Su Yan nodded to himself. This wasn't too bad. Now, he could skip straight to the trouble that was brewing on the sect master's peak. Mn, this would probably be fun.
[Ziju An and his disciple arrived at a scene the Grandmaster wouldn't have expected. The rules for the sect admission test seemed to have been announced already but the test wasn't about to commence. There was somebody making trouble.
"No! I won't start the test if he isn't here yet!"
The one making a ruckus was a small child around Dou Fang Hai's age. He was quite tall for a boy his age, neatly dressed and even equipped with a short sword meant for children. One look was enough to ascertain that he was someone from a well-off family.
Ziju An's eyebrows raised slightly. He could imagine who this boy was. Most likely this was exactly the one the Elders had wanted him to take as a disciple. Well, he definitely wouldn't do so. His own disciple was so lovable. He definitely wouldn't exchange him for such a rude brat.
He lightly stepped onto the square in front of the sect master's palace and put Dou Fang Hai on the ground. The boy pursed his lips and faced the other side, indignant that his wife had carried him there. Shouldn't it be the other way around?!
His master didn't pick up on his feelings and motioned toward the elevated seats where the sect master and the elders sat. "Xiao Fang, let's go and great the sect master."
Dou Fang Hai looked over and saw a few rows of handsome people sitting there. He examined them closely before looking up at the pretty sister next to him. Then he nodded in satisfaction. It really was like his father always said. He had very good eyesight! His wife was definitely the prettiest!
"Grandmaster Ziju!" Peak Master Su's expression brightened.
His head disciple was the one that had just explained the rules of the sect admission test to the children that had passed the preliminary test. And now his disciple was also the one that had to deal with the youngest prince. That definitely wasn't something he wanted to be dragged out. Thankfully, the person in question had finally come!
"Mn." Ziju An nodded slightly and led Dou Fang Hai toward the seats of the elders. "Sect Master."
"Senior Martial Brother, you've come. I was starting to wonder if you wanted to skip watching the admission test. Well, I couldn't really believe you'd do that. You promised to come, after all."
"Mn." Ziju An nodded once again and took Dou Fang Hai's hand. "Let's go and watch the test from up there."
Dou Fang Hai didn't budge when Ziju An stepped forward. He couldn't let himself be carried and dragged around by his wife! What would the other boys say?!
Ziju An smiled. "You don't want to? But the view will be much better from there."
Dou Fang Hai pondered and finally nodded. "Alright. Since you want to have a better view I'll allow it."
The Elders collectively gaped. Did this ... Did this brat just 'allow' their Grandmaster to go sit in his seat? And did the Grandmaster just allow it and go up there with the boy? And wait ... wasn't that ...
"Eh, Senior Martial Brother, the seat where that boy just sat down, that is Elder Su's seat."
"Oh?" Ziju An looked beside him but only smiled. They invited him but didn't think of preparing a seat for his disciple. That Peak Master Su deserved to stand for the rest of the admission test.
Dou Fang Hai didn't even listen. He was just happy. His future wife had been right. The view from up here was really much better! He could see everything clearly. Whatever that test was that was supposed to happen here he would be able to observe everything.
Dou Fang Hai happily turned back to his master and grabbed his hand.
Ziju An smiled back at him.
Sect Master Xue leaned over and curiously looked at the boy. "So, who's this?"
"My disciple."
"Your disciple?" Xue Chang Fu raised his brows. "Huh? You already accepted a disciple?"
"Mn. Didn't you say I should take one in this time around? So I went and took a look at the preliminary tests. This one met my eye so I took him in."
"Oh, you're quite fast. I thought you'd wait until the last possible moment before you decide."
Ziju An didn't answer. Somebody else had something to say to that though.
"Grandmaster! What do you mean your new disciple? What about prince Jin?"
"Prince Jin?" Grandmaster Ziju was the one to raise his brows this time. "What about him?"
"Wasn't it agreed upon that he would become your disciple?"
Peak Master Su really would have liked to pull the boy next to the Grandmaster down from the seat. Never mind that that was his seat, how could they arbitrarily offend the royal family of the Jin Kingdom?! And it was obvious that taking in another disciple shortly before him would offend the young prince!
Grandmaster Ziju only stared at the peak master. They both knew that nothing had been agreed upon. They knew, the other elders knew, and the sect master knew, too. It had only been mentioned by Elder Su when they met prior to the preliminary tests but Ziju An, as well as the sect master, had both ignored him. Wasn't that like saying that they didn't agree?
Hearing Peak Master Su's words and noticing the missing reaction to his words the boy that had already made a ruckus before couldn't hold back any longer. "What are you talking about? Naturally, the Grandmaster is going to be my master! I'm Jin Bao Fu!"
Ziju An slightly frowned. He definitely didn't like this kind of entitlement just because of someone's family background.
Seeing that his senior martial brother had no intention to react Xue Chang Fu didn't say anything either. He hadn't been the one to stir this up. Should the idiot who had tried to challenge the Grandmaster's choices solve the problem. He'd just lean back and enjoy the show.]