Chapter 173: Meeting the Elder
The new concerns that have come up occupy my mind.
The world keeps turning, though.
The cultivator is still explaining different things that are going on, mostly in the realm of explaining the different tests that will come up and what they mean for everyone.
One thing he says catches my attention.
Keep in mind that once you complete the spirit root test, you start off immediately as that rank. As of that moment, make sure to act befitting your rank in our sect. Once all the testing is complete and your true rank is finalized, we will then send you to your corresponding housing locations. Soon after, you will receive instructions on what will come next for you.
Wait a second. There has to be a way for people to progress in this organization. A way for someone to turn from an outer court member to an inner court one.
If I assume that immediately after all the testing is done, they are going to send me to my doom then I need to act before then.
I need to find a way to get into the inner court before that transition happens!
Its easy to think that, but it means is that I will need to use my scan to review all the sects procedures and old case scenarios. The sect has many precedents in place that allow people to succeed and gain benefits, as long as they or their mentors have knowledge of it.
The only trouble is that many of these hide in antiquity or purposely obscured. They want you to work for it, or know someone that can utilize this. The reason they do it like this is to reward the most knowledgeable people, or the best connected. Unfortunately, this usually means only the richest in powerful people get access to this type of knowledge.
With this in mind, I immediately begin my scan. It becomes immediately apparent that I will need to spend the night to slowly go over this to not overload myself.
In the interim, I follow along with the rest of the group, listening to the cultivator in gaining a little more knowledge on how the test would go if they werent rigged for me.
He also mentions that the next group will come in after all of our testing is done. It appears they stagger this, so there is a low chance of interference from different groups. From what I can tell, this is when Lin and Ai will come in. They will get to see the ultimate conclusion and assignment of ranks.
I already had confirmed that they will be fine going up the stairs, with their vastly improved bodies. They should be above the level of the lowest body cultivator which is still the level of a professional level athlete on Earth.
By the end of the talk, everyone is now heading down into the temporary housing to rest for the night.Yôur favorite stories at novelhall.com
This gives me the perfect opportunity to reassure and organize my personal group, as many of them will probably not even make it to sect servant status.
Of course, if youre not a sect servant, then normally you have to leave the premises of the sect, once all the testing is done. Since they could make it this far, theyd normally get offers from other groups and smaller sects in the outer city.
The night passes peacefully, nonetheless.
I wake to the sound of quite a few people moving around, getting prepared to go to the latest test. I keep my eyes closed but use my awareness to observe the situation.
Mei Lin and everyone else in the personal group are already talking and ready. Some people from the other groups I honestly wondered why none of them woke me up. The hero group fills me in.
Ah. I suppose from their perspective, Ive been running around every single night without sleep to keep making the concoction.
It looks like some peoples shining status has gone up from seeing me sleeping, thinking that I, too, am human.
They are right but also very wrong.
I formally wake up to also start getting prepared and once Im done, all the groups follow me over to the outer court area. It appears because of all the movements Ive made; theyve gotten somewhat used to staying updated about what I might do next.
There are many more cultivator spiritual senses washing over the area, watching for any suspicious activity. This gradually disappears until there is only one left.
A cultivator gathers us grouped together and leads us to the outer court training areas. This is where many of the outer court members will normally practice their techniques and forms.
As we approach the main training area for the outer court members, the sight of one person stops me dead in my tracks. Someone, I had every reason to believe would be in the sect, but didnt think would meet so soon.
Its the first person I saw in this world.
The woman who was floating on a sword back in Monchon City. Specifically, the same woman I openly called an old lady.
Sure enough, her eyes turn over to my position and almost immediately frowns, showing she did in fact hear me that day.
And based on her status and the way others are treating her shes going to be the elder overseeing testing for our spirit roots.
This may make my plan a little less likely to succeed.
I cant seem to catch a break. Even when Ive made it to the sect!