Regarding the rest of the country and the world at large, Zhang Long didn't have much knowledge regarding them firsthand. He had lived in the region that the Rising Phoenix Sect controlled his whole life, with the majority of that time living in the village he was born in.
However, from what Tang Ze understood based off of Zhang Long’s descriptions, just the land area that the Rising Phoenix Sect controlled would make it the second or third largest country on Earth.
The Raswatian Empire was bordered by two countries - the Theocracy of Serragnia which favored mages over cultivators, and the Parthian Empire which treated both about the same.
All three countries were currently at peace as there was a relative power stalemate between them, though Zhang Long actually knew very little about them - he had rarely concerned himself with anything that fell outside the domain of this outer division of the Rising Phoenix Sect, but any thought that there might be an upcoming war did not even cross his mind as a remote possibility.
There was also the ocean which bordered a side of the Raswatian Empire, though where they lived was very far inland, and Zhang Long had never seen the sea with his own eyes his life.
Beyond the sea though, there was the island nation of Maltonetta, but Zhang Long's knowledge of this was so miniscule as to be practically nonexistent.
This was a lot of information for Tang Ze to take in. It was also apparently not even a fraction of what cultivation was truly about, but he couldn't be expected to learn about that so quickly, now then could he?
As an analogy, it was like he had only just learned to count while other people were already doing trigonometry. If he tried to understand things on their level, it would be a pointless endeavor that would only serve to confuse him. It would be like trying to drink from a fireman’s hose.
He would need to start at the basics - the very basics. The few lines he had read in some web novels back on Earth likely didn't amount to anything when compared to what actual cultivation entailed, if they were even slightly accurate to this world at all.
"So... about the Rising Phoenix sect," Tang Ze said after some contemplation. "How would one go about becoming a member?"
He had thought of joining for the simple reason that he had just spawned into this world without any real backing.
His body was still the same from back home, and certainly did not belong to any ancient bloodline. Forget that, he didn’t have any family here in this world.
And without some kind of backing, whether from family or from a sect, it was nearly impossible to move up in this world, or so he understood. As a matter of fact, extrapolating on his knowledge from back home, familial ties were extremely important in this kind of day and age. Without any, he would be a sitting duck and face problems at nearly every turn.
He also needed time to get more materials and the like for making costumes, and someone to teach him about the world while he got stronger.
Not to mention, he needed somewhere where he would be safe from threats like wild beasts and rogue cultivators as well.
And if he was going to join a sect, well, Diamond Dust was likely already out given what he had done, so it made sense to go with somewhere he might already have an 'in' with so to speak - depending on how much clout Zhang Long had in the sect.
"Ah? You? Wish to join?" Zhang Long asked. He really hadn't bought Tang Ze's story completely given how outlandish what he had heard was, but the more that Tang Ze asked questions that even a toddler would know the answers to, the more he had a suspicion that he wasn't faking this.
Obviously, had he genuinely been a Nascent Soul cultivator there was no question as to whether or not he could get into a sect - they would on the contrary be fighting over each other to recruit him!
But, that did not seem to be the case.
"Well, if you don't have any family members or anyone else you know within the sect..." Zhang Long began. "Well, there is a fee and an entrance exam, let me ask the division elder if you can take it at some point."
A fee? Tang Ze did not have a coin to his name.
"Ah, don't worry about the fee," Zhang Long said. "What you got from them should more than enough cover it. As for the exam... again, I need to ask around." Zhang Long honestly did not have much influence in the sect - he was just an Initiate, which was the lowest level within the sect hierarchy. A reference from an Initiate wouldn’t carry much weight.
To advance from an Initiate, one either needed to either reach Qi Refinement stage or give thirty years of service to the sect. After that they would become a regular member, and could try to vie for a position like that of a sect prefect. To become a sect elder required one to be at the Golden Core realm.
Still, having a reference from Zhang Long was better than him just randomly showing up at the sect door with nothing else in hand.
"What are you doing?" Jin Zhen asked, curious as to why Tang Ze was examining the clothes they had looted from the Diamond Fortune's Sect so closely.
"I wanted to see if there was anything that I could use," Tang Ze said, trying to get a feel for the fabric. "What are these things made of?"
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
"Silk, and if they're especially of high quality, they'll be woven in with Qi between the threads or made from special Heavenly Silkworms - though I doubt small fry like them had the money for things like that," Zhang Long said.
"Hmm..." Tang Ze said. He wanted to work on the costume he had right now, and spandex was what you would really want for something like it, though he doubted he could get something like that in this world. Other synthetic fabrics like nylon or polyester would also be out of the question.
Silk could be dyed to somewhat look the same, but it wouldn't feel the same, and Tang Ze had a feeling that it wouldn't count as a very good costume.
How exactly did the intricacies of his talent work? Was it more important that his cosplay look like the real thing, or that it was made of material that was close to the original thing?
Tang Ze was not a stranger to trying to make costumes himself - he had had an interest in doing so ever since he had made masks out of paper back when he was four.
However, he was not used to making them entirely from scratch. While repairing tears or making some alterations were within the scope of what he could do, he tended to outsource the harder parts to other people, or buy them from suppliers.
Such luxuries would not be present in this world, so he would need to learn to be his own tailor if he intended to use his talent to its full extent.
...
How strange...
It felt so strange for Tang Ze to want to make costumes again. Who knew that his experience with the same would end up being so useful?
He had nearly given up on his hobby completely back on Earth. How long had it been since he had last indulged in it?
Of course!
Two years.
Two very long, painful years filled with regret.
"Is something wrong?" Zhang Long asked. Tang Ze’s face had suddenly taken the expression of one at the funeral of a very dear friend.
"No, I was just ah - reminded of something unpleasant," Tang Ze answered, shaking his head.
They reached Zhang Long's village by sundown, after which he said he had to go back to his sect to finish his delivery and his mission - though he said he would try to put in a good word for Tang Ze when he got there, and send word back if the sect might be amenable to taking him in.
During such time, Tang Ze spent time with Jin Zhen's family, who were more than happy to temporarily take him in.
Word did get back to him eventually that the Rising Phoenix Sect was willing to consider taking him in as a disciple, and he needed to start getting ready - as a week later was when he had the sect entrance exam!
His days were filled with working tirelessly on his costume. Fabrics and dyes were not easily available where they were - but he had to try his best.
A week later, Elder He Xuan watched from a mountain top. He cast an imposing figure, being one of the two Golden Core cultivators in this branch of the Rising Phoenix sect. He was also the branch elder, meaning he had total authority over this branch.
This was not the usual mountain that the Rising Phoenix sect used for the sect entrance exam - they’d normally use a low hill or something less difficult.
However, word had reached him of this particular man’s feats, and he wished to see how he would deal with something like this.
The mountain by itself was nothing too significant - a man could make his way to the top within two days or so with ease. Even a mortal could do it, provided that they could avoid the myriad number of beasts that were living on it.
That was to say nothing of the number of traps that Elder Xe Huan had had the Rising Phoenix Sect members laid out for this person who wished to join.
Moreover, Tang Ze would not be given two days to reach the peak- he had to do so by sunset. All the while avoiding the wild animals and the traps that had been set up by the sect.
There were several Qi Refining rank cultivators lurking on the mountain as well - they were not there to obstruct Tang Ze in any capacity, but would intervene should his life be put in danger.
Elder He Xuan was not looking to kill the man, if he was indeed as interesting as Zhang Long made him out to be.
Alongside Elder He Xuan was Zhang Long, who had been a bit surprised when he had been asked to be here.
For one, it was very odd for Elder He Xuan to supervise an entrance test himself. Usually he would send one of the prefects to do so instead as he had more important things to do.
As it was, Golden Core cultivators were the pillars upon which the sects were built. They were strong enough to actually matter significantly, and were also numerous enough to fill in various positions over the Rising Phoenix Sect’s vast domain. Qi Refinement and below level cultivators were too weak for some tasks, and Nascent Soul and higher ranked cultivators were so few in number it was impossible for them to cover a large area. Not to mention they were often tied up in difficult tasks or had gone into seclusion to cultivate for long stretches of time which could occasionally ben as long as several decades.
If one was good at managerial tasks, they could apply for and reach the position of prefect after they had become a regular member - but the real power always lay in the hands of the elders, who were at minimum Golden Core cultivators. Nascent Soul and higher ranked cultivators, although important, were so few in number and rather inaccessible to the ordinary members and people, so it was the Golden Core cultivators who oversaw the majority of the actual functions of the sect.
Not to mention that it was at Golden Core that one’s lifespan truly began to extend significantly.
The best Qi Refinement cultivators could live for about one hundred and eighty years if they were careful, while at Golden Core lifespans averaged around five hundred years. This meant that Golden Core cultivators were also around for far longer than those of the lower cultivation realms.
As such, they were rather busy even if they weren’t division heads - so why would Elder He Xuan come out to oversee this entrance test himself?
Then again, he had been rather interested earlier when Zhang Long had described how Tang Ze’s powers worked.
“Hmm…” Elder He Xuan had said at the time. “I have heard of something somewhat similar - there are some tribes near the border who make animal masks, some of which carry the property of granting one the abilities of said animals when worn. This seems to take things a step further, though.”
Maybe Elder He Xuan just wanted to see Tang Ze’s powers in action?
Well, Zhang Long felt slightly uneasy right then. Because he had ‘overlooked’ one fact when describing Tang Ze’s abilities in his report.
Tang Ze walked to the starting point.
He had worked almost night and day on this new costume over the past week - and had verified via Zhang Long that nothing he was going to do was against the sect rules.
He could wear whatever he wanted during the entrance test, so the costume was fine.
Overall, Tang Ze was not truly satisfied with what he had made.
The cape was the easiest part - just requiring a large red cloth. But the rest of the actual costume as well as the symbol on the torso - that had required more work from him.
For one, the years of him not working on this hobby had showed when he was trying to make the costume - he was out of practice, in other words.
He also did not have some of the reference materials he would have back home to use while making it, and though he had a good idea of it from his memory, he constantly wished he would just have a picture to compare it to.