Once Tang Ze became a regular Initiate, it was much harder to kick him out without a good reason. During his probationary period, a decision from Elder He Xuan could terminate his membership as one of the sect. However, once he became a proper Initiate, it would take a decision from three Elders to revoke his membership.
Naturally the prefects wanted to nip the problem in the bud, so to speak, as from their perspective Tang Ze was a hopeless case who would only cause them more problems in the future.
Elder He Xuan scoffed, not moved at all by the prefect’s words. “I don’t see a reason to punish him any more than what I have already decreed - one can also argue that it is debatable if he should be punished or not at all.”
“Division Elder - with the damage he has caused and the resources it will take to repair this, how can you say that?”
“With the matter of him trespassing, he needed to be punished, and I agreed to the same,” Elder He Xuan said. “But this? This was not done intentionally, first of all, nor was it malicious. It is normal for accidents to happen in training - I can only count this as yet another one of the same.”
The prefect sputtered. Elder He Xuan had a reputation for being a bit softer than the other division heads, likely because at only two hundred and twenty-four, he was much younger than the rest of them. But the prefect still felt that this was far too lenient even for him. “What if he had killed his teacher?”
“Did he though?” He Xuan asked. “During sparring, accidents can naturally happen and are even expected to a certain degree. Thankfully a death has not occurred in the past few decades, but there is always the chance of that happening. Should we stop the martial arts lessons altogether because something like that might happen? Of course not! Naturally if we determined that someone was doing such a thing purposefully, they would be punished. But Tang Ze had been asked to come at his teacher with killing intent - and was he not then just doing what his teacher asked?”
“But-but-” the prefect sputtered. This was going in an entirely different direction, as if Elder He Xuan was secretly praising Tang Ze.
What the prefect did not know what indeed, Elder He Xuan was in great admiration of Tang Ze’s physical strength.
After all, Elder He Xuan had future plans that might involve Tang Ze, so naturally he was not going to kick him out!
As a matter of fact, it could actually be said that Tang Ze's position in the sect was nearly untouchable so long as Elder He Xuan was the division elder. Of course, if Tang Ze did something egregiously bad Elder He Xuan would have to step in but barring that, Tang Ze was not going to be thrown out anytime soon.
Of course, no one other than Elder He Xuan was aware of this.
“Even the martial arts instructor,” Elder He Xuan said, “although he greatly chastised Tang Ze, did not once question the boy’s talent. If anything, he asked if he could take Tang Ze aside for more personalized one-on-one training to bring out his potential and so that he didn’t cause anymore accidents. I don’t know if he’s ready for that yet - or if I should agree to that given it could be seen as a reward, but it is clear that the boy has the potential to become the strongest body cultivator of this generation.”
The prefect realized that there was no use in arguing further. “And about the cost of repairing this place…” Even if they confiscated the resources they gave Tang Ze for a whole year, it still wouldn't pay for the repairs.
“What of it? Don’t accidents happen? If the wind blew and a tree fell, crushing the roof of a building - would we sue the god of wind for damages? Write this off accordingly,” Elder He Xuan said.
As he was about to consider the matter dismissed, an idea crossed his mind. “Let those Initiates know that I will be giving them a ah… special lecture next week!”
“It will be done,” the prefect said, not daring to protest any further.
The next week, the Initiates were sitting, completely focused on Elder He Xuan as he walked into the room.
Even those who had been there for a few years had not known a single instance in which Elder He Xuan had come to personally teach them.
Without a doubt - this was not a lecture worth missing!
Even those who might have otherwise played truant had made it a point to attend.
What kind of knowledge would Elder He Xuan impart to them? Some secret fighting technique? Or some deep insight into the Dao? Or a way to cultivate more efficiently?
They all waited with bated breath in excitement!
Only… they were soon disappointed.
The lecture wasn’t really about anything that they could think of as being interesting or useful.
Elder He Xuan was giving them a history lesson.
“Before the Raswatian Empire stood, there was a great civilization before us,” He Xuan said.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
He was talking about the remnants of the kingdom that had stood before the Raswatian Empire had been founded.
No one was really sure what had happened to it - as most artifacts and relics from that era had been destroyed and knowledge of the same was lost to time.
What they did know was that there had been a series of calamities that occurred that lead to their downfall which likely involved the asuras in some way, and for several hundred years the area that would eventually become the Raswatian Empire was in a state of chaos and anarchy. Kingdoms would rise and fall in the matter of a few years or decades during this ‘warring states period’, until finally stability was achieved and the Raswatian Empire was founded.
Things were so bad regarding the knowledge of this ancient civilization that they didn’t even know what those people called themselves - but because many of their artifacts and relics, at least those that survived, contained mercury, it was called the Mercury Kingdom by many archaeologists.
Elder He Xuan personally had something to add to this field, as he had written several books on them, conducted his own research into the matter, and also had his own theories on what they may have been like.
Tang Ze found the subject to be mildly interesting given how little he knew of this world - it was fascinating to learn a bit about its history. However, he could tell that his comrades did not feel the same, as many of them were visibly struggling to stay awake.
And after two hours of that, they were dismissed.
Many of the people had forlorn looks on their faces.
Why had they been forced to sit through something like that? What was the point?
They had come in with such high expectations for the lesson, but left empty-handed, or rather empty-brained, in their opinions.
Tang Ze didn’t feel like it was a total waste of time, but he also couldn’t see the application of anything that they had been taught.
Before Tang Ze stepped out, Elder He Xuan called out to him. “Tell me, Junior Tang Ze - how did you find the lesson?”
“Ah… quite fascinating!” Tang Ze said, trying to sound more eager than he actually was.
“Yes, we greatly benefited from Sect Elder’s wisdom!”
“Truly, I think I speak for everyone when I say that I feel enlightened!”
“I think I nearly jumped up a minor realm through this lecture!”
Such toadying echoed from the other stragglers around Tang Ze, though Elder He Xuan ignored them completely. “I hope that you reflect on what I taught you, Junior Tang Ze.”
Tang Ze couldn’t help but think there was a deeper meaning to what Elder He Xuan was saying.
Was there a reason he should be interested in the Mercury Kingdom in the first place?
Did it have some sort of ties to Tang Ze?
Elder He Xuan didn’t say anything more, but gave Tang Ze a small nod as there was a twinkle in his eyes.
That confirmed to Tang Ze that there definitely was some concept or reason behind this lesson which he wasn’t seeing that Elder He Xuan expected him to - or that it would be important for him to know in the future.
Given this, Tang Ze did try to find out more about the people of the Mercury Kingdom, but they were quite obscure, and what Elder He Xuan had already told him made up the bulk of what he could find in the sect’s libraries.
He still couldn’t find a deeper meaning behind any of He Xuan’s teachings, however.
But perhaps, with time, the answers would come to him.
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As part of their work for the sect, not only were sect members sent out on missions or assigned tasks as groups, but also alone as well sometimes.
This was because while the squad system was intended to foster bonds between members of the sect, the fact remained that the journey of cultivation was one which was ultimately an individual’s road to travel on their lonesome.
As such, it was also important that Initiates learn how to work alone, and not just as a group.
Well, that was probably the intention - but it wasn’t like Tang Ze had been with his group for very long before he had been assigned this post. So it felt like he had been separated from them before even getting to properly know them.
Not that this role was difficult.
There was a bridge that crossed a river, which was the shortest route between two large trading centers. If one wanted to avoid using the bridge, they would have to risk the treacherous currents of the river, which was almost certainly going to lead to death, or to go the long route through the mountains.
The mountains might’ve been slightly safer than the river, but there still was the risk of running into wild beasts and the like, not to mention there was no good trail. What would take a day to traverse would instead take about a week to do if one triad traipsing through the mountains.
This was one of the peak traffic seasons for the bridge, and said bridge had been built and maintained by the Rising Phoenix sect.
Tang Ze’s job was to operate the toll booth and collect a toll from the people who used said bridge.
It was hardly a job that on paper would require someone strong to do it, but there was the slight risk of bandit attacks or animals wandering near the bridge or booth.
This job would usually only be given to someone of Qi Refinement rank, but the prefect in charge of distributing tasks just said, “Ah, but we’ve seen how strong you are, I’m sure you can handle it Junior Brother Tang Ze.”
One person who was approaching said bridge was a woman by the name of Zheng Mei.
Her family owned a small farm, and she was transporting some of their produce to sell. That was how relatively safe the area was kept - even a lone woman could travel like this without having any major worries. Any major bandit or animal attacks would usually be taken care of whoever manned the bridge before it could lead to problems.
After all, the bridge was an important source of income for the sect for relatively little work, and they would not want one of their golden geese to croak, now then would they? So whenever a problem occurred, the sect would swiftly deal with it.
Zheng Mai saw the toll booth up ahead, but she was not worried.
She had used her feminine charms to sneak past without having to pay anything many times in the past. After all, the toll booth was usually manned by a single male cultivator, and one who was rather low-ranking as well.
A few sweet words, and Zheng Mei was sure that she could slide on by without having to part with a single coin.
“Hello,” Tang Ze said as she approached. Tang Ze calculated the toll required for a person and a cart in his head, and after an inspection of the luggage, told her how much she needed to pay.
“Oh dearest me!” Zheng Mei suddenly said with an exaggerated look. “I don’t seem to have any coin on me.”
“Alright then,” Tang Ze said without batting an eye. “You’ll have to leave a portion of your goods instead then.” Most farmers did not do much business with actual coinage and instead bartered, so the sect did allow people to pay tolls and taxes with produce instead most of the time.
Zheng Mei sighed, fluttering her eyelids. “You know… I’ve heard that beautiful girls don’t need to pay the bridge toll.”
Tang Ze knew there was no such rule, but decided to humor her regardless. “That’s right. So if you see a beautiful girl, let her know that she doesn’t need to pay. Now, the toll please!”