NOVEL SIMPLE Ch-26-The Sect
This realization stunned me for long enough not to feel the claustrophobia from everything collapsing toward me.
When I did come to, the world was already back to normal, and I could see that I was in the hall again. The laughter, though, was notably gone.
Looking around to see why that was, I found everyone looking at me in utter silence. It was not like someone had turned on noise cancelation this time, saving my ears. But it was still weird.
This lasted for a few minutes before someone spoke again.
A smooth male voice from off to the left of me said, "Please tell me I am not the only one who saw that."
A lighter female voice from the same direction responded, "I saw it as well."
Another slightly deeper female voice also responded from off to the left of me, "You weren't hallucinating."
A rougher male voice then said from the same direction, "I never thought that there was a multi-elemental spiritual root like that. It even had a heavenly phenomenon."
The other male voice from earlier then asked, "But multi-element spiritual roots aren't of the heavenly grade, right?"
The Elders continued to discuss in shock, so I chose to raise my hand a little while saying, "I can actually explain that."
At my words, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at me. I did not speak though, as I had not been given permission, so one of the elders said, "Well, come on, girl, let us hear it."
I wanted to lower my head from all the attention I was getting as I was not used to it, but I stopped myself and lowered my hand while answering them with what I was hoping were not shaking legs, "My system shows me what my spiritual root is, and it says that I have the Heavenly Ten Element Revolving Spiritual Root."
When I said this, everyone went quiet once more before someone responded, "Well, at least that explains it. Now, which part of the sect should she go to?"
The man on the throne tapped his chin in thought before saying, "Since she can wield every element, that means she could go wherever she wants. However, from what we have been told, her system will need a lot of space, so I suggest that we give her the mountain next to this one, as it has been abandoned for a while."
A few of the Elders got upset that they were going to give me a mountain, and I felt a large oppressive force spread out around the room, but the others eventually persuaded them that it was alright.
With that decided, the old man in front of me asked, "So now that you have a mountain, where would you like to go? we have many different pavilions for you to choose from." His eyes were sparkling as he said this.
I could feel my arm start shaking as I responded, "Um, I am not sure what part of the sect I would join, but I would at least like to see the library if you wouldn't mind." For some reason, being in this position right now just made me feel even more nervous than I have ever felt in my life.
On the other hand, the old man looked like a child who had just lost his favorite toy—in fact, most of the room did. The only difference was the man on the throne, who looked lost in thought before speaking, "I would like to know why you would want access to the library."
"It is so I can research the techniques. One of the things that I asked for when reincarnating was to see all the flaws in any technique, and I don't want to cultivate an inferior one. That is why I would like access to the library to research and make my own technique." When I said this, the room went quiet, and everyone looked at me with shock again and, from what I could sense, some greed as well.
I knew this could be bad, so I quickly said, "That does not mean I could fix all of their flaws or magically make them better. Especially since all that research would still take a lot of time and I might even make more mistakes while creating new techniques. So a good technique is not always guaranteed."This only managed to calm them slightly as I could still feel some greedy gazes on me. I continued saying, "Some techniques in the library might also have no mistakes in them, and thus I would not be able to see how to-"
The man on the throne obviously saw how nervous I was getting. So he interrupted me and stole all their attention by saying, "While that is amazing, I would recommend that you do not share that information outside of this room. I will also give you free access to all techniques that will allow you to reach the next realm and below.
"That does not mean that you can research higher-level techniques. This would also mean that right now, you only have access to body tempering techniques." After saying this, he waves his hand, and a metal token flies in front of me before hovering there.
Holding my hand out, the token falls into my palm.
The face of the token looks like a pagoda surrounded by open scrolls with the word library carved at the bottom.
The man on the throne then continued, saying, "With that token, you can enter and exit the library at will without paying any contribution points. However, it can only be used to access the techniques I have previously designated. Now that this is over, Disciple Lou Xia, could you please escort her to the Hall of Administration and show her the sect."
After he said that, I bowed like Lou Xia had done earlier, saying gratefully, "Thank you for your kindness, um-"
When I started thanking him, I realized I had no clue who I was talking to. He also seemed to pick up on it as he spoke up again.
"I am the Sect master of the Silver Moon Sect, Xiao Luoyang."
I then finished what I was saying, "Thank you, Sect Master," and stepped back, but for some reason, Lou Xia did not move.
The Sect Master noticed this and looked at her, asking, "Why are you still here, disciple Lou Xia?"
"It is because I have something I need to discuss with you, so is it fine if junior disciple Valaria steps out for a moment and I meet her at the door?" she responded while side-eyeing me.
When he followed Lou Xia's gaze and looked at me he seemed to realize something and motioned to the door while saying, "Very well, then. Disciple Valaria will wait for you at the door."
I was unsure why they were doing this and wanted to know more, but I still followed his directions and left the room.
There were still a few people staring into my back as I walked out, but I shrugged it off for now and did not think much of it.
After exiting the building, I saw that the eagle was still there, so I walked over to it and took some meat out of my inventory while saying, "Just you and me out here now, huh, buddy."
I then handed the meat over to him.
He ate it all in one bite before raising his head and giving out a cry and then lowering his head back down so that I could pet him.
The feathers on his head were so soft and silky that it felt almost heavenly to pet them.
It did not last long, though, as soon, Lou Xia came walking out wearing a new dark blue robe with silver trim. When she saw me petting the two-story tall bird, she just hung her head, shaking it.
She then said, "While it's not permitted within the sect, I don't think the Windstrider will let you go down the mountain without him, so why not ride him to the Administration Hall?"
Hearing this the big eagle raised his head before giving out a cry once more.
Lou Xia then grabs me and jumps onto the back of the bird as it takes off, soaring down the side of the mountain.
When we were on his back, I noticed a distinct lack of two unconscious bodies, but I was not given much time to think about that as the bird then banked hard to the right and passed through a small valley, arriving in a natural basin covered by a large town.
Landing in front of a large pagoda, we both jump off the eagle, and Lou Xia turns around, telling the eagle it can return as we no longer need its service.
I could see the eagle hesitating, so I raised my hand to pet it, and he lowered his head, allowing me to do so. When he was in that position I told him that he was helpful and that he could go back and rest because he must be tired.
Hearing my words, he raised up his head and gave out the loudest cry yet before taking off and heading for the southern part of the Sect.
Turning around, I saw Lou Xia shaking her head once more before as she turned around and entered the building.
Following her inside, I saw that the ground floor was a large open space with tables and chairs placed around for comfort. On the far wall, there is a counter lining the wall, which creates a U-shape to allow for more space behind the counter on either side.
Behind the counters are three people. Two of them seem to be in the middle of paperwork, while the last one looks to be asleep at her post.
Walking up to the sleeping attendant, Lou Xia leans in close and taps her on the shoulder. I did not say anything about that, as I assumed they were close based on Lou Xia's actions.
The woman then woke up with a start before jumping a few inches off her chair and screaming, "D**n it, Lou Xia, don't do that!"
Lou Xia only smiled at that and replied, "I wouldn't do that if you stopped sleeping on the job. Besides, I need you to register someone here who is a special recruitment." Lou Xia then stepped to the side to show me standing behind her before continuing, "The sect master or one of the elders should have already called it down."
"Wait, she is the lucky one who doesn't have to take the test!" The girl shouts while trying to stare a hole through Lou Xia.
Once the girl said that, Lou Xia immediately turned on a gossipy mode that I could not even tell that she had and started gossiping, "She did take a test for her elements. You should have seen them. All the elders looked like they would fight to the death to take her as their personal disciple. The only reason they didn't is that the Sect Master was there and watching them. Also, there is something else that makes not even the Sect Master try and take her as a personal disciple."
"What could stop the sect master?" The girl asks with a look of wanting to know.
Lou Xia then dropped this bomb, which shocked me: "One of the Sect's Ancestors forbade anyone but them from taking her as their disciple." I did not remember meeting any Ancestor.
With that bomb dropped, Lou Xia asked her to grab me the standard things for a disciple so she could continue showing me the Sect. Clearly too stunned to say anything, the girl walked off to another room for a few minutes and came back with three sets of white robes with a silver lining and a small bag placed on top.
Setting them on the counter, she proceeded to tell me that only the three robes were complementary and required to be worn around the Sect. The bag, however, is a space bag where a copy of the rules of the Sect and a map are placed inside.
She then informs me that the way to use the space bag is to send a strand of Qi inside and use your intent to store anything you are touching.
I was about to point out the problem with that when Lou Xia waved her hand and placed all the items in her spatial device. She then said that she would carry them for me.
Grabbing my hand after that, Lou Xia proceeded to practically drag me out of the administration hall and into the street. Though I could swear that I felt like someone was staring at me with murder in their eyes.
Once outside, she took me around the town, showing me the location of the contribution hall, the mission hall, and the treasure pavilion. This was not without stopping every few streets to grab some food.
The entire town was like something I thought you would find outside the Sect, but apparently, it was much better than other towns, according to Lou Xia.
Besides her foodie tendencies, the place that intrigued me the most was the contribution hall, as it seemed to function like a department store.
When she took me inside, I saw that there were racks and shelves of different things, with the sections written on signs that hung from the ceiling. She even took me around shopping in the hall.
I did notice that throughout the trip, I saw nothing useful to mortals; everything was only useful to cultivators.
When we reached the back of the hall, I saw a door marked level one above it.
When I asked Lou Xia about it, she told me that only the less valuable things were stored up here, and everything with more value was stored below. She did not know how many floors there were but could at least confirm the existence of three.
Finished with that and finding what she wanted to find, we walked to the front of the store and up to a counter that looked far too similar to a checkout desk at an average department store in my old world.
Not seeing the look of confusion on my face, Lou Xia just handed the person behind the counter what she wanted, and the person scanned it. A screen facing us then lit up and showed a number with CP coming after it. Lou Xia then pulled out her token and placed it on a jade plate at the base of the screen before the screen flashed green, and the numbers were replaced with the message 'transaction complete.'
Taking me out of the building, Lou Xia explained that CP meant contribution points, which could be earned for various reasons, but mainly by completing missions found in the mission hall. Speaking of which, the Mission Hall looked like an old-school tavern made with Western architecture and everything.
Walking inside the Mission Hall was like getting hit with a hammer made of noise as I stumbled, almost falling to the ground from all the noise hitting me at once.
Thankfully, Lou Xia caught me again before that could happen, though that did not fix the problem.
It felt like my head was being split open as my ears were ringing. Soon, it cleared right as someone tried to touch my tail.
Not caring for what was about to happen, I pulled out the rifle only to have my hand held down by someone as the man's hand was stabbed through with a sword.
Before the man could even say a word, Lou Xia was already in front of him, giving him a lecture, or so it seemed, as I was having a hard time making out any sound in this place.
Looking around, I saw a board on the far wall with notes of paper stuck to it and a counter on the back wall.
Like the counter in the administration hall, it had either end flared out to give more space to those working the counters. The center section was where it changed as it looked like a bar with a man behind it serving drinks to everyone who walked up and asked. The only comparison I had to it was that it was like an adventurers' guild straight out of those fantasy stories.
Unable to take the place's volume, I quickly made my way outside and waited for Lou Xia to come out.
Not too long after, Lou Xia walked out with a sad smile on her face and apologized to me, saying, "Sorry about that. I didn't mean for anything to happen."
I pulled her along to continue walking as I replied, "It's fine. I was the one who didn't tell you that all my senses are at the limit of what they can be."
She looked confused at what I said and asked, "What do you mean by at the limit?"
Smiling slightly at catching her off guard, I explained, "The limit is how high the aspects of your body can be within a stage. For example, reaching the maximum strength you can reach in a stage will mean that you have reached the limit of your body's ability to handle strength."
"So, like cultivation brings you to the limit, and you use body cultivation to break past that?" She questioned back.
I responded to her with a similar response as earlier, "To a limit, yes."
She seemed confused again but also a little indignant this time as she asked, "What do you mean by a limit?"
Maintaining my smile, I patiently explained once more, "There is a maximum limit that the world allows. I have reached this limit. Also, once you reach the limit, as you improve in cultivation, you will stay at that limit, whether it is the personal one or the world one."
Hearing that, she probed me."Then how did you reach the world limit?"
My smile grew a little tight at that before continuing my explanation, "My natural limit is the world limit, so when I hit one, I hit both. Now, I did not start at the limit and intended to train myself to it before beginning cultivation. However, the goddess apparently made some changes to the system, which also gave me stat increases as rewards for completing special assignments." I say, looking into her eyes.
"Oh." She did not seem to fully understand what I was talking about.
Before continuing our conversation, though, we reach a large pagoda with the sign Treasure Pavilion on it. We did not go into this one as apparently it is rarely used, and there is only a small room with a desk and a door in the room beyond the entrance, so we moved on.
Walking down the street, I remembered something and asked Lou Xia, "Hey, do you have a pill that can increase a person's strength even if it is only for a second and doesn't have any side effects?"
"Yeah, why do you need it?" She responded through a mouth full of food she had just bought as she led me somewhere.
I rubbed the back of my neck as I answered somewhat awkwardly. "I need it to round out my stats."
Hearing that, she was about to nod before she stopped and bargained, "Sure, I can give it to you, but you will have to help me with my cultivation technique."
"Sure!" I must have answered a little too enthusiastically as she looked at me strangely before handing me a bottle. Once I grabbed it, I poured out the pill into my hand before throwing it into my mouth. Lou Xia began to panic and look angry for a second as my body flashed with gold light.
Not even asking about the light, she began to lecture me. "Do you know what you just did? What if I gave you poison or some sort of possession parasite pill? What if it was some waste pill that would clog up your meridians with impurities? Don't just eat whatever someone hands you without checking first!"
I tilted my head to the side at that as I felt one of my ears go flat again and my tail form into a question mark once more as I asked, "But why would you do that? First, I saved your life. Second, you have helped me out far too many times, and third, you even stabbed a person and lectured him for trying to touch my tail. I also have not felt any hostile intent coming from you at all. So why should I not trust you? You have already shown that you trust me, so by that nature, I should also give it in kind."
She seemed momentarily stunned by my words before shaking her head and looking toward the sky.
"Well, it looks like we are running out of daylight, and I don't think we can make the trip over to your mountain and set up a house before nightfall. So how would you like to stay at my house in the town for tonight?" She asked while looking back at me.
Seeing no reason to refuse at the moment, I followed her as she grabbed my hand and walked to one of the quieter but richer parts of the town if the spacing and opulence of the houses were anything to go by.
Coming to the end of the street, we stop in front of a large house with a perimeter wall and wrought iron gate surrounding it for over half a mile out.
Seeing all this, I could not help but shout, "Lou Xia, you didn't tell me your house was a mansion!"