Chapter Fourteen: The Great Matter of the Inner Gate

  Tang Jing stared at the somewhat dilapidated wooden house, taken aback. Could this really be the place for gambling? Wang Pangzi seemed even more excited, patted the pouch at his waist and grinned, "Today, I must win back all that I lost in the previous two rounds!" Having said that, he rushed headlong into the wooden house.

  Tang Qing also walked in, inside the house were two tables with eight or nine people gathered around them, but they weren't gambling, rather chatting in twos and threes.

  "Wow! Everyone arrived quite early! Hasn't Zhang Lao Da arrived yet?"

  Wang Baozi smiled and greeted everyone with a hearty laugh.

  "Wang Baozi, I heard last time you lost so badly that you even took off your pants. What are you going to lose this time?" One of the young men, who looked like he was around twenty years old, joked with a smile.

  "Li Shixiong, look what you said." Wang Baozi awkwardly grinned, "Hehe! We didn't have good luck last time, did we!"

  "Huh? This guy looks unfamiliar. Haven't seen him before, is he new?" The crowd realized there was a newcomer standing at the door.

  "Oh? This guy! He's a miscellaneous worker in the inner courtyard, just arrived a few days ago, and is one of us, a fellow practitioner!" Wang Baozi introduced, walking to Tang Qing's side, saying, "Buddy, Zhang Lao Da is the landlord, he hasn't arrived yet, we can only start gambling after he arrives."

  When they heard it was Tang Qing, who was just a newcomer and an odd-job worker in the inner courtyard, everyone lost interest and continued their conversation as if nothing had happened.

  After a brief moment, a young man wearing a blue long gown with a slightly gloomy temperament walked in.

  "Boss Zhang! You've finally arrived!"

  "Haha! Zhang Lao Da, we've been waiting for you for a long time!"

  As the gloomy young man walked in, almost everyone in the house stood up to greet him. Obviously, Zhang Lao Da's identity was not simple. He nodded and said, "No more gambling today, everyone go back."

  "Ah! Why didn't you gamble anymore? Zhang Lao Da, what's going on?"

  Zhang Lao Da seemed displeased and said impatiently, "Something has happened at the inner gate."

  "What's going on inside the house? What happened?" Everyone asked in a hurry. Zhang Lao Da hesitated for a moment and said, "This matter will be known to you sooner or later, so it doesn't matter if I tell you now. You should know what day is one month from now."

  "Of course, a month later is the Outer Gate Jinwu Grand Competition, and the final winner will be promoted to Inner Gate Direct Disciple."

  The Qingyu Gate has a long history and also has a high reputation in the Yongyang territory. If you can become an inner disciple, not only will you receive personal guidance from the elder, but you will also get assistance from the Lingdan Array Method. More importantly, being an inner disciple in the Yongyang territory symbolizes a noble status, and only inner disciples are qualified to enter the Grand Sect.

  At the Qingyu Gate, some people are lucky enough to become direct disciples, but these people must meet two conditions at the same time. First, they must have superior qualifications, and second, they must have an impressive family background. Both are indispensable. Of course, if you don't have superior qualifications or an impressive family background, as long as you're willing to work hard, you can still become a direct disciple by winning the Outer Gate's Martial Arts Competition, which is held every five years.

  "This time's Shing Wong match may be cancelled."

  Everyone was shocked when they heard what Zhang Lao Da said, and they all asked him for the reason. Zhang Lao Da continued, "I also heard it from Li Shao, it's said that the Sect Master has chosen a disciple to be his personal successor, filling the only vacancy of the inner sect's personal successor, so the once-every-five-years Jin Wu Grand Competition is no longer necessary."

  In the territory of Yongyang, within the three major sects, the quota for direct disciples is regulated. This regulation naturally comes from the Sacred Sect. Since it's a rule from the Sacred Sect, no sect dares to defy it. Therefore, whenever a sect has a vacancy for a direct disciple, the large families in each territory will spare no effort to recommend their own people. So, this time's Qingyu Gate's five-yearly Jinwu Grand Competition is extremely important, with unknown numbers of relationships at stake. Now, the master of Shangguan Gate has actually appointed a disciple as a direct successor, which can't help but shock people.

  "Has Master Men chosen a disciple? Who is it?"

  At the Qingyu Gate, only those with exceptional talent and an impressive family background can be directly appointed as a direct disciple of the sect. But is there such a person in the Yongyang region? The people present here are all ordinary disciples, but they have grown up in the Yongyang region since childhood, and they know that if such a person really existed, they would have become a direct disciple long ago and wouldn't have waited until now. Even if the Qingyu Gate didn't accept them, the other two sects in the Yongyang region would have taken the lead.

  "I don't know who that person is!"

  "Our sect leader has the right to personally appoint his successor, but isn't this a bit sudden? If the sect leader really wants to cancel the Jinwu Grand Competition, will the elders be willing to go along with it?" Wang Baozi asked a very crucial question. He was always clever and knew that the five-yearly Jinwu Grand Competition had interests tied to the elders and the major families of Yongyang region.

  "It's said that the matter is still in dispute, as for the outcome, I don't know. Anyway, what I wanted to say has been said. Li Shao is not in a good mood, so probably won't open another betting session for a while."

  Li Shaonan, the hot contender for this year's Jinwu Grand Competition in Zhang Lao Da's words, naturally felt terrible about what had happened, and everyone else also expressed their understanding before dispersing.

  Looking at the dispersing crowd, Tang's eyebrows were furrowed, as if he was worried about something.

  Is he a personally appointed and directly taught disciple of the sect leader?

  He had a bad premonition, that woman wouldn't be planning to appoint me as her personal disciple, would she? If so, it's really... From the discussions of those people just now, Tang Jing learned that if Shangguan Qianxue really wanted to appoint someone, it would definitely stir up a hornet's nest.

  What does this girl want to do?

  Shangguan Qixue forced herself to cultivate, Tang Qing could completely understand, because he had already become a heavenly matched dao partner with Shangguan Ling and Yun Miao. If he didn't have any cultivation himself, the two of them would definitely be affected as well. Although Tang Qing was very clear that his situation wasn't something that could be resolved by simply cultivating, but even if he did cultivate, there was no need to go stir up trouble and make himself a direct disciple, right? Sneaking around was completely fine.

  "Hey! Buddy, what are you still dazing about? Let's go!" Wang Baozi beckoned and said, "You also heard it just now, right? Something big happened at the inner gate. You might not know the specifics, but brother reminds you to be extremely careful for a while and absolutely don't stir up trouble."

  "What's wrong?" Tang Jing asked.

  "You're new here, so you might not be aware that our new leader and the elders in the sect have been openly and secretly fighting each other. These elders rely on their seniority and high status to look down on the new leader, but rumor has it that she has a powerful backer, with a deep background. Although we don't know what her background is, think about it, since the higher-ups sent her here to be the leader, she must have some impressive connections."

  Wang Baozi sighed and gazed at the western sunset, saying with a hint of seniority, "The master and elders are fighting, but they can't take action due to each other's status, so they can only hold back their anger. Since there is anger, there must be a place for it to vent. How will it vent? It must be those who don't know better and are unlucky, so brother advises you not to make mistakes, lest you harm the innocent!"