Chương 98: The Offer

I turned, but I knew who I would see. Sure enough, Old Man Bu was in the empty hallway, looking the same as he had the last time I saw him: the same wrinkled skin, the same basic clothes of a merchant, and the same slouch that made him appear older than he probably was.

"Senior Bu?" The registration area was about the last place I thought I'd run into the crippled merchant. He looked me up and down with an assessing gaze.

"Seems you used that water essence effectively, young man." There was something about the tone he used that told me he wasn't just making casual conversation.

"I didn't expect to see you here," I admitted, as I tried to figure out what he was doing there. A merchant who had access to parts of the sect's interior, showing up immediately after I'd gotten some attention?

"You being here means that…"

"That I'm more than just a merchant?" He chuckled.

"Yes, though I do enjoy the part; it's so much less stressful than my real duties."

"You're an elder," I breathed, as the realization finally clicked. The restricted resources available to him in his warehouse, his extensive knowledge of cultivation techniques, the way he seemed to know exactly what I needed, it all fit together.

"Yes," he said, waving his hand toward me with a gesture that conveyed both 'follow me' and 'this isn't really a request,' "let's take this somewhere more private." Before I could respond, reality distorted around me as the world compressed. One second, we were in the empty hallway, the next second, we were suddenly standing in what looked to be Old Man Bu's private quarters. The room was… odd. One wall had shelves with bottles of varying sizes filled with fluids ranging from crystal clear to deep red.

Another wall had what appeared to be a large formation diagram, but it looked nothing like any formation diagram I'd ever seen; the lines curled and spiralled around each other in impossible ways, creating patterns that seemed to twist when I wasn't looking directly at them. Did the old man specialize in formations?

The furniture was minimalist but tasteful – a couple of comfortable chairs, a low table which appeared to be constructed from some sort of spirit wood, and a desk piled high with scrolls and stained formation diagrams. Overall, the atmosphere of the room was halfway between a scholar's library and a wine merchant's sampling area.

"Welcome to my quarters," Old Man Bu said, as he began to dig through one of the drawers installed in the walls.

"Now where did I put the…Ah, there it is!" My muscles tightened slightly. What kind of treasure or pill would an elder of the Azure Peak Sect feel compelled to show to an outer disciple? Would it be some test? Some reward? A— Whatever mystical item that was forming in my mind dissipated when he produced a bottle. Yeah, a dark green, unlabelled, and entirely ordinary-looking bottle. However, the way he held it made it seem like he was cradling a baby.

"You're so beautiful," he murmured, tracing the outline of the glass bottle with his finger. Without any warning whatsoever, he opened the bottle and chugged down the entire thing. I watched in awe as his facial structure began to change. It wasn't an extreme transformation, no blinding light nor magical display, it was more like observing ice melting in reverse. The creases in his face smoothed out, his slumped posture straightened, and his gray hair darkened to a rich brown.

In a matter of seconds, standing before me was not an elderly merchant, no, it was a man that looked to be around thirty-five years old.

"That's better," he sighed, rolling his shoulders.

"Maintaining that disguise of an old man can be tiresome at times."

"Master, it appears we were correct about him being more than simply a crippled merchant," Azure observed in my mind with amusement.

"He's apparently someone who enjoys acting as a crippled store owner during his free time," I replied mentally.

"He must be the drunkard master archetype."

"Looks like we've attracted yet another eccentric person," Azure said.

"Although I guess that is preferable to attracting one of the dull but murderous types." Before I could respond, the old man cleared his throat.

"I suppose it is time for formalities," he said as he sat in one of the chairs.

"I am Chen Yong, Elder of the Azure Peak Sect, master of the Drunken Immortal path and... recently promoted to the Life Realm." The way he spat out the word 'promotion' gave me a good idea on his beliefs on power and responsibility. Despite the elder's strange behaviour, he was still one of the most powerful cultivators within the sect, I had to give him the respect he deserved. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

"Junior Ke Yin greets Elder Chen," I lowered my head as far as possible and bowed.

"Spare me of the ceremony for the stuffy elders who actually care about such things," Elder Chen waved off my formality with a laugh.

"I'd prefer to speak about why I decided to reveal myself to you." I straightened my body and selected my next words carefully.

"Disciple Ke Yin wishes to understand why an elder would choose to seek out a relationship with a cultivator lower than himself." Chen Yong grinned, revealing genuine amusement.

"Diplomatic. You're much better at this than most cultivators your age." He reclined further into his chair, staring at me with renewed curiosity.

"Honestly, I've been paying close attention to you for some time now." That made my heart rate increase. Why had he been watching me? And just how much did he know about me?

"But not because I wanted to," he quickly added with a frown.

"The Sect Master asked me to pay attention to you and I... well, it's usually best not to decline Yuan's requests." I couldn't hide my reaction to that statement. The Sect Master himself had shown interest in me? That could be the best thing that ever happened to me or the end of my cultivation journey… Chen Yong burst out laughing at my expression.

"Kid, don't get too excited; you aren't impressive enough to draw Yuan's attention yourself." He explained with another drink from a bottle he had seemingly conjured out of thin air.

"Song Xiang deserves credit for impressing Yuan and drawing attention to himself; you merely got assigned to me since I'm supposed to be good at identifying talent, although, honestly, Yuan may just be looking for excuses to create more chaos in my life." That made me relax somewhat. If the Sect Master knew the truth about me, I doubted he would assign an elder who hated work to keep an eye on me. The elder settled more comfortably in his chair, the bottle dangling carelessly from his fingers.

"I was perfectly happy to stay in the shadows and not get involved with your cultivation. After all, why make an already tedious job more complicated? Do you have any idea how time-consuming it is to look after you brats? The questions, the training, the constant need for guidance..." He took another long drink.

"Give me a good vintage and a quiet afternoon any day." I got the distinct impression he was enjoying his role as the lazy, put-upon elder a bit too much.

"But then, I noticed something interesting today," his voice turned serious.

"Something really interesting." I nodded slowly, realizing where this was heading. The energy generated by the blue sun was too unique to remain concealed entirely from anyone in the Life Realm.

"You see," Chen Yong continued, "I had just completed my breakthrough, unintentionally, I might add. Wasn't even trying to advance, but apparently, the heavens decided otherwise." His scowl seemed to indicate the heavens offended him personally. My eyes widened at that. Accidental breakthroughs between substages were rare, but not unheard of.

If a fourth stage Qi Condensation cultivator had enough knowledge and power, they could breakthrough to the fifth stage without meaning to, they could even do it during battle if they needed the extra power. But accidentally entering the Life Realm? Something like that was almost impossible. The accumulated knowledge and power needed to advance accidentally would be mind-blowing, which meant the man before me wasn't a simple elder.

"So," Elder Chen Yong continued.

"Imagine my surprise when I sense a Qi Condensation disciple radiating an aura similar to Life Realm energy." My muscles stiffened slightly, but I was able to maintain a neutral expression. My plan had been to catch the eye of an elder. Now was the time I would find out if that was a good thing. Seeing my expression, Chen Yong held up his hands in front of me.

"Relax, kid. I won't interrogate you or try to steal your opportunities." He took another drink from the bottle; longer this time.

"Every cultivator has his own secrets. Besides, I have enough issues managing my own cultivation to bother stealing someone else's. That would be too much work." That actually helped calm my nerves.

"What do you want, Elder?" He smiled somewhat warmly, though I detected something almost vulnerable in his demeanor.

"At my stage, it becomes increasingly challenging for me to discover new methods to advance. Before, I didn't concern myself with advancing, I was perfectly happy to stay where I was and drink my wine without a care in the world." I nodded. It seemed I was right. He really was the drunken elder archetype.

"But now," he continued, his voice softer.

"I've got these little brats depending on me." The confusion within me must have appeared on my face because he elaborated with a slight grimace.

"Life forms have started to appear in my inner world, primitive ones, barely more than sparks of awareness, but..." He trailed off, looking uncomfortable with his own sentiment.

"If I die, they die too, and somehow, that makes everything more complicated." That surprised me. There sat one of the most powerful cultivators I'd ever encountered; an individual who should only focus on his own growth as a cultivator. Yet his motivation for gaining strength was primarily based on protecting the life forms which had appeared within his inner realm. That was unexpectedly moving. Something in my expression must have betrayed my reactions because he jabbed at me with his bottle accusingly.

"Don't look at me like that! I'm not being self-righteous or anything. They're just..." he waved his hand dismissively "…pests! Annoying little pests, like having lots of needy kids trailing behind you everywhere, calling you Creator…" He shook his head visibly disturbed by that thought. I couldn't help it; my lips twitched upward into a smile. There was something refreshing in his grudging acceptance of responsibility.

"Anyway," he went on, "that energy you gave off; it's similar to Life Realm energy but different in some key ways. I was hoping to study it. Might help me comprehend something useful." He shrugged.

"Or might not, but it's worth a try."

"And what would I get out of this arrangement?" I asked carefully.

"I like that you're unwilling to lose out!" He threw back his head and laughed.

"Already thinking like a proper cultivator, but remember, you do owe me a favor from our previous transaction…" He wasn't wrong. I did owe him. I wasn't the type of person to not pay back my debts. If all he wanted from me was to study the blue sun's energy, that would actually be a relatively safe way to repay that debt. As long as he didn't try anything too invasive, I'd be fine with that.

"And," he added, "I noticed you're interested in learning formations. I could also teach you a thing or two about those." My eyes narrowed. How had he known about that? I'd only bought the formation tools in Myriad Paths City, not in the sect.

"Don't worry about things that are above your level of understanding." Chen Yong waved off my suspicious look with another drink from his bottle.

"Let's just say I have my ways of staying informed." Then his expression grew serious, the abrupt shift reminded me that for all his casual behavior, this was still an elder of a major sect.

"So young man," he said, fixing me with that piercing stare again, "what will your final answer be?" I stared at the elder as I weighed my options. On one hand, letting anyone study the suns' energy was risky. On the other hand, having an elder's guidance with formations could be invaluable, especially with the tournament approaching. And if I had to reveal some of my abilities to someone, a lazy elder who preferred to avoid sect politics might be the safest choice. The ball was in my court now.

I just had to decide whether to take the shot.