Fang Meili was pacing back and forth in her room. She had been stuck in it for some time now. After the Argonaut arrived she was finally able to disembark into the new and unknown sect.
She had no idea where her supposed uncle had gone but the people from his sect had told her that he was busy. She was stuck here throughout the whole birthing process and couldn’t leave even during the festivities.
She only had the status of a guest and was confined to this room by the person that brought her here. Besides the sect leader, the other people in this sect didn’t look very welcoming. During her arrival, she saw some of them looking in strange ways at her. The workers were whispering and everyone was giving her the cold shoulder.
“How much longer will we be stuck here? What about grandfather?”
She called out while glancing through one of the large windows. This room had all the facilities needed for them to live in but it was getting boring. Cultivation to fill in the time was not on her mind as she was too nervous.
“Don’t worry young miss, I’m sure your uncle will return in due time. Would you like to eat something? This treasure is filled to the brim, we don’t need to worry about food!”
One of the maids replied while opening a large white box. Inside the air was chilled and it looked like a closet with shelves. There were various spirit enriched food items all sorted in there. It would probably last them for at least a month without any refills.
“Yes, and we have this magical device to give us some information!”
The second maid called out while pointing at a flat square object mounted on the wall. From time to time it would activate and a fashionable lady would give out information. Not so long ago she announced the birth of Zhang Jun, the newborn son of Zhang Dong.
“If what the person said was true, then your honorable uncle is probably busy with his child. We must be patient and wait!”
“Why don’t we play this game in the meantime? There is surprisingly more to it.”
One of the maids pointed to a table. On that table, there was a sort of checkered patterned box. There were sixteen small figurines on each side. For someone that came from the modern world, this object would be easily identified as it was a chessboard.
Fang Meili looked at the table where the game of chess was placed. She had tried it previously and already figured out that this wasn’t a simple game. A person actually had to think about their moves ahead of time.
The chess pieces even had different kinds of movement akin to lower and higher realmed cultivators. In her opinion, the king represented the hidden masters that couldn’t move nonchalantly.
The limited movement showed her how the ones in power had to limit themselves. The Queen piece was akin to a nascent soul elder or maybe a sect leader that had more freedom than the old council members.
There was also a fascinating mechanic where a simple pawn could ascend to another role. When they reached the end of the chessboard it could be replaced for even a Queen! It was like a cultivator surviving through a life of hardship and finally reaching their goal.
Fang Meili gave out a sigh, even though this game of chess was interesting the maids she was with weren’t worthy opponents. They weren’t good at thinking ahead and just randomly placed their pieces on the board. Always reactive and never proactive.
While she was thinking about giving the game another try she heard a knock on the door. This was more or less only a courtesy knock as before any of the girls on the inside could reply the door started to open.
Meili was stunned at the appearance of the person that walked through that intricate white door. It was a beautiful jade-like beauty that overshadowed any she had previously seen. Her fair complexion was exquisite and went together with the long snow-white hair.
Her eyes looked like two blue gems, while looking at them she could swear that she could see tiny electrical arcs jumping around. Her figure was very well proportioned, her hip to waist ratio was right on point and her chest was neither too small nor too big.
She was that one in a million beauty that could make empires crumble and even old monsters would have their hearts torn asunder. For some reason, this beautiful person was walking towards her.
“I apologize for the delay.”
Fang Meili was brought back to reality by a familiar voice. It was her white-haired uncle that was also quite the looker. The beauty that walked in front moved to the side after opening the door. It looked like she was opening it for her uncle to let him in.
“No need to apologize Senior Uncle!”
The girl clasped her hands and did a small bow, the two maids behind her did the same while scooting closer.
“Congratulations on the birth of your son.”
She added while looking back up. She still wasn’t sure about this man’s motives. He brought her here after saving her from that dreadful competition. The only thing that she wanted to know is how her grandfather and her sect was doing. She didn’t want to be rude and ask too many questions in unfamiliar territory.
“Thank you. You don’t need to be so uptight, you are part of the Zhang family line. You’d be a branch member if we were in the old clan but so am I.”
Zhang Dong smiled slightly while shrugging. She noticed a slight twitch on his face when he was talking about the family situation. Apparently, he wasn’t someone of a remarkable bloodline but he did somehow end up as the sect leader. His new line of descendants would probably form the new royal-like bloodline.
“I actually came here to introduce you to someone.”
Zhang Dong said while looking over to the woman that had walked into the room before him.
“This is my niece Zhang Xue, she is your cousin from your great grandfather’s side.”
Fang Meili was astonished that she shared the same genes as this otherworldly beauty. She didn’t consider herself that beautiful even though the people around her would tell her otherwise. Her proportions were plainer and she didn’t have that jade-like skin as most of those beauties had. Her hair was also blond while most people preferred pure black or pure white hair.
“Your grandfather from my side of the family is also here… but you’re probably better off not visiting him…”
Zhang Dong turned his head to the side and coughed into his hand while the woman next to him held her head down. Fang Meili could have sworn that the beauty was blushing as if she was embarrassed about something. Meili on the other hand was a bit interested in this new grandfather, he was more or less responsible for this encounter.
“This isn’t the reason I came here though, it’s about your other grandfather, Fang Heng.”
Meili tensed up the moment she heard her grandfather being mentioned. She couldn’t really read too much into Zhang Dong’s facial expression but from his tone, she could feel that something was off.
“I have to regretfully inform you that he hasn’t contacted me since we parted at the banquet…”
Zhang Dong informed her about the situation as he didn’t want to keep things hidden from the girl.
“I will have my sect members try to contact him and get more information. For the time being, you will have to remain here, I did promise to take care of you in your grandfather’s stead and I’m going to stay true to that promise.”
Meili was glad that the man was sharing any type of information with her. It wasn’t anything good though. She had no proof if what he was telling was the truth but there wasn’t really a reason for him to lie. There wasn’t much she could offer him in return and he was already wasting valuable resources on her.
“Xue here will help you around the mansion and sect. You will receive an inner disciple emblem, for now, it will help you to get around the city.”
He explained a few things to her: this so-called emblem was something akin to a master key. She would be able to apparently also buy food and items with it in the city. She would also receive some other things like a communication device and even a personal bodyguard.
“Xue will explain everything to you in detail, I have to tend to some sect business so I will have to excuse myself. If word of your grandfather or sect reaches me I will be sure to send someone over to give you word.”
Meili remained quiet while the United Element Sect Leader continued to talk. It was very rude and unwise to interrupt someone like him. She wouldn’t have an option to ask any questions either as he left this Zhang Xue. He made a quick exit after the short explanation.
The door closed behind him and the two girls and two maids were left in the room. She was now left with the unknown beauty, not really sure what to do. She could tell that the other woman outranked her also in cultivation so she had to be respectful.
“Junior greets senior sister…”
She clasped her hands together and did a formal bow once more. The maids mimicked their young missy.
“You don’t need to be so formal dear cousin, just as Master said you are part of our family, first you should take this.”
Zhang Xue handed Fang Meili the shield looking emblem that was similar to the one the new disciples had gotten. It was one meant for inner disciples though and was a lot more intricate.
Meili noticed that this cousin of hers also possessed one of those. It was attached as an accessory to her robe. She also remembered seeing ones similar to it mostly worn on the shoulders of the other cultivators.
She also was surprised at how this Zhang Xue was referring to her senior uncle.
“Master?”
Zhang Xue chuckled while covering her face with her long sleeve.
“Yes it’s unconventional but my uncle is my Master. He is the most honorable person in this sect!”
The girl looked outside the window as if she was trying to proclaim to the world that Zhang Dong was the greatest master in the whole wide world.
“Master has urged me to give you a tour of this villa, we also need to visit the sect facilities and the city. There so much to see but so little time, we must depart dear cousin!”
Zhang Xue stopped reminiscing about her glorious master and turned to face Fang Meili. The city was huge and so was the entire sect. Giving this girl a tour of all that it could offer would probably take more than a day.
“Ah of course, I will abide by senior uncles and senior cousin’s wishes.”
Fang Meili was still feeling a bit stiff, this lady here was acting very welcoming but it wasn’t so for everyone else. There could be various reasons for it but the most important thing was for her to watch out.
Even though she had the sect leader’s protection she didn’t know how far this shield would go. Even this woman here could easily dispatch her for whatever reason. She needed to be careful and respectful.
Soon the two girls left the confines of the large guest room. The two girls set out to tour the sect compound. Their senior uncle on the other hand had a big choice to make.