Hundreds of disciples had gathered inside a wide auditorium within one of the sect’s largest buildings located on the eastern side of the sect. A mixture of servants and outer-sect disciples as well as a few inner-sect disciples were evenly spread around the room, speaking with the designated teachers and seniors that stood along the walls.

A cornerstone of the Flowing River Sect, the lecture hall was holding a student orientation for the disciples that were initiated the week before.

The orientation served to introduce the disciples to their peers as well as give them a better understanding of how the sect’s knowledge was passed down. Additionally, this was one of the few events that most of the sect’s teachers would attend, so this was a rare opportunity to speak with many of them in order to make an informed decision on who would give the most beneficial lessons.

Groups of disciples huddled around the teachers as they informed them of the subjects they teach and the way their lessons were handled. Furthermore, the disciples learned what the lecture passes were and how they should be used to attend a teacher’s lesson.

The lecture material was graded on a scale from Bronze to Platinum which was determined by an elder or designated disciple, and the teacher could set a required seat number for the lesson. This way, the teacher could use his knowledge to gather credits by teaching his juniors, and the juniors would, in exchange, use their credits to trade in lecture passes for the lesson. The teacher would schedule their lesson for those disciples once enough passes had been submitted for it.

Because of this process, the Flowing River Sect functioned differently from other sects.

Regardless of talent or status, one could learn the most valuable and secret techniques as long as one had the credits for it. Even if an elder had disciples to whom they imparted their private knowledge, the elder could also put his teachings up for sale to unrelated disciples in order to gather credits, especially if the technique or instruction earned a Platinum grade.

Everyone in the room was standing, whether a disciple or a designated teacher. Against the center of a wall resided a table with a single chair and a TD with a jumbo-sized number counter that everyone could see. The number on the counter was clear: 000000000.

Hizumi of the Five Tributaries positioned himself next to the table on standby, with a face of stern indifference.

He had lost his keystone and all his credits to his ‘senior sister’, so he had taken up odd jobs in the sect in order to gather new credits on a keystone he took from one of his juniors. He had to offer his junior several expensive pills for the keystone, but at least he would no longer have to cultivate outside in shame and could start saving credits up again.

With a heavy heart, he agreed to moderate the new disciples in the orientation for a few easy credits. The orientation’s pronouncement was about to begin, so his job was only halfway done.

BANG!

The large door of the auditorium slammed open, causing the noise to reverbrate through the room. All the groupings of disciples and teachers fell silent.

A middle-aged man with grey sideburns and jet black hair entered the room with wide strides. The rhythmic flapping of his robes as he walked filled the spectators’ ears and sealed their mouths. The man’s face was stern with a short, black beard, and he emitted the aura of a strict senior.

The crowd parted for him as he walked straight to the table, past Hizumi, and sat down. He let out a loud and authoritative cough before closing his mouth.

“Let’s begin.” He said to the entire room without opening his mouth. His display of power and charisma was breathtaking to everyone in the room.

“Vice Elder Shirou is truly amazing,” one teacher quietly spoke to another.

“He really is, but hasn’t he been a little sullen lately?” the other teacher replied.

“More than usual…? You’re probably imagining things. Vice Elder Shirou has always been like that.”

Hizumi heard their chatter and wondered whether the vice elder had become upset over something recently. While he appeared to be behaving normally, the atmosphere around him seemed much gloomier than usual.

Vice Elder Shirou Shibia was the only vice elder that had reached the Nascent Soul stage. In terms of authority in the sect, even the elders would treat him as an equal. It was rumored that he would become an elder of the sect soon.

Each elder would often take charge over one major portion of the sect’s responsibilities; they would usually hand down the tasks to their disciples and underlings. On the other hand, Vice Elder Shirou not only took charge of one portion, the lecture hall, but he also directly managed that portion as well as the remainder of the sect’s functions and tasks.

The elders ‘couldn’t be bothered’ with every little hiccup and burp that arose in the daily ongoings of the sect, so problems and events were often regulated by him. If a matter arose that might require the elders’ intervention, he would be the determining factor.

“First, the inner-sect,” he spoke with a simple authority that caused others to immediately submit.

While several hundreds of disciples had joined the sect this year, only a couple dozen had managed to join the inner-sect. They were considered the brightest stars of the Freezing Desert, most of them having travelled to Ryuga from a neighboring tribe or village as a prized genius.

Hizumi watched as the two dozen initiates gathered in front of him. They formed an orderly line, and it was his job to direct the next disciple to the vice elder. The disciples began speaking with each other.

“I have more than two thousand sect credits!” a Foundation Establishment disciple bragged to the two others standing ahead of him.

“My master had gifted me more than two thousand credits himself!” said the other, puffing his chest out.

“Hmph. You two brag now, but I guarantee I have more than both of you!” the third declared with his nose in the air.

The second part of the orientation involved Vice Elder Shirou’s pronouncement. A disciple would approach the TD and insert his keystone. The exact amount on the keystone would be shown to Vice Elder Shirou as well as everyone in the room.

This served more than one purpose.

First, it allowed the various teachers and Vice Elder Shirou to properly advise the student on a proper course of action. They could determine the breadth of the disciple’s knowledge and abilities while taking into consideration the number of credits they had to work with in order to guide him towards a suitable path. If a new disciple had too few credits, teachers could suggest cost-efficient alternatives for them while the new disciples with many credits would be offered more expensive lessons that would fit their taste.

Second, the audience could locate other disciples with similar tastes and resources so that they could band together and take the lessons side-by-side. This would improve the camraderie of the new disciples and acclimate themselves to one another.

The third and most important reason was that the number of credits would determine an implied ranking among the new disciples based on their capabilities. The reason the orientation was held almost a week after the entrance examination was to give the disciples a small window of time to gain more credits. By showing an ability to gather large number of credits within a short time, they could display their prowess to their peers and their superiors.

Inner-sect disciples were given one thousand credits to start off with, but if they could double or triple that in a matter of days, then they would become the envy of their generation and catch the eyes of their seniors. They could gain these credits through odd jobs in the sect, selling useful items or by obtaining a generous master or teacher to guide them in their cultivation.

Hizumi looked at Vice Elder Shirou and received a nod from him. Hizumi turned to the first disciple in the line who was still holding his nose up in the air. Hizumi rolled his eyes at the big-headed initiate and was about to tell him to approach the TD when his eyes caught several people at the end of the line.

Hanabi, Shizuka and Yoshie were chatting away quietly with each other as they waited for their turn. Hizumi tried to ignore them and turned back to the person at the front.

“URGH!”

As he was about to tell him to approach once more, a sharp pain shot up in his chest and grabbed at his heart. Words he had heard once before echoed in his mind.

‘Junior brother, is this how you treat your senior sister?’

Vice Elder Shirou and the others in the room saw Hizumi double over, clutching his chest, and they became worried.

“Is something the matter, Matsushita-san?” asked the vice elder with concern in his voice. While Hizumi was his ‘junior’, he afforded him more respect since he was both a respected Tributary and the direct disciple of a sect elder.

The pain escalated until Hizumi made a decision. He stood up, no longer grasping at his chest, and walked over to the three ‘senior sisters’ at the end of the line.

Everyone, including the girls and the vice elder, were stunned with his behavior and waited to see what he was doing. Hanabi and Shizuka stepped in front of Yoshie when they realized Hizumi was approaching them. Once he reached them, he stopped and a pained expression appeared on his face.

He clasped his hands and bowed to them before speaking slowly and as quietly as possible, “...Senior sisters, what are you doing back here? Please...follow me to the front.” Every word he said felt forced, but he knew that if he didn’t speak in such a way, the soul oath would hurt him once more.

The audience was not close enough to hear him, but Vice Elder Shirou and those standing in the line were baffled with what he said. He was blatantly disregarding proper decorum and inviting people to cut in line, the exact opposite of what his job was supposed to do.

Wishing to end the awkward situation immediately, the girls decided to accept Hizumi’s offer and follow him to the front of the line.

Hizumi wanted to cry tears from the frustration he was feeling. He had never once worried about how to treat a senior sister, but now that he asked himself the question whenever he saw them, he began to realize how polite of a person he actually was. It sickened him, but he couldn’t do anything about it.

“Vice Elder hates it when you break the rules.” A teacher on the side shook his head with pity for Hizumi.

Another teacher closed his eyes, not wanting to see how the vice elder will react. “I never thought I’d see the day a Tributary would be scolded in front of so many people.”

Hizumi and the girls reached the front of the line, but Vice Elder looked as if he were about to reprimand Hizumi for his poor actions. His dark eyes were narrowed and cold, and his black brows were furrowed and thick. As he was about to open his mouth, he caught sight of the twins, Shizuka and Yoshie, and his gaze immediately softened. With his face loosened and his jaws unclenched, he spoke out to Hizumi.

“Send one of them over.”

The various teachers’ eyes bulged out of their sockets. Vice Elder Shirou was known for his strict impartiality. To see such an obvious disregard for fairness from the one they deemed most fair in the sect, it was unbelieveable.

Hizumi turned to Hanabi since he had his sights on her before and told her to go first and place the keystone in the TD.

Hanabi did as Hizumi said, and the huge number counter changed.

Rin was standing by the side for this very moment. She could have left earlier, but when Hanabi had purchased several inexpensive pills that helped with stomach digestion, she had glimpsed at the dial which pointed beyond its maximum fifty thousand credits.

Rin didn’t ask her any questions because...well, because how the hell would the princess have gotten more than fifty thousand credits in just a few days? She would doubt the dial’s measurement and her own eyes before she could accept that possibility.

“Hmmm. 972 credits,” Vice Elder Shirou announced the visible number to the whole room. While he did not care much about her status as a princess, he had expected to see a little more from a potential empress.

“Is that a 1?” someone asked out loud. It wasn’t immediate, but gradually, everyone began to realize what the voice was referring to.

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