Ninth Gate
“He gave up?” remarked the middle-aged man, baffled, to say the least.
It was within reason for sects to conduct background checks into outstanding disciples of one’s sect and other sects. Standing out would subject Mu Yu to such stringent checks. As a Heaven Stage disciple, however, he could justify a modest cultivation and wouldn’t be interesting enough to warrant checks, thereby increasing his chances of joining Formation Sect and remaining out of the limelight. In Formation Sect’s case, entering their forbidden zone required one to pass rigorous checks.
Mu Yu had no clue three people were already aware of what he had accomplished in the short span of time.
Fan Wen asked, “Senior Brother Zhan, can you help me? I affronted him before. The elders will hold him in higher regard. I am going to be doomed. Could you hide the fact that he chose Life After Death for my sake?”
“You want me to lie?”
“Well, only the two of us know he solved the eighth hexagram, so Patriarch won’t find out. They will only think he solved four hexagrams. If you help me, I will give you the thousand year aerolite formation foundation to you.”
Fan Wen saved his aerolite to cast a perfect formation for his future test to upgrade to Heaven Stage. Every disciple had a chance to advance their ranking once per year at the annual examinations. The test simply required them to cast a formation and have an elder score them.
“… Fine. I’ll pretend he’s just an ordinary Heaven Stage disciple.”
The two entered the formation Mu Yu was in. Smiling, Zhan Bing courteously asked, “Congratulations on becoming our new fellow disciple. May I ask for your name, Junior Brother?”
“Thank you, Senior Brother.” Mu Yu bobbed his head.
“Why did you choose to pull out after solving four hexagrams if I may ask, Brother Feng Mu?” Fan Wen inquired.
“I don’t know why but that last one exhausted me. I do not have the energy to continue, sadly.”
“As one of our new Heaven Stage disciples, please follow me to report in,” Fan Wen enthusiastically instructed.
The middle-aged man in the forbidden zone had something on his mind but shut his eyes and returned to his quiet endeavour.
Heaven Stage disciples were assigned one room per two people. Greater Heaven Stage disciples shared one room between five to six people. Mu Yu’s roommate was Cheng Zhuo, a Primordial Infant Realm cultivator who was several years older than Mu Yu and had studied there for five years already.
“Feng Mu, how many hexagrams did you solve?” Cheng Zhuo asked.
“Four,” Mu Yu dismissively answered.
“Me, too, man. There are ranks within Heaven Stage disciples, but I suppose you’re not surprised. The guys who solved five hexagrams are superior to us. There are some rules you need to bear in mind as a disciple. Don’t ever get on Luo Feilong and Ji Wenkai’s bad sides. They’re the tyrants in our rank and archenemies. They’re always going at each other’s necks under the table. Both of them are fairly matched in terms of cultivation and formation proficiency. I can guarantee they’ll pay you a visit.”
“What for?”
“Recruitment for their factions! The two of them won’t stop fighting just to become Greater Heaven Stag disciples. They hound every new disciple to join their ranks.”
Mu Yu shook his head, brushing it off as absurd.
“You best choose a side, man. Neither of them are people you would want to befriend, but if you’re in no-man’s land, you’ll be ostracised.”
“Which side are you with?”
“Luo Feilong, since he charges less for his ‘protection fee’,” replied Cheng Zhuo, smiling helplessly.
“They charge protection fees? I didn’t know we trained thugs here.”
“It’s self-explanatory, but in case you don’t know, they’ll back you up once you pay the fee, and you’ll have an easier time procuring learning resources. Luo Feilong charges a monthly fee of five spirit stones. Ji Wenkai demands six. Ji Wenkai is a Primordial Infant Realm Ninth Layer cultivator, while Luo Feilong is a layer behind. On the flipside, Luo Feilong’s proficiency with formations is superior.”
Lectures were in the morning. Afternoons were free time, which was commonly used for training cultivation or formations. When Xiaoshuai heard where Heaven Stage disciples ate, he ran off to the dining hall.
“Mm, I heard Ancestor Chen Tiandao is a legendary figure. Could you tell me more about him?”
“Ancestor Chen Tiandao is our main pillar – for lack of better word. I assume you’ve already heard about that. He usually spends his time at the forbidden zone, which is strictly out of bounds except for those who’ve made significant contributions to the sect or Greater Heaven Stage disciples. As disciples of Formation Sect, we all hope to earn the right to enter.”
Of those two conditions, the only one Mu Yu could meet was contributing. Hence, he asked, “What’s considered a ‘significant’ contribution?”
“Finding some ancient treasure and giving it to Patriarch, saving the sect from dire straits and so forth. I guess that’s hogwash since the sect won’t ever face a crisis. Another way is to beat Talisman Sect’s disciples.” Cheng Zhuo’s dislike for Talisman Sect leaked into his tone.
“Talisman Sect?”
“You can say that we’re archenemies. Our original name was Formation Talisman Sect. I assume you know about the eight great sects. There used to be nine sects directly under Third Heaven Palace’s jurisdiction, the ninth being Formation Talisman Sect.”
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