After advancing to Rank 3, ShouLi had as difficult a ti finding a path forward with body cultivation as I had with beast alchemy. Being a tar herself, ShouLi already knew all the information given to by JiaQi, but simply knowing the outline of what she would need to do wasn’t enough to allow her to actually do it. Yes, she knew that she would need to incorporate either qi or karmic energy into her muscles, but how was she supposed to achieve that?
ShouLi, Liang, and NiangBa spent several years working on trying to find a way forward with this research, but eventually, they had to put it to the side. While improving the clan’s understanding of body cultivation was important, there were other projects that needed their attention. ShouLi was still the nominal head of the clan’s leadership council, and while the council’s authority had started to wane in recent years, many of our mbers still looked to her for guidance.
So, ShouLi turned her attention to helping the clan advance further through the Nine Rivers Sect.
Unfortunately, as an Inner Sect Disciple, the actual help she could provide was sowhat limited. As an Inner Sect Disciple, she was forbidden from ruling a kingdom, she wasn’t allowed to lead a group on the path to Heaven City, and her ability to post sect missions was sowhat restricted.
So, if ShouLi wanted to maintain her position as the head of our clan, remaining an Inner Sect Disciple wasn’t going to cut it. She needed a promotion, and that ant that she needed to take the sect’s Exam.
With the amount of ti that ShouLi and the others had put into improving their profession skills and cultivating their souls, I expected that several of them would easily be able to beco Core Disciples. However, I had held them back from retaking the Exam because I was worried about what might happen. With several people having made tangible progress in the path of body cultivation, how would the people in charge of the sect react?
As things stood now, though, I could no longer afford to hold them back. For the mbers of my clan to continue advancing, they first needed to achieve higher positions within the sect. So, even though I had my concerns, I still gave my consent for ShouLi and the others to retake the Exam.
However, as they were leaving, I made a quick purchase.
“System, I want to buy a ntal reversion point for the fourteen body cultivators from my clan who will be taking the sect’s Exam today. Standard practice. When they exit the Exam, revert their minds to how they were upon entering.”
Purchase confird. Cost 4.1 billion credits. 30,655,497,680 credits remaining.
This was the first ti that I had ever bought such ntal reversion points for soone other than myself. Usually, I didn’t see the need for it. But if the sect were going to plant ntal impulses into anyone, it would be my clan’s body cultivators.
Usually, people would exit the Exam only a few hours after entering its portal. So, when ShouLi and the others left in the morning, I expected them to be back no later than mid-afternoon.
When no one returned by nightfall, I started to get worried. However, there was nothing I could do but wait.
An entire day passed. Then, another.
Had sothing gone wrong? Had ShouLi and the others been kidnapped? Was there any way I could save them?
I didn’t know.
The Sect Master was the Sovereign of the Jiu Clan. If he had decided to lock ShouLi and the others away, what could I do to oppose him?
I considered seeking out Emperor Li, but would he help ? Could he?
Finally, on the third day, everyone returned safe and unhard. They didn’t even know that they had been missing.
With everyone’s mories having been erased, it was impossible to know what had taken them so long, but I was pretty sure that I already knew the answer. The sect, or more likely, the Jiu Clan, had been extracting every bit of information they could about body cultivation.
The fact that everyone returned alive and well suggested that their interrogators hadn’t pushed anyone to reveal any secrets protected by Oaths, but that was likely only because none of the information on body cultivation was protected. Our clan had popped up out of nowhere, and I was certain that the Sovereigns would want to know where we had co from, but luckily, they weren’t willing to kill us to find out. At least, not yet.
As for the results of the Exam, those were a bit unexpected.
ShouLi, our clan’s inaugural body cultivator and its public-facing leader, had been awarded the rank of Ungraded Chosen. This confird my suspicion that the sect was primarily searching for information on body cultivation. However, based on everyone else’s results, rely being a body cultivator wasn’t enough to achieve such a lofty status.
Aside from ShouLi, everyone else was given the rank of Grade 3 Inner Sect Disciple. There wasn’t a single Core Disciple in the entire group. My only guess was that since these people were ShouLi’s direct subordinates, they didn’t qualify for anything higher.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on .
With her ascension to Chosen, ShouLi’s focus turned to improving her cultivation base. She was already a Peak Lord, so advancing ant ascending to Martial King.
While ShouLi could have simply bought King-level karmic energy, this would have weakened her standing in the eyes of the sect, and that wouldn’t have been ideal. We wanted the Sovereigns to think that we were playing their gas properly.
So, instead, ShouLi needed to gain control of a kingdom. Not only would this provide her with the karmic energy she needed to ascend, but it would also help her further safeguard our clan.
As a Lord-Steward in Black River, if ShouLi wanted to beco a King-Steward, she would need to beco the Steward of the Black River Kingdom, but for that to happen, Kang would need to vacate it first. There were a few ways to make this happen—the easiest of which was simply to wait until his term expired—but instead, ShouLi opted for a quicker route. She decided to make Kang an Emperor.
After ruling the Black River Kingdom for only eight years, Kang had been able to gather enough contribution points to fund his advancent all the way to Peak King. The only thing standing in his way of going further was the competition for control of the North Empire.
When Yan first reviewed his notes and found the details of what this competition would involve, we were a bit worried, but for whatever reason, the elders changed what was ‘supposed’ to happen. Instead of an open war between all of the northern kingdoms, they decided to have the competition be nothing more than a simple martial arts tournant.
With the help of Yan, ShouLi, and a small group of others from our clan, Kang used overwhelming force to devastate his opponents and clinch the tournant’s championship.
This elevated Kang to Steward of the North Empire, and he was allowed to appoint a successor to fill the vacancy he left behind. While there were others in his retinue who he might have preferred to give this spot to, he made the smart choice and gave it to ShouLi.
After this, ShouLi’s and Yan’s strategy shifted.
The sect had already made it clear that only a limited number of people from our clan would be allowed to beco Core Disciples, so Yan’s idea of completely controlling the North Empire had been dood from the start. Still, he and ShouLi did what they could to put our people in positions of power so that they would both be able to assist each other in tis of need.
This also ant that they were in positions that let them pillage as many resources from the sect as possible.
With Yan and ShouLi working together, I felt no need to worry about the clan’s day-to-day operations.
With everyone around making solid progress, it was finally ti for to advance as well. So, I gathered up a small group of people who were ready for the trek to Earth City, took them back to Dragon Peak, and guided them through the Path of Body.
This path was rather simple, and by fighting as a team, we made quick work of it.
After the final individual challenge, I stepped through a portal and was teleported in front of one of the sect’s elders.
I expected this to be a sowhat informal briefing where he quickly confird that my status as a Core Disciple hadn’t changed and then sent on my way. However, when I arrived, there was an empty chair in front of the elder’s desk, and when I approached, the elder gestured for to sit.
“Disciple Su Fang, congratulations on completing the Path of Body and earning a position in Earth City. This is a feat that only a small fraction of those who join the Nine Rivers Sect are able to accomplish, and you should be proud of what you have achieved.”
The elder’s words were congratulatory, but sothing in his tone made concerned.
Still, there was no reason to be impolite.
I cupped my fists in a salute and gave a slight bow. “Thank you, Elder.”
The elder smiled and bobbed his head a few tis as he thought through what he wanted to say next.
“Disciple Su Fang, I am afraid that there is an issue that we must discuss.” He steepled his hand on his desk and looked at seriously. “When you joined the sect, you were assigned the position of Grade 3 Core Disciple, and your performance since then has been exemplary. You have shown great skill in alchemy, you have completed several difficult missions, and you ruled TongBei City with distinction. Aside from choosing not to rule a kingdom, you have done everything that could have possibly been expected of you.”
I looked at the elder and raised an eyebrow. “However…”
He pursed his lips and dropped his eyes. “However. There is an open question as to whether or not you are truly an independent actor. If you are rely following the orders of a superior, then you do not deserve a position as a Core Disciple. Even if your leader is a Chosen, re subordinates are not allowed to beco Core Disciples. So, I must ask you, do you believe that you are worthy of being a Core Disciple?”
I sat back in my chair and thought through my response.
“Elder, I am not entirely clear on the distinction you are trying to make. What would make an ‘independent actor?’ What would make a ‘re subordinate?’ What qualities would qualify for a position as a Core Disciple?”
The elder sighed and shook his head. “We are not entirely certain ourselves. This situation is… rare. While not entirely unprecedented, by the ti most disciples make it to Earth City, it is usually clear who are the leaders and who are the followers. We shouldn’t even be having this conversation, but your actions over the past several years are those of a simple protector, not those of a leader. So, several elders have begun to question whether you should be allowed to continue on in your current position.”
I tapped my armrest in thought. “My desire is to work on my craft in private. As you are no doubt aware, I am skilled in multiple professions, and my ti is spent mastering those various crafts. I have no desire to rule kingdoms or empires. I have no desire to lead. I wish only to be left alone to pursue the pinnacle of alchemy, formations, and refining. If that makes ill-suited for a position as a Core Disciple, then so be it.”
This statent seed to only increase the elder’s agitation.
However, after a mont of hesitation, he let out a breath and slumped in his seat. “Can you promise that when you journey to Heaven City, you will be your group’s leader? Can you promise that you will not join soone else’s team? Especially not the team of soone from another peak?”
I nodded without even needing to think about it. “Yes.”
“Very well. I will assign you the position of Grade 1 Core Disciple. This demotion will be enough to quell any discontent among the other elders, and since your focus will be on crafting, its impact will be negligible.”
I bowed my head. “Thank you, elder.”
He just let out a wry chuckle. “No need. The Master of the Fire Peak, Huo NuAn, has been advocating strongly on your behalf. I was just sent here to make sure that her decision was correct.”
After waving a hand to update the information on my identity jade, the elder gave a small bow.
“Good luck, disciple.”
Read full story at novel•fire
Reviews
All reviews (0)