The result of the entrance test was not what ultimately made the decision whether one could join or not - one could fail it, but if they gave off a good enough of a performance, the prefect could still pass them.

The reverse was also true, but almost never happened.

This was one of those ‘almost never happened’ scenarios playing out however.

“What!?” both Zhang Long and Tang Ze screamed simultaneously.

“You simply do not have any talent as a cultivator,” Elder He Xuan said. He explained to both of them what the Zeroth Realm was.

Tang Ze began to understand why it was that this was going on. Elder He Xuan didn’t understand the root cause, but he did. It was because he was from Earth and his body had not had time to acclimatize to the higher Qi density of this world! “Ah- but wait, I can improve! I want to learn!” Wasn’t the point of joining a sect to learn to cultivate? So why was he being barred from entry because he had made so little progress?

While Tang Ze was partially correct, even back on Earth, say, for example, you wished to go to Art School to become a painter - you would still be required to demonstrate some proficiency in painting before they would let you in. They would most definitely not take someone who didn’t even know how to hold a paintbrush the right way! A creative writing class wouldn’t take in someone who was just learning their letters, either, for example.

It was for a similar reason that Elder He Xuan was rejecting him.

Elder He Xuan shook his head. “I’m afraid any resources spent on you would be the equivalent of a ship tossing its cargo into the ocean.”

“But, Elder He Xuan, look at how strong he is - and he can fly too!” Zhang Long said.

He Xuan replied, “Strong he may be.” He then used a technique - [Gravity Field] which increased the effect of gravity around an area, and Zhang Long fell to one knee. Tang Ze remained standing, able to withstand the increased gravitational force with ease.

Yes, Tang Ze was clearly strong. But…

“[Qi Binding Field]!” He Xuan said, a technique which worked similarly to [Gravity Field], but instead bound one’s Qi compared to the user's own.

With that, Tang Ze immediately fell to the ground. His near-indestructibility thanks to his costume meant that it didn’t hurt, but he found that he could not move.

“Strength is not just physical strength,” He Xuan said. “There are many other forms of attacks - ones that target karma, ones that target the soul, and so on. Given this, just being strong is not enough. You will soon be the victim of a weak spiritual technique which will tear you to pieces if you cannot cultivate no matter how strong you are - and that is the point of a sect, to cultivate! If you are strong physically, join a martial arts dojo or a mercenary group - both might willingly take you! But the sect cannot afford to waste resources on one such as you who is so behind regarding their cultivation.” He said this with a gentle but firm tone that implied there was no room for bargaining. “However, I will refund your exam fee. You may rest assured of that. If you manage to progress in your cultivation on your own, however, we may reconsider letting you join in a few years.” Elder He Xuan had no obligation to return the exam fees, even if someone failed their fee would be forfeit, but in this case, he felt that that was a reasonable thing to do.

Had it been anyone else’s future on the line, Zhang Long would not have dared to speak up to question Elder He Xuan’s decision.

But this was Tang Ze, who he owed a great debt to. If he kept his peace right now and remained silent, it would definitely haunt him for the future!

“Elder He Xuan,” Zhang Long said. “The Novice Tournament is coming up soon in around a year, and Tang Ze would do well in some of the categories. For that alone, can’t we say that any investment in him is worth it?”

Elder He Xuan’s eyebrows furrowed.

In this world, resources were not evenly distributed - it could be said that the distribution of resources was far more skewed and uneven in this world than back on even the most unequal nation on Earth. If an economist were to sit down and calculate the Raswatian Empire’s Gini coefficient, it would probably come as close to one as was possible.

The philosophy of this world was not ‘each according to each individual’s needs’ but instead ‘each according to each individual’s abilities.’

In cultivation, the most important thing was resources. Theoretically speaking, even if one lacked talent and was the most hopeless cripple in the empire, if one had all the resources in the world they could still soar to heights that someone with plenty of talent could not.

Of course, such a thing was only theoretical.

Practically speaking, those with talent rose to the top, became powerful, and then hoarded resources, becoming even more powerful thanks to their hoarding, and so on and so forth.

It was the ultimate ‘rich get richer’ scheme.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

The Raswatian Empire followed this principle as well.

The vast majority of territory in the empire was managed by the Imperial Family themselves. They had many areas and resources which were considered to be national treasures when it came to cultivation.

Such areas were places where the Qi in the air was much thicker, or had plants which made excellent pills, or were the territories of very friendly and powerful spiritual beasts. There was also the matter of certain scriptures that helped with cultivation or described powerful techniques.

The Imperial Family took a good portion of the best of these, of course, but there was still quite a bit left over for them to distribute to the sects.

But which sects should get them?

In line with the philosophy of giving resources to those who could utilize them best, the better sects would get better resources.

Of course, this was not done simply in line with philosophy - but also from a pragmatic political perspective.

If the eight sects united, they could easily overthrow the emperor. Yet, by keeping these resources for themselves and distributing them out as rewards, the Imperial Family could play the sects against each other.

If ever a few sects rose up in rebellion, the Imperial Family could bribe the other sects with rewards to turn on those. In this way, the Imperial Family could keep itself in power, while keeping the individual sects under its thumb. And in exchange for these cultivation resources, the Imperial Family could demand the service of the sects in matters such as national security and the like.

Currently, none of the sects was strong enough that they could significantly challenge multiple others, and the only time that had not been so since the empire’s founding were the time periods when a Hinayana realm cultivator existed. The first Hinayana realm cultivator was the first emperor himself who had founded the country, and the three others that followed had also left their marks on history before departing this world.

The sects of course, could not compete with each other directly by fighting without causing untold amounts of destruction and collateral damage. What was the point of being king if all that was left was a huge pile of rubble? So the sects competed in other ways.

The tournaments were the best example of how sects were often judged - there were two kinds; the Advanced Tournament, which was for Golden Core cultivators only, and the Novice Tournament for Qi Condensation and Qi Refining stages.

If one was Nascent Soul or higher, one was barred from these tournaments, though such cultivators contributed to their sects in other ways, and would often train the lower-ranked members for these tournaments since they could not directly participate.

The Advanced Tournament was held every twenty years, while the Novice Tournament was held every five years. Naturally, the results of the Advanced Tournament held more weight, but the resources distributed during the Novice Tournament were nothing to scoff at either.

There were twelve events in the Novice Tournament, some of which could be won by mere feats of strength.

If Tang Ze won the first spot in even one of those events, forget about the rewards, just the amount of face that would be gained by the sect would be worth the investment of a hundred Initiates.

Initiates of the sects often grumbled that they were worked like donkeys, being handed the majority of ‘scut work’ by the sect, which were things that the higher-ranking members of the sect did not want to do.

The fact of the matter though, was that the Initiates were - on a pure profit and loss basis, a net negative for the sect.

The sect spent more to rear and nurture them than they got in return, it was only starting at the higher minor realms of Qi Refining that it could be said that the sect members contributed more to the sect than they took - and it was the Golden Core and Nascent Soul realm cultivators which really contributed to a sect’s financial success.

Still, that was from a simple profit/loss perspective - but the fact remained that not even Eternal Soul cultivators endured forever. One could not hope to reap the harvest of a field if one did not water and tend to the seeds first. A sect that did not invest in its Initiates would sooner or later, go extinct.

Of course, one would not invest in a broken-down car to fix it up when there were alternatives available. So why recruit Tang Ze then?

Yet, one also needed to look at potential. However, most of the time, those with true potential had already accomplished much by the time that

“So, you are saying that in the long run, he is worth having?” Elder He Xuan asked Zhang Long.

“Indeed- Brother Tang Ze is like a gambling den rock which is of the lowest grade on first glance, but that which has a celestial treasure hidden within!” Zhang Long said.

Elder He Xuan paused for a moment - Zhang Long had made that analogy likely because he had heard of his past of working in a rock gambling den in his earlier days. How did he know that though?

Ah, that was right -Elder He Xuan had told Zhang Long that himself when Zhang Long had first joined, though he was a bit surprised that the Initiate still remembered that small of a detail after so many years.

Either that, or this comparison came about as a matter of a mere fluke, though Elder He Xuan doubted that was the case. Zhang Long had shown in multiple instances that he possessed the qualities that would be valuable in a future prefect - and if he could reach the Golden Core stage, an adept elder.

More likely than not, Zhang Long’s words had been carefully crafted to appeal to Elder He Xuan.

“I see,” He Xuan said. He then turned to Tang Ze. “I will let you know, young man, that we will not go easier on you in any way because of your… condition. You will still be expected to carry your weight.”

The sects distributed resources in their own systems by the same principle of ‘those who can utilize resources better, deserve more resources.’

So, Tang Ze would not get any extra help to bring his cultivation up to par.

This was rather unlike back on Earth - where, had Tang Ze been a weak student, a school would’ve endeavored to get him help in the form of remedial classes, more one-on-one attention, etc.

He had never been that bad of a student in his previous life, though he knew many who did end up getting this kind of treatment. This was in line with a school’s fundamental idea of lifting everyone to a minimum basic standard. Here though, it was either sink or swim!

If you wanted something, you had to prove that you were deserving of it first! In other words, geniuses were the ones who received disproportionate amounts of care via the sect.

“I understand,” Tang Ze said, just relieved for now that he had gotten in.

Elder He Xuan nodded. “Zhang Long, your squad has a missing member, correct?”

“That is correct, Elder He Xuan,” Zhang Long said. He was quite relieved that Elder He Xuan had listened to what he had said- if it had been some other elder, or even one of the more arrogant and prideful prefects, they would’ve been enraged at the mere fact that Zhang Long had dared to question one of their decisions in the first place, whether it was correct or not.

But, thankfully Elder He Xuan was not like that.

“Then he will join as a probationary Initiate in your squad,” Elder He Xuan said. “I expect you to properly guide him.”

“That I will, Elder He Xuan!”