After hearing Tianlan’s words, Elder Qian hat to suppress his desire to knock some sense into the boy. In all his years as an elder of the Shimmering Sword Sect, he hadn’t met many disciples who would go so far as to openly condemn the sect's activities.

“You’re pushing things a little too far, boy. Disrespecting an elder —and not to mention the sect as a whole— is an offence punishable by the disciplinary committee!”

Tianlan raised a brow.

“When did you become my elder?”

Elder Qian almost burst a vessel but he was held back by the third elder.

“Control yourself. This is unbecoming of an elder.”

He then turned to Tianlan.

“A word of advice, junior. You seem to be speaking of rules and regulations. This shows that you are from a relatively peaceful place. Perhaps a place ruled by a benevolent faction. But in the greater world, there is no such thing as rules and regulations. The only rule is this one: do not be weaker than your enemies. Ultimately it is one’s strength that determines what one can and can’t do. What is considered right and wrong is solely at the discretion of the strong. If the sect claims to own something, then the only ones who can refute that are those who are stronger than the sect. You are not one of them.”

The third elder didn’t try to exert force on Tianlan and merely spoke the words that he knew to be true. It was good for the young to be bold, but there was a difference between boldness and foolhardiness.

To spout nonsense about what was acceptable and what was unacceptable without the strength to back it up was no way for anyone to behave in this world. In fact, it was a smooth path to an untimely demise.

“Thank you for the advice,” replied Tianlan.

He didn’t refute the third elder’s words. After all, he wasn’t completely naïve. His experience at home had already made the fact that strength was the ultimate factor clear to him. The reason his mother was forced into such a situation was that she wasn’t strong enough to resist it. His grandfather lacked the strength to rescue his daughter. His grandmother was in a similar situation. And he himself was powerless to change his mother’s circumstances.

No one had come from the outside to help them. The Fang Clan’s rules did nothing to protect his mother who was working at one of the supposedly protected local businesses. And Wu Dong was unwilling to let her go despite knowing clearly that she didn’t want to be there. At the end of the day, the way they had been able to change things for the better was by gaining the necessary strength themselves.

All of it culminated in what Hei had once told him.

The world only becomes a better place when the strong want it to be. So as people who want the world to become a better place, we must become truly strong. Strong enough that no one can defy us. The strongest.

With that in mind, and knowing that he currently wasn’t strong enough to run rampant in the Shimmering Sword Sect, Tianlan decided to compromise.

“How about this? We can treat it as if I’ve purchased these two spirit beasts from the sect. The price can be deducted from my future merit points. If I end up failing to amass the required merit points, then the spirit beasts can be returned to the sect. Is such an arrangement acceptable?”

The third elder looked Tianlan in the eye and judging by the fact that he was able to kill a second layer minute realm spirit beast, no matter how he had done it, he felt that there was a good chance he would be able to complete the transaction. Also, he felt that this boy would make waves in the sect one day, so he decided to throw him a bone.

“It can be arranged. I’ll send someone to explain the payment schedule to you once you’ve settled down in the sect.”

“Thank you.”

***

Now that the little disturbance was out of the way, things proceeded smoothly and the time came for the end of the third trial.

“Congratulations to all of you who managed to complete the third trial. You have proven yourselves to be a cut above the rest and have all but earned your places in the Shimmering Sword Sect. All that remains to be done is to count your points and to distribute the corresponding rewards.”

The third elder stepped back and one of the other elders took his place addressing the remaining participants, which were less than half of the original group.

“Speaking of the rewards, all of you were too anxious to get started and didn’t ask about them, so I will now take the time to describe them to you in excruciating detail. Of course, for those who have earned less than 50 points, you won’t be able to become outer sect disciples, but you will be able to join the sect as workers and will have the chance to redo the third trial the next time it comes around, assuming you earn enough merit points during your time as a worker that is.”

“For those who have earned the requisite 50 points but are below the 50th rank, I’m afraid your only reward is to be granted entry into the Shimmering Sword Sect as outer sect disciples. You will be given the most basic of abodes, the cultivator cave.”

“For those who fall between the 50th and the 11th ranks, you will be given various cultivation resources according to your rank. You will also be given a dorm room equipped with qi gathering formations, which will help with your cultivation. Finally, you will be allowed to choose one third-grade cultivation technique and three third-grade sword techniques from the library. If you have no need for the cultivation technique, then you will be able to select an additional sword technique instead.”

“For those ranked between 10th and 4th inclusive, you will be given private residences with built-in qi gathering formations and a training room equipped with several practice targets. The initial targets are free of cost, but any additional targets will need to be purchased via merit points. You will all be allowed to choose one second-grade cultivation technique and three second-grade sword techniques from the library. If you have no need for the cultivation technique, then you will be able to select an additional sword technique instead.”

“And finally, for those ranked third and above. You will all be placed in the finest abodes available for outer sect disciples. They are equipped with the most powerful qi gathering formations in the outer sect. You will also get training rooms and targets, the same rules apply. Naturally, first place will receive the best of the best. You will be able to select one first-grade cultivation technique one first-grade sword technique and three second-grade sword techniques. If you have no need for the cultivation technique, then you will be able to select an additional sword technique instead. First place will be able to select an additional sword technique. Additionally, the three of you will be able to select one treasure from the treasure hall. You will go in order from 1st to 3rd.”

"A final note for those of you who rank 10th and above. The abodes you have been given are subject to competition. You have one month to make the best use out of them that you can, thereafter, other outer sect disciples will be able to challenge you for the right to your abode."

“Now, if there aren’t any questions, then let the counting of the points begin.”

After the long explanation, no one wanted to ask any questions, lest they trigger an avalanche of words.

***

“921 points. Not bad,” said the third elder.

He adjusted the formation which was displaying the scores of the participants in the air for all to see. So far, the one in first place had 921 points. That was the person who had just gotten up.

Ming Hong couldn’t help smiling when he saw this. If 921 points wasn’t bad, then there would be shockwaves when his name was called and his score was announced. His only issue was with a blue-eyed boy who was accompanied by two white wolves and had a large entourage around him.

‘From what was said earlier, that guy killed the minute realm beast. That’s 2000 points! But he apparently ate the core, so does it count? I mean, no one can verify it, can they?’

That was his concern. No matter how well he had done, just that single beast core would be enough to surpass him. And this wasn’t because he lacked the strength to challenge the stronger beasts, it was that all of those beasts quickly realised what was happening and had hidden themselves, making it difficult to find them, leaving Ming Hong with the beasts which were worth fewer points.

Fortunately, he had managed to get one at the eighth layer of the transcendent realm and got a nice boost of 800 points in one go. That, combined with his other kills had him confident in landing in the top three, if not first.

“Next. Ming Hong.”

***

‘1973? Darn it!’

Tang Zen watched as the scoreboard changed and the number-one position was taken by Ming Hong.

‘I thought my only competition was blue-eyes. Who would have thought…’

She clenched her fists.

‘Darn it!’

She wanted nothing more than to snatch the beast cores from one of the other participants, but under the watchful eyes of the various elders present, she didn’t dare to act in the safe zone.

She could only watch as that Ming Hong walked down with a goofy smile on his face.

It wasn’t long before her name was called and she went up to the third elder who had a table placed in front of him.

He held his hand out and Tang Zen gave him her bag of holding.

The third elder poured the contents out and a number of colourful spheres rolled out onto the table but were unable to roll off due to an invisible barrier that was set up around it.

He then placed his palms on the table and inserted his qi into it, causing its surface to glow orange before dimming once more.

“All of them are legitimate,” he said.

After confirming that all of the beast cores came from the third trial, the third elder counted the points and revealed his surprise when he was done.

With a chuckle, he said “1973. This doesn’t happen too often.”

On the scoreboard, next to Ming Hong’s name, Tang Zen’s own name appeared. They had scored the same number of points and had taken a joint first place.

“The reward distribution is going to be slightly difficult. Perhaps we can have them switch abodes after 2 weeks? Then there’s also the techniques… I suppose we can give them both the first-place reward. Ah, but there’s still that blue-eyed boy. Perhaps he’ll end up taking first, making things less complicated.”

The third elder realised that he was thinking out loud when he saw Tang Zen’s face darken.

“Ahem. Next. Fang Kang.”

It was one of the Fang Clan, who had all scored 50 points on the dot thus far. They were often accompanied by boos when they stepped forward.

The third elder sighed. He hadn’t seen such a ‘consistent’ performance in a long time.

***

“Next. Shao Tianlan.”

Up until this point, the top spot had yet to change, but when the crowd saw Tianlan moving forward, accompanied by two majestic snow wolves, they couldn’t help feeling that things were about to change.

The same went for the third elder, who held his hand out and received Tianlan’s bag of holding, pouring out its contents onto the table below.

Eyes full of anticipation, he watched as three pitiful little beads rolled out onto the table. They were almost sad in comparison to the bountiful harvests that had come before.

Among the crowd, the prevailing thought was that Tianlan had gone for quality over quantity. After all, he was someone who was capable of killing a minute realm beast!

All of their speculations were washed away when they heard the baffled voice of the third elder.

“Fif… Fifty points…”

“...”

After a moment, everyone understood.

It was just one of those days when the world wasn’t working properly.