While the master was dealing with his problems, the disciple was also about to face tribulations.

One might be forgiven for believing that everyone was happy with the way the battle had turned out, after all, Elizabeth was largely considered the underdog in the fight which turned out to be a hidden dragon who was simply playing with her food. The mortal crowd loved it and ate it up and some of the lower outer disciples were also in awe of the whole thing.

But one core issue remained, by all accounts, Elizabeth should have lost that fight, it did not matter if she had greater 'talent' she was being pushed back the entire fight and should have had no recourse against the greater fighter. There was also the rumor that she was a cauldron for the most 'recent' outer elder who had become extremely famous in the sect for a multitude of reasons.

It was also widely accepted that breakthrough destinies made the masters walk on a different league compared to the average disciple. It did not matter how hard the disciple trained they were a step behind to legendary ones let alone the awe-inspiring mythic abilities. Even a single epic destiny gave a cultivator a monstrous edge over those who did not.

Higher outer disciples and everyone above attributed her win to her 'borrowed' power which made her entirely beholden to her current master.

Some gave a very objective take, as Elizabeth would have no point in this tournament other than show off her master's breakthrough destiny and further her master's standing. This meant most event participation was not necessary and the only reason she was doing the lesser ones was to put her fellow disciples down. A group of disciples hated this as they were disillusioned by the 'heaven's chosen' grandeur and did not like the control the masters exerted over them. Another group was bitter about the power they would never achieve, they were fine being a lap dog of masters if it meant that they would be able to achieve a higher level of cultivation but the current standards of being a cauldron required one's virginity to be intact and in the cultivation world, that was rarer than finding the mythic celestial unicorn, if you did not count the sects whose whole agenda was 'virgin' cultivation. For them, Elizabeth represented an ideal they could never achieve. Finally, there was a group that would attribute anything and everything she did and ever will do as an extension of her master, meaning in essence they were losing because a pseudo-master was taking part and they had no hope of facing down such a threat. There was also the group that did not care about any of this and simply assumed it was a form of good fortune, their wish was to step up to the challenge and beat her fair and square.

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Finally, there was the group that was just like her, the cauldrons. Cauldrons by and large tended to be beautiful people which only inspired envy. They also tended to receive preferential treatment and unlike normal disciples, masters would very commonly splurge on their cauldrons. It did not matter if the master never improved, as long as they were in their own sphere, they were the kings and queens of the countless other disciples in that station. That was not to say that there were not good people among them, in fact, most were very subservient as it required a specific mindset to even attempt to give yourself entirely to the agency of someone else. But as the saying goes 'one bad apple' especially if that bad apple had a large advantage over the rest of their peers.

This made cauldrons a close-knit group being very wary of outsiders, even further alienating them from the rest.

Now combine that with all the propaganda that is spread by disciple unions, certain sects, and many masters that all believe the system of making cauldrons to be lesser if not harsher sentiments and you have a recipe for the perpetuation of hate.

This did not stop many from trying, such as the ludicrous power of breakthrough destinies. Not only that but despite its bad reputation, the number of cauldrons only increased as the years went by, the reason being disciples were much more expendable than cauldrons. The why for that is very obvious, unlike disciples who were often looked at as 'leaches' and 'soldiers', cauldrons were akin to lovers of more commonly beloved fuck pets and given much more care. Unlike disciples, where fucking was looked at as a job masters tended to enjoy having sex with their cauldrons which is more often not the reason they were turned into a cauldron in the first place which only widens that divide as sex directly translated to power. Powerful disciples hated this and masters did not partake, and some who did hate that those effective slaves wielded that much power, and this only added fuel to the fire.

Sadly, neither master nor disciple involved themselves in any of the behind-the-scenes politics and while for the reclusive and introverted master, this was fine, the more social disciple was about to have a very rude awakening to the horrors of disciple politics.

A singled-out cauldron was a very easy target. A singled out, beautiful and 'inept' cauldron who was only powerful because of her gifts was even more so. Especially if their master was not around to protect them and they were being egged on by internal forces.

One could only pray for Elizabeth to come out safely from the other side.