Chapter 176: Exchange Representatives
"Gu Ying!" Anji spotted her Manchurian bodyguard almost immediately after arriving at the guest quarters. She had her back turned and was talking to someone when Anji spotted her.
The young man behind Gu Ying looked familiar. However, it was the fan and scholarly sway that gave his identity away first.
"Brother Mingshen!" Anji gasped at the unexpected visitor. "Why didn’t you tell me you were visiting the sect?"
Grinning behind his signature paper fan, Mingshen took a good look at his younger sister. It had been many months, almost half a year since they parted at the borders. However, the Mystical Qilin Sect entrance shocked him more than he expected. To think that they were waiting for thirty minutes after Anji ’left’ to turn back... The Founder of this sect surely enjoyed playing pranks.
Anji had not grown much in their time away, but Mingshen did. The height difference between them grew even larger once more as he was finally at the height of Gu Ying’s shoulder. However, Anji’s new clothing made her appear more mature. Part of the scholarly teen wanted to pick her up and twirl her in the air. Yet, he restrained himself. After all, his younger sister was now the respected successor of the oldest cultivator sect.
"I wanted to surprise you," Mingshen smiled. "Gu Ying already knew. We kept in touch with letters. I simply came ahead of the others for the exchange to represent the Celestial Dragon Sect and relay some important information from Hong Nian Niang to your shifu. Mother wanted to come but only one representative from each sect can attend today’s exchange representative initiation meeting. She will come when the details of this martial exchange program are finalised."
Beaming, Anji reached out to hug her brother. Mingshen grew taller yet again without her, making Anji pout. Seeing him after so long reminded Anji just how much she missed her family. Parts of her wondered if everyone else back in the sect was doing alright.
"How is brother Yihao, big sister Ruiting and father doing?" Anji asked after they settled in the guest room.
According to Mingshen, Yihao was still in isolated training. Nobody knew how he was doing because his energy was still unstable. Occasionally, they would hear yells or feel tremors coming from the cultivation chamber he was in. Bai Dajin had gone back to check on his disciple so Wei Jie, the most advanced disciple of the White Tiger Sect, will be attending the exchange meeting instead.
"Sect Leader Hong has gone to find Sect Leader Liu at the Heavenly Phoenix Sect. They will both arrive late because of some internal conflicts," Mingshen explained. "Things are becoming tricky at the Heavenly Phoenix Sect. Not everyone agrees with the exchange, and Sect Leader Liu is having trouble leading such a huge sect alone."
Nodding along, Anji could understand how difficult it would be for someone who yet barely become an adult lead such a huge sect with many advisors and internal politics. Even with Hong Nian Niang’s help, it would still be difficult. Leading a sect was different from cultivating oneself to a higher level. Not everyone can single-handedly manage both like her shifu. Then again, not many sects had access to the accelerated cultivation chamber setup.