“Now, it is customary for us to assign each new joiner to a master, who is there for counsel and wider assistance. Based on the talents each of you has shown so far, we have selected Elders for you who we believe will be able to effectively guide you on your individual paths. However, if you feel another Elder may be more appropriate, or that your true talents lie in another direction, feel free to say so, and we will do our best to accommodate you.”

“For you Disciple Wang Li, due to your talent in the Dao of the Sword, we have picked Elder Wan Yu, a sword practitioner renowned the world over for his domineering style of combat.”

As the Sect Leader announced, a ruggedly handsome man with a sharp aura entered the room and took his place beside the Sect Leader.

Wang Li walked up to Elder Wan and kowtowed. “Please accept this humble one as your disciple, Elder Wan.”

Elder Wan smiled and helped Wang Li up. “Wang Li, I acknowledge you as my personal disciple and will strive to guide you to the best of my ability.”

The Sect Leader nodded at the sight and continued. “For you Disciple Sun Ru, due to your skill in the Phoenix Reemergence Technique and talent within the fire domain, we have picked Elder Hong Lin, a per-eminent master of fire and forging.”

A beautiful woman entered this time, her aura fiery and rousing.

Sun Ru went up to her and followed Wang Li’s example, kowtowing before her master. “Please accept this humble self as your disciple, Fairy Hong.”

Fairy Hong helped her up. “That I shall, Little Sun.”

“As for you Disciple Dong Fu, due to your skill in body refining, we have picked Elder Gong Zemin, a body refiner who is distinguished even amongst his peers for winning countless battles against severe odds and time and time again surviving the unsurvivable.”

A large, ferocious man entered this time, his visible skin scarred all over which was a feature rarely seen amongst cultivators who were able to heal from even the most severe wounds at higher levels. It followed that his aura was terrifying, not necessarily thicker than the other Elders but speaking solely of pain and conflict.

Dong Fu went up to him and did as the others, kowtowing before his master. “Please accept this humble self as your disciple, Elder Gong.”

Elder Gong looked fondly at the bandages covering Dong Fu. “Good. You are acknowledged, boy. Raise yourself.”

By now, Zeng Fei was hardly able to contain his excitement, imagination going wild about who his master would be.

The Sect Leader cleared his throat. “And lastly, for you Zeng Fei, who has shown talent in spirit beast summoning, we have picked Grand Elder Mi Mi.”

To the sound of gasps, the Eighth Grand Elder walked in. She was a very short woman with straw-blonde hair that was beginning to grey and a kind grandmother-like expression that made her eyes appear like horizontal slits. Same as the Sect Leader, she did not have a perceivable aura.

The look of envy was naked on the faces of the other disciples, wondering how on earth he’d ended up with an esteemed Grand Elder as his master.

Once they reached that rank, Grand Elders almost never took on further personal disciples; so to have forced one out of retirement, it meant Zeng Fei had to be super special in some way that evidently wasn’t visible.

Yet, Zeng Fei saw a wildly different set of emotions on the faces of the Elders, who, despite controlling their expressions better, still revealed subtle signs of their inner thoughts.

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Towards the Eighth Grand Elder, they showed trepidation and fear, whereas towards Zeng Fei, their expressions were split between wariness and pity.

It reminded him of his last interaction with Elder Ma, who’d commented that he was a good kid and that he should not let others change him, as well as apologising for failing to protect him.

…Could it be any more obvious the sect was trying to feed him a spoonful of poison?

Since he couldn’t go forward, he knew he’d have to somehow backpedal without falling off this tightrope if he wanted to survive.

There was no time to think up the optimal method, so Zeng Fei went for the only way out he could think of.

The Sect Leader nodded towards him to prompt him forwards.

But he did not step forward and kowtowed on the spot. “This humble disciple appreciates the sect’s thoughtfulness, but I am patently aware of my limitations and know that I am undeserving of personal tutelage from such an esteemed person. Out of fear that I cannot live up to your expectations, this disciple humbly respects another Elder for his master.”

Grand Elder Mi Mi’s expression did not change one bit despite Zeng Fei’s rudeness, to the point it was unknown if she’d even heard him. However, the Sect Leader’s did, who forced a smile onto his face.

“Disciple Zeng, those concerns are natural for all cultivators to experience, so put yourself at ease. Besides, Little Eighth, ahem, I mean Grand Elder Mi Mi is an expert at guiding her disciples, so there is no question you will bloom under her tutelage, that much the sect is certain of.”

Zeng Fei did not raise his head. “All the same, everyone can see that my cultivation speed is shamefully slow, which even the greatest guidance will struggle to overcome. I already feel graced to be entering the Inner Sect, so I cannot bear the thought of wasting the time of someone so esteemed with my dire talent. I deeply implore that you reconsider, Sect Leader.”

Everyone there could see the Sect Leader’s smile getting progressively more strained, a nerve even cropping up on his brow.

Against appearances, however, the Sect Leader was impressed with Zeng Fei: who would have thought this youngster was not only a wily fox capable of seeing through their ploy in an instant, but also shameless and audacious enough to risk offending a Grand Elder to request a replacement?

Any other brat faced with this situation would have been blinded by the bright lights and started counting their lucky stars already; this made the Sect Leader all the more confident that Little Eighth was the right glove to fit the hand.

But even then, so what? Just because you could see the game for what it was did not mean you had the cards to play. There were levels to this, as the Sect Leader was about to teach this young grifter.

“Disciple Zeng Fei, you cannot request another master.”

“Huh?” Zeng Fei looked up out of surprise. “I thought you said we could…”

“Yes, the others could, but you cannot.” The Sect Leader coughed into his fist.

Grand Elder Mi Mi finally spoke, her voice soft and soothing to the soul. “Sorry, I’m the only one possible for you. The other Grand Elders didn’t—”

The Sect Leader hastily interrupted, clapping his hands. “Good good, well I’m glad to see everything’s sorted. With this, your induction to the Treading Infinity Sect is complete: you are now all officially Inner Sect Disciples. I will let your masters take it from here.”

In the blink of an eye, the Sect Leader zipped out of the building, followed on shortly by the other Elders with their disciples in haul.

There remained only Grand Elder Mi Mi, unperturbed by their hurried departures, and Zeng Fei, still kneeling on the ground with his mouth hanging, really starting to question how he’d ever thought revealing his talent would not end up fucking him over…

“Come now, Zeng’er,” Grand Elder Mi Mi said. She walked up to him and took his hand in her own. She tugged at him to pull him forwards, which, because of her short stature, was reminiscent of a manchild being lugged around by his mother.

When they exited the Council Hall, the Grand Elder gave a whisk of her wrist towards the sky, causing the clouds to rapidly descend towards them and coalesce beneath their feet. In a matter of seconds, this cloud structure had solidified to support their weight and lifted off the ground.

Strangely, the cloud also formed manacles against Zeng Fei’s feet, latching him to the structure. He was just about to question what they were there for when suddenly the world blurred.

His breath caught in his throat and eyes rolled backwards as though he were amid an epileptic seizure; if not for Grand Elder Mi Mi protecting him, it was more likely than not that the wind would have flayed the very skin off his flesh and his organs would have flung out of their flesh casing. Such was the absurd acceleration his body had just endured.

And they weren’t even at top speed yet…

If the journey towards the Council Hall had been exhilarating, then the journey away was a flat-out heartstopper.