Shin Sumi was standing straight, her neck arched to look right above her. From below she could see the old Patriarch and the five Masters that were behind him.

Three of them she recognized from the previous day and two were still anonymous, their faces concealed inside long dark cloaks. Curiously, Shin Sumi noted that Master Lead was nowhere to be seen.

"Brother Bronze should go first, Patriarch," said one of the cloaked figures.

"I agree, most of the credits go to him so I also would like him to go first," continued another.

The Patriarch smiled and nodded.

"According to my fellow Masters' wishes, I will pick the new disciples that will train under me," Master Bronze said respectfully, then took three steps in the air and placed himself in front of the Patriarch.

Taking his time, Master Bronze looked at each prisoner individually. Every time his eyes would land on somebody, the Sky Earth disciple would avert their gaze as if there was some kind of pressure bearing on them like a waterfall continuously pouring on their shoulders.

Master Bronze stayed silent for the better part of fifteen minutes, only smiling or grimacing slightly sometimes. He was making calculations but nobody knew what for.

"I've chosen," he finally said, breaking the silence and the invisible tension in the plaza.

Extending his hand, Master Bronze used the same technique as before to lift ten young prisoners from the platform, raising them mid-air as he himself descended to their level.

"Tell me your names," his words were sharp but somewhat kind as he spoke to them.

One after the other, all the chosen disciples spoke their names, bowing after their introduction as a good show of respect. Seemingly happy with his pick and the whole process, Master Bronze nodded and took the disciples to the edge of the platform, where the crowd quickly dispersed to let them land.

With the ten behind him, Master Bronze folded his large arms over his chest and looked back at the Patriarch, sending him an invisible signal.

"Right, I believe next should be Master Copper?" the Patriarch turned to one of the hooded figures.

***

After Master Bronze and Master Copper came the other Masters. One by one, six of them observed the prisoners and chose some of them, seemingly without any predictable pattern.

"There are only three Masters left and about a hundred prisoners. What will they do with the rest of us if we aren't picked?" asked a girl besides Shin Sumi in a low voice.

It sounded like the girl was speaking to herself, and yet it didn't stop another Sky Earth Sect prisoner to mutter "What do you think? They will probably kill us or force us to work the fields and do their dirty work like slaves."

Not all the disciples had been convinced by Ming Jian and the Patriarch's argument earlier.

As for Shin Sumi, she didn't know what to make of it. She had heard the Masters talking the day before, when the prisoners were still unconscious and stuck within the State of Sleep.

"The Patriarch's reasoning makes sense and is probably true for most of the Masters. The Blue Fire Sect is just looking for ways to strengthen themselves. But that can't be true for all of them, Master Lead especially is concerning."

So far, the young man with the old voice who was called Lead Fire had not yet to be seen.

"Fresh samples" was the expression he had used to talk about the prisoners, which could not mean anything good for the prisoners he would choose.

The Patriarch's voice once more interrupted Shin Sumi's line of thoughts.

"Where are Lead and Tin? They should be the last ones to choose.

-Oh this old one is here, Patriarch," Master Lead's voice rose from behind the crowd," but I would be happy to wait for brother Tin to pick."

As Master Lead Fire rose slowly into the air to join the Patriarch high above the plaza a strong gust of wind blew from the east, causing a lot of disciples to cry out in surprise, their robes and long hair flying wildly around them.

"Sorry for my late arrival, Patriarch. Seeing as brother Lead conveniently waited for me, I shall come next and choose the new members of Tin Peak."

Another dark cloaked figure had joined the assembly, directly rising next to the Patriarch. He was a light skinned man with golden hair, the slightest bit grey around his temples. Unlike the other Masters, his hood was undone and resting against his back.

His face was beautiful, his silhouette strong and heroic and yet his eyes were almost completely black. When his sight crossed paths with the crowd, disciples couldn't help but turn away, a strange shiver crawling down their backs.

"Hello, new members of the Blue Fire Sect, I am Master Tin. Could you please raise your hand if your cultivation level is above the second step of the Liquid Realm?"

Shin Sumi twitched slightly, as did most of the remaining disciples. Was one of the Master of the sect asking for their cultivation level?

Not that it was that strange, but a man of his power surely would be able to discern each prisoner's ability with just a glance of his divine sense.

More than half of the hundred or so disciples did as he had asked, Shin Sumi included, and raised their hands.

"Ooooh, interesting," Master Tin smiled, his black eyes squinting to the point that they became two thin black slits, "Liars."

A fair skinned hand appeared from under his long cloak, the index finger pointing out.

"Tremble!"

Master Tin spoke in a soft voice then retracted his hand. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, the confused eyes of the prisoners looking around.

"Aaaaargh!"

Piercing cries erupted in different places of the platform the prisoners were confined to. Five people, one whose hand had been raised suddenly dropped to their knees, holding their head while being torn with pain.

"I'll ask again, raise your hand if your cultivation level is above the second step of the Liquid Realm."

A wave of pure terror took over the plaza. A single drop of time during which both the onlookers and the prisoners held their breath, their soul trembling with fear.

In unison, hands were raised, not one disciple trying to escape like before. The plaza was silent, except for the five prisoners who were still being tortured in place, crying and moaning.

"No no no, that won't do at all, brother Tin. You see, this is why I waited until the end to pick new disciples," Master Lead shook his head to the side.

"You five, get up. You'll be with me."

With a swift hand motion, Master Lead instantly broke the technique that had tortured the poor lying disciples before transporting them to the side of the plaza.

"Sorry for the interruption, you go on with your pick, Tin."

"Heh, alright. Now raise your other hand if you are below the age of twenty-five. And remember, don't lie to me."

As if any prisoner would dare lie now.

Why did they lie in the first place? Shin Sumi didn't understand. Like all the other prisoners they should have realized that there was no point in lying, especially for such an arbitrary rule. Something was going on with this peculiar Master Tin.

"Now who has had experience in divination?"

Breathing out slowly, Shin Sumi retracted her hand, as did most of the other cultivators on display. She couldn't help but be relieved even though it only meant more chances for Master Lead to pick her with the others.

"How disgraceful. Only five of you have ever delved into the brilliant art of divination?! You're worth less than a heap of garbage, I should smite you before you can tarnish the Blue Fire Sect's reputa-

-Stop it, Tin."

Master Lead had instantly moved in front of Master Tin, his hands raised in front of him and a dangerous light flickering in his eyes. Down below among the prisoners, half a dozen blue light bubbles had formed. In each protective barrier was a disciple.

The bubbles burst almost immediately, but they had existed long enough for the disciples within to realize that they had been the target of Master Tin's anger.

Right as the barrier around her exploded, Shin Sumi's heart skipped a beat.

"I... I was about to get struck...! Had Master Lead not protected me, I would be on the ground crying in pain," Shin Sumi knew, just like the other prisoners.

"These ones go with me as well," Master Lead announced loudly to everybody around before turning and speaking in a low voice, "What the hell are you doing Tin? I think it's time you should leave."

Besides them, the Patriarch remained silent. Like a father watching his children play, he only looked slightly amused, not at all preoccupied by the turn their games had taken. Only the best observers could have seen his hand ready for action stop and go back in his sleeve furtively.

"Fine. Come with me to Tin Peak, kids!" Master Tin dropped to the ground in a strong gust of wind, his hand motioning to the five whose hands were still raised in confusion.

Without waiting for them to move, he started walking through the crowd separating for him. Now that he wasn't about to smite anyone, Master Tin looked like a beautiful heroic figure once again.

However, for Shin Sumi, Master Tin was already far away. In front of her laid a much more important truth. Because of the golden haired Master's antics, she had been picked by Master Lead.

"You're so lucky," a girl's voice spoke softly next to Shin Sumi. It was another girl, one who had dropped her hand earlier in the Master's pick. "Master Lead seems to care at least. For the rest of us I don't know what will happen. Who is the last Master?"

Shin Sumi had been accepted by Master Lead. The one Master who seemed nice and compassionate to the disciples. But Shin Sumi knew that it was just a cover.

She had heard him talk before, when the prisoners were not aware. Master Lead certainly wasn't who he pretended to be.

With a gentle floating motion, Shin Sumi and the others were transported to the side of the platform, where Master Lead stood, a smile on his lips. From up close, he looked to be thirty or less, his skin tight and his muscle outline well defined. Around his dark green eyes were small wrinkles, the kind you get from smiling, although to Shin Sumi it was more troubling than reassuring.

He was smaller than Shin Sumi had assumed, only about as tall as she was. Dropping gently behind him, Shin Sumi watched his hand wave nonchalantly while he spoke. His voice was that of an old man but his face was younger than some of the disciples in the crowd around.

"We will be on our way to your new homes soon but for now we will watch the end of the draft."

By the end of Master Lead's sentence, the Patriarch had started to speak to the entire assembly again.

"The ninth and last Master to pick is Master Cobalt, however he has yet to return from the Sky Earth Sect with his troops. Core disciples of the Blue Fire Sect, because of that you will be given the rare opportunity to win one of the new disciples, of which you will become the master and teacher. To participate you need to be stronger than the new disciple by at least two steps, that is the only rule. Auctioneer Jun Wan, if you will."

A young man so thin that his skeleton could be seen through his skin bowed deeply and stepped from the crowd onto the platform. He looked shy and weak, having to block the sun with his hand flat against his forehead, but Shin Sumi soon realized that his strength didn't lie in his muscles but in something else.

"Listen-up-fellow-disciples. I'm-Jun-Wan-and-I-will-be-in-charge-of-this-special-auction."

!!!

He talked so fast that it took Shin Sumi a full second to understand him, and a few more to adjust to what he was saying.

"...can visit us at the Fifth District auction house. This auction, however, is the only opportunity for you to gain a student, something that normally a disciple wouldn't have the chance of. Esteemed Patriarch, if you would like to choose the auctionee."

Without any further thought, the Patriarch lifted a finger, sending one of the remaining prisoners floating in the air for everyone to see.

"Ah, a male disciple, twenty three years old, with a cultivation base of the fourth step," Jun Wan commented, presenting the 'product', adding in a low voice, "A female would have raised much higher prices but fine.

The auction will begin at the price of thirty normal grade spirit stones, remember you can only participate if you are at least in the Liquid Realm's sixth step."

"Thirty five normal grades," the first bid was called by a male disciple in the middle of the crowd.

"Thirty seven!"

"Forty spirit stones!"

***

"Hmmm, I knew it would come to that, I'm glad I've stayed to watch this. Well at least it's not a girl that is being auctioned," grumbled Master Lead, surprising Shin Sumi and the others behind him.

As new recruits under this strange Master, none of the ex-prisoners dared to say anything.

Just as if he was answering their questions, Master Lead turned to face them and continued, "the auction has already reached five hundred normal grade spirit stones. That is a fortune to any disciple, even the wealthiest heirs of large cultivation clans. That kid Jun Wan is terrifyingly good at this, he makes you want to bid everything you have for any product of his auctions.

Only this is a cultivator he is selling on behalf of the sect. What do you think might happen when the disciple who bought him takes him as a student and is faced with all the trouble that comes with it?"

Shin Sumi understood what Master Lead meant, agreeing with him reluctantly, still not trusting him at all.

For such a hefty price, any resentment from the master would turn to hatred towards the student.

"I will go and make the buyer an offer to take the disciple from him later. He will join us in about a month's time I reckon. See the leaf insignia on the robes of the last two still raising prices? They are alchemy disciples of Aluminium Peak."

As the auction slowed down and finally came to a stop at a price of seven hundred and fifty five normal grade spirit stones, Shin Sumi and the others next to her found themselves listening to Master Lead's insightful remarks concerning the Blue Fire Sect, the different peaks and the Common Area of the sect.

Each peak was under the supervision of a certain Master and represented a different branch of cultivation, much like the Pavilions of the Dark Sky Starry Sect. Only the ninth mountain was different, as it was part of the Common Area, controlled by Master Cobalt.

This was the area where most of the common disciples lived, but also where all the amenities of the sect were located. Farms, markets, residences, resources halls, most were located in one of the districts of the Common Area.

Everything that was not part of a specific peak was under Master Cobalt's jurisdiction who dealt with law enforcement within the sect as well as organize the sect's army, which was why Master Cobalt had yet to come back from the Sky Earth Sect with the foot soldiers that had lead the assault on the other sect two days before.

"-and this is the sixth district, right below Lead Peak," Master Lead finished softly. He didn't seem like it at first glance but Shin Sumi had quickly realized that he liked to talk abundantly.

Smiling, the Master waved at a small group of young disciples cultivating on the side of the path at the foot of the mountain. With respect, the disciples bowed in return.

Watching the eyes of the people they crossed paths with, Shin Sumi slowly got more and more confused. Without a trace of fear or the slightest anxiety, the disciples looked peaceful and in admiration for their master.

Contrarily, the first image of Master Lead had been similar to a leech in Shin Sumi's head. Also similar to Elder Zhu, in a way.

As soon as the five hundred prisoners had been transported into the territory of the Blue Fire Sect, Master Lead had jumped to action and exposed his plan of taking some of them for himself as 'fresh samples'.

Since nobody else but Shin Sumi was aware of the situation, she had believed from the start that this was his true nature and that he was probably the one Master to be avoided at all costs.

Shin Sumi shuddered, the thought of an even stronger version of Elder Zhu so repulsive that her face went pale.

However it was clear for all to see that Master Lead had protected the disciples assaulted by Master Tin. Twice in fact, when the other Masters and the Patriarch himself had not batted an eye.

Moreover, ever since she had been picked by the Master to become his disciple, Shin Sumi had seen or heard nothing but pleasantries from him, a harsh word never leaving his lips.

"Was my first impression wrong or is there a bigger scheme behind all of this? Maybe this is the biggest trap of them all and I am walking right into it..."

But no matter how much Shin Sumi could think and plan, for now she had absolutely no choice but to follow, remain silent and hope for the best.

"At least I still have Nuan with the Bell, the Void Sword, Sky Deception and all the important things," she comforted herself, "alone in the biggest sect of the continent with no ally, no knowledge of the area and surrounded by people stronger than me."