Chapter 522: High Venerable

“La-bo-rer!?”

Zhuo Fan’s eyes twitched as all five shouted the word with dull and incredulous faces.

[Tianyu’s finest steward, the Demonic Emperor, head of the Eight Emperors in Sacred Domain, came to your sect to be a laborer?!]

[Xie Wuyue, get the hell out! I promise not to kill you, much. You wasted a 9th grade pill just to get a slave?]

Zhuo Fan’s face twisted into a grimace.

Violent Demon panicked, “Elder Yao, that can’t be right. Steward Zhuo is versed in letters and martial arts. How can a rare genius end up as a laborer?”

“No mistake, these are the Sect Leader’s orders. Now take him to his post, his work begins tomorrow.” Elder Yao eyed them coldly, then slammed the doors, almost catching Violent Demon in between.

Shrugging helplessly, the four pygmies sighed.

Zhuo Fan held his head, unable to come to terms with his new reality. [Just what the hell is Xie Wuyue up to?]

Planning so hard to get him, only to work his ass doing housework.

[Are you that short on staff that you’ll throw a 9th grade pill as incentive?]

While in the forest, second senior brother and Hu Mei’er were just as speechless.

“Second senior brother, no matter how average he may be, he is still in the Profound Heaven Stage. He’s good enough to become an outer disciple, so why punish him by throwing him in the Labor Office? He just got here and hasn’t stepped on anyone’s toes.” Hu Mei’er was puzzled.

Second senior brother frowned, then his eyes lit up, “Uhm, maybe…”

“Do you know something?” Hu Mei’er asked.

Senior brother mocked, “It’s just like junior sister said, he pulled strings to get here. As you very well know, for any disciple to join, he needs two people’s vetting, Sect Leader and High Venerable. With High Venerable’s upright and fair nature, he follows the sect’s rules to the letter. Especially in the case of prodigal sons using their dads to squeeze their way in. He hates their guts. And ever since the defeat at the last Double Dragon Gathering, his mood has been even worse.”

“There’s a high chance Sect Leader and that Venerable’s deal got found out. So they reached a new agreement. The kid can enter, but not as an elite and cannot participate in the Double Dragon Gathering. No laborer is good for anything and they’d be soon taken out just after entering the sect. They’re useless.”

“That takes care of him then.” Hu Mei’er giggled at the other’s misfortune.

Second senior brother shook his head, “I don’t think so. If he’d come here just to die, there’s no way the one behind him would have agreed. I reckon it was all to give him time to grow in power and become an elder or Venerable the sect needs and he’ll get all the resources he wants. While anyone from the Labor Office can’t become an elite disciple, there’s nothing to say being an elder or Venerable isn’t possible. For this reason High Venerable butted in, to stop wastrels from dragging back the elites and to avoid a single dominant clan to form inside the sect.”

Hu Mei’er nodded in understanding, then batted her big charming eyes, “Should we keep an eye on him for longer?”

“What for? Ha-ha-ha, since his chance to become elite is shot and he can’t join the Double Dragon Gathering, he’s no threat to us. Just let him be, waiting in the Labor Office for the time his backer makes him an elder.” Second senior brother left in joy having one roadblock cleared.

Hu Mei’er gave Zhuo Fan one last look, but sneered before following the second senior brother.

They had no interest in some wastrel whose only redeeming quality was some backer. They only had disdain for him.

If it weren’t for this, they might’ve risen to be in the middle three sects in the last Double Dragon Gathering…

Outside the hall, Zhuo Fan and the pygmies sat on the stairs, like an adult reprimanding four naughty children while enjoying some fresh air.

“Sigh…” Zhuo Fan entered a thinker pose.

The four demons copied him, “Sigh~”

“Four Scheming Demons, give it to me straight, what’s a laborer in the sect? Not high… probably…” Zhuo Fan raised an eyebrow, gnashing his teeth.

Violent Demon began, “Labor Office is the sect jail for unredeemable criminals. Once you go in, you’ll never get out. No matter what trouble we used to make, the most was that we got sent to Thunder Swarm Mountain. It is a disciple’s grave. The disciples who’ve failed the entrance test end up here, getting no resources and wasting their lives away until they die of old age. Someone yearning for power always appears now and then, and through grueling dedication to cultivate, they would become elders upon reaching Radiant Stage as a reward for their willpower.”

“With Steward Zhuo joining them, you’d have no trouble becoming an elder on account of your talents.” Wimp Demon consoled.

He only earned a cuff from Violent Demon, “You moron, Steward Zhuo is to be a Sect Leader, not some executive like us. That’s a waste of talent!”

The other three didn’t join the fight and actually nodded. For the first time ever, Wimp Demon had no resentment, giving Zhuo Fan looks of pity.

To him, Zhuo Fan was a true cultivator of the demonic way…

It was then that the faint crack in the open doors of the hall shut tight.

The insides were lavish and opulent, with brazzers raging bright light over the wealth in two neat rows. In the center sat the imposing Xie Wuyue on an exquisite jade throne, looking down on the hall.

Elder Yao came in with a bow, “Sect Leader, I have sent the kid to the Labor Office as you ordered.”

“Good. You may leave.”

“Yes, sir.” Elder Yao bowed as he walked backward.

As the hall became empty, Xie Wuyue turned to the seat next to him, who had a just as grand person seated on it, “High Venerable, are you satisfied? Such a talent thrown into labor. Humph, now all our hopes to win in the next Double Dragon Gathering are crushed.”

“Sect Leader cares much about him but I find it hard to second that emotion and would rather watch him from the shadows. Just what kind of junior could get sir Sect Leader to use even a 9th grade pill to draw him into the sect? “

With a hum, the large seat sported a figure in gray clothes.

Xie Wuyue sighed, “Those wastrels must’ve given you quite the scare, High Venerable, for you to go against even my candidate for Double Dragon Gathering. But you are wrong, I am just like you, aspiring for the Double Dragon Gathering and would let no one stop me in achieving it. I want to become the greatest Sect Leader the Demon Scheming Sect has ever seen!”

As his eyes flashed, Xie Wuyue’s mighty aura exploded.

High Venerable nodded, “Wuyue, you’ve been to the last Double Dragon Gathering and know of our humiliating defeat. I’ve never doubted your conviction to win, but to let a kid not even in the Radiant Stage become an elite disciple is something I can’t do.”

“Ha-ha-ha, it’s fine. The kid is no mere shining gemstone, and you’ll see it in time. He has every right to be the pillar holding us all in the Double Dragon Gathering!”

Laughing, Xie Wuyue walked away from his throne.

High Venerable watched him go with a mutter, “No one has ever garnered such praise from Wuyue. Is the kid that amazing? Impermanence Five, what do you think?”

Hum~

Five elderly figures appeared around High Venerable.

“When the kid used the sending jade to request for help, Wuyue wanted to send someone else, but I vouched for you. All so I could have you check him out if he’s worthy to be an elite. Well?” High Venerable asked.

Elder She replied, “High Venerable, we did lend Luo clan our aid, and even with the short time around the kid we did manage to pick up on his sharp mind and wisdom, just like our Sect Leader. He has a vaulting ambition, and is the sole decisive figure. He is manipulative to an extent even the Sect Leader can’t be.”

“Oh, so he’s a tough one.” High Venerable nodded, “Here I thought he was soft and can’t hold his own. That makes Wuyue’s evaluation trustworthy.”

“When we captured Beast Taming Sect’s elders, one of them had no body. After a summary questioning, we found out that his vessel got destroyed by that kid.” Elder She continued.

High Venerable cried out, “What?! Is he not a Profound Heaven cultivator? How did he destroy an Ethereal Stage expert’s body?”

“Ha-ha-ha, those three experts were so dumb that they fell for his every trick. But for a kid to have three experts dance in his palm, with one getting heavily injured, now that’s talent!” Elder She smiled.

High Venerable pondered.

Elder She resumed, “Does sir remember those Four Scheming Demons, the twerps? Those mavericks had no control, no amount of punishment worked on them, always doing what the heck they wanted. Thus Sect Leader has no choice but to throw them in Thunder Swarm Mountain. Yet now they’ve shown up with smoother edges, especially around Zhuo Fan. The thought of going against his orders never crossed their minds and they even stood up for him. Elder Yan noticed that the kid has the charm of a ruler, drawing people towards him. He may be the person sir has been searching for.”

Shuddering, High Venerable eyed the five as they nodded.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

His eyes glinted, “Perhaps I ought to test the kid, ha-ha-ha…”