Disciple Selection
The academy was massive. Many immortal masters were going about their day. Perhaps calling it a post house wouldn’t be an exaggeration. The people the children passed by would scrutinise them and point. Some of them cackled, scoffing at the “failures”.
“I said Useless Village can’t produce anything but useless people, didn’t I?”
Mu Yu looked up to see Xiaohu blocking the path. What would a future superstar want with a disciple at the bottom of the rung, wondered onlookers.
Annoyed, Mu Yu demanded, “Move.”
“Scary! Not. Know your place,” brayed Xiaohu, shoving Mu Yu back.
Mu Yu found his balance after a small step back. “What do you want?”
“I was told you lot were our servants. Is that any way for a servant to behave?”
“Don’t push it.” Mu Yu attempted to walk past, only for Xiaohu to stop him again.
“Is something the matter, Young Master?” asked Deacon Xun, hurrying over and smiling.
“You’re these servants’ superior servant, right?” asked Xiaohu.
Elder Xu, indeed, was assigned a grey token in the past. Like the children, he stayed at the academy in hopes of eventually being recruited. The reason he was still there at his old age was self-explanatory. The highest he could climb was to the post of the school’s general manager. The only reason said servants could put up with living their lives subservient to immortal masters was because they were considered higher on the hierarchy compared to ordinary folks. Once they left the academy, they were just another face in the crowd.
“Yes, I am, Young Master.”
“Okay, make him admit he’s useless, and I’ll spare him.”
“Didn’t know your bed time was so early.” Mu Yu looked away.
“We cannot actually do that as it is against the rules, Young Master. He is new to the academy and is not under anyone’s jurisdiction yet. Before he turns sixteen, he is not obligated to serve any immortal master,” General Manager Xun explained.
“Tch! You’re over sixteen, so you have to follow my orders, correct?”
“Please feel free to name your request, Young Master.”
“Make him admit he’s useless.”
General Manager Xun glanced over to Mu Yu then shook his head. “I cannot do that. Before he turns sixteen, he is not useless.”
The children in the grey token group were glad and grateful to see General Manager Xun would shield them. At the very least, he was one person who wouldn’t bully them and wouldn’t let them suffer injustices. In reality, he had no obligation to protect them due to their shortcoming. That being said, if he allowed the disciples at the academy to be thrown around, nobody would want to stay on to become a victim.
“If that’s how you want to play, you call yourself useless on his behalf,” demanded Xiaohu, gaining courage from the smiles on him.
Although it was obvious Xiaohu was trying to make a statement, General Manager Xun had to figuratively bow his head. General Manager Xun took in a big breath and announced, “I am us-”
“General Manager Xun, you need not say anything. Xiaohu or whatever your face is, who are you to be calling people useless? Everyone here is capable of cultivating. You haven’t even started, yet your ego is bigger than you. What are you even smug about? Try again four years later!”
Noticing the laughing reactions, Xiaohu was livid but suppressed his urge to shove Mu Yu to the ground. He wanted to put on airs, after all. “Are you challenging me?”
“I agree with him. You shouldn’t start throwing your weight around before you even begin cultivating,” affably opined an elder, leisurely walking over.
The elder was the same individual Mu Yu saw by the grey stone.
Xiaohu: “Okay, servant, and who are you?”
“Xiaohu, shut it!” Bai Lang hurried over and saluted the elder. “Bai Lang would like to apologise on behalf of the child, Patriarch Feng. I will be sure to discipline him later.”
Nobody expected a patriarch to speak up for a grey token disciple who the former had never met before.
Mu Yu: Which sect was he from again?
“Don’t worry about it. Right now, it’s a question of potential. The future, however, is a question of character,” stated the elder, with a smile.
Hands behind his back, the elder left but gave Mu Yu a wink when he passed the boy, rendering the boy puzzled.
“You are to start your training from etiquette. Green Pine Sect will not tolerate tyrannical disciples,” Bai Lang said to Xiaohu before leaving together.
“Isn’t Patriarch Feng Dustfallen Sect’s patriarch?”
“He is. Nobody cares about them, though.”
“Hey, put a sock in it. Neither you nor I am in any position to be ridiculing a patriarch’s skill.”
“By the way, did they still not recruit any new disciples this year?”
“You make it sound as if they ever did.”
Mu Yu couldn’t make heads of tails of the conversation he heard. He only remembered two of the twenty odd sects, namely Green Pine Sect, the top sect, and dead last Dustfallen Sect nobody wanted to be part of.
Mu Yu: They don’t recruit disciples, or does nobody want to join them? What’s the point of having a school if you’re not going to take in disciples? What in the world?
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