“Elder please let me help you with that…”
“No it’s fine…”
“I insist! We can’t have such a man as yourself tend to such things, leave it up to our squad.”
“Ah… sure…”
‘This girl, she knows… Making my face this ferocious has no meaning if she acts like this.’
Zhang Dong frowned while looking at Lan Fei. She had clearly discovered his true identity and was now pestering him. The other cultivators were far too afraid to say anything to him but she, on the other hand, had no qualms about it. It all started out slowly with her offering to open up the door or hand him something but now, she was making the people from her squad massage his shoulders and even play some music during the trip.
‘Why do we have to be stuck on this ship for so long, when will we reach the next destination?’
‘It will take exactly six hours, twenty-one minutes, and thirty-four seconds to reach the destination.’
‘Thanks, Bob, I forgot that you were there.’
After the introduction to this group of people, he was taken to a large ship. This company consisted of close to two hundred people, twelve of them were core formation experts and the rest were foundation establishment practitioners. Lan Fei was one of the experts that led a small squadron of sixteen people.
He had hoped to ignore the girl after reaching the ship yet his accommodations were different. His presence in the central control room was a requirement. He was to sit on the side and give out orders to the captain who was one of the core formation experts from the other groups. This forced him to stay together with everyone and allowed Lan Fei to bother him with her hijinks.
At first, it was only her but soon the others started crawling up behind. It seemed that they got the wrong idea and interpreted Lan Fei’s actions as a blueprint. Any junior loved to get themselves under the wing of a nascent soul master. Gaining a master like him would have been a way of sending them into the inner sect. Due to him not giving Lan Fei a stern scolding they believed that he actually liked this sort of behavior.
‘The only ones not trying to crawl up my ass are people from the main clans, some of them made it on this mission with me. At least they took my orders to heart, a lot of them were against this, luckily I’ve gained enough trust now.’
Zhang Teng was one of the people from the inner sect. He was even related to one of the new nascent soul elders directly. Normally in any other sect such a person would never be caught around outer sect disciples and elders like here. He was a young master with a bright future and the proper backing to make something of himself. This fact usually gave people in his position an inflated ego, it was what made young masters into what they were, a menace.
To avoid this from repeating in his own sect he gave out an order. People from the inner sect had to interact with the outer sects. He wanted the divide to slowly be closed between these two camps and finally after enough time had passed, it would be time to abolish this system. He hoped to not have any inner, outer, or core disciples and it turned into one unified sect where people of different backgrounds were equal.
“ENOUGH! I do not need my shoulders to be rubbed! I will take a stroll through the ship… you there!”
“Me Elder?”
“Yes you, give me a tour of this vessel. I'm still unfamiliar with the ways of your sect.”
“Of course elder!”
“Is it because of her looks…”
“So lucky, the powerful elder took an interest in Lan Fei.”
He could hear the others whispering around after he singled Lan Fei out from the group. After having to listen to terrible music and puns for a few hours he needed a change of scenery. If this continued he even considered teleporting away and then back when they reached their destination. After getting up from the throne-like chair that he occupied he followed after the woman that was all smiles. The other cultivators looked with longing eyes while thinking that she would be given special treatment.
“Great Elder if you’ll allow me…”
“Just come with me and stop with that way of speaking, its starring to get on my nerves.”
“Ah, if that’s the Elders' wish.”
Lan Fei gave him the nicest smile as if she didn’t know what this was about and followed after. He did not need a tour of this flying ship as he was one of the people that went through the schematics of this model. He knew what all was used for and this was just an excuse to get the woman into a secluded cabin which he soon guided her to.
“We can talk here…”
“Oh my, why did the Elder bring me to this empty cabin… Is it for that reason?”
She gave him a wink while looking at the large bed inside the room. This place was reserved for any potential guests that arrived and kept empty for such an occasion. Before he could start talking the woman gave him a seductive look while trying to get on top of the bed.
“Hey, could you knock it off, I’m not my grandfather and I already know that you know who I am.”
“Was it that obvious?”
“Yes, quite obvious.”
“I have to apologize for my actions, this junior has been rude to the sect’s Patriarch.”
Soon Lan Fei’s tone had changed, her expression became a bit less playful as she removed herself from the bed. It was the usual behavior of a junior around a senior member or at least it looked to be on the surface. Considering how much of a fox this woman was those years in the past, it wouldn’t be strange if she was plotting something.
Maybe she wouldn’t even drop the act if he actually pushed her down on the bed and would have accepted any advances knowing well that he was Zhang Dong, the sect’s Patriarch. She took away his first experience before his wife came into the picture so it wasn’t such an odd trade-off. Becoming a mistress of the sect’s leader wouldn’t have even raised any eyebrows. His grandfather who had multiple wives was proof of it.
He was even asked to take in a few to spread his seed as babies from nascent soul masters were already rare. Considering that it got more and more dangerous for the wife the more children they received, to some this was an obvious resolution. Just get more wives close to his level and sire more children that would probably become the pillars of the future sect.
“It’s fine, I’ll let it slide but try not to do this again, I’ve put on this face for a reason.”
“Oh my, is this mission actually dangerous?”
“Not that I’m aware of…”
Zhang Dong looked at the woman before him. She already knew too much for her own good but salvaging the situation was possible. His main reason to be here was to aid his sect without giving up his true identity. He did not want people tip-toeing around his presence as their big leader. This was the reason for playing a renegade master that didn’t belong here. It was much more probable that they would let something slip if he wasn’t seen as a true member yet.
He still wanted to be in a leadership position though, if something went wrong he needed to be able to take care of the situation. If he pretended to be a foundation establishment junior, there could arise a moment of confusion when he revealed his true power. It was better to not have another nascent soul master undermine his status during a critical situation.
“I assume by your confused face that you wish to know what I’m doing here in this old disguise.”
Lan Fei nodded while trying to produce the largest puppy dog eyes she could. Regretfully what might have worked for the old Zhang Dong who once identified as a person called Matt, was ineffective. After coming to this world he had somewhat decided to ditch his old persona and assimilate with the cultivator called Zhang Dong. While he would never forget about his roots or morals, he needed to change his mindset at least slightly to survive in a world like this.
“Maybe that would have worked on me ten years ago, but I’m not the old me anymore.”
“Haaa… you’re making me doubt my womanly charms.”
“If you are interested, I can introduce you to a certain grandfather of mine, I’m sure he’ll take you under his wing.”
“Elder Zhang Jin? I think I’ll have to refuse, that old man has a very bad reputation with the women in the sect… then there are also his many wives, those women are ferocious… You’re not actually going to send me to him for punishment, are you?”
Lan Fei chuckled while shrugging, her impression of his grandfather wasn’t good and he was aware of that. No good-looking woman in the sect was safe and his wealth had its limits. After he passed on the battle for the assets he left behind would probably be tremendous. Zhang Dong was already scared as he would probably need to take care of his extended family then and not let them kill themselves over cultivation resources.
“Haha, no I was just joking. I wouldn’t give my worst enemy away to that perverted old man… But let’s get back to the problem at hand…”
“My lips are sealed.”
“Good, I guess this could work my… new potential disciple.”
“Potential disciple?”
“Yes… this will be the role that you will play… Don’t worry, it’s just temporary but now that you have figured me out, I’ll have you do some work for your Patriarch.”
Lan Fei wasn’t sure what he meant but she at least seemed happy to work with him. The others already thought that she made a good impression so it worked out for him. She would be his middleman in all of this while he did his thing. Having someone on the inside that acted this casually around him wasn’t that bad…
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