Rise of the Wu Clan

CHAPTER 2- (name at the end)

The training grounds were located at the foot of the Battle Pavilion's mountain, quite some distance away from the Ancestral Mountain, which was located in the center of the clan.

The Ancestral Mountain was surrounded by four mountain peaks' that had the 'Four Divisions' situated on them. There is the Alchemy Pavilion on the east mountain, the Demonic Beast Pavilion on the north mountain, the Formations Pavilion on the south mountain, and the Battle Pavilion on the west mountain.

Between these mountains and the Ancestral peak, clan members are residing in households, along with shopping districts, sub-branches of the Four Divisions, and other buildings there.

The Four Divisions only allowed their disciples to live on the mountains, and to become a disciple of the one the Four Divisions, only one requirement has to be met, which is to have a Spirit root.

A Spirit root is essential when Cultivating Spiritual Qi, without it a person would be doomed to stay a mortal.

Every three years each division would send a representative down their mountain to test the children between the ages of ten and twelve for Spirit roots. Even though they develop around the age of ten, some children might be late bloomers in developing them, but after twelve years old there's no possibility of developing it.

For the children who have a Spirit root, they would be allowed to spend one month on each of the mountains to learn the basics of the Four Divisions, then choose which one of them to enter.

For those who show a slight or outstanding affinity for one of the divisions, like in Alchemy or Formations, they would be taken in straight away or become a personal disciple for an Elder in that division.

For the 1/10 children who can't cultivate Qi, when they're older they would have to settle with being an external member of the clan, who dealt with the clan's daily necessities, like food and clothing, which basically means they're servants.

But that's how the Wu Clan operates, they don't hire servants outside of the clan, and no one in the clan is an outsider, everyone's related in some way either by blood or by marriage, which to some might seem peculiar.

A little more than one li away from the entrance to the training grounds, Longwei was hunched over with his hands on his knees out of breath.

'I should have taken the teleportation circle' he thought to himself, but after catching his breath and walking closer to the training grounds he was stun.

Located at the entrance of the training grounds were three teleportation circles allocated to the four divisions, besides the Battle Pavilion.

The Ancestral Mountain also had a teleportation circle allocated to them, but, that was what stunned him, he couldn't see it. The three teleportation circles were flashing wildly as a countless number of disciples from the Alchemy Division, Formation Division, and Demonic Beast Division, was frantically rushing out of them, and even more, were coming on foot from the surrounding area as well.

That Ancestral Mountain's teleportation circle was somewhat closer to the training grounds entrance than the other three, so normally when disciples exit from their division's teleportation circle they would walk around it, but currently, that teleportation circle was being run over by those maniac disciples.

The guards that were responsible for the teleportation circles were trying to get the disciples to walk around it, but even they're starting to be run over.

"Wha... what's happening? Why are there so many people acting crazy?" said Longwei while wearing a dumbfounded expression.

When he was running here from the Ancestral Mountain, he had encountered clan members in groups rushing this way, but he wasn't expecting to see a situation like this.

"Everyone hurry, if we don't reach the training grounds before it's crowded, we won't be able to get a good seat!"

Turning around, Longwei saw a group of six people running in his direction.

At the front of the group was a young man that looked around seventeen years old, he was the one that had just shouted, and behind him were five other young men that looked to be the same age as him.

Before they could run past him Longwei called out, "Wait! Could one of you kind senior brothers tell me what is happening in the training grounds?"

Hearing the question everyone in the group paused before they turn to look at Longwei with a weird expression.

The person that was leading the group said in an annoyed tone, "Kid what are you asking? don't you know that today is the day Young Master Longmin is giving a lecture on cultivation?"

He then put on a threatening expression he released his cultivation base that was at the midstage of the Foundation Building Realm and said again "If your delay caused us to miss front row seats don't blame me for teaching you a lesson!!". After letting out a snort, he led the others towards the crowded entrance.

Longwei had completely ignored the threat, as he stood in the same position with a thoughtful look, 'Did he broke through to the Foundation Building stage? Is that why he's giving a lecture?'

Longwei narrowed his eyes into slits, while his expression slowly turned to one of ridicule 'To think he would be showing off and fooling around like this instead of welcoming his elder brother home'

The group from earlier was already halfway through the crowd shoving and kicking people.

If that young man from before was to ever find out who he had just threatened, he would probably die from a heart attack.

But, before he left the Ancestral Mountain Longwei had disguised his appearance while also using a Runic Seal to suppress his cultivation back to the 9th level the Qi Gathering stage.

This was not the first time he had done something like this, matter-of-fact because he had been doing this since he was little, only a few people actually know his true appearance, and as for his hidden cultivation base, the Runic Seal allows him to hide it from anyone below the Nirvana Realm, which was impressive considering his low-level cultivation.

Coming out of his thoughts Longwei look at the crowded entrance and smile bitterly, "If I were to try and pass through here, I'm afraid I'd be squeezed to death"

The entrance to the training grounds wasn't small, it was big enough for six horse carriages to enter side by side, but due to the influx of people entering, even a drop of water would find it difficult to squeeze through now.

Not willing to be trampled to death, he chose to enter the side entrance that was only accessible to the Patriarch and Elders of the clan.

Leaving the crowded area, he hurried towards the side entrance that was about sixty chi from the main entrance.

Unlike the main entrance, the side entrance was a regular size door that had two guards there to prevent intruders from intruding.

One of the guards, after noticing Longwei's approach said, "Halt! You're not allowed to enter through here, you know the clan rules. If you want to enter the training grounds use the main gate like everyone else!".

Longwei who now stood around ten chi away from the entrance smiled, then with a light tap of a finger on the pouch attached to his waist, a purple token appeared in his hand. On the token, the character 'Wei' was carved on it.

The guard, after seeing the token shivered slightly, cupping his fist he said "Forgive me young master Longwei I didn't know it was you", The other guard that was on his left was also surprised as he saluted in a hurry.

"It's okay I don't blame you."

Longwei said as he walked through the now open door.

Someone in the crowd that was some distance away shouted out in surprise "Look over there, someone is using the side entrance!!"

Everyone in the crowd who heard him whipped their heads around to see Longwei entering the side entrance.

"Who's that?"

"He's so young, is he some personal disciple of an Elder?!"

"No! Not even a personal disciple of an Elder is allowed to use the side entrance"

"Then who is he? How can he use the Elders and Patriarch's entrance?"

Everyone in the crowd started to discuss the identity of the youth that had been allowed to use the side entrance. Meanwhile, that said person was hurrying up the stairs that lead to the Patriarch and Elder's booth.

The training grounds of the Wu Clan were rather large. After one entered through the main entrance they would be greeted with an open area that could hold about two stadiums.

It had spectator seats that could hold around two hundred thousand people, and at its center were three huge podiums and four smaller ones. Off to the sides were areas with dummies and targets that could be used for weapon practice.

On one of the smaller podiums that was closer to the main entrance, and where the crazed disciples were crowding around, a youth dressed in white scholar robes was there sitting in a lotus position.

He gave off a gentle and refined temperament that would make him stand out in any crowd, and one striking feature of this youth was that his left pupil was blue while his right pupil was golden, coupled that with his shoulder-length caramel brown hair and his smooth as jade, pale white skin, he gave off a unique charm that would fill any young maiden's heart with longing.

One other thing that should be pointed out is that if Longwei were to remove his disguise, his features and this youth's would have a 95% similarity.

"Young master Longmin isn't it better to practice Runes after one enters the Foundation realm? Wouldn't it be detrimental to the mind and consciousness if you start at the 9th level of the Qi Gathering stage?"

Hearing the question, a smile appeared on Longmin's face, causing his already handsome face to become more handsome.

Some of the female disciples in the crowd had dazed expressions as they stared at him, while some glared daggers at the male disciple who had asked the question, wishing that it was them that Longmin had smiled at.

"Judging by the two runic symbols on your chest, your a Grade 2 Formation Master. That's rare for someone in the Qi Gathering Realm, you must be very talented."

Longmin praised, causing the disciple to slightly blushed while lowering his head, the female disciples, after hearing Longmin's compliment intensified their jealous stares at him.

"Your not wrong to ask that question, I'll explain why I said practicing Runes in the Qi Gathering realm is helpful, even with the risks involved."

"To break through to the Foundation Building stage you first have to develop Spiritual Strength, and where does Spiritual Strength come from? It comes from the mind and consciousness of a person. You can think of the mind and consciousness as the physical body, and for your physical body to become stronger you'd first have to push every bone, muscle, and ligament to its limit. Only when they are at their absolute limit can they surpass that limit and become stronger. The same goes for your mind and consciousness, by practicing Runes, it pushes them to their limit to form Spiritual Strength. However, as you said, there are detriments in going about doing this. Runes were originally supposed to be practice with Spiritual Strength in the first place, so practicing Runes with your mind and consciousness before they develop Spiritual Strength can cause irreparable damage, but if you're careful when practicing the low-grade Runes and don't rush such a delicate matter, only great benefits can be rewarded for your efforts. Even disciples not from the Formation Pavilion should think about using this method."

The disciple's eyes brighten as said "Thank you, young master, for your pointers" Another disciple not too far away asked in a curious tone "Eldest brother Longmin did you use this method to break through to the Foundation Building stage?" Longmin smiled and replied, "Yes I did, and I was in the 7th level of Qi Gathering Stage when I developed Spiritual Strength."

The crowd immediately started to buzz with conversation as some disciples in the crowd exclaimed in admiration "Young Master Longmin is the Wu Clan's number one genius in Runes and formations!" "Haha, of course, he is! Even the Head Elder of the Formations Pavilion ask eldest brother Longmin for pointers, so him giving us a lecture can be considered as the heaven's blessings"

Longmin, with the same captivating smile on his face, looked around the crowd then said "As disciples from the Four Divisions you all are considered as 'new seedlings' that will grow to support the clan in the future. As your young master and eldest brother, it is my responsibility that I help each of you, no matter how small it may be, to grow faster."

"So, you can ask me any questions and I'll do my best to ans..."

"I HAVE A QUESTION!!"

"WHY ARE YOU SUCH A SHAMELESS LITTLE BROTHER?!!"

Before Longmin could finish his sentence a loud voice echoed in the training grounds cutting him off.

All the disciples immediately felt a painful ringing in their heads, they covered their ears to block out the piercing shout, but it was no use. It felt like the shout was directly entering their ears ignoring their hands.

Luckily it didn't last for long, after a few breaths of time the shout died down.

Some of the disciples were still standing slightly disoriented, while some were on their knees trembling with ashen faces.

There were only two disciples that were completely knocked out with froth coming from their mouths....it was a really wretched sight.

If one was paying attention those two were the only ones that had called Longmin 'eldest brother', that shout had been significantly louder for them than the others.

The skill and control one would need to infuse their voice with Spiritual Qi and increase the volume of their shout for someone in a crowd while lowering it for the others, was nothing short of difficult for someone below the Core Formation stage, but Longwei had done that even with his cultivation suppressed.

Following where the voice came from, everyone turned to look at the open booth above the main entrance that was only reserved for the Patriarch and Elders.

In the chair allocated to the Patriarch, a youth with average looks was sitting there lazily with an expressionless face.

But, even with his average looks and comical sitting posture, he still gave off a domineering and aloof aura, which was a complete contrast with Longmin's gentle and refined one.

"Wh...who is that?"

"He....he actually dares to sit in the Patriarch's seat?"

"Shush!.....have both of you turned deaf from the shout? Didn't you heard him say, little brother?" The disciple that had just reprimanded the other two disciples looked to the ground where the unconscious disciples were and shivered in fear "It's young master Longwei, he's back, and it seems some people forgot about the taboo in the clan, he doesn't like it when someone calls young master Longmin eldest brother."

Hearing who it was, the two disciple's faces turned white like a sheet of paper.

Longwei's reputation in the clan wasn't necessarily a bad one, after all, he was praised for his talents in martial arts, and was even given the nickname the 'Wu Clan's young dragon', but, his attitude at times could come off to others as very obstinate and overbearing, leading to some people being displeased on one end of the spectrum, and some fearful on the other end.

On the stage, Longmin was still sitting in a lotus posture as he gave Longwei a sheepish look, that would've made anyone's anger towards him lessen a notch.

"Welcome back 'twin' brother, was your journey home worry-free?" Longmin said while emphasizing the word twin.

Chapter 2- Welcome Back Twin Brother

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~Fun Fact~

Longwei's name in Chinese can be separated into two characters and translated as, Long- dragon, Wei- lofty, or great.

Longmin's can be translated as, Long- dragon, Min- clever, or sharp. The min can be pronounced similarly to Korea's min as well.