Chapter 4698: Bestowment

“I never thought that Elder Duan would have gone through such experiences.”

Chu Feng finally understood why so many people knew about Elder Duan, and why Tu Yuanyuan’s master spoke those words to him.

“Elder Dao, may I pay a visit to Elder Duan?” Chu Feng asked.

“Members of the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect aren’t allowed to leave the sect’s territories, but they are free to roam around the sect’s territories as long as they don’t enter restricted locations. I’ll first settle you down in the North Tortoise Hall, and if you wish to visit him at the outer hall later on, you’re free to do so,” Dao Qinian replied.

...

In a palace in the outer hall, many outer elders were gathered together. It was an annual gathering they would have after the completion of the aptitude test, mainly because they knew that their bestowments would be sent over during this period of time.

While only a small number of disciples managed to clear the aptitude test, most of the elders would still choose to head over. It was a social gathering for them to build up connections, and from time to time, if a rewarded elder was in a good mood, he might distribute some of his bestowment to the others too.

However, Duan Liufeng looked oddly out of place here, for this was his first time coming here...

Had it not been for him bringing Chu Feng in this time around, he would probably have never come to this gathering in his entire lifetime.

As he didn’t have good ties with most of the outer elders, he was left sitting by the corner all alone. He neither ate nor drank, choosing to wait silently for the elder of the North Tortoise Hall to arrive with the bestowments. Regardless of whether he would receive anything or not, he had already made up his mind to leave right after.

“Elder Duan, congratulations!”

All of a sudden, a person walked over with a wine cup in his hand. It was Elder Qian, the elder who had brought Hua Xu in.

“Elder Duan, come... Allow me to propose a toast to you. Even though the disciple you have brought in is of the lowest aptitude, you’ll still be rewarded for that. That fellow is planning to even acknowledge you as his master, so surely he’d pass the bestowment down to you, right?”

Even though Elder Qian claimed that he was proposing a toast, his words were filled with thorns. It was obvious that he was mocking Elder Duan over here.

“Chu Feng is indeed a good child. When he learned that I could enter the North Tortoise Hall if he acknowledged me as his master, he took the initiative to do it. From that, it could be seen that he’s a person who values his bonds deeply. Compared to some other disciples who renege on their promises, he’s truly a fine person,” Elder Duan said.

“What did you say? Are you trying to mock me? No matter what, I can receive a middle bestowment at the very least! I can enter the North Tortoise Hall with my own strength anyway.

“On the other hand, all you have is your lowest bestowment... Ah no, that’s if that brat is willing to give it to you in the first place. Who knows? He might choose to keep it for himself,” Elder Qian remarked with a smirk.

“Indeed, what Elder Qian said makes sense. The words of those new disciples can’t be trusted. Many of them claim that they would pass the bestowments down to us, but they eventually renege on their promises. This has happened far too many times!”

Maybe it was because Elder Qian was popular or that Duan Liufeng was simply too hated in the outer hall, but there were many people who stepped forward to speak up on Elder Qian’s behalf.

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

“Isn’t it too early for you to come to a conclusion? The bestowments have yet to arrive, so no one can say for sure what will happen. So, I should advise the rest of you not to get so gleeful just yet.”

Instead of losing his temper, Elder Duan refuted their words calmly.

“Duan Liufeng, what are you acting all smug for? Do you think that you’re still the same prodigy from three thousand years ago? You’re the same as us now, mere outer elders of the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect! No one remembers you anymore!

“All you can do now is just to act all lofty before us. If you’re really that capable, why don’t you do the same at the North Tortoise Hall?”

Seeing that his subtle insults weren’t reaching Elder Duan, he decided to go at it more directly.

“This was how I acted back at the East Dragon Hall, let alone the North Tortoise Hall!” Duan Liufeng replied.

“Enough, stop arguing! The elder of the North Tortoise Hall is here!”

It was then that someone suddenly shouted within the palace.

The elders in the palace immediately rose to their feet and rushed over. After all, their rewards were waiting for them right there.

The elder of the North Tortoise Hall swiftly began to announce the names of the elder who would receive bestowments. According to the convention, it would start from the lowest bestowments before slowly moving upward. Most bestowments would either be lowest, low or middle; very rarely would there be high bestowments.

Today, however, there might just be one.

The reason why it was a ‘might’ was because the disciples had the choice of whether to give the bestowments to the elder or keep it for themselves. Until the bestowments were finally presented, there was no telling whether the elder would receive it or not.

Thus, Elder Yu, who brought Tu Yuanyuan in, was feeling very anxious at the moment.

Interestingly, before the bestowments had been fully distributed, many of the elders present were already smiling smugly. This was because the lowest bestowments had just been fully distributed, but Duan Liufeng didn’t receive anything at all.

Everyone thought that Chu Feng had decided to keep the bestowment for himself.

Thus, everyone directed eyes filled with ridicule toward Duan Liufeng, sending him all sorts of awful words. Duan Liufeng didn’t get angry at their taunts, but he couldn’t conceal the look of disappointment on his face.

He wasn’t disappointed because he failed to receive a bestowment. Someone who had once reached the top like him wouldn’t care much about such bestowments. If he was really bothered with it, he wouldn’t have kept away from the Hidden Dragon Heaven Formation for the past three thousand years, not choosing a disciple at all.

No, the reason why he was disappointed was because he thought that there was something special about Chu Feng, that he was different from the other disciples.

However, from the looks of it now, Elder Qian and the others might be right. Chu Feng might not be as trustworthy as he thought him out to be.

Soon, the low bestowments and middle bestowments were distributed too.

The elders of the North Tortoise Hall took out two violet boxes, which immediately brought looks of envy on the faces of the outer elders. Elder Yu was also excited by the sight that his body wouldn’t stop trembling.

All of them knew that the violet boxes were the high bestowments. Since the elder of the North Tortoise Hall had brought it here, without a doubt, one of them must belong to Elder Yu, who brought Tu Yuanyuan here.

As for why there were two violet boxes, that was a question that none of the outer elders had an answer to. Nevertheless, they had some speculations regarding this matter.

Maybe, Tu Yuanyuan had performed so well that the elders of the East Dragon Hall decided to offer a bonus on top of the normal reward.

However, the next scene slackened the lower jaws of all of the outer elders.

The elder of the North Tortoise Hall took the two high bestowments toward Duan Liufeng and said, “Elder Duan, congratulations.”

His attitude was extremely amicable.

“This elder over here, what’s there to congratulate about here?”

Duan Liufeng was taken aback by the turn of events too.

“Tu Yuanyuan has decided to pass her bestowment to you,” the elder of the North Tortoise Hall said.

“What?”

Those words left everyone shocked, especially for Elder Yu. As if they had suffered a huge blow, they fell to the ground with a loud bam.