Chapter 30 – Life 58, Age 17, Martial Disciple Peak
The outer sect disciple exam took place a few days later, but I didn't attend. There was no point.
I was waiting.
A full six days after the exam, I was finally contacted. This suggested a level of secrecy and paranoia that I hadn't expected, but it wasn't overly surprising. By silently eliminating me from the outer sect exam, the deacon, or his elder, hid me from the other factions.
As I was leaving my apartment to study the fallout from the exam, an elderly-looking man wearing the pale blue robes of a servant disciple approached me. I didn't recognize him, but that didn't mean too much. There were still many deacons I had never seen before. I didn't even know the names of most of the servant disciples, let alone their faces. I could only hope that I had been successful in attracting the attention of an unaligned sect elder.
He led me to one of the buildings at the entrance to my apartment block. While the building was in a conspicuous location, its facade was completely nondescript. It looked like every other building on the block. The only giveaway that it was a place of importance was a small group of disciples loitering nearby. As we approached, they gave us a brief, intense glare before turning back to their private conversation.
After entering, we walked toward the stairs, but before we reached them, we were stopped by a man in the unadorned robes of a deacon.
"Disciple?" His question was short and simple, forcing my guide to interpret his meaning.
My guide cupped his fists in a martial salute. "Deacon, I have brought another nominal disciple to see Elder Mu."
The deacon raised an eyebrow at this. "Oh? Is he the last one?"
"No, deacon, the elder has indicated that there are a few more he wishes to meet with."
"Very well, but ask the elder to please finish his business soon. These meetings are becoming disruptive."
Without waiting for a response, the deacon turned around and disappeared into a side room.
My guide smiled at me and motioned toward the stairs. "This way."
We exited the stairway on the second floor, and my guide knocked on the first door on the left. He didn't wait for a response before opening it and ushering me inside.
At this point, I wasn't surprised to see that this was not, in fact, an apartment. Instead, it was set up as a temporary office. The room was rather spartan in décor, with only a few mostly empty bookshelves lining the walls. The focus of the room was a large wooden desk with several documents piled atop it.
Behind the desk sat a large, wide man. He wasn't fat, he was just big. I would have placed his age in the forties if he were a mortal, but if he was a Grandmaster with a lifespan of 300 years? He was maybe 150 years old? His robes were of the same cut and color as the elder I had seen during the alchemy portion of the entrance exam, but the embroidered bands around the cuffs and collar were solid gold. They lacked the snake motif.
He pointed to a chair in front of his desk and spoke in a commanding voice. "Sit."
After I did so, he spent a long minute looking me over.
Then, he took out a pill bottle and set it on the desk between us.
"A Perfect Qi Purification Pill for earth qi. You've got my attention. What do you want?"
I cupped my hands to the man. "Hello, I am Su Fang. May I ask, are you Elder Mu?"
The man only nodded. I expected he was since the guide had said so downstairs, but it was polite to ask.
"Elder Mu, I wish to join the outer sect, and a mutual acquaintance has suggested that I seek you out." I took out WuJing's letter and passed it to him while holding it with both hands. "I was not told what this letter says, but I was given to believe that it will explain the situation in more detail."
He opened it and read it without comment. Once he was finished, he set it down and looked back at me.
"So, what do you want?"
"I need a master. I need to learn more about alchemy. I need to improve my cultivation. I need to learn more about the outside world. Chen WuJing suggested that you would be a good fit for my needs. I want to see if he was right."
I avoided directly stating that I wanted to become his disciple. That wouldn't have been proper, and besides, I wasn't entirely sold on that notion yet. Better to leave an out for myself than commit too quickly.
Elder Mu tapped his fingers on the letter while looking at me. He was deciding my fate, but he was also trying to understand how I might fit into his larger plans.
"I trust Manager Chen's opinion. Chen has a powerful blessing that has helped him significantly over the years. While he has only introduced me to a small number of people, and things haven't always worked out between them and me, they have all been people worth knowing."
After a pause, he continued. "You, however, are different. Chen spoke very strongly about how I should treat you." He pointed at the pill bottle. "This can explain some of it, but even if you have great potential as an alchemist, potential is far from a guarantee that you will be able to assist me."
He gave me a sharp look. "You have secrets. As I see it, there are only three possibilities. Chen is mistaken about you, you are from a powerful clan outside the Wastes, or your blessing is extraordinarily potent. I don't know which option is true, and it wouldn't make any difference to me which one it is. In all three cases, my response is the same."
He tapped on WuJing's letter slowly.
"First, Manager Chen says he told you of our goal to ascend and become true Martial Lords."
I nodded.
"I will be clear. That is my only priority." Elder Mu's voice turned cold. "Nothing in this entire sect, in all the Wastes, interests me unless it helps me reach that goal. If Chen is right, and you are able to assist me with this, I will owe you a favor. If you hinder me, I will kill you. It's that simple."
I nodded again. This is what I expected. This world wasn't kind to obstructions.
"You are looking for a master. Do you understand what that means? A master-disciple relationship is of utmost importance. The master provides significant training and resources. In turn, the disciple competes to win glory and resources for their master. If I train you well and send you to the Flowing Mountain Sect, the Twin Mountains Sect will be rewarded by them, and I will be rewarded by the Twin Mountains Sect. If you do exceptionally well, I may even be recruited by the Flowing Mountain. Beyond that, any future glory you achieve will also belong to me, at least in part."
His eyes scanned me closely, looking me up and down.
"If Manager Chen is correct, I am not qualified to be your master. If he is wrong, then I do not wish to be your master. Either way, the result is the same. I will not be your master. Instead, I will merely be your teacher."
At the word 'teacher,' I winced. I had already had one teacher. Still, this situation was different.
"I will provide you with access to knowledge and resources. The faster and stronger you grow, the more help you will be to me. To pay for this, you will concoct pills for me." He gestured to the pill bottle again. "This suggests that your skill in alchemy is impressive, at least with Rank 1 pills. That is good for now, but their value is limited. I will require a large number of Rank 2 pills from you, though Rank 3 would be even better."
Elder Mu's voice, while still cool, took on a hint of bitterness.
"While I am a Grandmaster Alchemist, my personal skills in the subject are lacking. That is why I am stuck here. If you want any hope of joining a major power outside the Wastes, Grandmaster Alchemist is the minimum requirement. To pull me up with you, you will need to be an exceptional one. I will give you a chance, but make no mistake, you are not my only path forward."
We locked eyes. We understood each other. He helped me now, and I would help him later. Even if I couldn't do anything for him in this life, if he remained true, then I would repay my debt to him. They say a teacher for a day is a father for a lifetime. For me, if someone truly helped me, a single lifetime would be insufficient.
"Very well. To proceed, I need to know everything you are willing to tell me about yourself. Every cultivator has their secrets, and you are entitled to yours, but hiding information will limit what assistance I can provide."
I thought through the situation and nodded. "I understand. I will tell you what I can."
"What is your affinity?"
"I have low eight-star affinities with all five basic elements."
The elder frowned slightly.
"That is unfortunate. Most powers in the outside world will not look at you without at least one seven-star affinity. Still, we can work with it. I might be able to help you raise your fire affinity, but that will depend on you. What is your blessing?"
"It's complicated… It has given me a strong ability in alchemy, at least in Rank 1. My soul was significantly strengthened, my qi control is excellent, and I have gained a minor understanding of how medicinal herbs can be combined. Even without a pill recipe, I can anticipate the general effect of a pill produced from a combination of ingredients. However, I have only experimented with Rank 1 pills so far."
"So, close to the limit of a Disciple Alchemist? Have you acquired a spirit fire?"
I hesitated, not sure how truthful I should be here, but I didn't have any other choice. If I wanted to learn, I would have to tell him about it.
"I have a seed of the Cold Mountain Fire in my soul, but I don't know how to use it."
Elder Mu's face twitched, finally showing a reaction, but I couldn't tell what it meant. "And how did you acquire such a thing?"
"It was also related to my blessing."
His eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn't press.
"Anything else?"
"My cultivation technique. I believe it is a modified version of the Peak-Yellow technique taught to nominal disciples of this sect."
"Also part of your blessing?"
"Yes."
I could tell that he was starting to doubt my story at this point. I doubted anyone else had received such a complex blessing. In any case, I was only telling him the truth.
"Very well, you seemed prepared to become a member of this sect. You have a cultivation technique and fire seed that will let you blend in perfectly. What do you want from me?"
The elder folded his hands in front of himself and waited for my demands.
"First, I need cultivation techniques. I only have a Rank 1 technique right now. I need access to high-Rank techniques. If they were at the Profound level, it would be even better."
Elder Mu snorted at this. "What else?"
"Help with alchemy. I have reached the limit of what I can learn on my own. I don't know how to progress further with Rank 1 pills, and I have neither the herbs nor the knowledge necessary to make Rank 2 pills. Also, while I have a fire seed, I don't know how to use it."
"What else?"
"Knowledge of the world outside the Wastes. I am leaving this place sooner or later. With a major power or not. I need to know more about what's out there."
"What else?"
"That's all."
"Fine." Elder Mu took out a scroll and held it up for me to see. "This is the Peak-Yellow Rank 2 technique. I don't know how your Rank 1 technique has been modified, but it should still be compatible enough to work with it. As for Profound-Rank techniques, that would be a waste of time. Cultivating a Profound Rank 2 technique will provide you no benefit since you cultivated a Yellow-Rank technique as a Martial Disciple."
He placed the scroll on the desk and slid it toward me.
"Regarding alchemy. After this meeting, you will be returned to live as just another nominal disciple. Nominal disciples cannot access Rank 2 herbs, and Martial Disciples cannot be promoted to the outer sect. Focus on cultivating, raise your cultivation base to Martial Master 1, but go no further than that. Once you have done so, you will take the exam to join the outer sect once more."
He resumed tapping his desk.
"As for information about places outside of the Wastes, don't worry about it for now. Once you enter the outer sect, more information will become available. I will arrange for a deacon to take care of all your needs in the sect. This should avoid the problem of someone else noticing your abilities and trying to poach you."
He adjusted himself in his chair and straightened his back.
"Finally, refer to me only as Elder Mu. Since you came here, people will guess at our relationship, but I have met with many people this week. No one should ask about this meeting, but if they do, you can decide what lies you want to tell them."
With that Elder Mu signaled an end to our discussion, and I walked away with a Peak-Yellow Rank 2 technique and hope for future cooperation.