The Sect Leader System-Chapter 307: Thunder...

Jin LiJuan stood in a small clearing, her legs spread apart and knees bent. Her sword flashed. Sunlight reflected off the shiny blade, temporarily blinding the goliath frog, and she struck. Her weapon slid into its chest, finding its heart. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

“Nice job,” her mentor, Pan Jiang, said. “You’re improving.”

True. She was.

In the two weeks since the expedition began, Her sword strokes had become surer and more efficient. She balanced in her stance in a way that Senior Brother Pan Jiang, deemed “acceptable.” Best of all, rank three beasts barely challenged her any longer.

The problem was that she was a Foundation Establishment realm cultivator. She should be fighting rank four beasts, and those were still too tough for her to handle without Ganzou’s help.

“Even if we stay out here another month, I won’t be ready for the tournament, and you know it,” she said. “I’m getting better but too slowly.”

Pan Jiang shrugged. “You will or you won’t qualify. The important thing is that you’re improving.”

Jin LiJuan sighed. He was right in a way. It was just that she wanted so badly to contribute by bringing honor to the sect. She really had no right to complain, though. Her path to advancement was so much easier than any of her peers.

“You know that your rate of learning techniques isn’t your fault, right? Considering how destroyed your channels are, what you’ve accomplished is amazing. You should be proud of yourself.”

And she was to a degree. She’d worked hard. Her bond with Ganzou grew stronger by the day, and she no longer hated him. Not even disliked him, really. In fact, if he were to no longer be in her life, she was sure she’d … regret him not being there.

The problem was that all her techniques required moving qi around inside her body, and her internal pathways were barely functional. Where the twins had stone-paved paths wide enough for caravans to ride side by side, hers was a small, winding game trail with overgrown brush crowding it from all directions.

She sighed again.

“Don’t forget that, since Ganzou is bonded, he can fight with you,” Pan Jiang said. “There have been some beast masters that did well in the past.”

“Our division is the low Foundation Establishment. They’ll be cultivators there as powerful as Senior Brother and Senior Sister. Do you really think that, even working as a team, Ganzou and I could stand against either of them?”

“Don’t give up before you start. As your Master says, anything can happen.”

Almost as if the line had been scripted, a loud rustling sounded from the direction Ganzou was patrolling. She cast out her spiritual sense and detected her wolf bounding back at high speed. Frantically, she tried to detect what had him so alarmed, but there was nothing around other than a smattering of low ranked beasts.

At ground level, anyway. Some instinct told her to direct her sense upward.

A strong presence flew directly toward her.

Jin LiJuan swallowed hard. “Get ready, Senior Brother. A high realm beast is incoming. I think it’s a rank six.”

She just hoped the Ganzou reached her first because she and Pan Jiang were no match for such an opponent. Even with the wolf added, they still had little chance to do any more than hold it off. What was it doing in a zone full of rank twos and threes?

Seconds later, it came into view hundreds of feet above them, a large bird with iridescent feathers.

Ganzou was still at least a minute away. The fight would be long over by then.

“Gratitude for all your teachings, Senior Brother,” Jin LiJuan said. “Please run while I hold it back. It might not pursue you.”

He laughed. “Not a chance, little one. Not a chance.”

She didn’t know what frustrated her more—the fact that he referred to her in such a ridiculous manner or that he refused to let her, the higher realmed cultivator, save him. The one thing she wanted most was to protect others, and facing the end of her life, she couldn’t even do that for one person.

“Jin LiJuan,” he called. “Don’t forget your ring.”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Oh. The contingency ring. Right.

Still, she didn’t want Master to have to save her again. She had to at least try to take care of it.

The bird swooped toward her as she held her blade at the ready. Her only chance was a powerful, quick strike. Two dozen feet. Fifteen. Ten.

Instead of continuing its attack, it did the strangest thing. It stopped. Then, it spoke.

“Greetings Esteemed Cultivators, are you members of the Rising Tide Sect?”

Jin LiJuan stared at it speechless. The beast was even more intelligent than Ganzou, and it addressed her. Not having any idea what to do, she turned to Pan Jiang.

He shrugged as if to say, “Sorry, I’m not a member of your sect.”

Great. Now he left it up to her.

“Gr-greetings Esteemed, uh, Bird. This lowly one is called Jin LiJuan, and yes, I am a member of the Rising Tide Sect.”

“Excellent,” the bird said. “May I land?”

It stared pointedly at her and Pan Jiang’s swords. Heat rose to her face, and she hastily sheathed her blade. Senior Brother did the same.

“Of course, Esteemed Bird.”

A smooth talking diplomat she was not. Would that Kang Lin were here instead. Or Zou Tian. Or either of the twins. Anyone, really, besides her.

Jin LiJuan recalled Master mentioning something about a lord of the mountain, but surely the bird was not that. Though more powerful than her, it would be nothing to Master.

Still, maybe it represented the lord? The last thing she wanted to do was cause trouble for Master by somehow insulting the creature.

One of the other disciples would probably have been smart enough, experienced enough, to trick the bird into revealing who or what it was—if they didn’t just somehow know right from the start. The only thing she could think of was simply to ask.

“Esteemed Bird, may this lowly one ask who, or what, you are?”

The creature had landed by that point, and standing on the ground, it towered over her, at least eight feet tall. It guffawed at her question, a great big belly laugh. “I am Leizhenzi, the son of thunder.” It—he?—laughed again. “Well, more like the great, great, great, and on and on and on, grandson of thunder.”

“Esteemed Thunderbird,” Pan Jiang said finally, “you speak of the Lord of the Eternal Celestial Peak?”

Leizhenzi seemed pleased by the question, which was probably a better result than amused. “Yes! My how ever many greats grandfather.”

Senior Brother cupped his hands. “Pan Jiang of the Poison Claw Sect greets the mighty Esteemed Thunderbird.”

Oh. Right. Good job. He was so much more cut out for diplomacy than she was.

She cupped her hands as well. “Jin LiJuan of the Rising Tide Sect greets the mighty Esteemed Thunderbird.”

Again, the beast seemed pleased with their actions.

“May this lowly one ask Leizhenzi’s purpose in approaching us?” Pan Jiang said.

“I want to go to the tournament.”

“The tournament?” Senior Brother said. “In Sixth Flawless Flowing City? The Quinquennial Tournament?”

“Yes. Good. You know of it.”

Before the beast’s words had finished sounding, Ganzou burst into the clearing, placing himself between Jin LiJuan and the threat, Leizhenzi.

“No, Ganzou!” Jin LiJuan shouted. “Get back!”

He was usually really good about obeying orders, but either the excitement of the run or the presence of the menacing rank six had him too frantic.

Which made sense. Even though he was as strong as any of the sect members save the twins and weighed a good hundred and a half pounds, he was still only a bit over ten weeks old. Comparatively, he was even younger than her.

Ganzou snarled at the bird and darted forward, teeth bared. Before he could bite Leizhenzi’s leg, however, a mighty thunderclap boomed.

Jin LiJuan was stunned. Literally. It was several seconds before she could think, not even to worry about Ganzou’s fate. When her senses eventually returned, the first thing she realized was that she couldn’t hear anything. The second was that her ears hurt. And the third was that Ganzou was just as stunned as she was and only just recovering as well, trying to rise from where he’d been flattened to the ground. A thin trail of blood ran out of his ears.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Pan Jiang waving to attract her attention. In an exaggerated fashion, he picked something from one of the inner pockets of his robe and held it above his open mouth.

Ah. A Minor Healing Pill. Good idea.

She drew one from her ring and quickly swallowed it. Seconds later, her ears stopped hurting, and her hearing was restored.

Ganzou whimpered. It was the most pathetic and heartbreaking sound she’d ever heard. She rushed to him and crouched down to feed him a pill.

“It’s okay, buddy. You’ll be fine. Just swallow.”

It occurred to her that, one, he’d never used a healing pill. And, two, he couldn’t hear her. He must have trusted her, though, because after a moment, he licked it from her hand and downed it. Seconds later, he, too, had recovered.

“Ganzou, do not attack again. Leizhenzi is not our enemy.” She looked up at the big bird. “You aren’t our enemy, are you?”

It hadn’t seemed that way from the start, but who knew how it would react to one of their party attacking it.

“Of course not! Why would I consider my future bonded an enemy?”

Future. Bonded.

The words individually made sense. Future. A time yet to occur. Bonded. Like she and Ganzou. But put together in context, they confused her greatly.

“What?” she said.

“I want you to bond me.”

“Me? To bond you?” She still was having a lot of trouble figuring out what was happening.

“Just temporarily,” Leizhenzi said. “For the tournament.”

Pan Liang barked out a laugh. “I was wondering how you planned on seeing it. A great beast traveling even as part of an entourage would be in great danger. A great beast bonded to a cultivator, however, would have complete freedom to enjoy the festivities. Wonderful!”

“I… I… can’t!” Jin LiJuan cried. “Not another one!”

“This lowly one will form a temporary bond with you, Esteemed Thunderbird,” Pan Jiang said.

“I don’t want to spectate. I want to fight. And my instincts tell me that this one can form a perfect bond.” Leizhenzi pointed a wingtip at Jin LiJuan. “Between her, me, the mutt, and a friend of mine, we’ll be undefeatable!”

Jin LiJuan felt like she was about to throw up. She’d gotten used to Ganzou. But another beast. And a third. She couldn’t. She simply couldn’t.

Could she?