Chương 106: Chapter 105: The Sponsorship Problem

A couple of days later Yang made his way to the outer sect hall. The past few days had been productive. He had spent most of his time on talismans, primarily the Poison Barrier Talisman for Elder Bai Jing Ting's upcoming class and the Warming and Cooling Talismans for Senior Brother Song Yi's. The latter two had come faster than the poison barrier talisman.

He had made cards for temperature regulation in the Cardwright World and the underlying principles were familiar enough that learning the talisman versions was more a matter of translation than learning something completely new. The seedlings had broken the ground surface. All three of them, the Spirit Spiral, the Blue Jade plant, and the Spirit Grass, all had small sprouts visible now and Yang had found himself checking on them with more attention than he had anticipated giving.

He had decided planting all three together was the right call since it meant the morning Spirit Spring Rain Technique covered all three plots in a single session now that he had gotten the hang of the technique. He was keeping a close eye on the Spirit Spiral sprouts specifically, making sure they were getting enough qi-infused water so they did not start drawing from the Blue Jade and Spirit Grass nearby.

He entered the outer sect hall, nodded to Senior Sister Wei Wei as he passed her, and made his way to Senior Brother Bo Yu.

"Senior Brother, how are you?"

"Well, Junior Brother." Senior Brother Bo Yu looked at him with the mild amusement that had become his usual expression when Yang appeared at his desk.

"More talismans to sell?"

"Indeed." Yang began drawing bundles from his sleeve and placing them on the desk. Senior Brother Bo Yu watched the pile grow with widening eyes.

"Junior Brother Yang. You do remember eating and cultivating, correct? How are you producing talismans of this quality at this speed?" He paused.

"Actually, do not answer that. You do not have to answer that." He shook his head.

"I will just say it is remarkable to see your talisman skills developing like this. I can barely believe it has not been long since you came here asking about professions and which classes to take." Yang smiled. For Senior Brother Bo Yu it had not been long. For Yang it had been an eternity.

"I am grateful for your guidance, Senior Brother. If not for your advice early on I would not be doing this well." Senior Brother Bo Yu waved the thanks off.

"Junior Brother Yang, if not me then some other senior brother or sister would have helped guide you. Your achievements are your own and the path you chose was your own decision, or your own fate. One or the other." He looked at the pile of bundles.

"Now let me look at these properly. Actually," he turned toward the desk, "Junior Sister Wei Wei, come here. She wanted to see your talismans as well." Senior Sister Wei Wei came over from her side of the hall. Senior Brother Bo Yu passed her the untied bundle and her eyes widened as she began to look through them.

"Junior Brother, these are extremely well made for someone of your cultivation level." She looked up with an admiring expression.

"You must be proud of this."

"Thank you, Senior Sister." Senior Brother Bo Yu settled back.

"Junior Sister Wei Wei, would you go through them and price them? You have a better eye for talismans than I do." Senior Sister Wei Wei began working through the bundles methodically. Yang watched her expression shift as she moved from one stack to the next. After a minute she looked up at him with an expression of mild surprise.

"Junior Brother, Senior Brother Bo Yu told me about your new proficiency in talismans and I was impressed, but I thought perhaps he was exaggerating out of fondness for you." She glanced at Senior Brother Bo Yu briefly.

"He was actually being quite conservative. This is considerably better than what he described. And he did not mention many of these talismans at all." If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Those were not ones I sold last time," Yang said.

"Of what I brought today, only the fireball and deflection talismans are ones you have seen before. The rest are new ones I learned. The defensive talismans I studied for Elder Bai Jing Ting's class, particularly the Poison Barrier one."

"Ah, that explains the variety." Senior Sister Wei Wei looked back at the bundles.

"Give me a moment to count properly. I lost myself in looking at them and forgot to keep track." She went through each bundle, counting and pricing as she went. When she looked back up her expression was a bit shocked.

"Junior Brother, all of them are perfect except the Poison Barrier talismans, which still needs some polishing, so you will not receive the full price for that one yet. But it is still good enough to sell. Your total for all talismans is fifty-two thousand six hundred and eighty-four points." The room was quiet for a moment. Senior Brother Bo Yu let out a slow impressed whistle as he joked.

"Junior Brother," he said, "forget what I said earlier about prioritising cultivation. Become a full-time talisman crafter." Yang let out a short laugh. He passed his token to Senior Sister Wei Wei for the transfer and then turned back to Senior Brother Bo Yu as she processed it.

"Actually, Senior Brother, I came here for another reason as well." Senior Brother Bo Yu's expression shifted to attentive.

"What do you need, Junior Brother?" Senior Sister Wei Wei glanced up briefly, uncertain whether to step away. Yang caught it.

"You can stay, Senior Sister. It is just a general question." She nodded and continued with the transfer while listening.

"A senior brother from the inner sect suggested I try to get sponsorship to participate in the inner sect talisman competition," Yang said.

"He advised me to approach Elder Fu Ming to request it since he taught me. But Elder Fu Ming has not been holding classes recently and I have no idea how to arrange a meeting with an inner sect elder. Can you help me with this?" Senior Brother Bo Yu turned serious.

"Junior Brother, as an outer sect disciple I have limited access to the inner sect, but since Elder Fu Ming does occasionally give outer sect lectures I can try to find a way to send a message to.."

"It would not help," Senior Sister Wei Wei said quietly. Both of them looked at her. She set down the token and faced them fully.

"Elder Fu Ming has already given his sponsorship slot to someone else. These decisions are made well in advance of the competition. I would be very surprised if any elder who specialises in talismans still has a remaining slot." She shook her head.

"Each elder receives a single sponsorship slot and they can only sponsor one student for one competition. Anyone willing to do it has already decided on their preferred student and field. The ones who still have slots available are the ones who are hard to impress. A sponsorship reflects on the elder who gives it. It takes years to develop the kind of relationship that leads to one." She paused.

"I personally know the disciple Elder Fu Ming is sponsoring. He has been designated for that slot for the past three years." Yang said nothing. He had known it was a long shot but he was still disapointed to have lost the opportunity. Senior Brother Bo Yu looked at him with sympathy.

"Junior Brother, what about Elder Bai Jing Ting? You have been attending her class."

"Elder Bai Jing Ting still has her slot," Senior Sister Wei Wei said, "but she has not sponsored anyone before. And Senior Brother Song Yi cannot act as a sponsor since he is not a core disciple." She thought for a moment.

"The only realistic option is to find a core disciple willing to sponsor you. Core disciples have sponsorship slots as well, but most of them do not bother to use their slots unless it is someone they personally know. They tend to be less invested in these things than the elders." Senior Brother Bo Yu turned back to Yang.

"Junior Brother, even if this year's competition is not possible, the competition is held every decade. If you keep developing at this pace, you will almost certainly secure a slot for next competition with your talent, ten years may seem a long time but it passes away in the blink of an eye. You may even get a chance to win."

"Thank you, Senior Brother." Yang meant it, even if Senior brother was already thinking too far ahead, Yang wasn't ready to give up so easily. He turned back to him.

"Senior Brother, is there a way to contact a specific inner sect disciple? Not an elder." Senior Brother Bo Yu raised an eyebrow.

"You know a core disciple, Junior Brother?"

"No," Yang said.

"But I should inform the Senior Brother who told me to take part that this year's competition is likely not possible for me. He was the one who suggested I try to participate. He may have advice on what to do next."

"That is not a bad idea at all," Senior Brother Bo Yu said.

"An inner sect disciple will know the inner sect and core disciples better than either of us."

"Junior Brother," Senior Sister Wei Wei said with a small smile, "just write a letter. We will have it sent to the inner sect."

"Thank you, Senior Sister." Yang took back his token, pocketed it, and gave them both a bow.

"Thank you, Senior Brother." He made his way out. He now had Seventy-six thousand seven hundred and ninety one points, which was not nothing. But points were not what he had come here for today. Now he had to pen a letter.