Chapter 80: First Night of the Gathering!

Chapter 80: First Night of the Gathering! Now the table was full; some chairs were added, but it didn’t make any difference to the massive table that was the core of the party. 8 inner sect elders, 16 outer sect elders, 15 official disciples, and 31 core disciples, as well as Ken and Adam, made 72 individuals around the table, and the majority were male. At some point, and the only time everybody rose from their seat, was when Ken’s elder master entered through the glass roof. The inner sect elders got up first, then the official disciples with Ken, then the outer sect elders and core disciples who were here before the elder. "Elder Master." They all shouted, and the elder smiled kindly and gestured for them to sit, and only then did they sit. This wasn’t because the elder was some hidden boss who made himself appear weak; no, he was who Ken knew him as. He was just held in high respect by all who are here due to his old age and due to him being here way before any of them reached their current status. Some basic information about the world and its people had to be known. After much research, Ken came to the conclusion that earthlings were like ants compared to this world’s residents. Literally... In terms of physical strength and height, these people were at the very least 3 times stronger and taller than an average person on earth. And the lifespan of a weak mortal who has absolutely nothing extraordinary about him can go up to at least 250 years. This went to say that Ken’s lifespan was greatly shortened by his predecessor’s rash decision or was just beneath average, which was 175 years. Then what about a foundation establishment realm individual? One who had access to all the treasures of the world, whose body and mind had connections to nature, and who lived in the richest of environments, the sect? Well, their lifespan wasn’t limited anymore; for example, the inner sect elders were a thousand years old at the minimum, the oldest here was 3450 years old, and the elder master, the librarian elder, Tianlong, was close to completing 5000 years. He was the elder master of almost half the sect’s entire record of disciples. All who were at least inner sect disciples saw him as an elder master, and those who were core or official disciples could have a similar relationship with him as Ken. Ken wasn’t the first genius to appear on these lands, nor would he be the last; it all came down to how crazy his achievements would be, as there were talents crazier than the mind could think of who either died early or didn’t meet the expectations of their own potential due to limited traits. And similarly, there were disciples who were buried in the sand due to a lack of any strong point who went on to achieve success no monster was able to attain. The first hour went by, and then the second and the third, and by now, conversations started turning around the table, and Ken wasn’t spared from it; in fact, he was the one who sparked a conversation with his elder master. "Good to see you here, elder master." Ken said at first. "I’m always glad to see many of my dear disciples gathered." He said, his eyes calmly and kindly scanning the entire table. "Such gatherings don’t happen often, and they certainly don’t contain this kind of variety." He added. "Not every day a genius like Ken appears, elder master." The inverted elder, Karim, took this chance to speak, his hand holding a cup of a very fragrant drink that made Ken’s nose twitch. And suddenly, without notice, a cup of the same drink appeared before him, floating in the air. "Thank you, elder." Ken accepted the cup and expressed his gratitude to Elder Karim, who was looking at him with kind eyes. "Doesn’t he have quite the smooth tongue?" The elder master commented, which caused many of the elders who were around the table and had part of their concentration on their section to nod. "One can easily make a place in their hearts for him." The elder master added these words and then went silent as he took another sip of his cup. The conversation around the table continued going, and some went silent with the elder before restarting again. There wasn’t much noise around the room even with countless disciples going in and out from the gate and some walking and going around greeting everyone. That is because, in such events where a lot of individuals gathered, manners were a must. And to cultivators, self-control was an important point; thus, the way they spoke was calm and smooth, their pace was slow, and if you didn’t pay attention, you wouldn’t even hear what they said. That went even more for Ken’s table, as each and everyone here was a fully-fledged cultivator who had dozens of years of experience, except him, the anomaly. "How was the mission you took? I heard it took place in a small village." Elder Karim spoke, but Ken could feel he was getting to something that would benefit him. "Yes, it was a village close to the edge of the spirit forest, a four-day journey by ship." Ken replied. "Hmm? That village, huh? I remember passing through it a century ago." The elder commented. Between them, the elder master only smiled while taking sips of his drink, seeming pleased with the air around. "It had an interesting village heir; a mortal with principles is rare." The elder spoke and remained silent for a few seconds. "He should be an old village head now... at the end of his lifespan." He added and stopped at once. "Indeed, his son took a lot from him; the village is in good hands." Ken commented, making the elder smile. "It took you 11 days to come back, right?" And so, he moved to the important topic. ------End------