Daily life of a cultivation judge
Chapter 1214 - 1214: two sides of the same twins (1)

"In truth, back when I first joined, I could have been considered part of the second group," Xia Cangfu admitted, letting out a nostalgic sigh.

"When i came here, I didn't do so because i was interested in researching the world of cultivation arts, and delve into its endless mysteries.

No, I came here solely to honor the wishes of my ancestor. If he had been a member of any other peak besides this one, I would have joined that peak without hesitation.

It wouldn't have mattered whether it was Silver Breath Peak, Silver Wing Peaks, or any other. As long as my ancestor had belonged to it, that would have been the peak I joined upon entering the sect," said Xia Cangfu.

"But..." He paused, glancing around. His eyes shimmered with warmth, relief, and gladness. "I'm glad he was a member of this peak. Otherwise, I would have missed out on this," he added as he sighed once more.

"I came here to honor my ancestor, but somehow along the way, the reason changed, and i stayed here for me, and for this peak, and to honor its spirit, and pass its torch on to others," said Xia Cangfu, a gratified smile warming his face.

"Are there other Xia clan members here aside from you?" Yang Qing asked curiously.

"There are two more. One is in seclusion, and the other is deep into their research," Xia Cangfu replied.

"But those aren't all the Xia clan members in the sect," Xia Cangfu added, seemingly anticipating Yang Qing's next question. Yang Qing did look slightly surprised by the number, as he had indeed wondered if there were only three of them left in the entire sect.

Yes, the number of descendants the Xia clan had sent here was small.. infinitely small, even, given the high standard set by their founder—but considering how long the clan had been doing it, Yang Qing felt that three was far too few, even with said standards being put into consideration, after all, the Xia clan had been around for over 20,000 years.

"In total, there are about thirteen of us. That number is those of us who were sent here from the clan. Originally, the number was a bit higher, nineteen to be exact. But three failed their domain tribulation and died, another lost their life during a sect mission, and the remaining two passed away from old age," Xia Cangfu explained.

"But they left descendants behind within the sect. As have the thirteen of us who remain, though, personally, I'm not counted in that number." Xia Cangfu smiled wryly at the admittance.

Yang Qing didn't have it in him to judge. Given the allure of Silver Breath Peak and all it offered, it was easy to get lost in its world and lose track of time. It also didn't help that cultivators had slow conception rates, especially the stronger they became.

"So they're spread out in the other peaks?" Yang Qing asked deftly, trying to steer the conversation away from Xia Cangfu's troubled thoughts about not having any offspring yet.

"Yes," Xia Cangfu acknowledged. "Five are in the two Winged Peaks, while the rest are in the Plumage Peaks, which are the other peaks outside the Five Main Peaks," he added.

So that's what they're called, thought Yang Qing.

Even knowing the name, he still preferred calling them the tertiary peaks in his mind. It just felt more fitting.

"The sect operates on merit and impartiality, especially when it comes to the five main peaks, and even more so here. If you don't have the talent for it, then even if your parent is the peak master, there's no way you'd be allowed membership.

Of course, that doesn't mean there aren't chances of getting in through the back door by knowing someone, but Silver Breath Peak is the one place where that chance doesn't exist.

Senior Shuyuan wouldn't allow it, and neither would the rest of the sect, given how much they covet this place.

So even though our ancestor was a member here, and even his master being the current peak master, every Xia clan member who wished to join the peak had to meet its standards for admission, hence the small number. Only three members have ever made it through while the rest failed and joined the other peaks," said Xia Cangfu.

"So that's how it is," Yang Qing murmured, nodding in understanding before moving to thank Xia Cangfu for humoring him.

"Your ancestor was in the first group?" he asked. Though it was phrased like a question, both of them knew it was a statement of fact.

"Mmmh," Xia Cangfu nodded, the reverence Yang Qing had seen earlier surfacing once more.

"He truly embodied the will and spirit of this place," Xia Cangfu said with a sigh. "I can only imagine how hard it was for him when he had to leave," he added, letting out another weighty sigh.

"I knew our ancestor was special, but I only truly understood how special he truly was when I came here and read through the legends he left behind, one of which was the incident that led to him shattering his core," Xia Cangfu continued.

Yang Qing's ears immediately perked up.

"The story Xia Fang told you, and the one we were told in the clan, is that in his desperation to gain a seeded legacy disciple title, he used some taboo art in hopes of raising the grade of his core.

Some parts of that story are false, and one part is true. The true part is that he did damage his core trying to elevate its grade, but he did not do it just so he could become a seeded legacy disciple.

His talent alone already guaranteed him that title, he couldn't care less about being officially given that title. Not that he cared about those things anyway," said Xia Cangfu.

From the slight disdain in his tone, Yang Qing got the sense that both the Xia clan founder and Xia Cangfu didn't think too highly of seeded legacy disciples.

He couldn't help but wonder whether it was because their talents were no greater than their own, or if it had to do with the suspicion he harbored that perhaps among those seeded disciples, some had once been members of Silver Breath Peak.

Yang Qing quickly pushed those musings aside when he saw Xia Cangfu looking to continue his narration.

"The reason he did it wasn't because he was eyeing some position. And it wasn't because he desperately wanted to improve his strength. He did it because he wanted to perfect his art," Xia Cangfu said, his eyes flashing with complex emotions.

"His art?" Yang Qing repeated. "Do you mean the art he gave to your clan, or an art specifically meant to elevate the core?" he followed, voicing his doubts.

"The latter," Xia Cangfu said with a sigh.

"He had a twin sister," Xia Cangfu began slowly. "Our peak master found both of them in some ruin somewhere. They were four years old, no cultivation, but even without it, the special disposition they had was plain to see for the peak master. So he took them in, brought them back to the sect, and directly accepted them both as his personal disciples.

At the time, he wasn't the peak master yet and was just the senior scholar of the peak. Which is what I am now, too."

"Senior Scholar?" Yang Qing interjected.

"Senior Scholars are basically the elders of the peak, though in the case of Silver Breath Peak, the position isn't given based on how long you've been in the sect, or your cultivation realm.

You only earn it by creating your own cultivation art, restoring a lost one, completing an incomplete one, elevating the grade of an existing one, or making some other substantive contribution to a cultivation art. That could be mentorship, or even mastering a gold-grade art to the perfected realm," Xia Cangfu explained.

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