"Brother Chu Feng, you..." Seeing Chu Feng actually chase after him, Li Xiang was completely taken aback.
He simply couldn't make sense of it. After the elders of the Copper Grove and the Iron Grove had personally extended invitations to Chu Feng — and offered such generous terms — he still chose to join the Waste Grove. It defied all logic.
Setting aside the fact that the Waste Grove's strength was far below that of the Iron Grove and the Copper Grove, the Waste Grove had absolutely nothing to offer Chu Feng. Compared to the other two groves, it held not a single advantage.
"Senior Brother Li Xiang, don't you want me to join the Waste Grove as a Nominal Disciple?" Chu Feng asked with a grin.
"I do, of course I do!" Despite his bewilderment, Li Xiang nodded rapidly, terrified of letting such a fine prospect slip through his fingers.
"Then write my name on the Waste Grove's Nominal Disciple registry." Chu Feng pointed to the scroll in Li Xiang's hand. Once his name was penned in, he would officially become a Nominal Disciple of the Waste Grove.
"Absolutely! I'll write it right now!" Without a moment's hesitation, Li Xiang picked up the brush to write.
"Stop!" But at that very instant, the Copper Grove's elder let out a sharp shout. He strode forward to Chu Feng once more, earnestly beseeching him:
"Young friend Chu Feng, the Waste Grove is where trash goes. Even the elders there are trash. They can't give you a thing. Going there would be nothing short of destroying your own future!"
"Indeed, young friend Chu Feng, you should think this through carefully. Don't squander your potential." The other elders swarmed in as well, none willing to let a genius like Chu Feng slip away, each pleading with all the earnestness they could muster.
"Heh... Don't trouble yourselves on my account." But to their pleas, Chu Feng merely smiled faintly — too indifferent to even waste words on them.
With that, he snatched the scroll and brush right out of Li Xiang's hand and wrote his own name on it.
The sight left everyone present gaping in disbelief. They never imagined Chu Feng would be so resolute about joining the Waste Grove — a place even the dregs of society didn't want to set foot in.
"Senior Brother Li Xiang, let's go."
But Chu Feng couldn't have cared less about their reactions. He simply turned to Li Xiang with a smile.
"Uh... right..." Li Xiang was stunned as well, but at Chu Feng's words he finally snapped out of it and turned to lead the way.
And so, Chu Feng followed Li Xiang away from there toward the Waste Bamboo Grove, leaving behind only a crowd of bewildered disciples and grim-faced elders.
With Li Xiang guiding him, Chu Feng finally caught a glimpse of the Waste Bamboo Grove — the place so wretched that even trash looked down on it.
It was actually quite vast, an expansive stretch of land. But the scenery was truly dismal. There was none of the miraculous beauty of the Martial Holy Land, and certainly none of the spectacular vistas of the Falling Leaves Bamboo Grove.
The bamboo in the Falling Leaves Bamboo Grove shimmered with radiance and soared high enough to touch the sky. But the bamboo in the Waste Bamboo Grove was neither thick nor distinctive — in fact, it was withered and yellow throughout, as though desperately lacking in nourishment and on the verge of withering to death.
In truth, this was indeed a forsaken wasteland. Compared to the beautiful bamboo groves in the distance, this place was practically ruins — utterly wretched.
There was no pleasing natural scenery to be found, and even the buildings were in a state of disrepair, dilapidated beyond measure.
As they walked, Chu Feng didn't spot a single other person. It was as though on this barren stretch of land, only he and Li Xiang existed.
"Senior Brother Li Xiang, is it really just the two of us in the Waste Grove?" Chu Feng asked curiously.
"Of course not. Our Waste Grove may be small, but we do have several dozen brothers — seniors and juniors alike," Li Xiang replied with a smile.
"Several dozen?" Chu Feng had already picked up on something.
"Several dozen. You'll see in a moment." Li Xiang nodded with a grin.
After that, Chu Feng asked no more questions. It wasn't until they reached an ancient palace and Li Xiang sent out a signal that the Waste Grove's disciples began appearing before him, one after another.
Apart from Li Xiang, there were fifty-nine in total. Their ages ranged from teenagers to elders well over a hundred.
There were cripples, mutes, and blind men — not a single one of them was normal. To put it plainly, if they weren't missing an arm, they were missing a leg. Every last one of them was disabled.
As for their cultivation, that was equally appalling. Most of them were at the Martial Lord Realm, with the weakest still lingering at the Xuan Wu Realm.
Such cultivation levels were nothing in the Eastern Sea Region. On the Nine Provinces Continent, they might even pass for experts.
But in the Martial Holy Land, within a major power like the Falling Leaves Bamboo Grove — it was virtually unthinkable.
Because this was simply far too weak. There was no foothold to be had, period.
Moreover, as Li Xiang explained, these people constituted the entirety of the Waste Bamboo Grove. They were all disciples — there were no elders. The sole elder was the one who ran the Waste Grove: Hong Qiang.
Now, at last, Chu Feng understood why the Waste Grove was looked down upon even by the dregs. Because this place really was that pathetic.
"I wonder where Elder Hong Qiang might be?"