245 Calculative

'As expected, not only can't I read his current elemental stage nor his weapon cultivation tier, but his background seems to be extraordinary indeed!'

"Since your master is so carefree then he must not have told you about the details of the joint meeting either, did he"

"Indeed, sect master white is so perceptive!"

"Then allow me to explain it to you on behalf of your esteemed master…"

`~~`~~`~~`

'This is indeed quite useful…'

The fake identity that I made up from a few random novels I read actually proved its benefits right away, thanks to that I managed to get a general gist of what is expected to happen in the joint meeting.

The joint meeting which was accessible for sect members first before the recruitees obviously doubled as a way for sects to show off...

While there were quite a bit of side events, the main event was some sort of a tournament as expected…

The tournament was an open one as it didn't only accept the recruitees alone, any apprentices that didn't pass the age of 25 were eligible for participating, it was meant to be a way for the recruitees to display their abilities so that the convoys of the various sects may recruit them, which of course meant that the sect members wouldn't participate in the early stages, or else they might end up shadowing a budding talent or traumatizing possible diamonds in the rough.

The showing off part started in the later stages where the recruitees' cream of the crop battled the sect members which would normally turn into a pure competition between sect members due to the recruitees' lack of experience and nurturing…

Apparently, the winning prize was very tempting for most sect members who would fight with all they had to bring back a proud win to their sects, as in actuality, every sect provided its own apprentice's reward.

The first place taker would get to have his possible 'wish' granted by his sect master, the second and third place would get to ask for their wish as well but from their deputy sect master and so on…

Of course, in the rare case that one of the recruitees managed to get into the top 10, he would get the choice to join any sect within the meeting and get his corresponding reward once from the sect he chooses, which was naturally more of a win to the sect that the ranker chose.

In the end, while it seemed to be called a 'Recruitment Tournament' with 'Recruitment' as its main purpose, it sounded more like some sort of a 'Show-Off Battle Royale'...

With me receiving all these info for free, I could confidently say that being too calculative wasn't exactly beneficial all the time… at least not to old white...

It wasn't as harmful either though, and it was all the better for me, at least I avoided a fight against a whole sect who doesn't know how to put away their greed, wishing to deprive me of Light, so it could be still counted as a loss limiting benefit since even if I couldn't fight the whole sect, it wouldn't have been hard for me to incur a good amount of damage to their foundation…

As the journey continued, old white continued lightly chatting with me, giving me all kinds of free information that was actually worth of me to seek this travel with them for…

For example, after a few hidden pieces, I was able to conclude how the recruitees manage to join the meeting while not being a sect member.

It turned out that every small influence under a sect like a city or a town would receive a recommendation plaque that they would either give to their city's talented or make a minor tournament to decide who gets to go…

This simple method ensured that there would always be a fresh supply of possible talents to renew the sects' blood.

This also worked as another chance to show his 'goodwill' by giving me a recommendation plaque that I lacked…

'I guess that's better than going in half-blind with only a location to go two…'

All the while, as old white chatted or explained certain points he was extremely tactical of how he behaved, he wasn't insulting at all, neither did he try to recruit me to his sect as the first one to 'discover' me, he also maintained the demeanor of a sect master as he didn't lower himself to bootlick me or my all-powerful 'master'...

All in all, it seemed like he was just keen on building 'friendship' and goodwill between me and the sect, so that he may use it later at the meeting and…

'He wants to show-off his resourcefulness…'

Imagine having the 'expected' top prodigy from the recruitees that participated  in the 'Recruitment Tournament' chose your sect out of all the others without much thinking due to simple acts of goodwill such as supplying slightly useful information.

I could somewhat imagine the smug smile he would have on his face if that happened…

'Too bad that might not happen…'

I still planned to keep my options open, after all, unlike the village chief who was helping me out of kindness and repayment, this 'senior White' did have ulterior motives, so I didn't feel bad gaining the benefits while not doing something much bigger in return…

`~~`~~`~~`

Knock. Knock.

"Sect Master, we have almost reached our destination!"

It was merely 13 hours after I joined the convoy, yet it seemed like we had already reached the joint meeting's location as the voice of the guy who invited me to join the convoy resounded from outside the carriage…

Looking through the carriage's window, I realized that we were about to go through some sort of an inland strait, it didn't seem like much but once we almost passed through it…

'Looks like they have decided to use the same place every year, unlike what they did back when the village chief was a sect master…'

The round plain that was surrounded by mountains from all borders didn't look like a natural plain at all as it was already turned into some sort of a bustling city.

With various fixed buildings and a gate at its first passing, it seemed like they must have found this place pleasing to use and thus turned it into its current state instead of housing it at a different sect each year…

The carriage stopped a few meters before the gate as…

"Alright then young Ian, since we already reached our destination, would you like to accompany us to our lodging or…"

It did indeed seem that every sect had his own compartment that they would stay in during the annual joint meeting's period…

"Then, I won't burden senior White any longer…"

"So be it then, you already have the plaque so you shouldn't find any problems with entering, I will see you soon…"

I didn't want to completely associate myself with the 'White Spear Sect' in case that might backfire on me...

"Thanks for the ride."

As I announced my final words, I finally stepped out of the carriage as it passed through the gate without any troubles a few seconds later as I also approached the gate...