The trip back to Flowing Water was filled with both elation and despair. I was concerned for a few moments, worried that the two members of Braun's faction that scored well enough to win a place in Four Elements would continue to harass me. But that worry didn't last long when I realized that without the backing of Elder An and his faction, they would lose the protection that had encouraged their actions.

Without those protections, I doubted they would be brave enough to risk a duel. Transferring to a new Sect came with certain perks, one of which was the ability to cry challenge. Flowing Water Sect only allowed that option between Inner Sect members, those of us that had been languishing as Outer Sect members were not able to use that method to reply to insult.

Flowing Water's Sect Patriarch Amaya had announced the Outer Sect member's internal ranking based on how well each member had done during the competition. That, I realized, was the underlying cause of despair. This tournament was the basis the Sect would use to offer Inner Sect membership, there had been ten positions available, and with the three of us that ranked the highest leaving to join Four Elements, that should have opened up three spots.

The Patriarch had amended that offer to seven, refusing to reward the positions that Leon, Jinli, and I had earned to anyone else. Elder An was seething over the decision, while Braun had topped the truncated list, the Patriarch still only awarded him a fourth-place win.

She refused to award him the number one spot and the commensurate rewards the winner would have earned. Prizes that were mine by right, but that I had forfeited with my decision to change Sects.

For the rest that whose efforts during the tournament hadn't allowed them to rank high enough to reach the top ten, they would remain Outer Sect members, each having one more chance at advancement unless this had been their second attempt.

Flowing Waters gave each member two chances at promotion, if you weren't able to rank within the top ten during the yearly competition on either attempt, you would remain an Outer Sect member your chances of advancement all but over. It would take a fortuitous event, or a major advancement in their Realm for the Sect to reconsider their position.

Niake's attitude was the most interesting. She had not ranked high enough to gain Inner member status, and the pain of that loss was evident. But each time I found her looking at me, that pain was nuanced, I detected emotions that seemed more about regret and envy.

I had seen her look at me with regret before. She had forsaken our budding friendship for the protection and perks gained while being one of Braun's followers. Those perks hadn't amounted to much. In fact, they had panned out to be worthless. She had gotten better missions, those that earned better contribution points, but they had come at a cost. She could only complete those missions with a group, and it was easy to understand how the points would be split once each task was completed.

She would have been better off doing solo missions, keeping the rewards for herself. The contribution points she might have earned on her own would have allowed her to buy pills, weapons, and armor. All of which she was lacking for this tournament. She had been forced to fight with secondhand equipment, gear that Elder An's faction had issued to her. Any pills she might have accumulated would have been of the lowest quality containing the highest impurities.

She had spent a year forced into virtual servitude and had earned nothing but that protection she had chosen over friendship. She had to know, whenever she spared the occasional glance my way, that things would have been drastically different had she remained my friend. My abilities at alchemy alone would have been enough to garner her a much better tier of pill.

Her betrayal had been a great boon for me in the end. It had left me isolated and focused, determined to advance my cultivation and my secondary profession without distraction. I had to admit that in some way my success was due to her decision and Braun's vendetta. They had been the fulcrum that motivated my drive to succeed.

"Jay?" Leon said trying to get my attention.

I had noticed that he and Jinli had already begun distancing themselves from Braun as soon as we left Dragon Spire. They had found a space closer to me before Patriarch Amaya had created the Qi field that would transport us back to Flowing Water. Braun had noticed too, and he had not been happy.

I didn't think there was anything left he could do to any of us, but he was snake enough to make the attempt. We were part of the Four Element Sect now, wearing the Uniform, the Sect token resonating with our Qi signature. Any influence that Elder An might have exerted was greatly tempered by our new affiliation. It didn't matter who his family was, or how powerful his sister is, to meddle in the affairs of another Sect's members would have consequences. To meddle in the affairs of a high-tier Sect would see him challenged, his sister unable to protect him.

And Four Elements would be designated high-tier. The Emperor had announced at the end of the reward ceremony that Four Elements would have the resources and personnel to be categorized as a high-tier Sect and that two members of the royal family would become members. That announcement alone was enough to clip Elder An's machinations, he didn't dare to pit himself against a Sect powerful enough to include the royal family.

"Do you know why Elder Shadow didn't join us?" He wondered.

I understood why he was concerned as I watched him scan the sky nervously. It made sense, Elder Shadow had been instrumental in defending against attacks as we'd traveled to Dragon Spire, without his presence the group was going to be forced to rely on people like Elder An.

They were no longer spouting the party line or fooling themselves; they knew Elder An was a sub-standard cultivator. A man of entitlement, not hard work. If we had to rely on him for defense, someone would die, and they knew as well as I did that the people Elder An would sacrifice to any beast attack would be one of the three of us.

His actions would be above reproach if any investigation was done after the fact, but an attack by wild monsters would allow Elder An to get rid of three of us while keeping his hands clean. It was the only move he had left before we were completely beyond his reach.

"Elder Shadow has been installed as the new Head of Training Hall for Four Elements," I explained. "He didn't say, but I would guess he had to have known about this for some time. I doubt he left anything behind that he would need to return and claim."

"If he's already headed to the new Sect, why didn't we go with him?" Leon wondered.

"Preparedness, probably," Jinli answered thoughtfully.

This was the first time either man had included me in a conversation, other than a taunt or insult. It was strange realizing even from these few words that they were emerging from their own form of isolation.

Leon seemed the braver of the two, while Jinli's was more insightful. His thoughtful response to Leon proof that he understood the currents of intrigue and factional politics that he had just escaped from. His words made me wonder how exactly he had fallen within Braun's orbit if he was as insightful as he appeared to be.

"The Sect has just finished undergoing construction," he continued, "that is probably why we were given a departure date a week from now. It gives staff and servants a chance to furnish and unpack before we arrive.

"The Patriarch, Elders, Disciples, and staff will need to do any last-minute preparations while moving in themselves. Could you imagine the confusion if a thousand inner and outer sect members showed up at the same time?" He wondered.

"Exactly," I said nodding in agreement, "it makes sense that they will try to contain the chaos this move will entail. You have to remember they will need to stock resources, take an inventory of supplies, and make sure any last-minute adjustments to formations and arrays are completed.

"Allowing Sect members to arrive in stages makes sense."

"It's still going to be a mess," Jinli chuckled. "Imagine all the logistic problems that are going to happen. People getting wrong housing assignments, token communication arrays failing as the master's work out the bugs."

"It should be fun," I agreed, smiling to myself in anticipation.

"Fun?" Leon choked in disbelief.

"Of course," I replied. "We are starting an adventure. We get to do what no one has done for who knows how long?

"Just think," I ruminated, "when was the last time a new Sect was formed?

"And we get to be a part of that. We will become the generation that molded the culture Four Elements will evolve into," I gushed.

"If you live," Braun sneered no longer able to ignore our conversation. His bitterness was every bit as evident as Niake's regret. But this time, his words weren't targeted at a lonely, isolated Outer Sect member.

He may have forgotten that we were no longer his to torment, but his father hadn't. The blow to the back of his head by Elder An, done publically, was the only gift from Elder An I was ever to receive.