>>5862640You tell Principal Lan of your plans and his mood seems to lighten up a bit. After two years, the top five students will be given apprenticeships with prominent figures in the stronghold. And the very best student will become our disciple.
“An excellent idea, stronghold master. No doubt you are Yuan Guang’s disciple.”
“You flatter me, Principal Lan.” With your hands still clasped behind your back, you turn to face him. “Then I believe we shall meet in three days.”
Both of you bow to each other before the principal takes his leave. There’ll be many people present for the Initiation Ceremony, and among them, important persons from the powerful clans. Guo Teng and his father will most certainly be there. You wonder what you should do with the scoundrel so close to you. Should you rebuke him? Give him a warning, perhaps? Or maybe even kill him on the spot… Probably not the last option.
* * *
Three days later. Dusk. The Spirit Springs.
Deep within the mountain, inside a vast cavern, you stand by a blue, luminescent pool, from which motes of silver light disperse and fill the darkness like fireflies. A white sheen, similar to that of moonlight, glistens on the water surface, bestowing upon it a lunar solemnity that it would otherwise not possess. The other elders and clan heads are also present, in addition to three other characters that one would not typically see at the Initiation Ceremony. After some discussion with Elder Xue, you managed to get him on board with your plan—he was quite enthusiastic about it, actually—and offered to take in the second best student as his own disciple. In just a single day, he managed to find three other trusted and well-known generals willing to accept apprentices.
As expected, Guo Teng is here with his crippled father. The latter is in even worse shape than when you last saw him, face sunken and pallid, figure bent and decrepit. In the last war with the Wen, he lost his right arm and had his cultivation wasted. It was an irrecoverable blow for the Guo; with it, they cemented themselves as the weakest of the three great clans of the Yong, the strongest of which being the illustrious Zhu clan (朱氏), followed by the Liu clan (劉氏).
Everyone eagerly awaits the youths’ arrival. You can hear their anxious steps as they descend the ancient stone staircase carved by the very founders of the stronghold. Thousands, if not tens of thousands, of youths (you included fourteen years ago) have tread down those countless aged steps, and you intend for thousands more to be able to do the same. Finally, you see their shadows cast into the cavern. At the head of the group is Principal Lan. The adults present bow in greeting to each other as the teenagers behind Lan Zhihao, regardless of how excited or dull they feel, all gasp at the sight of the Spirit Springs.
