Elder He Xuan turned towards Tang Ze. “Out of curiosity, what exactly is this… costume of yours supposed to depict?” It looked like nothing Elder He Xuan had ever seen - even in paintings or murals.

“A hero from where I come from who is renowned for his strength and sense of justice,” Tang Ze replied.

He could not speak the actual name of this hero, or else the Heavenly Court [Copyright Lawyers] would strike down the world, burn it to countless pieces, and then after scattering these pieces to the wind seal away the world in a state where no soul could get in or go out.

He Xuan nodded. “Let us hope you live up to his name then, and not just his strength.”

He made a note of these two- both of them he had no doubt carried great potential to rise in the sect hierarchy.

Tang Ze, because of this strange ability of his. Who knows - maybe he would never go beyond being a muscle head and remain a frog in a well, never being able to compete with Golden Core cultivators. Or, perhaps he was a hidden dragon, and would soon soar to the heavens.

Zhang Long, though average in cultivation talent, did show signs of having a good head on his shoulders, was diligent, and was able to lead others well. The sect did not just need powerful people, but managerial talent like his, for lack of a better term, was also invaluable.

However, the truth of the matter was that Elder He Xuan had not agreed to let Tang Ze in because of what Tang Ze might accomplish in the upcoming Novice Tournament, though if he could do well that would be a nice bonus.

No, there was another matter entirely that Elder He Xuan thought that Tang Ze could potentially be useful in solving.

‘If he is strong even now, if he can increase his base strength via cultivating, could it be possible that he could get strong enough to actually be able to move that rock?’ Elder He Xuan contemplated. ‘Well, it’s unlikely, but so long as the chance is there, what’s there for me to lose? And if he does actually manage to come through…’ Elder He Xuan smiled in his heart at the thought.

There was a reason Elder He Xuan had decided to pair Zhang Long and Tang Ze up like this though - because he was curious as to not only what each could accomplish on their own, but how far they could fly together.

After all, he would need to keep a close eye on Tang Ze’s growth. And Zhang Long was good and loyal to the sect, Elder He Xuan had no doubt that he could use Zhang Long as his watchman in that regard.

With a flourish, He Xuan left on a flying carpet as the others were left to make their way on foot back to the sect.

This division of the Rising Phoenix sect was located, like most divisions, on a cluster of mountaintops.

This was partially for militaristic purposes, given that it was easier to defend them, and also from a cultivation perspective, where the density of Qi tended to be higher at higher altitudes compared to the plains.

Of course, there was also the status that one showed of one’s station by staying at a higher altitude, literally towering above the common folk.

There were actually three buildings in this sect division, one was the main building for the administrative branch of the sect which was on the highest mountain, with two smaller buildings on its neighboring peaks.

It was not usually possible to go from one of the buildings to another without descending the mountainside first and then going up another mountain, though the main building did have some apparatuses that could bridge the gaps on special occasions for special people.

Not that either Zhang Long or Tang Ze needed such things, when Tang Ze could easily soar to the mountaintop.

“Are you alright, Senior Brother Zhang Long?” Tang Ze asked teasingly as they reached the gates of the building where they would be staying. It was one of the buildings located on a lower mountaintop.

Zhang Long shook his head. “Again - just call me Zhang Long. Or Brother Zhang if it comes to it. Come on, there’s quite a bit that I need to show you before tomorrow morning.”

Tang Ze was a probationary Initiate, which was where all Initiates started out, meaning that for one year he would be working under the direct supervision of a squad of proper Initiates.

He could be promoted past this probationary state by either serving for one year, reaching the third minor realm of Qi Condensation, or by completing a significant act of valor that would signify he was ready for more serious duties.

The third minor realm of Qi Condensation was not difficult to reach - to put things into perspective, some non-cultivators could reach that minor realm without any resources or guidance simply by passively absorbing the Qi in the world and meditating.

This would take the entirety of their lifespans for mortals to accomplish, but there were some Initiates who had already passed that bar before even the entrance test. Such people either had substantial talent, or excellent resources and backing from their families. For Tang Ze however, who was at the Zeroth Realm, this was a pipe dream.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

As for a ‘significant act of valor’ that was determined by a prefect, though there were no clear rules on what this meant.

Being on probation meant that Tang Ze did not get a sash, and his place within the sect was technically tenuous as he could be kicked out without any recourse during this period. There were some other privileges he could not exercise as well.

All that didn’t matter too much to Tang Ze, he had expected to start out at the bottom of the totem pole, after all.

What did bother him slightly was that they were expected to wear the official sect uniform at nearly all times.

This was an issue for someone like him who got his powers from dressing up as other people - but he would try to find a workaround for that later.

“This is the rest of my group,” Zhang Long said after a short tour of the building, leading Tang Ze towards the living quarters for Initiates.

Being Initiates, they shared a common living space as a squad, though they had separate bedrooms.

“Hello everyone!” Zhang Long announced as he walked in.

There were two other people lounging in the common area. One of them was working with a mortar and pestle, while the other one was writing something on a scroll.

Both of them stopped what they were doing to look at Zhang Long, and then at Tang Ze. These two both wore white sashes on their waists, meaning that both of them were proper Initiates, and were not probationary Initiates like Tang Ze.

“So, this is our new squad member!” Zhang Long said, pointing to Tang Ze. “I told you about him - Tang Ze!”

“Is he the one…?”

“Yes!” Zhang Long said. “Alright, Tang Ze, that person over there is Yin Tiang,” he said, pointing to the person who was working with a mortar and pestle, “he really likes alchemy - which is why he’s trying to make ah… something I guess?”

“Dragonroot Powder,” Yin Tiang said, exasperated while rolling his eyes, as if this was something he had told Zhang Long multiple times over and over.

“Right! That! And that person over there is Chen Yu,” Zhang Long said, pointing to the person who lazily lifted a hand in salutation.

“Well met, Brother Yin Tiang, Brother Chen Yu,” Tang Ye said.

“No need for the ‘brother’ part, we are all squad mates, aren’t we?” Yin Tiang said. “With that said - when do we proceed with the hazing, Squad Leader?”

This question was directed at Zhang Long who frowned and then sighed. “Come on guys, after all that Tang Ze did, you can’t be serious about the hazing thing, right? Not to mention not only is he strong, but he knows [Monkey Stealing Peaches] too.”

“Uh…” Tang Ze was about to point out that he couldn’t use that - why did Zhang Long think he could when he knew that Tang Ze couldn’t cultivate? Maybe he thought it was a power given by his costume?

Regardless, the two other Initiates immediately paled, and the thoughts of ‘hazing’ immediately left their minds.

“So, Tang Ze, forget about all that ah,” Yin Tiang said, waving his hand. “Chen Yu says stupid nonsense all the time, best to ignore it.”

“Right…” Tang Ze said.

Zhang Long told him more about how the squad system within the Initiates worked. They usually consisted of four to five members, one of whom would possibly be a probationary Initiate.

The Squad Leader was chosen by popular vote among the squad, though as a probationary Initiate Tang Ze would not get a vote.

It was a bit shocking to learn that, and even more so to learn that the Squad Leader could be replaced at any given time by popular vote once again - barring times of emergencies and when the squad was on a mission, both of which were not the times for democracy or a popular vote.

The fact that Zhang Long had apparently been Squad Leader uncontested in all the time he had been here in the sect spoke volumes to his leadership skills - either that, or he had been paired with people who essentially had no desire to move up the managerial chain.

As it was, being Squad Leader, from a simple benefits to effort ratio point of view, was not worth it.

Squad Leaders did get a slightly larger distribution of resources compared to ordinary Initiates, but compared to the work they had to do in writing monthly reports, organizing logistical issues, and attending the mandatory Squad Leader meetings, it was certainly not in proportion to them.

Rather than spending time organizing things like that, it would be better to spend time cultivating. You would get much further that way rather than relying on the slightly increased batch of resources you would get.

The real benefit to being Squad Leader was the prestige - which most people didn’t care that much about as on the totem pole they were still very close to the bottom, and the slight chance that in the future it might give you an edge if you wanted to become a prefect. Beyond that though, the benefits were practically nonexistent.

“Anyway, you probably want to set things up in your room,” Zhang Long said. “This place only has four sets of bedrooms, but you can take Xu Feng’s old bedroom. It hasn’t been used in months - but don’t worry, it’s clean.”

“Oh,” Tang Ze said. “So Xu Feng graduated and left?”

“Nah, he died,” Chen Yu said nonchalantly, as if this was not a big deal to him. The others were slightly more aghast at the mention of the demise of one of their squad members, though only slightly so.

“Died? How?” Tang Ze asked.

“Well, there exists this potion called the Elixir of Tribulation,” Zhang Long said. “Yin Tiang can explain it better than I can though…”

“It allows a cultivator to greatly speed up their progress in cultivating,” Yin Tiang said. “It’s also pretty cheap, relatively speaking - though there’s a reason that almost no one uses it. It causes the cultivator to undergo three days of intense pain, said to be so horrible that most people who use it die from the pain overwhelming their senses. Xu Feng had other ideas though, and decided, ‘How bad can it possibly be? I’ll try this out! After all, if we wish to defy heaven we need to take risks! Those who died were just weak-minded fools!’ despite literally everyone warning him against it.”

“He didn’t even last ten minutes before he died from the pain, let alone three days,” Chen Yu said, shaking his head. “He died right there, actually, right about where you’re standing right now.”

“Ack!” Tang Ze said, moving away from the spot while the others laughed, leaving him unsure if that had been a joke or was just a prank on their part.

“Anyway, point is, he’s not using his room now,” Zhang Long said. “So go ahead and keep your stuff in there.”

The individual rooms were barely larger than a closet, but Tang Ze had expected as much. There was only enough space for him to sleep and keep at most, something the size of a suitcase.

Tang Ze, however, needed more space to make as well as store costumes and would need other supplies - he hoped that the others wouldn’t mind him taking a share of the common space to set up something like that. It seemed that Yin Tiang had already done so with his alchemy set and the like, so Tang Ze hoped they would allow it once they saw what he could do with making costumes.