Chapter 3563 — Allocation of Cultivation Caves
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 3
Sweeping his gloomy gaze across every face, Meng Jueming spoke at last: "Three stretches of cultivation caves have been set aside for you here in this mountain. The stretch on the summit holds the richest spiritual qi—but it is now allotted to Chongtian Pavilion. The stretch halfway up the slope holds the next richest—that now belongs to Xuanji Pavilion. And what is given to you worthless lot is this stretch right before us at the foot of the mountain. The very worst cultivation caves in the whole mountain! So give me some face, buckle down and cultivate hard, and produce me a few more Foundation Establishment hands as quick as you can—otherwise I won't be able to hold my head up before the stewards of the other two pavilions, and don't blame me if I come back to deal with you!"
The crowd exchanged looks and dared not speak. They had already accepted reality by now; having entered Qingyun Pavilion, that notorious dumping ground for good-for-nothings, they had long expected the worst treatment.
As for producing Foundation Establishment hands—only Meng Zhou and a scant few others had any qualification for that; the rest did not dare even to dream of it.
"Still, even the worst cultivation caves have better and worse among them," Meng Jueming said, pointing at the entrances of the caves behind him. "See those number markers at the cave mouths? I'll tell you now: from number one to number fifteen, the larger the number, the thinner the spiritual qi inside. Number one's qi density can just barely reach a hundred times that of the outside, but past number ten, it's generally only about ten times the outside."
Here Meng Jueming counted the newcomers present—fifteen exactly, no more, no less—and a look of relish came over his face. "Oh, that's right, what I just said is out of date. For the past few years no newcomers were transmitted up from the mundane world, and Qingyun Pavilion generally takes in only twelve or thirteen newcomers, fourteen at the most. So cave fifteen has been abandoned for a long time, and the Pavilion Master sealed off its spiritual qi with a formation; only today has it been reopened. As for the qi density inside—well, that's hard to say. With luck it might be a bit higher than the outside. If your luck's bad, I'd suggest that unlucky junior brother just move out and cultivate in the open air. Hahaha!"
At this the crowd's faces changed at once, every one of them on tenterhooks for fear of becoming that unlucky wretch. To be assigned to cave fifteen—then one could weep without even finding a grave to weep at.
"All right, the cave allocation begins now. When your name is called, step out." With that Meng Jueming produced a register and began allocating the caves on his own, showing not the slightest intention of consulting the Miserable Senior Brother.
After all, the Pavilion Master Hu Yunfeng had made it plain earlier that the matter of cave allocation was to be settled by discussion between the two steward senior brothers of each pavilion—which was to say that in this matter the Miserable Senior Brother ought to have a voice as well.
Seeing the newcomers' knowing gazes fall upon him, the Miserable Senior Brother's face paled a little. If he kept silent and endured at such a critical juncture, then never again would he have even the slightest authority before these newcomers.
"Er, Senior Brother Meng, might I also have a look at the cave allocation?" Under all those watching eyes, the Miserable Senior Brother mustered his courage and, bracing himself, spoke up.
"What's there to look at? These caves aren't being allotted to you!" Meng Jueming shot him an impatient glance.
Meng Jueming's words were true enough—the cultivation caves of the three pavilion masters and six stewards of the Welcome Pavilion were all set apart on a neighboring mountain—but that was not at all what the Miserable Senior Brother had asked about; he could only mutter awkwardly, "Er, but..."