Far up the mountain, Xue rubbed her forehead as she walked out of the Hall of Gathering.

They had me sit in on their discussion for two days, TWO DAYS. Thank goodness they let me cultivate while they talked. Why do cultivators take longer to do the things the older they get? I knew I was going to be given more responsibility when I became a core disciple but come on. Testing my ability to recruits disciples? It's a waste of my cultivating time. And what do they mean ‘Watch out for weird kids'? That doesn’t tell me anything!

With a starting jump, she began flying down the mountain.

Well, I suppose there is no point in delaying the journey. I already have everything I need in the storage ring they gave me. At least there are perks in being a core disciple.

She smiled as she flew over the Sect’s large scale formation but paused midair as she felt the fluctuation of an essence gathering breakthrough below. She glanced down and saw Felix sitting where she had dropped him off a few days ago. Feeling a flicker of curiosity, she landed near Felix.

Huh, he seems to be gathering earthen spiritual energy decently fast for a cultivation technique at the essence gathering level. She walked up to him and felt for his cultivation level. The little bastard is already back at qi gathering 5. What the hell!

She watched as he stabilized his breakthrough and considered if she should give up on cultivation. Two days is just too short without an amazing cultivation manual. I don't really remember much from when I glance at his manual, but I would think it would be much slower than this.

After a few more minutes, Felix finally stopped cultivating and opened his eyes. She took some pleasure in seeing his surprise.

“Um senior, hello Senior Sister Xue. Can I help you?”

She decided to go straight to the point, “How the hell did you cultivate so fast?”

Felix seemed caught off-kilter for a second but then recovered. “Well, I was told that regaining the beginning levels would be easy. The elders mentioned that this was because I had already cultivated to them but I am not sure exactly why though."

She thought about that for a moment. Huh, that actually explains most of it. While there are different things accomplished depending on the manual, some necessary steps are almost universal…

“That makes sense… but it doesn't completely explain your speed.”

Felix squirmed under her gaze and then decided he might as well reveal a little bit of the truth.

"Well, I made some improvements to the manual."

Xue's eyes narrowed.

"Show me."

Felix shrugged and handed her his pile of notes with the manual. She skimmed the manual and then started going through the notes.

"This... this isn't bad. You have a talent for this kind of thing. I thought I was the only one..." She bit her lip in thought and then a thought hit her. “Is that why you wanted to look at my cultivation manual?”

“Well yes. I was hoping to gain inspiration from it.”

That's some pretty good potential. I can work with that. While he might be a little low in cultivation to improvements to higher-level manuals at the moment, he could still be very helpful in the future.

She made up her mind and said, “I’ve been sent on a mission by the sect and I could use an assistant."

Felix backed up a little “Um senior, aren’t essence gathering disciples not allowed to leave? “

“Nonsense. I am a core ranked cultivator and a core disciple. You will be perfectly safe. Besides, we won’t be going far, just to one of the nearby towns. I will even let you look at my manual.”

“If it is so short why can't we just discuss it when you get back? I really want to read some more manuals from the library."

"You are being offered help from a core level cultivator and you are hesitating? Plus, when we get back, I can recommend some more books. I feel it is best we begin helping one another as soon as possible. We certainly aren't immortals yet."

Felix paused and she could see his reluctance.

"Well... I suppose that would be alright. But you have to help me." He said.

"Of course," She said with a smile.

Before Felix could change his mind, she blurred, and he was in a princess carry as they flew away from the Sect.

After Xue had left the Hall of Gathering, the Elders went back to discussing Edward's Fate. After a bit, Elder Shen decided to interject.

“I am not sure what to do about the strange boy, but I did notice something earlier that might be related."

Akeno turned to elder Shen “And what would that be Brother Shen?”

“Well, when I was observing young Felix in the cultivation manual hall, I found him picking up some of the manual rather fast. This was great in light of his recent injury but what really surprised me was that he actually made some improvements to a manual.”

Harold leaned forward. “Improvements, Brother Shen? Are you sure? While one of us might be able to do it, the only disciple I would trust for such a task is inner disciple Xue.” Harold jumped from a sharp pain in his side and glared at Elder Ja. “Excuse me, I meant Core disciple Xue. However, even if that is the case, what does that have to do with this freak Elder Kang found? Felix gaining an affinity for understanding texts is amazing but wasn't the thought that this child Kang found has some weird demonic bloodline?”

Elder Shen shifted as he organized his thoughts. I really want to remove this damn eyepatch but once it starts wandering again, Elder Ja will try to poke it out...

"That may be the case brother, but what if it isn't a bloodline? It could be a physique but none of us have been able to detect either of those in the child. Obviously, we could simply be unable to detect it due to our lack of knowledge but what if it has something to do with the soul? And what event recently occured where people had their souls messed with? The mess that damn expert caused, that's what."

All the elders sat back in thought about this. Then a look of horror crossed Zhenzhen face and she spoke up, “If it is because of the expert, how do we know that similar phenomenon has occurred elsewhere? We originally just feared that this child had family nearby but if it could be anyone this expert experimented on, there could be strange abilities popping up all over."

At that pronouncement, the blood drained from many of the gather elders.

“This is all beside the point,” Interjected Akeno. “We need to decide if we should kill the child now to remove problems. Don’t give me that look, Sister Ja. You know as well as I that sometimes the best way to deal with uncertainty is either caution or extreme ruthlessness. We may have had a cushy lifestyle since we founded the Sect but don’t forget how cruel the Cultivation World is. That said, I think we should observe the child for now but keep him away from killing any creatures for the duration.”

“Oh come on Elder Brother,” Said Jackie, slamming the table with a fist. “You can’t just spout a bunch of rhetoric on being ruthless and then say how we should watch the child.”

Akeno rolled his eyes. “I simply wanted everyone to be aware of what we might have to do. That said, I don’t think our Sect should have a policy of exterminating everything that might even be a potential threat. It would defeat the purpose of starting the Sect to begin with. However, if we do decide to follow that route, we must not hesitate.”

“Fine, we don’t kill the kid for now” Said Harold. “This leaves the question of what are we going to do with him. The sect doesn’t recruit until the kids are at least 10 and we have verified that he is most likely 8.”

“How about this, we do not allow him to access any manuals, but he may attend classes for the duration. We can assign a trusted disciple to keep an eye on him. Someone who has a way with words and can get him on our side."

“Martel would be perfect for that,” suggested Elder Ja and Elder Shen started coughing. “He may be a troublemaker, but he is one of those people who becomes your friend without you realizing it.”

“Excuse me, but that may not work,” said Elder Shen. The other elders turned to him expectantly and he did not meet their eyes. “I recently sent him on a mission outside of the sect.”

“WHAT?” said elder Rong. “You know we keep disciples inside until they break into Essence Condensing. Experience shows that Essence Gathering cultivators are barely better than a mortal in surviving disasters. For what purpose did you send him out?"

“I assure you it was for a just cause.” Said Elder Shen waving his hands placatingly. “Besides, I gave him more protective talismans than he could use in a fight. If he gets killed carrying that many than he was destined to die.”

Elder Rong covered his face though the rest of the elders looked amused. They knew how protective of the disciples Rong was.

A rapid sound of footsteps distracted the elders as a disciple barged into the room. He bowed quickly.

"Excuse me Elders, but a messenger from Clear Sky Sect has come." said the disciple.

The elders glanced at one another and then Akeno said: “Well, let him in then.”

The disciple ran out and escorted the messenger into the room. The elders were surprised when they recognized the messenger as a full-fledged Elder of Clear Sky Sect.

Akeno looked at the messenger with curiosity and asked: “And what news does Clear Sky Sect have for us today that an Elder was sent?”

The Clear Sky Sect Elder waited for the disciple to leave the room before speaking. “I did not expect to meet every elder of the great Thousand Season Sect. However, perhaps this is for the best for the news I have is quite dire." The elder brought a jade slip out from his robs. “I have the details here, but I am afraid that the kingdom of Fire and the Empire of Rebirth have begun to stir.”

“How does that affect us?” interjected Elder Jackie. “The kingdom of Fire is to our North and the Empire of Rebirth is Northeast of us. Even if they fight it out, only some fighting should spill out over here."

The Clear Sky Elder shook his head and offered the jade slip to Elder Akeno.

Looking confused, Akeno accepted the offered jade slip and scanned it. The room was quickly filled with his swear.

“Those… THOSE bastards!”

The other elders shared confused expressions until the slip was passed around and they too saw the contents.

Elder Jin turned to the Clear Sky Elder. “According to this, they aren't going to be fighting directly but trying to claim land to the south. Why though? The Jade slip also says that the Kingdom has fallen into a civil war. The kingdom should be too busy and the empire should still be fearful of being stabbed in the back if they move their troops from their borders."

The Clear Sky Elder shook his head. “Apparently it isn’t much of a civil war. The ruling family was taken by surprise from what we can tell. The faction that took control is also the pro-war faction, so they want war. The two forces seem to be more than happy to avoid direct confrontation with an unspoken agreement. I came here personally to ask the Thousand Season’s stance on this issue."

Harold rapped the table, accompanied by the sound of jingling bells. “It is quite obvious what we must do. We need to form an alliance with the surrounding sects and clans. Why have you come to us first and not alerted more of them is what I want to know."

The Clear Sky Elder smiled “Because while our relationships with the surrounding powers are good, there are still a few with which we have bad blood. The Clear Sky Patriarch thought it would be best that your Sect be the head of the alliance. Not only are you arguably the strongest in pure cultivation power but no one has bad blood with your sect yet. Even if your young history might make others doubt you, we will back you up."

Harold’s eyes narrowed and killing intent filled the room. “And if things went poorly, the Thousand Season Sect would take the fall?”

“Our patriarch told me to assure you that we will provide our full support.”

The killing intent left the room and Harold leaned back. He looked to Akeno who leaned forward and the Clear Sky Sect elder's expression changed to fear as a much more powerful killing intent filled the room. Akeno smiled. “Well then, contact your patriarch. I for one am looking forward to our cooperation.”