why is this?"
This is a sad topic. Today's Yunyin Sect is declining day by day. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is the lowest sect in Baima Kingdom or even the entire Leiyun Continent. But no one like Nangong Xiu or the others could explain clearly which dynasty or generation it started to decline to this point.
"Uncle Master, I forgive my disciple for his incompetence. As the head of the sect, he cannot strengthen the sect..." Nangong Xiu was so ashamed that he lowered his head and said.
"This matter is not just yours, everyone here, including me, even every generation, every Yunyin Sect disciple is responsible." Old Man Mu interrupted Nangong Xiu and continued: "I have been thinking about it for many years, and finally understood that this Things cannot be done by one person, and the reason for the decline of our Yunyin Sect is none other than the lack of people."
"Grandmaster Yunyin is a great hero, but he has no successors. His disciples only learned seven or eight of his skills. After that, each generation was worse than the last. By the 23rd generation, Long Ao was born. God. This old ghost is quite impressive. He single-handedly revitalized the sect’s prestige. Unfortunately, his spiritual veins were destroyed first, and then he died suddenly and mysteriously. He didn’t even have a successor. The sect has returned to its old path of decline... …”
Old Man Mu took another sip of wine and said with a somewhat regretful tone: "In the final analysis, our Yunyin Sect is located on the border of the entire Leiyun Continent, with a vast territory and sparsely populated areas, coupled with the shortage of cultivation resources, we cannot recruit many people. Disciple, it is reasonable for us to decline.”
Indeed, Canglan State is located in the southeast of the entire Leiyun Continent. Because the terrain is rugged and close to the sea, there is very little arable land, so the population is small. Take the Yunyinmen area as an example. Yunyin Town at the foot of the mountain is located in a small dam. The residents of the town live close to the river and are arranged on both sides of the Baishui River. The entire town has only a few hundred households and a population of more than 3,000. Therefore, there are not many young people in Yunyin Town, and Yunyin Sect cannot accept many people.
People in other places looked down on Yunyin Sect and joined other sects one after another. Rich people will basically send their children to some big sects. The disciples Yunyin Sect can recruit are basically from farmers, which are not wanted by other sects. Therefore, it is a problem for Yunyin Sect to recruit disciples, and they only accept a dozen disciples a year.
The geniuses have all been picked away, which has resulted in the overall strength of the Yunyin Sect's disciples being low. Even so, after entering the martial arts, few of these disciples have the goal of pursuing the peak of martial arts throughout their lives. Instead, they learn a skill, strengthen their body, and then go home to farm.
Therefore, even though Yunyin Sect recruits people every year, there are also many disciples who return home after completing their studies. In recent years, the number of people in Yunyinmen has decreased. Less and less people mean smaller power, and Yunyinmen faces the risk of being annexed by other forces.
Following Old Man Mu's explanation, everyone understood what he meant. Having no successors has indeed become the biggest problem restricting the development of the sect. No wonder Old Man Wen lived to be eighty years old and found Lu Duofu to take over before he died.
Old Man Wen asked: "What are the qualifications of these disciples in the sect? Do they have one or two talents that can be molded?"
Zhang Shan said helplessly: "It's very bad. Except for Yue'er and Gai Guang, the rest are hard to describe."
Old Man Mu sighed softly and drank the wine, looking a little lonely. Everyone knows that they are in such a situation and feel a little sad.
In such a large sect, there are only two talented young people. Another practical problem is that although Gai Guang is good, there is a certain gap between him and the talented disciples from other sects. And Nangong Yue was born as a girl, so it seemed unreasonable to hand over the important task of revitalizing the sect to such a delicate girl.
Old Man Mu's meaning couldn't be clearer. There are few people in the sect now. Since there are ready-made ones, let's collect them first. Don't pick up the fat and thin ones. Of course, there's no need to stick to the old rules anymore.
In the end, everyone discussed for a while and decided to let Lu Duofu get started directly. Although Lu Duofu was once hindered by his Juemei cultivation, he is now able to practice, so it would not be wrong to accept him as a disciple. As for whether he can take over Nangong Xiu's class, that will be discussed later. If it really doesn't work, Nangong Xiu can just find a useful talent in the sect and pass him on.
So Lu Duofu finally officially joined the Yunyin Sect and became Nangong Xiu's official disciple.
"The future of our sect depends on you." Old Man Mu said with a smile.
