Chapter 39: Special Treatment!

Chapter 39: Special Treatment! The Spirit Mountain Sect had a large history encompassing the last 10 thousand years, and it had brought in and given birth to many talents that had shaped the current eastern land the mortals were living on. Thus, its number of disciples and elders was large. The outer sect disciples were in the hundreds, and the inner sect ones were close to that too. Its disciples, however, after recruiting thousands every dozen years, couldn’t be counted easily. And aside from those who unfortunately met their ends, every disciple without fail succeeded in becoming someone great, depending on the scale. Some left the sect to retire and took over entire cities or kingdoms to rule, and some went to explore the world or discover their own self. Some were sent on missions by the sect itself and had highly important and confidential tasks to fulfill. And the most important of all held the fate of the entire land in their hands. But this was just the surface, as the eastern land was like an onion, with many layers beneath layers. This meant that many times, people’s interests met one another’s, and that’s when conflicts rose, and thus many solutions to these conflicts were made. And in cases like this, when a talent appears and every single elder wants a hand on him, there are rules. Simple rules, really. The disciple needs to get anything mandatory out of the way, like the secret realm expedition and their first mission. Then they need to become an inner disciple. And lastly, they’ll have the full freedom to choose whoever they want. Now this usually isn’t a problem, because not all elders could be interested in a disciple; in most cases, it was the disciple who did the best in their effort to catch the attention of an elder. And elders were very choosy when it came to disciples, as it meant they had to waste precious treasures on someone else, which they could use for their own benefits, and though they had riches, they had to be smart with them. The problem was in cases when a disciple catches the eye of all elders. Like Ken’s case. For him, it isn’t much of a problem, as he knows the internal system of the sect and could make the best choice when it comes to it. But for outer sect elders, even some inner sect elders, they’ll have a harsh time during the time period when Ken’s talent is discovered and when he finally gets every requirement done. -------- On one of the outer sect elder mountains. The massive landmass had an entire forest in its territory, and deep within it, a disciple was planting some precious seeds in a treasure farm. And just as they smiled for getting their job done well and raised their eyes to the sky, they caught the departing figure of their master. "Beloved disciple, this master of yours has urgent matters to attend to. Keep an eye out on the outer sect disciple named Ken, and make sure you report to me all that relates to him... to the dot." This message was transmitted to the disciple the second they caught the figure of their master. The disciple remained silent for a whole minute, then spoke to himself. "But master... you already told me to watch over the farm." Alas, such words couldn’t reach his master, and now he has to find a way to do both things... It’s hard being introverted. ----- A similar situation happened across the entire sect, and just like that, Ken’s first achievement was known by the entire sect. And it had achieved the desired effect. The outer sect disciples only knew him as the S-rank guy, but those who mattered would go to all ends to make sure they got their hands on him. And by the time he would choose one of them as his master, who knows how much of his plan he would have gotten done with by then? And while all of this happened, the protagonist of the show was heading towards the Mountain Scrolls Pagoda. This was his 3rd time here, and yet this grandiose structure never failed to awe him inside. He wondered if the sect had more of these things to show beyond the fog, and while he knew they did, he couldn’t yet imagine. Seeing something and imagining it were vastly different. Stepping inside, Ken met up with the very elder who had warned him the first time. "It’s you, young man." The elder nodded towards him, but Ken knew that he wouldn’t be here for nothing. "Greetings to the elder." Ken bowed down ever so slightly in respect, and the elder acknowledged him. "I would say I’m surprised you have yet to succumb to the technique you had first taken, but if I may inquire... have you mastered it?" The elder asked, and Ken, unsurprised, didn’t immediately answer. While he could fool a normal disciple, an elder’s vision should be able to see through him. However, he wasn’t going to say that much. "Not yet, elder, but I have made significant progress." Ken said, and this answer pleased the elder more than Ken imagined. "I see. For such a hard technique, any progress is good." He said. Ken, however, was thinking about things far more important than the elder’s praise. Were elders truly like this? Or have they developed a special way to treat young, inexperienced disciples? Or was he acting this way just with him? In the end, cultivators, no matter how they perceived the world, were still human, and one tended to be softer towards those they held in high regard. But both this elder and their lecturer, Elder Caster, seemed to be different around disciples than if you gazed at them while they were silent. Even the way this elder treated him the first time was different. The elder then looked at Ken, as if inquiring what he was here for. And Ken took out the pass to the 3rd floor. "A pass to the 3rd floor? The rewards for the highest rating are indeed adequate." The elder nodded. "You may go up; show the disciples stationed there the pass, and they’ll let you in..." The elder said. But Ken didn’t move from his place; The elder was yet to finish talking. "Additionally, you may come seek my guidance if you’re in need of enlightenment." There it was... the special treatment. ------End------