In a slight trance Alex walked between the tents staring at the people who were diligently practicing. They all were grownups! Men with beards and women with all the right parts fully developed! How were they participants?! Wasn’t the age limit fifteen?

‘No! I wasn’t cocky! I simply did not care!’ Alex finally realized the reason and laughed to himself. The amusing enlightenment instantly dispelled the unpleasant emotional state he previously had.

With all the lives coming and going he had long stopped paying attention to the age of the others. To him most people were youths no matter their age, thus somehow he missed the fact that in this world, probably because of the disgusting diet, cultivators matured at much faster rate than in any other world he had lived in up until now.

A couple years back he even laughed at Muchen for trying to grow a mustache, but the boy at the time was only eight! And now … at the age of ten, Muchen was probably one of the youngest participants, if not the youngest! The guy was definitely a genius since he was ready to compete with people five years older than him – Jiao Long wouldn’t sent his beloved son to experience embarrassment!

‘F*ck!’ Inwardly laughing at himself Alex cursed again.

Technically he could take part in these exams. Even if he got another plaque and ignored the ridicule of others, it would be of no use. It was a common knowledge that the first stage of exam was sparring and there was no way he could go against these guys in an honest fight.

If the opponents were youths according to ‘normal’ standards, Alex could manipulate their minds here and there to sneak out few victories. Unfortunately these guys physically were already grownups and any irregularities in their techniques that Alex might cause would be noticed by the judges. But fighting honestly was out of the question – Alex’s body was too immature to compete in speed or strength. A precise punch or kick not only could knock out, but outright cripple or kill him.

Actually Alex clearly knew he didn’t loose ‘THE’ opportunity of the lifetime – that was also the reason for the sudden improvement in his mood. In addition, because of the rich Qi in the environment, during the first five years of his life Alex noticeably strengthened his soulbrand even without soaking in the Qi pond. Thus the time was not wasted at all.

And regarding the current situation – he would simply come back five years later and join the Immortal Gate sect then after using the time to properly prepare. The problem was – where to do that? He could go back to the Long family and say ‘sorry, I got lost’. But then, in case Muchen passed the exams, Alex would have to become the outer disciple and actually serve someone – at least till he found a way to ‘upgrade’ his status.

Since he was not at all fine with such prospects, there were only two other options left – join a smaller sect or train in the wild. The first was too annoying and contained too many variables, but the second was too dangerous.

In the end Alex decided to stay for a few days, enjoy the event as a spectator and make the decision afterwards. In his bag there were few satchels of gold and silver he ‘borrowed’ from the Long family’s treasury a year ago and along with the few dozen gemstones in his pockets that came from the same source it was enough to cover his expenses for the rest of his life if he was frugal enough.

Since nothing interesting was bound to happen before the exams, Alex turned west and went to take a look at the Immortal Gate sect. Who knew – maybe there was some kind of an ‘open door’ event during these days and he could take a sneak peak at least at the outer sect.

It was already late afternoon when Alex left the last batch of tents behind him, but there was still a long way till the Immortal Gate sect and in between lie wast fields of irrigated farmlands that was once savanna. It was astonishing how advanced the agriculture here was. Up until now Alex never payed attention to it since the Long family’s main business was mining, but if one ignored the lack of automated machinery, agriculture was basically at the level of the twenty first century’s Earth.

Watching hundreds and hundreds of outer disciples sweating on the fields, Alex leisurely continued his stroll towards the west. What he saw further confirmed that the thought of becoming an outer disciple was the ‘poor man’s choice’ and he was definitely not going down that path. Thus figuring out the training program for the next five years became the main priority.

On the way Alex passed dozens of villages that were exclusively occupied by outer disciples. There were many other travelers on the road who didn’t belong to the sect, but most of them were merchants rushing towards it.

Alex thought about stealing the outer disciple clothing in order to blend in or acquire some information, but in the end decided against that, at least for now. After all, according to the local standards, he might be considered only three or four years old and the infiltration quickly might turn into a complete fiasco.

Right after midnight he finally arrived – the tall golden gate at the end of a wide plaza covered in cobblestone indicated so.

Alex stared at the gate in disbelief. It was at least twenty five meters high – the same height the walls surrounding the inner sect were. Below were several bonfires burning with bright red flames and the fire beautifully reflected on the neatly polished golden surface of the gate.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

There was nothing written on it and there were no particular symbols as well, but the aura radiating from the gate was already oppressive enough. One didn’t need to know how to read to understand that they were at the entrance of the Immortal Gate sect – the strongest organization of this world.

Alex observed the view for a couple of minutes and then approached the neat row of guards, dressed in shiny golden armors, designed in a similar style the gate they were standing in front of was.

Before the closest one could shoo him away, Alex politely, but in a bit domineering fashion asked, “Hello! Where is the closest inn? My father told to meet him at the best inn near the gate.”

Either the guards were not allowed to talk or the one Alex spoke to happened to be a conceited one, he didn’t respond in any other way, but just pointed his shield towards the building not too far away and immediately ignored the annoying boy.

Alex was not troubled by the attitude one bit. Either this troop were some kind of elites or had to behave like such, he didn’t care.

It was a common sense that there had to be a fancy inn near the main entrance to the sect and he only needed directions to it. It was also no surprise that the inn was packed full. The moment Alex entered, a thick stench of alcohol assaulted his senses, for a split second making him dizzy. Apparently it was not against the sect rules to drink – both inner and outer disciples filled the inn mixing with rich merchants who, from what it looked like, were paying the bills.

The mix of loud shouts, laughter and quarrels made the atmosphere lively, but Alex had to note – everyone behaved surprisingly orderly despite the large amounts of consumed alcohol. Despite that it was unlikely anyone on the second or third floors could have a good night’s sleep.

It took Alex some effort to find the innkeeper who was also dressed in the inner disciple’s attire – a large middle aged man with a lush beard.

Alex went up to him and, without the slightest hesitation, stretched out his small hand and said to the man, “Father said to come here and get the best room.”

The innkeeper stared back at him speechlessly in slight shock.

“What are you looking at? The keys to the room?” Alex impatiently said, flickering his fingers, as if he was a spoiled noble.

The innkeeper finally regained his senses.

He said with a sigh, “Child, don’t cause any trouble. We are full.”

But to his surprise Alex knowingly nodded and said, “Father mentioned you might say something along those lines. He told me to say to you: there is always one best room left … erhmm … I think he said it’ll be the most expensive one. He gave me money as well.”

Hearing the last part the innkeeper’s eyes lit up. It didn’t matter if this establishment along with everything else within hundreds of kilometers belonged to the sect – greedy people always knew how to get wealthy.

Innkeeper theatrically sighed again and said, “Child, I doubt your father can afford it. It’s very expensive.”

“Hmph! Our Ma family is very wealthy!” Alex snorted.

Anyone could tell that the child was copying his father.

“Come here!” Seeing that the presence of the atypical customer was starting to attract curious stares, innkeeper pulled Alex towards the kitchen.

When he was certain no one could overhear them, he continued with a wide, fake smile, “How much money do you have?”

“How stupid do you think I am?” Alex laughed back at the attempt to hoodwink a child, “How much for the night?”

Upset at the failure, innkeeper’s expression changed, “Hundred gold coins.”

Back at the Long family with this money one could easily buy a house and live for several decades without a care.

Thus Alex shook his head and said, “Hundred for ten nights.”

It was still incredibly expensive, but he didn’t lack money and if he needed, he could always get more.

But to his surprise innkeeper became serious and said, “Get lost.”

Alex awkwardly scratched his head and said, “My father always says that reasonable people can always come to agreement. I’m sorry if my offer offended you. Hundred for five nights.”

Innkeeper raised two fingers and said, “Two. Hundred gold coins will buy you two nights. And it’s my final offer, and also only because I like you, child! You saw for yourself how many people keep drinking downstairs. Every single one of them would love to switch places with you.”

They bartered for over five minutes and in the end came to agreement – Alex would get a room for two hundred gold coins and could stay there till the event came to an end. It was expensive as hell, but at least he was promised free meals during the stay.

It soon became obvious that the inn was actually completely full and the innkeeper gave away his own room just because he could not resist the offer. Alex was told to ‘wait until the room is properly prepared’ and the innkeeper, along with two barmaids rushed upstairs.

Without anything better to do, Alex ordered dinner and went to find a free spot in the main hall. Staff in the kitchen was not surprised at his demand to prepare ‘something tasty, but without adding the beast blood’ – it was hard to not overhear the earlier discussion which made obvious that the little customer was rich and capricious. To strengthen that image Alex even left a gold coin behind him that quickly disappeared before the innkeeper returned.

After circling around the hall, Alex realized there was not a single free table. It was not impossible so many people could afford to drink this much knowing the local prices and the only reasonable explanation was that he was the only one paying so much. Of course, he didn’t care about it since pretending to be a rich and spoiled child was incredibly easy. Basically it was a win-win situation for both sides.

Musing about the theoretical situation on how the innkeeper would potentially deal with his father who, contrary to the son, knew the actual value of money, Alex made another lap around the hall. All tables were still full except one at the far side near the window. Technically it was also full, but only with empty alcohol jugs and at it sat only one person.