The Nine Cauldrons 545 Name Scroll

"Qingshan!" Zhuge Yuanhong hurriedly entered the East Flower Garden. At one glance, he saw the two people sitting nearby at a stone table—Teng Qingshan and his grandfather, Teng Yunlong.

"Zhuge Yuanhong," Teng Yunlong said, cupping his hands together as he laughed out loud and stood up.

Zhuge Yuanhong also cupped his hands together and said with a smile,"Uncle Teng." Immediately after, he looked at Teng Qingshan and said somewhat anxiously, "Qingshan, I just heard that your Xing Yi Sect is never going to contend for hegemony over the world in the future. Why are you so silly? If you announce it like that to the world, aren't you just making it so that your future disciples can only hole up in the land of those five counties forever?"

"Teacher." Teng Qingshan smiled while shaking his head. "I have my own way of thinking."

You… Sigh..." Zhuge Yuanhong shook his head, sighing. "You told me previously that your Xing Yi Sect wants to walk a path similar to the one that the Wan Xiang Sect took. But surely… you don't need to announce it to the whole world! By doing this, aren't you blocking any chance of your sect going on another path?"

Announcing such a thing to the world was certainly not a joke.

That was tantamount to receiving the supervision of all the people in the world. The moment the Xing Yi Sect made a futile attempt to expand their territory, they would be going against popular sentiment and would receive the sneers of everyone in the world. If the army of the Xing Yi Sect started a conquest, they would be considered unreasonable. The army would naturally have low morale and be internally unstable. Therefore, there was really no chance for the sect to expand its territory.

"Teacher." Teng Qingshan shook his head. "Why should my sect contend for hegemony over the world?

"Regardless of whether it's the Heavenly Emperor of the Qin Mountains or Emperor Yu, they would only attain hegemony over the world for a period of time in the end. Once they die, the world will still collapse and fall apart in the same manner as before! During the period of hegemony, the world would face countless casualties. And when the world splits up, there would be countless casualties again. After a unification, the world will break up again! It does the world no good. There are no benefits for the sect either.

"Why bother unifying the world?"

Teng Qingshan looked into the distance toward the south. "Martial Ancestor Shiga was able to see through this. After attaining the realm of the Omnipotent Expert, he created numerous secret laws for the Buddhist Sect. Additionally, he even let the Buddhist Sect spread their religious formalities throughout Rongzhou and Liangzhou! This made the populace of Rongzhou and Liangzhou unconditionally devoted to the Mani Temple. This is the way to flourish for a long time!"

Religion had an extremely astonishing influence on people.

"But Qingshan, your Xing Yi Sect is not the Mani Temple; it's not a religion," Zhuge Yuanhong said, shaking his head. From his perspective, even if the Xing Yi Sect was not going to contend for hegemony over the world, there was still no need to announce it to the world. That way, they would have room for error.

"Fine, I won't talk about it anymore." Zhuge Yuanhong knew that whatever he said now was already too late anyway.

Teng Qingshan smiled and did not say much. He just thought to himself…"Wait another 10 or 20 years. When the world sees the Xing Yi Sect then, everyone will know how special my Internal Martial Art is."

"Uncle Teng, what are you writing?" Zhuge Yuanhong walked over to Teng Yunlong's side.

Teng Yunlong stood in front of the stone table, pointing at the name scroll on the table. He smiled and said, "The people of my Teng Jia Village are also members of the Xing Yi Sect. So Qingshan and I have added the names listed in the name scroll of Teng Jia Village into the name scroll of the Xing Yi Sect. The main thing is to distinguish the second generation disciples from the third generation disciples."

Zhuge Yuanhong nodded. "Not bad."

"It's really troublesome though," Teng Yunlong said with a sigh. "Back then, during Qingshan's childhood, he created the Tiger Form Fist Art. Then it became a fist art secretly pass down within my Teng Jia Village. It was passed down only to males, not females, and definitely not outsiders. Most of the males in the village have practiced the fist art before, so it is quite hard to distinguish them as second or third generation disciples now…"

Teng Qingshan nodded, smiling as he said, "For example, my uncle, Yonglei, and the others are my elders, while Qinghu is of the same generation as me. Then there's also the generation with the 'Hong' name, who are my juniors. These people clearly belong to three generations… yet they have to be sorted into the second or third generation of disciples. It really is hard."

As a sect, there was one completely indisputable point—the founder was fixed as the first generation.

The founder was the only one who had the qualifications to be ranked as the first generation. Otherwise, he wouldn't be called the founder.

So…

For those in Teng Jia Village who were considered to be in the generation above Teng Qingshan's, the highest they would be able to rank was as second generation disciples, as long as they succeeded in practicing Internal Martial Art. There were still many people who were classified as third generation disciples.

"Qinghu is a second generation disciple?" Zhuge Yuanhong looked at the name scroll in surprise.

"Mm, back then, Qinghu was part of the earliest batch to practice the Tiger Form Fist Art and cultivate inner strength," Teng Yunlong said while laughing. He still remembered the scene back then of a group of men following Teng Qingshan, this youngster, and learning the fist art from him. At that time, who could have imagined that a youngster from a mountain village would actually be able to become a founder of a sect?

"Teacher." Teng Qingshan looked apologetically at Zhuge Yuanhong. "Making Qinghu and the others withdraw from the Black Armored Army—this matter…"

"You and I are teacher and disciple, yet you're still saying so much? Qingshan, you've helped my Gui Yuan Sect so much. Were it not for you, Qing Hu Island would have long wiped out my Gui Yuan Sect. Now, all I'm doing is letting Teng Jia Village's 10 or so men withdraw from the sect to join the Xing Yi Sect, nothing more," Zhuge Yuanhong said with a smile. Actually, in his heart, he felt that he owed Teng Qingshan quite a lot.

Regarding favors…

He personally had not taught Teng Qingshan much. Teng Qingshan was the exclusive owner of his Internal Martial Art.

On the contrary, the Gui Yuan Sect had received a lot from Teng Qingshan. The previous time Teng Qingshan wanted to set up his sect, Zhuge Yuanhong had gotten extremely angry. Then it made him feel guilty. After all, as the Gui Yuan Sect's sovereign, he had to think for the sake of the sect. Yet he knew that Teng Qingshan had done more than enough for the Gui Yuan Sect.

"Teacher," Teng Qingshan smiled and said, "The Gui Yuan Sect has also begun to move step by step to Yong'an County in the west. When that time comes, the Gui Yuan Sect will be in Yong'an County, while my the Xing Yi Sect will be over here on the Great Yan Mountain. The distance between us will be very wide, so I won't be able to always watch over Yong'an County. However, Teacher, you don't need to worry. I will make arrangements to deal with this matter."

*******

Although Teng Qingshan was the sovereign of the Xing Yi Sect, a lot of the sect's internal matters were handed over to his second disciple, Yang Dong, to handle. Meanwhile, aside from cultivating, Teng Qingshan would accompany his wife, Li Jun.

...

"According to the physician, Little Jun... you better not go out during these two days. Our child may be born at any time." Teng Qingshan held Li Jun's hand as they took a walk in the East Flower Garden.

"It will be fine." Li Jun, however, smiled unconcernedly. "Oh, that's right, Qingshan. Will the Heavenly God Palace, the Ying Family, Mani Temple, and the others be at ease just because our Xing Yi Sect isn't contending for hegemony over the world? I've at last come to an understanding regarding what you've said. The cultivators of Internal Martial Art will be very formidable in the future if they continue with their current development. Will the Heavenly God Palace and the others just watch on as we get stronger?"

"Of course they won't." Teng Qingshan shook his head. "However, currently, the Heavenly God Palace, Mani Temple, and the others only vaguely know some things about my Internal Martial Arts. They don't actually know that if a cultivator makes small accomplishments in the cultivation of Internal Martial Arts and continues practicing some inner strength cultivation manual, he will definitely be as strong as a Second Rated Warrior. If their achievement is somewhat higher, they will reach the peak of the First Rated Warrior. Some elites might be able to compete with the experts listed in the "Earthly Ranking".

"They don't know, so that's why they feel at ease."

"Wait till they discover the formidability of my Internal Martial Arts. At that time, they will definitely take some action." Teng Qingshan was very clear on this point. "However, while we wait for them to discover this fact, many of our Internal Martial Arts cultivators will definitely have already made some small achievements. They will only find out several years from now! The quickest and fiercest period of growth for our Xing Yi Sect has been the last few years.

"We will be able to recruit cultivators during the first few years.

"In the last few years, we managed to recruit cultivators speedily.

"By the time they find out and inhibit us again, our Xing Yi Sect's foundation will have already been built." Teng Qingshan smiled. "What can they do? After all, back then, it was them who all nodded in agreement."

Teng Qingshan was taking advantage of the fact that the other sects did not know much about his Internal Martial Art.

"Right now, the troublesome thing is that we have too few masters who can teach disciples." Teng Qingshan shook his head helplessly. "Fortunately, there are many within my Teng Jia Village who have mastered the Tiger Form Fist Art. In a few years, the young third generation disciples today will also have gained enough experience to take on the position of senior disciples and teach those disciples who have just joined the sect."

If it had not been for his teacher, Zhuge Yuanhong, bringing up this matter of setting up a sect, Teng Qingshan would not have been in a hurry to think about it.

The current situation is good.

In the beginning, it will be very busy as they would have to expand extremely quickly. However, it will help the Xing Yi Sect become more powerful quickly.

"Ah." Li Jun suddenly covered her belly with her hands.

"What's wrong, Little Jun?" Teng Qingshan took one look at Li Jun's appearance and could quickly guess what the problem was.

"Maybe… Maybe I'm about to give birth," Li Jun said as beads of sweat seeped out of her forehead.

"Bear with it for a moment. I'll call for someone immediately."

Teng Qingshan immediately made a sound to call for the physician, midwife, and the other people who had long been arranged for. With just one sound, the group of people who had long been residing in the lower house of the East Flower Garden immediately picked up all kinds of tools and came over. 

...

After a short period of time…

Outside a wing of the East Flower Garden residence, a group of people had gathered. Teng Yongfan and Yuan Lan, as well as Qingyu, who had been staying here for the past few days, had also rushed over. There were more than ten people gathered outside.

"Quickly! Quickly!"

"Bring the hot water in quickly."

Far away, the female disciple carrying the hot water also possessed martial arts skills. She was holding a wooden basin filled with hot water, yet she was as lithe as a swallow, dashing at flying speed toward the wing of the residence.

Meanwhile, Teng Qingshan was outside the door of the wing, incessantly pacing to and fro while faintly muttering something repeatedly.

"Haha, Qingshan, stop pacing. After all, you're the sovereign of a sect. Calm down and sit down," Teng Yongfan said while laughing.

Teng Qingshan glanced at his father. Calm...?

His mental state, which had been tempered in life and death situations for a long time, was simply unable to calm down at this moment.

"Yongfan, you shouldn't talk about Qingshan." Teng Yunlong laughed. "Back then, when Ah Lan gave birth to Qingshan, you were even more panicky than him."

"I… He and I are different." Teng Yongfan smiled. "I was just a blacksmith. Qingshan is a sovereign."

"When it comes to this sort of thing, there's no difference between a sovereign and a blacksmith," Teng Yunlong said while laughing.

Just when laughter was ringing outside the wing of the residence…

Rumble!

On a stifling hot summer day, there was the sudden sound of thunder out of nowhere, even making Teng Qingshan's heart tremble. He could not help but look up at the sky only to see that it was overcast. Barely a moment later, raindrops as big as beans suddenly pounded down, hiding the sky and covering the earth. This rainstorm arrived without warning, immediately sending the group of people, who were originally outside the wing of the residence, rushing onto the veranda.

"This rainstorm sure came fast."

"It didn't rain in the morning, and it didn't rain in the evening. Just when this child is about to be born, it rains." Teng Yunlong and the group of people raised their heads to look at the sky. At this moment, the space between the heavens and the earth had already become a curtain of rain. Pitter-patter sounds rang out continuously everywhere the rainstorm pounded down. 

"I think Qingshan's child won't be ordinary, seeing as it decided to rain at this time."

Contrary to what one might expect, Teng Yongfan and the rest of the group were talking happily.

However, Teng Qingshan was now even more anxious, and his mind was a mess.

Pitter! Patter! Pitter! The rainstorm was incessant.

Rumble~~ Amidst the clouds in the sky, there was also the faint, muffled sound of thunder. The rain was getting heavier.

"Waaa~~~"

The resounding cry of a baby suddenly rang out.

"Eh?" Teng Qingshan suddenly stood still and fixed his attention on the wing of the residence.

Chapter end