The new concerns that have come up occupy my mind.

The world keeps turning, though.

The cultivator is still explaining different things that are going on, mostly in the realm of explaining the different tests that will come up and what they mean for everyone.

One thing he says catches my attention.

“… Keep in mind that once you complete the spirit root test, you start off immediately as that rank. As of that moment, make sure to act befitting your rank in our sect. Once all the testing is complete and your true rank is finalized, we will then send you to your corresponding housing locations. Soon after, you will receive instructions on what will come next for you.”

Wait a second. There has to be a way for people to progress in this organization. A way for someone to turn from an outer court member to an inner court one.

If I assume that immediately after all the testing is done, they are going to send me to my doom… then I need to act before then.

I need to find a way to get into the inner court before that transition happens!

It’s easy to think that, but it means is that I will need to use my scan to review all the sect’s procedures and old case scenarios. The sect has many precedents in place that allow people to succeed and gain benefits, as long as they or their mentors have knowledge of it.

The only trouble is that many of these hide in antiquity or purposely obscured. They want you to work for it, or know someone that can utilize this. The reason they do it like this is to reward the most knowledgeable people, or the best connected. Unfortunately, this usually means only the richest in powerful people get access to this type of knowledge.

With this in mind, I immediately begin my scan. It becomes immediately apparent that I will need to spend the night to slowly go over this to not overload myself.

In the interim, I follow along with the rest of the group, listening to the cultivator in gaining a little more knowledge on how the test would go if they weren’t rigged for me.

He also mentions that the next group will come in after all of our testing is done. It appears they stagger this, so there is a low chance of interference from different groups. From what I can tell, this is when Lin and Ai will come in. They will get to see the ultimate conclusion and assignment of ranks.

I already had confirmed that they will be fine going up the stairs, with their vastly improved bodies. They should be above the level of the lowest body cultivator… which is still the level of a professional level athlete on Earth.

By the end of the talk, everyone is now heading down into the temporary housing to rest for the night.

This gives me the perfect opportunity to reassure and organize my personal group, as many of them will probably not even make it to sect servant status.

Of course, if you’re not a sect servant, then normally you have to leave the premises of the sect, once all the testing is done. Since they could make it this far, they’d normally get offers from other groups and smaller sects in the outer city.

This is a bit of a special situation, though. Many of them are normal people who got help to cross the finish line. So, they won’t get much benefit from those groups.

This is their only chance at getting something.

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Since I already know this will be a worry for many of them, I reassure them and let them know that before the end of all the tests, to not leave and head back down to the outer city.

I state that while I can’t say anything now, I’ll make sure that all of them are taken care of in some fashion, as I had promised previously.

Many of them already know now that I’m somewhat of an alchemist and likely also have money. Though I don’t clarify, most of them that those assume that is how I’ll try to take care of them. This is enough to keep them there and still view that there is value in the relationship.

With the coalition group, I simply talk with them and make sure that they’re doing alright and mentally prepared for tomorrow. I discuss some stress relief techniques that can help them when they go through the testing. In addition, I mentioned that even if they don’t make it through the testing, that they will still have a relationship with me and others in the group.

However, since I offered no guarantee of insurance for the coalition group, this immediately caused some people in that group to request to be in my personal group instead, with all the requirements and conditions involved with it.

Those people who originally abstained out of worries of being controlled, but still needed significant help to go up the stairs, quickly threw their worries aside when they realized they may not have a good chance of making the spirit root test. It’s commonly known that while your condition isn’t the end all, be all for having a good spirit root, it is a good indicator of it.

Not only that, but many of them didn’t see a downside to joining the group. I never formally stated what would happen if they didn’t adhere to the guidelines.

What they don’t know is that after all of this is done, things will become more serious and I’ll start involving contracts to make sure that the things I share with them only stay with them.

This is the beta testers. I’ll be more lenient with everyone from this group because they started earlier. Even if they dip out at some point, I don’t mind letting them back in later with some restrictions.

With the organizational level things done, I make sure my close personal group, comprising Mei Lin and the others, are taken care of and safe.

We all stay in the same area, while the hero group provides security for all of us.

Despite the safety of this sect, I don’t want to take any chances with perspective sect members.

For me, there’s a difference between the personal group and my close personal group. Simply put, if I would cross a mountain for the personal group, I’d cross a mountain range for my close personal group.

The whole night, I feel the eyes of a cultivator on me. Their spiritual sense is over everyone here, but I can feel a focus on my area specifically. They’ve long recognized my actions, but now realize that this wasn’t just some temporary situation with the coalition and personal group.

I move into a state of sleeping that still lets my healing abilities continue through the rats. In addition, I use my alertness skill to practice being aware of my surroundings even while sleeping. Something that will probably become critical in the coming months.

The night passes peacefully, nonetheless.

I wake to the sound of quite a few people moving around, getting prepared to go to the latest test. I keep my eyes closed but use my awareness to observe the situation.

Mei Lin and everyone else in the personal group are already talking and ready. Some people from the other groups I honestly wondered why none of them woke me up. The hero group fills me in.

Ah. I suppose from their perspective, I’ve been running around every single night without sleep to keep making the concoction.

It looks like some people’s shining status has gone up from seeing me sleeping, thinking that I, too, am human.

They are right… but also very wrong.

I formally wake up to also start getting prepared and once I’m done, all the groups follow me over to the outer court area. It appears because of all the movements I’ve made; they’ve gotten somewhat used to staying updated about what I might do next.

There are many more cultivator spiritual senses washing over the area, watching for any suspicious activity. This gradually disappears until there is only one left.

A cultivator gathers us grouped together and leads us to the outer court training areas. This is where many of the outer court members will normally practice their techniques and forms.

As we approach the main training area for the outer court members, the sight of one person stops me dead in my tracks. Someone, I had every reason to believe would be in the sect, but didn’t think would meet so soon.

It’s the first person I saw in this world.

The woman who was floating on a sword back in Monchon City. Specifically, the same woman I openly called an old lady.

Sure enough, her eyes turn over to my position and almost immediately frowns, showing she did in fact hear me that day.

And based on her status and the way others are treating her… she’s going to be the elder overseeing testing for our spirit roots.

This… may make my plan a little less likely to succeed.

I can’t seem to catch a break. Even when I’ve made it to the sect!