Tarrah walked with me back to the quarters I'd been assigned grumbling the entire time. I found her complaints both amusing and distressing. She seemed more upset about the attack than I was. I was more impressed with the efficacy of the healing I'd just undergone. The setting of my nose had used primitive techniques compared to the medical advances I was used too, but that healing pill had worked wonders. It had not only increased the healing speed of bones, but it had completely removed any lingering pain I had. I was hard-pressed to believe that I had been injured so badly that I had passed out, based on how well I felt now.

I chalked Tarrah's anger and concern and my indifference to the same variable. Knowledge. She had it and I didn't. She knew the parties involved, and who was protecting them. I only knew a bit of information about Braun, and the only thing I was certain of was he was an entitled prick and an idiot.

And apparently, he wasn't kidding when he was bragging about his clout. I hoped Tarrah would be willing to fill in more details, explain the conversation between her and the Elder would help me understand the politics of the Sect. There had to be a reason Braun got away with what he did. Granted Elder Shadow hadn't seemed concerned about his connections, he had fined him and stripped him of contribution points.

And that action had not been without consequence, it had only placed an even larger target on my back. Braun was already going to repay me for my contribution to the events in the shop, but Elder Shadow's actions had only increased the enmity that existed between us, and Braun's anger and indignation had rebounded on me.

Braun and his brother couldn't intimidate the Elder, or target him for an attack, so they had targeted me. My spirit roots and dual affinities might be valued, and if I became a proficient Alchemist, that value would increase. But at the moment I was an unknown quantity, and whoever Braun was depending on for protection could take advantage of the disparity between our stations.

The hints I'd gathered from the conversation between Tarrah and Elder Wol and the fact that I would have thought Braun would have been kicked out of the Sect for the theft scheme or attacking another Sect member-only demonstrated how connected his backer must be.

"How is Braun able to get away with attacking another Sect member, a sneak attack when that member's back is turned?" I finally asked Tarrah when we had entered the safety of my new home, my curiosity no longer able to be contained.

"It's complicated," Tarrah admitted. "His actions are ignored by most Sect Elders. Elder Shadow being one of the exceptions. The reason is pretty straightforward, Braun and his family can trace their lineage back to the founding of Flowing Water Sect. Not as side branch family members, but part of the mainline. Braun is a great-grandson, with a few more greats tossed in there, of the founder of this Sect.

"That relationship has allowed him and his family to skirt the rules. That and the fact that they have all been uniformly powerful and gifted cultivators. Of the last six Sect Patriarch's, half have been part of that family. And every generation has managed to produce a scion with at least Platinum level spirit roots. They have been adept at breakthroughs and ascending the Realms."

"There has not been a family member that didn't reach at least the Profound Immortal stage, and there have been two that reached Immortal Venerable. You have to understand how rare it is for a cultivator to reach that rank. One in a Million might breakthrough. And of the two that did. One is very close to ascending to the next level. Gaining the insight required to move into the Realms that are Celestial, or God tiered.

"Braun has Platinum Spirit Roots too?" I asked surprised.

"No. Despite the advantages he had, and the special diet his family could afford, his Spirit Roots are Tin level. A respectable even enviable level for most people. A mark of shame for him and his family.

"I think it is why he acts as he does. Trying to find a way to measure up to the high expectations his family places on their members," she suggested.

"How was Elder Shadow allowed to administer discipline if they are immune and exempt from Sect rules?"

"Elder Shadow is a force of nature. He has reached the same realm as the Patriarch, Profound Immortal, and did so at a much younger age. Hundreds of years younger. The chances of him attaining Immortal Venerable rank and ascending beyond into the Celestial realms are so probable that no one is willing to risk his memory," she explained. "They fear the consequences and repercussions when he does reach the Immortal Venerable stage.

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"That is if he waits that long. He's powerful enough now to enforce his will," She offered. "Honestly, I doubt the Patriarch could restrain him even now. Elder Cix would probably need to intervene if a conflict between those two broke out."

"Elder Cix?" I responded with surprise. "The Elder in charge of the library?"

"Don't be fooled because he is in charge of the library. He is a former Patriarch, stepping down and allowing Patriarch Amaya to assume the role. He has reached the perfected level, High-tier of the Profound Immortal Realm.

"Some think he hasn't broken through to Immortal Venerable because he has chosen not to, not because he can't or isn't powerful enough. There are jade slips that recorded his duel with an Immortal Venerable that he won handily. So even Braun's family treads lightly around him. He so seldom voices an opinion or demand that when he does, it is immediately agreed on."

"So, what do I do now?" I demanded. "Stay isolated in this room? If Braun and his brother can attack me at will, then the Sect has nothing to offer me. I'd be better off leaving now and trying to get into another Sect. Even if I have to enter a lesser Sect, at least I'd live long enough to have a chance to protect myself."

"You know you can't do that," she warned me. "It may have been possible before you received a cultivation technique from the library, but now that you have, you are a member of Flowing Water Sect.

"You could become a wandering cultivator, but even in that capacity, you would still be considered part of Flowing Water.

"Braun and his brother have been restricted, their movements requiring impartial observers to keep tabs on them. It a huge expense that their family is willing to endure to make sure that the older brother, at least, remains safely a member. He does have Platinum Spirit Roots," she warned.

"They won't be able to access missions for three months, and Master Elder Tye was so furious that a potential disciple of his was attacked that he barred them from Alchemy Hall. That means they will have to pay full price for whatever pills they require from outside merchants, or they would if their father wasn't just going to supply them in opposition to the ban.

"These restrictions will last a year, I'd expect them to rank up by three or four stages in that time," Tarrah warned. "But it gives you a buffer, some time to improve and become proficient in your cultivation technique and learn some martial and Dharmic skills that will give you the tools you need to fight back.

"So, in that year, I what? Race against time to get as powerful as I can so that I can identify what Dharmic spells or Martial arts they use when they attack me?" I suggested aggressively. "Is there really enough time for me to gain enough skills to have a chance of winning?"

"Master Tye was not happy when he found out you had been attacked from behind and were so seriously hurt. You haven't asked how long you were recovering, but there was a significant period when you were kept unconscious while the pills and healing arrays worked.

"During that time Master Tye convened a quorum and forced Elder An, Braun's father hand. Master argued that Elder An's children had become uncontrollable. That they treated the Sect as their own fiefdom and treated other members as lackeys and insignificant.

"That might have come to nothing if Master hadn't threatened to leave the Sect. His abilities as a Grandmaster Pill alchemist are a large part of what has allowed Flowing Water to thrive. If Patriarch Amaya and Elder Shadow maintain control because of their realms, Master Tye might be considered powerful because of his financial contributions to the Sect. His pills, both those he crafts and those from the Alchemical Hall that he controls account for almost twenty percent of the money collected by the Sect annually.

"The Elders knew that Master had high expectations for you because of you Spirit root, dual affinities, and Ruby matrix. Elder An was forced to agree to award you a high-level movement technique, martial technique, and advanced Dharmic spell-book. He has also paid the fine levied against his sons. They lost another thousand points of contribution points.

"If you use those contribution points wisely, as well as choose techniques that will play to your strengths, your Cultivation realm will sky-rocket. It was the best Master could do for you, but it gives you a chance to build the best foundation possible.

"Take advantage of it. Spend the next year training and perfecting pill creation, and evaluate your progress after that year," she suggested. "Wait until the year is up to make any decisions, and if you haven't broken through to high-tier of Body Cultivation realm consider becoming a wandering cultivator."

Her suggestion had merit. The resources that I could draw on in a year's time were much more than any new Sect member could dream of. If I were frugal and only spent contribution points on items that would advance my cultivation, ignoring those things that were geared toward luxury or convenience, then I would have a major head start in a year, even if I decided that leaving Flowing Water and branching out on my own was necessary.

Plus, my family lived here. If I couldn't get stronger in a year, strong enough to give Braun and his brother pause, I feared they might target my parents, especially if I wasn't around for them to vent their anger and frustration on.

If I was going to search out a new opportunity in a year, I needed to do so from a place of strength, with enough funds that would allow my parents and siblings to immigrate with me. They could always set up a new business somewhere else. It was better to start over than to have everything destroyed by cultivators too powerful to resist.

Perhaps my pill formation abilities would be stable enough for me to supply them with inventory to include for sale, a way to increase the funds they would have available if they needed to move to a new location.

It wasn't ideal, the situation I found myself in. But I would work with what I had. And hopefully, I would finally learn to keep my mouth shut. I doubted it. It was going to take more than two lives to break that habit.