Rise Of The Worm Sovereign

The patriarch and the elders all watched in anticipation. Being hyped up this far was already a bit too much for them, especially since the more astute among them had already sensed something different from the disciples.

They couldn't sense their cultivation bases!

Patriarch Bing narrowed his eyes as well.

'The elders can't probe the disciples, huh… Did they gain something like Wang Xiong did?' Patriarch Bing thought.

He was, after all, the patriarch of a top ten sect. There was no way something so minor could escape his eyes. He was also the master of Wang Xiong officially and had talked with him enough to learn some things.

While Wang Xiong seemed to be under some kind of a 'restriction' that limited the information he could pass on to others, Patriarch Bing could still analyze and derive from that information.

'Additionally that… Inheritance ground, or tomb or whatever… that exists there…' The Patriarch remembered.

~HONG~

And while these thoughts were going through the patriarch's mind, several waves of spirit Qi spread from the disciples.

As soon as they reached the elders, all of them stood up.

"This…" one of the elders was at a loss for words.

"Impossible…" Another one couldn't believe his senses.

"Hoho? Looks like our juniors are no longer so 'junior'." Supreme Elder Weizhe said, as his eyes too opened far more than normal.

"Let us…" Pei Jun took the lead.

"Show all the elders and patriarch…" Tian Xiaoge continued.

"Our decade's worth effort!" The rest of the disciples joined in.

~RUMBLE~

The hall started to tremble faintly as defensive formations were triggered. Runes appeared in the hall, and spread over the walls and floor, reinforcing them and protecting them from the spirit Qi fluctuations.

The spirit Qi fluctuations were strong enough to possibly make several weaker cultivators faint just from being in its presence.

It was the pressure… that came from fifteen nascent soul realm cultivators!

The robes of all the disciples fluttered under the waves of spirit Qi that emanated from their bodies. Pei Jun took the lead in this and his spirit Qi fluctuation were the strongest, being at the Child soul stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

Next came Tian Xiaoge who was at the Infant soul stage of the Nascent Soul realm, but still ahead of the rest of the disciples. The rest of the thirteen were behind her, but among them, there was still one that was in the lead.

Cao Du was the one who had progressed the fastest and also held the most talent amongst the remaining thirteen. He was in the lead of all thirteen who were at about the same level. Only in the future would they learn just how much of a difference there was between them.

Rights now they were at the same starting line, but who knows how long that would last.

Or so… should have been the normal case.

What the disciples didn't know was that since they had come under Lin Wu, there was no way they would be limited by their normal potential. With Lin Wu there, and his 'grace' over them, there would always be ways to progress!

Patriarch Bing kept a calm expression throughout the entire demonstration, and not one bit of surprise was visible on his face. It was as if he was an ice sculpture who would not change whether it be a flood or a blizzard.

It perfectly suited his name, and many even wondered if his parents knew about this beforehand. There were also some rumors that his parents had consulted a great fortune teller before choosing this name.

Whatever it may have been, Patriarch Bing stayed true to his name, and it suited his position perfectly.

"Seems like the sect did not lose out having you all missing for the past eleven years…" Patriarch Bing finally spoke, his voice low.

~flutter~

His robes shook lightly as he stood up. With his position at the head of the hall, he was standing over two meters above the disciples and a cold aura was emitting from him.

"Elders of the Frozen Cloud sect…" Patriarch Bing spoke.

"Yes patriarch!" They all stood in ceremony.

"Hear my announcement… from today onwards, all thirteen disciples excluding Tian Xiaoge and Pei Jun will be made into Junior elders." Patriarch Bing declared.

"As you command Patriarch Bing! We have no disagreements." The elders replied.

This was all expected since the disciples had shown their potential. With the current situation of the frozen cloud sect, there was a great lack of elders and the return of these disciples was the same as providing a starving traveler a feast.

While it may not be enough to fully return the Frozen Cloud sect to its previous status, the numbers were still enough to stabilize them better than before.

But despite the order that was given, a few here were still unsure of it. The ones being none other than Wang Xiong, Pei Jun, and Tian Xiaoge. Since Patriarch Bing had excluded the two of them, they couldn't help but feel a bit nervous about what they were to be.

Tian Xiaoge even wondered if the two of them had made a mistake of some kind and were being kept back because of it. Her mind rushed to tens of thoughts, as she couldn't help but come up with all kinds of scenarios.

'Did we take too long to come? Or is it that the Patriarch doesn't like us? No… that can't be. We've done nothing to offend him. Is it perhaps something else?' Tian Xiaoge wondered to herself.

Pei Jun was the same and had such thoughts too, but he was a bit more firm than Tian Xiaoge in his will and was not moved as much as her.

'We have no reason to be worried. After all, like Great Senior said, we are the only ones that can save the Frozen Cloud sect.' Pei Jun thought to himself.

It was now that someone else moved.

"And may I ask what plans does Patriarch Bing have for Tian Xiaoge and Pei Jun?"

'The supreme elder?' Wang Xiong was a little surprised. 'He isn't the one to usually act in situations like these. He much more prefers to observe and only speak when spoken to.'

The one who had spoken was none other than Supreme elder Weizhe. All the elders couldn't help but look towards Patriarch Bing for the response.

They too wondered why the two disciples were excluded from the promotion.

Patriarch Bing stayed silent for a few seconds, but his eyes didn't move from the disciples in this time. The ones who were a bit more familiar with him would realize that he was analyzing the disciples at this moment.

It was his style to throw out certain claims and let the other parties go through them. He would pry apart their fine behaviors with just a single glance and make the best decision that he could.

Such was the skill of Patriarch Bing of the Frozen Cloud sect.

"The Disciples Pei Jun and Tian Xiaoge are to be directly elevated to the status of Chief disciples!" Patriarch Bing declared.

"WHAT?!" Wang Xiong couldn't help but exclaim.

"This… Patriarch this is not right." One of the high elders spoke.

"Yes… you already have Wang Xiong as the chief disciple." Another elder stated.

"Does… Patriarch Bing want to change the rules of the Frozen Cloud sect?" this time Supreme elder Weizhe spoke up.

"Yes, we cannot just change the rules like this. Will we be giving up on the tradition of the Frozen Cloud sect so easily?" Another elder said, finding it very unorthodox.

"Elders, our sect as you all know, is in a very sensitive situation. We lack half the elders we need to maintain our ranks as well as keep the sect running.

Next year will be the year for recruitment for our sect. If we do not have enough manpower we will not be able to recruit any talented disciples and they will be poached by the other sects." Patriarch Bing spoke, but was interrupted.

"But master, that doesn't explain taking Pei Jun and Tian Xiaoge in as chief disciples. Wouldn't it make sense to promote them to elders or even high elders instead?" Wang Xiong was the only person here who had the authority to interrupt the patriarch this way, along with Elder Weizhe.

No one else would dare to interrupt Patriarch Bing like this, as not only would it be against the mode of decorum, but it would also be a gross negligence of rules. Wang Xiong was basically the next patriarch of the Frozen Cloud sect, and Patriarch Bing was his master, so there was no problem in him speaking up at this point either.

"I was about to speak about that." Patriarch Bing said as he glared at Wang Xiong to shut up.

Wang Xiong quickly understood his gesture and apologized, "pardon me, I spoke too soon…"

Patriarch Bing looked back at Pei Jun and Tian Xiaoge and continued.

"As I was saying… Tian Xiaoge And Pei Jun will be chief disciples as well as High elders. They will be holding both posts temporarily." Patriarch Bing stated.

"Huh?" all the elders were confused by these decisions.

They would understand if they made the two of them into core disciples as well as high elders. This was something that was already being done with some of the elders that were currently present in the hall. They were just core disciples a year ago.

"Why is this patriarch? I'd understand them being core disciples… but chief disciples?" the elders questioned.