Chapter 27:

Not long after Lin left with Xing Yaling and Shen Di, I found myself bored very quickly. Unlike back on Earth, I had no phone to take out and kill time. Instead, I was alone in the line with no one to talk to.

Well, technically that wasn’t true. I could have stricken up a conversation with the guy in front of me. But he wore cultivator robes that I thought might be a bit fancier than normal. There were metallic-looking accents woven through it, and he also had a silvery hairpiece. I wasn’t quite sure if that meant rich and influential, but given Lin’s warning, I decided to err on the side of caution and not bother the guy.

I wasn’t so extroverted to start conversations with random strangers in line anyway.

That left me with only one thing to do to kill time. People watching. Though I did it carefully, making sure not to blatantly stare and attract unwanted attention. I still hoped that Lin was being overly cautious about her warning. But, even with what little I knew about this world and its people, I couldn’t help but worry that she wasn’t.

At first, there really wasn’t much to see. Not really. Sure, it was a bit surreal seeing so many people walking around openly with mostly melee weapons. If it wasn’t for all the robes and the Asian-themed room, the place could have passed for an illustration of a fantasy adventure hall I’d seen once. But that didn’t mean that anyone was doing anything all that interesting. Mostly everyone I watched was just talking to others.

Eventually, though, I found my eyes drawn to one person in particular.

The young man stood out in a number of ways. For one, he was quite big. About as tall as Big Chui, so more than a whole head taller than me. He wasn’t as muscular as Big Chui though. Not scrawny either but close.

His clothes, however, were what set him apart from everyone else the most. Just a plain beige tunic and pants combo. They were clean but frayed in a lot of places and looked a lot lower quality than most other people in the room. Even the rougher-looking people in the room's clothes seemed more affluent despite some being quite dirty.

And if all that wasn’t enough to make him stand out, he seemed to be moving between the various groups of people in the room. Something few did, sticking to the groups they were already in. Some of the people he spoke to dismissed him right away and wouldn’t talk to him. Others were interested in what he had to say for a moment. But soon after that, they were dismissive again and sent him away. And some were outright hostile and told him off with raised voices.

I picked out a few words from those exchanges even through the noise of the hall. ‘Liar’ and ‘Fraud’ stood out the most to me.

Despite all that, however, the young man kept trying. He also didn’t seem to let all the dismissals get to him. He frowned at the hostile people but kept a polite smile on his face for everyone else.

It made me very curious as to what that was all about. Was he some kind of known conman or something? Or was it just the clothes and him probably being far less well-off than most of the people here?

Before I could wonder any more about that, the young man seemed to finally run out of groups of people to approach. So instead, he turned and started walking towards the line I was in. Trying to play it cool, and also not attract the attention of the guy—I still didn’t know what was up with him—I did my best to pretend like I was looking at something else. Then before he joined me at the back of the line, I turned back to face the person ahead of me like something caught my attention.

When he didn’t immediately try and talk to me, I thought I managed to avoid having any awkward conversations. Unfortunately, a moment later I heard him mutter something about, ‘not giving up,’ and ‘just keep trying.’ Then he spoke up behind me.

“Um, excuse me?”

I did my best not to sigh at that. Instead, I turned slowly and hoped he was actually talking to someone else. He wasn’t, of course. Great. Well, at least now I get to know what his deal was. Perhaps that would help pass the time.

“Yes?” I asked hesitantly.

“I’m Pan Song,” the taller man said, giving me a short bow.

“I’m Li Lan,” I replied in kind, bowing as well. I’d finally stopped stuttering out my English name after getting introduced to various people back at the Sun Compound. “Is there something you need?”

“Um, yes… Well no. More like… I would like to make you an offer,” Pan Song said a bit awkwardly.

“An offer?”

“Yes,” Pan Song said with a firm nod. Then, he seemed to brace himself for a moment. “You see, I am an Array Master.”

There was a moment's pause. Pan Song seemed to be expecting something, but I wasn’t sure what it was. So, after what felt like another long moment, I nodded.

“Okay.”

“I know that you may not—” Pan Song said quickly after my response before he cut himself off. Then he looked at me wide-eyed. “You believe me?”

“Um…” I said, feeling just even more confused than before. “Should I not?”

“No, you should,” Pan Song said quickly. Then he seemed to shake his head and recenter himself. In a firmer voice, he said, “I am an Array Master.”

“Okay…” I said again, hoping this strange guy would get to the point. At the same time, I noticed the line move a bit so we both stepped forward. “You are an array master. I… Um, well. I have an idea of what that means, but I’m not super familiar with the topic. So what did you want to offer me?”

Pan Song held a firm expression on his face for a moment longer before he smiled. “Alright, if you want I can explain my profession more later. But first, thank you for believing me. I’ve had… issues getting others to believe the same. Perhaps it's because you don’t know much about Array Masters, but thanks for not dismissing me.”

“No problem,” I said, looking him over again. At his worn clothing that stood out so much. Was that why people were so dismissive of him? Maybe Array Masters were supposed to look a certain way and he didn’t fit the mold. “So what’s your offer?”

“Well, I’m looking for people to join me for a small expedition,” Pan Song said. “The ancient site I want to visit is well known and documented so you can verify it for yourself. It's the Serpent's Nest Ruins. There are only Early Rank 1 beasts around there, and I need to gather enough people to keep the area safe. After that, I will break the restrictions there. My offer is that you and whoever else you or I might be able to recruit can have the treasures hidden within. All I wish is to take the remnants of the formations once I’ve dealt with them.“

Before I could reply, I heard a snort from behind me.

I turned to see what that was about, only to see the guy in front of me side-eyeing us. When I caught his eye and raised an eyebrow, he just scoffed and turned away. Rude. But I ignored it. No need to pick a fight when I had no idea what his background was. I also couldn’t really use my Earth Sense so I didn’t know his personal strength either besides a vague feeling that he had Qi.

“Alright, that sounds interesting,” I said, pretending like nothing had just happened. “But, like I said, I don’t really know much about Array Masters. I also don’t know much about these ruins you are talking about. I can, however, ask my friends about it and see if they are interested. They’re already part of the Starguard and likely know more.”

“Really?” Pan Song asked, looking far more chipper than I thought he would. It wasn’t like I committed to joining him or anything. “Thank you. That is great news. How many of your friends are there? And do you think they would know anyone else interested? Depending on their level of strength, the three of us could be enough to make the attempt. Though more might make it safer.”

“There’s two of them,” I said. “But we might be able to gather a couple of more people if we need it. But, like I said, I’ll need to speak with them first since they know more about these things.”

“Of course, of course,” Pan Song said, taking a quick breath to center himself. “Sorry for getting worked up. But I really appreciate being given a chance and not being dismissed. If they need proof of my abilities, I would be happy to demonstrate what I can do. I don’t have the resources or the money to waste setting up something powerful, but I can make something complex enough to show off my mastery if given the chance.”

“Okay,” I said, nodding. I felt a bit bad for the guy, given how excited he was for someone not to dismiss him. “I guess you’ve been having a tough time with that kind of thing as of late?”

Pan Song grimaced at that. “Yes.” He then looked down at himself. “People see me and immediately think I’m some bumpkin either lying or delusional. No cultivators have given me the chance before you.” His shoulders slumped for a moment, but then he clenched a fist and straightened himself. “But I haven’t been letting that get me down. I’ve been selling some minor formations elsewhere in the city. To non-cultivators who gave me the chance, hoping that I can get more people to listen eventually and show off my skills.”

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“That’s admirable,” I said. “To not give up like that. But, ugh, have you considered maybe changing up your wardrobe? Maybe if you looked. Um more like the other cultivators here you’d have an easier time?”

Pan Song sighed and shook his head. “The materials needed for spirit formations are expensive. Very expensive. I have very little funds right now for the kind of clothing that would make me fit the image many would expect from my profession.”

He gestured towards my clothes as he said that, making me look down at my robes curiously. They weren’t… They weren’t that expensive, were they? If they were, maybe I should be more careful with them. I hadn’t actually given it much thought.

“It doesn’t help that I hadn’t realized this would be an issue earlier,” Pan Song said, running a hand through his hair. “This is my first time in the city you see, and I didn’t expect people to be so judgemental. Many people have heard about me now. They think I’m a fraud and just changing my clothes won’t change that either. I need to do something to prove them all wrong. It's one of the reasons I want to do this expedition.”

“How so?” I asked, seeing the line move again and moving along with it.

“The Serpent Nest Ruins is just one of many known ancient sites around Everlake,” Pan Song explained. “Its location isn’t secret because the restrictive formations protecting it are too powerful, like most ruins. Only a true Array Master can break them without overwhelming strength. And the handful of true Array Masters in the city have no need to bother with such things.

“Because of how much time it would take to break into these ancient sites, any true Array Master would be better off selling their services instead of hunting these minor sites. Only a major ancient site would be enough to tempt them, and those are not so easily found. Anything else would not be too much effort for not enough rewards.”

“Not that much reward?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at that.

“For an established Array Master,” Pan Song rushed to assure me. “For most other cultivators, at least those below the peak of Qi-Gathering, the treasures should be more than enough. Especially since you and your friends won’t need to do anything but protect me while I work. As for me, cracking one of the ruins with witnesses and bringing back the treasures from the ruins should finally escape the poor reputation I’ve developed.”

“I see,” I said, nodding. If he wasn’t lying, then that did make sense. I still wasn’t completely convinced, but Jianfeng and Lin should be able to determine if he was lying or not. So I would give him a chance for now. “Then I guess it's both our lucky break then. I’m new to the city and wouldn’t mind earning some treasures to build up some funds. So long as you can convince my friends, then I’m in.”

“Great,” Pan Song said, beaming. “Then it should be no problem. As long as they give me the chance to prove myself, I should be able to convince them.”

With that agreed on, Pan Song and I continued to chat about things while we waited in line. He was planning on taking the Starguard recruitment exam as well and wasn’t just in line looking for people to help him.

I ended up asking him more about what being an Array Master entailed. He was eager to talk about the subject, and just from listening to him I could tell it was a subject he was deeply passionate about. And I could understand why as he explained things.

Array Masters or Formation Masters, were cultivators who specialized in the usage of spirit formations. Spirit formations were essentially ritual magic from what I could understand, matching what I knew of the idea from stories. Using prepared tools—usually flags—inscribed with magical symbols, he could create all sorts of supernatural effects. From creating barriers to illusions to specific restrictions like fire cannot appear here to all sorts of other things.

It was an incredibly versatile and complex art that few could master, requiring lots of studying and problem-solving. Which kinda explained why few people thought Pan Song was telling the truth. He looked more like a farmer than a scholar.

Still, the more Pan Song talked about it, the more I believed him about what he said earlier. I also couldn’t help but want to explore learning formations myself. They sounded incredibly useful and versatile, able to do a lot of amazing things. Perhaps if I could get a Skill for it…

As soon as that thought came to mind, I pushed it away. I doubted I would find an evil Array Master that was weak enough for me to defeat any time soon. That was the only way I would ever let myself get such a Skill, so there was no point in thinking about it.

Besides, just because I had the System didn’t mean I had to solely rely on it. I would use it for all its worth, but perhaps formation could be a supplement to what I could already do.

With that in mind, I asked Pan Song about how one starts learning about formations as the two of us reached the front of the line. The idea that I wanted to learn seemed to excite the other man even more, and he happily started to go in-depth about just what I would need to learn such an art. Unfortunately, this was cut short by the person ahead of me finishing with the clerk.

After a promise that we would talk more later, I moved to talk to the pretty woman sitting behind the counter. I told her what I wanted, and she gave me a brief explanation of just what the trial would entail first.

Essentially, it was one big monster hunt in a prepared area by the Starguard Hall. Lin and Jianfeng had already explained everything to me, so nothing said to me was new. Instead, I just nodded along to the explanation, barely paying attention. The only thing that made me pause was when the young woman emphasized the penalty for trying to kill another trial taker during the exam.

The penalty was death. Anyone caught breaking the rules and trying to kill someone—or successfully killing someone else—unless it was in self-defense, would die. It didn’t matter who you were or what connections you had.

I wasn’t sure how much I believed that last part. But I took the warning seriously regardless. Even if I had no plans of trying to kill anyone during the exam. It wasn’t like one of the Black Wind remnants would be there, and there was no one else in the world I had any plans on killing at the moment.

After that, I paid the fee to sign up. It was just one spirit stone, which I had readily available from the spirit stones Sun Xia gave me when we first met. Thankfully, I’d been told about how much they were worth before I ate them all in training. Still, knowing how valuable these were, I couldn’t help but wince slightly as I handed one over.

I’d be able to earn more once I joined the Starguard, but it still felt a bit excessive for a fee.

After that, I was done and given a token to show that I was registered for the coming trial. It would be in a week's time, and I was to come to the hall to be taken to the test site.

I thanked the woman before walking off. I waited a bit nearby for Pan Song to finish his registration while I took the time to look around the hall. I was hoping to see Jianfeng or Lin back, but I couldn’t see either of them just yet. It seemed that they were still busy.

So I just went back to people-watching, hoping to see something that could keep my interest for a bit. Unfortunately, there really wasn’t anything too interesting to see. Everyone here might be a cultivator, but unless they burst out into a fight—which was not allowed in here—they were hardly all that different from normal people.

The only thing that really caught my eye was a group of young men walking into the hall. They all wore the same white and gold robes, which drew my attention at first. Then I couldn’t help but notice the pure white fox riding on the shoulder of the youngest looking of the group.

But as unique as that was in the hall, it wasn’t really something that could hold my attention. So I started looking elsewhere for a while until Pan Song finally finished. He took a bit longer than me for some reason.

“So, how hard do you think the trial will be?” I asked when he came over.

Pan Song frowned as he considered things. “Well—” he started to say, only to be interrupted.

“You! Bumpkin!” someone said loudly, making me turn around in surprise. They’d been behind me and quite close.

It was those guys I noticed before, wearing white and gold robes. All five of them had come over, three of them in front, with the younger-looking one with the fox and the final guy in the back.

The three in front were openly scowling at Pan Song, I realized. The two in the back seemed a lot less invested in whatever this was, the younger one looking bored while the other man looked neutral. Around us, many people were looking over, probably curious as to what the shouting was about.

It made me nervous, even if the attention wasn’t really focused on me.

“My name is Pan Song,” Pan Song said, frowning at the attention directed at him. “What business do you have with me?”

“What business?” the guy in the middle of the three closest men shook his head. He had a scar right under his left eye and had been the one to shout. “You know exactly what business we have with you! Your constant disrespect of our Qian Clan cannot be ignored.”

“What disrespect could I have possibly given the Qian Clan?” Pan Song asked, sounding completely confused. “The only time I’ve met with members of the Qian Clan was to find a sponsor for my work as an Array Master. When I was rejected, I left and didn’t bother your clan any longer. How could I possibly have been disrespectful?”

Scarface scoffed at that and shook his head. “That right there is your disrespect. Peddling lies about being an Array Master. The Young Master already declared you a liar and a fraud when he kicked you out.” He gestured behind himself to the young man with the fox. “Now we hear that you have been going around the Starguard Hall, still making such absurd claims. It can only be thought of as a slap to the face of our Young Master and clan.”

“I mean no disrespect to the Young Master,” Pan Song said, sounding frustrated. “But I was never given the chance to demonstrate my skills. If you would just give me a chance, then you would be able to see the truth. But if not, I will not simply put aside my status as an Array Master. If others choose to give me a chance, it should have nothing to do with your Qian Clan.”

Pang Song said that last part firmly and with conviction. It would have been admirable if it wasn’t for the fact that it probably wasn’t going to change anything. These people had made up their minds, and they were stronger and more well connected too.

I’d heard about the Qian Clan over the last week. They were one of the three top clans in the city. Not people to be messed with lightly.

The only thing stopping this from getting worse was this was the Starguard Hall, and no fighting was allowed in here by anyone. Otherwise, these assholes might have already escalated things given their connections and belligerence.

“Of course, a bumpkin like you would think like that,” Scarface said with a shake of his head. “Perhaps you are too dimwitted to understand that you are calling the Young Master a liar by your absurd claims. But you should know that you won’t find anyone willing to believe your absurd claims here. Because anyone here should understand that calling a Young Master of the Qian Clan a liar is an incredibly foolish thing to do.”

As the man said those last words, he turned his glare from Pan Song over to me. What he meant was obvious, and I grimaced at the attention.

I hadn’t wanted to get involved in this, even if I was pretty sure Pan Song was telling the truth, and these guys were just assholes. Unfortunately, it seems they weren’t content to leave me out of things.

Just great.