Academy Rules
General Manager Xun finally arranged rooms for the children. Seeing them reminded him of himself. He lamented they might become another him or choose to leave. Either way, he was determined to protect them, citing a child’s childhood needed to be protected, lest their entire life be ruined. He scrubbed one of the children’s head. “You have four years. After four years, you’ll either have to leave and return to life as a commoner or become one of us, waiting and praying to be chosen. You must cherish the time you have.”
Mu Yu inquired, “Deacon Xu, has a sect ever chosen any of the replacement disciples before?”
General Manager Xun nodded. “Yes, but seldom. They practiced a commendable work ethic to catch the attention of sects. It’s important to note you might not be chosen four years later but many years later. It’s a combination of luck and your own efforts. Don’t ever look down on yourself because you may be a servant. A sect elder’s servant is held in the same regard as standard disciples, and they will also have the privilege of learning various skills.”
The children understood chances were to be cherished and hoped their efforts would bear fruit. Mu Yu didn’t get his hopes up. After all, if it was easy, there wouldn’t be so many grey-rank disciples.
Seeing General Manager Xun turn to Mu Yu went after the former. General Manager Xun patiently asked the polite boy, “What’s the matter?”
“Why have you not left when the immortal masters order you around?”
“Leave? It’s not as easy as packing and leaving. As I was saying, people cling to the hope of becoming a cultivator and believe they will succeed. Needless to say, countless people toil all their life for nothing. Besides that, they don’t want to leave in embarrassment. I came here with Daoist Qingsong. A sect chose him, and he later went on to establish his own school. Meanwhile, I have to bow my head to his disciples. I certainly don’t want to; however, the academy has its own set of rules. I want to leave so bad I dream of it. If you choose to stay when you turn sixteen, you will be the academy’s slave for your entire life. There are only two ways you can leave: the first is a sect elder chooses you. The second is death,” General Manager Xun recounted with a melancholic look.
The fact that General Manager Xun and Daoist Qingsong were the same age was news. One was put on a pedestal, while the other cleaned the pedestal. The potentially cruel fate and tragic example before him had Mu Yu’s cogs turning. Mu Yu, an outlier, was the type to leave because he couldn’t care less about acquiring a title whilst serving as a slave. It wasn’t as if becoming an immortal master was the only measure of success. At the end of the day, the chances of being chosen were slimmer than slim.
“You’re quite the nice kid, so I want to stress that you should leave if you can’t cultivate after four years. It’s not just you I’m saying this to; I’ll give the same advice to anyone in your position. The academy has never been short on hands due to the number of people who insist on staying. Look at me. What did I get out of persisting?”
For whatever reason, Mu Yu’s simple question stirred General Manager Xun emotionally and brought back past bitter memories. Perhaps it was because nobody ever asked him why he didn’t leave. People around deemed him a respectable immortal master when, in reality, he was the lowest of the lowest in terms of level.
“If I ever manage to become become a cultivator, I promise to help you leave this place,” solemnly asserted Mu Yu, grateful to General Manager Xun for protecting him during the verbal tirade with Xiaohu and understanding the elder had a limit to what he could do as a consequence of a previous decision.
“If there comes a day this old one can leave this place, he would be happy even if he was to be your servant. It’s better to serve a kind master than to have so many people bossing you around,” General Manager Xun replied with a smile.
Mu Yu beamed. “I will not bully you – promise.”
“Go rest now. Whatever the may future hold, start dedicating yourself to your studies from tomorrow.”
Children were the only ones who could comfort adults. The older one grew, the more annoying one was with their choice of words. General Manager Xun wasn’t trying to pressure Mu Yu or anything of the sort; it was innocent encouragement. He, however, didn’t inform Mu Yu the disciples assigned grey tokens had less than a one in ten chance of succeeding. Truthfully, he didn’t hold high hopes for Mu Yu despite the latter’s assiduous nature owing to the boy’s lack of inherent talent.
Mu Yu, curious what his true potential was, sneaked out when everyone was sound asleep.
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