Chapter 53
After he spoke, the burly man turned around and left the courtyard, heading in the direction of Tianqin Peak, while a large group of inner clan disciples followed.
Likewise, there was a similar scene going on in the other courtyard at this moment. A group of inner clan disciples was following behind a beautiful female disciple, as they rushed towards Tianqin Peak.
The moment the two parties met, they did not give in to each other and instead ran quickly. Soon, they reached Tianqin Peak.
Upon sight of the large group of inner clan disciples, many outer clan disciples all subconsciously avoided the way.
In particular, the older outer clan disciples knew very clear the difference between the inner and outer clan disciples.
Outer clan disciples of the Tianyun Clan needed to reach the seventh tier of Qi training in order to become an inner clan disciple.
The seventh tier of Qi training was the first major threshold on the path of cultivating immortality. When one crosses over to the seventh tier, there would not only be a steep increase in their strength, but also their lifespan.
Hence, those who could enter the seventh tier of Qi training usually had hopes of reaching the Foundation Establishment.
The inner clan disciples were a group of disciples who were expected to reach the Foundation Establishment and were likely to become elders of the Tianyun Clan in the future. The outer clan disciples could not be compared to them.
"It's the inner clan disciples, Senior Brother Sun Tiangang and Senior Sister Zhao Xiaoya!"
"They've actually come all the way to Tianqin Peak, it seems like they're here to see the successor!"
The group of outer clan disciples whispered among themselves. Although the successor had a higher status than the inner clan disciples, Sun Tiangang and Zhao Xiaoya were elites who had reached the Foundation Establishment and had been prestigious in the clan for many years. Their deterrent power was definitely not what the successor, who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, could compare to.
Sun Tiangang and Zhao Xiaoya did not have to give any instructions at all. Instead, the inner clan disciples following them immediately took the initiative to find out about the situation. After finding out that Chen Chen had gone to the mountain to look for his old friend, the following disciples quickly reported.
After hearing the report, the two elites stood quietly at the exit at the foot of the mountain and waited, glancing at each other from time to time. They both seemed hostile towards each other.
About half an hour later, Chen Chen had finally made his way down the mountain with Zhang Ji. When he saw the large number of disciples gathered at the foot of the mountain, he grew somewhat puzzled and shocked, but he still did not take the situation seriously. He simply thought that the Tianyun Clan was holding some special event.
"The more handsome one of the two is the successor!"
"He is the new successor, Chen Chen!"
Sun Tiangang and Zhao Xiaoya's juniors pointed at Chen Chen at the same time.
Upon hearing the other disciples' words, their eyes instantly lit up as they began scrutinizing Chen Chen.
They were not alone. All the other inner clan disciples reacted about the same.
Being stared at by so many people at once, Chen Chen was made a little
Although he could understand why everyone wanted to see what he looked like, the staring was too intense, which made him feel a little overwhelmed.
"Ahem, Zhang Ji, you don't need to see me off, I'll go back to the main peak by myself, remember what I told you before."
"Yes, Big Brother!" Zhang Ji answered. At that moment, in his head, Zhang Ji was still obsessing over the 40,000 taels he would earn a day, so much so that he didn't even notice that something was amiss with the apparent scene.
After bidding farewell to Zhang Ji, Chen Chen began making his way straight towards the exit at the foot of the mountain with an ambiguous expression, ignoring the group of inner clan disciples.
Since the group of disciples wanted to get a good look at him, he would let them do so.
It was a good thing to let them know how extraordinary their future clan master was.
As Chen Chen was about to make his way past the group of inner clan disciples, Sun Tiangang's sleeve suddenly moved slightly. Next, a fist-sized piece of gold fell and landed beside Chen Chen's feet.
Sun Tiangang had been to the mortal world several times and he knew that the people there valued money. He knew that the villagers of the countryside could not resist gold. As such, he thought to himself, 'He'd definitely pick the money up excitedly.'
He thought that the inner and outer clan disciples would all despise Chen Chen if they had seen such a scene.
Unlike mortals, the clan disciples were immortal cultivators who were very disdainful of material possessions and money of the mortal world.
As he expected, Chen Chen stopped immediately after seeing the gold at his feet.
He then hesitated for a moment.
To be honest, he did not understand why the tall and lanky disciple suddenly threw a nugget of gold out.
After two seconds of silence, he pointed to the nugget of gold and said to Sun Tiangang, "Junior Brother, you dropped your money."
After he spoke, Chen Chen continued to walk forward with a mysterious expression.
Sun Tiangang's face immediately turned sullen. Unlike what he expected, the hillbilly Chen Chen did not even consider picking up the gold, nor did he understand what he meant, which made him very uncomfortable.
He was even more displeased about being addressed as 'Junior Brother'.
It had been several years!
For several years, no one in the entire clan had called him 'Junior Brother'!
However, the young man in front of him, who seemed to be only 16 or 17 years old, was really his Senior Brother!
"This is your gold!"
After holding his breath for a moment, Sun Tiangang exclaimed.
He did not believe that a hillbilly like Chen Chen wouldn't even be tempted!
Hearing this, Chen Chen stopped and looked at Sun Tiangang intently, seemingly deep in thought. Moments later, as he picked up the gold on the ground, his gaze grew ambiguous as he suddenly realized something.
"I never thought that someone would attempt to bribe me just after I had become the successor. When your status is high, you have a higher tendency of becoming corrupt."
"Unfortunately, this fool seems to be new and doesn't know that gold doesn't appeal to cultivators of immortality. Besides, throwing gold on the floor in front of so many people is really a brazen bribe. However, this is the first gift I'm receiving after all. I shall spare him on that account and at the same time, I'll let the other disciples know that I, Chen Chen, am a very understanding person."
At this moment, Chen Chen felt like a mighty leader.
Thinking of this, he looked at Sun Tiangang solemnly and asked in an extremely serious tone, "Junior Brother, what is your name?"
Seeing that Chen Chen had finally picked up the gold, Sun Tiangang began thinking about what he should say next to embarra.s.s the successor. However, he suddenly heard the question and immediately replied arrogantly, "Sun Tiangang!"
In his opinion, his name was a household name in the Tianyun Clan and there was no need to add any prefix to give others any shock.
However, to his surprise, Chen Chen really didn't know who he was and had never heard of his name.
Hearing Sun Tiangang's name, Chen Chen patted him hard on his shoulder, scanning the surrounding disciples with a serious expression. He then said loudly, "From now on, Junior Brother Sun Tiangang will be my underling. Before you think of bullying him, you have to seriously consider the consequences. Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
Hearing these words, the crowd fell silent, and Sun Tiangang's face immediately turned beet red.
Thinking that Sun Tiangang was just being excited, Chen Chen chuckled and stuffed the fist-sized nugget of gold into Sun Tiangang's hand. After this, he exclaimed seriously, "Junior Brother, this thing doesn't work in an immortal clan. You still have to continue fetching water in exchange for Spirit Stones, understand? However, it's the thought that counts and I'm not an unreasonable person. If you get bullied in the future, report my name!"
Chen Chen then gave Tiangang an encouraging glance before he left suavely. As soon as he turned around, a heartened smile appeared on his face.
'Everyone should understand what's going on after this, right? If they want to be protected, they should give some gifts, right?'
"Hehe, I'm so smart and witty."
After praising himself, Chen Chen left Tianqin Peak in high spirits, while the group of inner and outer clan disciples was left alone at the foot of the mountain.