Chương 30: Chapter 29

When Alden thought of getting "the best price" for Elara, he meant finding her a master. A young cultivator with Grade A ratings in all three examinations would need only a little guidance before she could manage on her own. Julian was another matter. Two Upper B and a Lower A qualified him for admission under the Moonwatch Sect's rules, but hardly made him a recruit worth fighting over. The comparison did Julian no favors. Alden glanced at him without much enthusiasm. Julian could only stand there and bear it.

While the elder had been busy assessing Elara, he had made a spectacle of himself, spoiling whatever impression he might otherwise have made. His one consolation was that Elara had no idea anyone had tried to interfere with her examination. The rest of the selection passed without incident. Once the remaining candidates had finished their examinations, Alden swept back his sleeve.

"Elara Lin and Julian Wang have passed. Everyone else, please leave the Moonwatch compound." Disappointment settled over the other candidates. Still, they bowed and took their leave. Only when they were gone did Alden turn to Elara with a broad smile.

"Come along, Elara. Let's get you your outer disciple's jade token." He glanced at Julian.

"You, too." Julian struggled to keep his composure. The elder could hardly have made the distinction clearer. Elara, meanwhile, could barely contain her delight. At last. She had joined a cultivation sect! Once the Gathering Shadows expansion began, she could stay safely within the sect, tend her spirit fields, and let everyone else brave the dangers outside. She followed Alden into a room in the compound, registered her personal details, and soon had her new identity token in hand.

Before she left, the elder reminded her of their schedule.

"We'll be in Valehaven for another two days. Say your farewells to friends and family, but make sure you're back here two days from now."

"Of course, Elder." Elara pressed her fist into her opposite palm, carefully copying the formal salute. Alden laughed, then gave her a knowing look.

"There's no harm in accepting a few gifts. Just make no promises in return. Remember…" His gaze flicked toward Julian.

"Your circumstances are rather different from those of the other recruits." Julian held himself rigid for a moment, then let out a quiet breath. Over the past few decades, the Moonwatch Sect had raised its admission standards again and again. Candidates now needed at least one Grade A or an overall performance better than three ordinary Grade Bs to become outer disciples. This quarter, only two candidates had passed in Valehaven: Elara and Julian.

Even across roughly a hundred second-tier cities, a dozen or so first-tier cities, and Moonwatch City itself, the sect might admit fewer than twenty outer disciples in a quarter. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. With four selections a year, the annual intake came to somewhere around a hundred. Yet the Moonwatch Sect had more than five thousand outer disciples. Its servant disciples were even more numerous. With so many people, differences in standing were inevitable.

Elara had earned three Grade A ratings. Once she arrived, late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators would compete to take her as an apprentice. Her fellow disciples under whichever master she chose would likely be inner disciples who had already reached Foundation Establishment. Julian's results looked only a little worse on paper. In practice, they left him as one more ordinary disciple among thousands. This might be the closest he would ever come to standing beside her as an equal.

They were almost out of the compound when Julian spoke. Elara was already thinking about her visit to Cedric.

"Elara, if you ever need anything once we're at the sect, I'll do everything I can to help." He sounded entirely sincere.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Julian. I still need to learn how things work there." Elara passed her spiritual sense through the [Swarmkeeper Ring], checking on the [Spirit-Eater Beetles] inside, and decided she would rather keep her distance. She hurried out, leaving Julian with a strained smile. An enthusiastic voice greeted her almost at once.

"Congratulations on passing the Moonwatch Sect's selection, boss! May your cultivation flourish and your life last forever…" Alistair stood waiting with Corin and several of the others. His black cultivation robe might have lent him a little dignity if he hadn't been grinning at her with such shameless eagerness. Elara gave him an exasperated look.

"All right. What do you want?"

"House Li would like to hold a banquet in your honor. My father sent me to invite you." Alistair looked thoroughly pleased with himself. All he had originally wanted was to learn a few of Elara's modified gardening arts. He had even been willing to call her "boss" if that helped. Who could have guessed she would grow into the title so quickly? In next to no time, she had become a Moonwatch Sect recruit with three Grade A ratings. Now his family had put him in charge of strengthening their connection with her.

His father had even given him a little money to help. Between that and his own savings, the hundred Spirit Stones he had paid for Elara's modified [Soften Earth] no longer seemed quite so painful.

"A banquet…" Elara was tempted, but she shook her head.

"I need to see Master Cedric first."

"Of course! You're his final apprentice, and his favorite!" Alistair was as excitable as ever. Elara merely smiled. At most, she was a young cultivator Cedric thought highly of. He had never formally taken her as his disciple, much less bestowed the distinction of making her his final apprentice. When she returned to Dawnmere Trading House, the change in her standing was impossible to miss.

"Elara… I mean, Mistress Lin." Henry, the fellow apprentice who had first shown her around Dawnmere, was the first familiar face she met inside. The new title embarrassed her a little. It was also rather satisfying. She winked at him.

"Keep up the good work, Henry. You'll be getting a promotion and a raise before you know it." Henry looked baffled. A promotion and a raise? Whatever she meant, her familiar manner put him at ease.

"Well, if it isn't my new fellow disciple. Congratulations…" Cedric seemed to have been waiting for her. He sat behind the counter in a fresh cultivation robe. Before he could finish, Elara hurried over, grinning.

"I'll never forget everything you've done for me." It was no small promise, and Cedric laughed with delight. He had gone as far as he could in his own cultivation. Discovering a young genius for the sect in his final years was something worth being remembered for. Now that she was here, he found himself telling her everything he thought she ought to know. They talked until evening. Elara stayed for dinner before finally returning to her cottage.

She had barely settled into a cross-legged position when a notification appeared. [Congratulations! You have become an outer disciple of the Moonwatch Sect. Fortune +5.] Huh? Elara stared at the message. Then it clicked. In Seed of Ascension, advances in cultivation and changes in status could both increase Fortune. She had reached Tier 4 Qi Refining over the past few days, but apparently that hadn't been enough to earn another increase. Her Fortune had stayed at three.

Now Alden had reported Valehaven's selection results to the sect, making her new status official. Her Fortune had risen to eight. With Fortune above five, a lack of luck would no longer prevent her from reaching the peak of Qi Refining—or even attempting Foundation Establishment—provided she continued cultivating normally. But that wasn't the only reason she was excited. She wanted to enter the Dao Realm right now. Eight Fortune meant she could challenge the first eight steps!

Under the rules of Seed of Ascension, the first step awarded a major prize. Beyond that, every fifth step offered a lesser milestone reward, and every tenth a major one. And here, where the game had become reality, she was still the first "player" to attempt the Dao Realm. She could collect both the ordinary rewards and the extra prizes. How could she pass up that much loot? There was just the small matter of the fourth trial…

"That one could be tricky." Elara frowned.