Less than an hour after his ominous declaration, a sect-wide emergency announcement was broadcast in the air.
[EMERGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT: ALL DISCIPLES AND TEACHERS ARE TO IMMEDIATELY HALT THEIR TASKS AND GATHER AT THE ABSOLUTE WHITE LOTUS HALL! THIS IS NOT A DRILL.]
[I REPEAT! EMERGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT: ALL DISCIPLES AND TEACHERS ARE TO IMMEDIATELY HALT THEIR TASKS AND GATHER AT THE ABSOLUTE WHITE LOTUS HALL! THIS IS NOT A DRILL.]
This announcement sent extraordinary ripples across the entire student body and faculty of the Sacred Snow Heart Sect, causing everyone to drop their tasks and duties and frantically race to the Absolute White Lotus Hall.
-
The Sacred Snow Heart Sect was located in the Permafrost Region in the Vast Northern Expanse of the North Aislu Continent. The sect held the official position as a ‘sovereign vassal state’ under the Mu Household, which was the Hegemon of the North Aislu Continent.
The sect was primarily female-only, with very few and far between male disciples allowed into its fold. That is not to say that men were prohibited from joining but rather that the main cultivation technique of the sect was skewed towards Yin-dominated physiques; in other words, women.
Most disciples were recruited into the sect between the ages of five and fifteen. Once admitted, the disciples were required to stay within the sect grounds all year round. They were only allowed to leave during official sect duties. Their duration of stay and learning within the sect depended upon their rank of discipleship.
Outer-Rank disciples were required to stay in the sect for five years. Disciples were allowed to take the ‘Rank Promotion Exam’ from the third year onwards granting them the opportunity to rise in rank and learn longer in the sect. Should a disciple stay as an Outer Disciple for the entire duration of their learning they would then be asked to take their ‘Graduation Exam’ and be asked to leave a sect.
After the Outer-Rank came the Inner-Rank Disciples. Apart from having access to more resources and methods, the Inner Disciples’ term of study was at seven years. These students made up the bulk of the sect’s cadre. Also, unlike the Outer Disciples, the Inner Disciples were also tasked with ‘Sect Duties,’ which saw them travelling the outside world to accomplish some task; such activities began from Year 4 onwards.
Similar to Outer Disciples, Inner Rank Disciples were also allowed to take Rank Promotion Exams from Year 3 onwards.
After the Outer and Inner-Rank Disciples came the Core Disciples, the Prime Disciples, and the Legacy Disciples. The resource, facility, and material availability and accessibility for these three ranks were more or less the same. The only real difference was in their teachers.
As stated previously, Legacy Disciples were seen as the successors of their teacher’s name and glory. Prime Disciples could be seen as inheritors of a part of their teacher’s school and weren’t seen as the second coming of their mentors.
Core Disciples may or may not receive special instructions from their teachers. They were high achievers in the sect’s common studies.
In this world, there were Seventy-Two Schools of Orthodoxy, in other words, these were schools or organizations that were considered heavyweights in their respective orthodox Paths.
The Sacred Snow Heart Sect, for instance, was the world’s pioneer in the [Ice Path] and [Snow Path].
The Eternal Fire Sect was the champion of the [Fire Path]. The Divine Lightning Sect was the master of the [Lightning Path] and [Electricity Path]. There were sixty-nine other sects and schools similar to these that made up the rest of the list.
Schools that were on the list were not all equal. As natural with everything in existence, there was a divide between higher and lower; there were ranks!
The Sacred Snow Heart Sect ranked thirty-seventh (37th) on this list. They were neither the strongest nor the weakest school in the world. However, this rank was not entirely representative of their power. In actuality, the sect was stronger than what its rank would imply solely because of a single reason.
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The Everfrost Fairy, Chu Mingxi!
This Rank 8 practitioner, who was called a Pseudo-Sovereign, was considered one of the strongest existences below the Sovereign Rank. As such, taking only her strength into the equation, the Sacred Snow Heart Sect wasn’t too distant from the top ten ranked schools in the list.
-
The announcement continued to blare across the sect grounds. Students and teachers, elders and mentors, everyone rushed toward the Absolute White Lotus Hall with frenetic steps.
Upon arrival, they found themselves confused when they saw the figures standing atop the highest platform and looking down upon them.
“That is… Grand Elder, the Holy Everfrost Fairy! And the one next to her… is Legacy Disciple Collette from the Rosemark family.”
“Who’s the lady in the wheelchair next to them?”
“Is that a lady? I don’t think so. His features are too sharp. He must be a man. A very… beautiful man.”
“He possesses the same hair colour as the Grand Elder. Could they be related?”
“Oh-oh, I know! Isn’t he that young man whose name and face were all over the newspapers recently!? Wu-something…”
“Wuzhi! Yes, I remember! Mu Wuzhi, the second son of the Golden Sovereign who returned home after being lost for nearly two decades! Poor guy. While his other siblings were living the high life, he was crawling around in the mud.”
“Look at him. Does he look like someone who’s spent a lifetime crawling in the mud? I don’t know about you girls, but if I had ever run into him somewhere, I would’ve kept him.”
“Kept him? What? As your personal gigolo or something?”
“I’m just saying! Besides... if it was him, I don’t think even marriage is off the table.”
“Someone, quick! Stop this pervert from attacking that poor, innocent young man on stage!”
“Hey, I’ve been watching for a while. But don’t you think that he and Legacy Disciple Collette are a little too close?”
“Right! Right! Look at how they are constantly smiling and giggling at each other! I don’t think I’ve seen them break eye contact even once since I entered this place!”
“Ah, look! Their hands brushed! Collette is looking away with her face as red as an apple! I didn’t even know her face could turn red!!”
“Dammit! Don’t tell me someone already got the jump on us!?”
“No! My beautiful dreams! My fantasies! Damn you, Collette!"
Such inane and excited chatters quietly resounded within the hall. Seeing their powerful Grand Elder look calm, the initial tension from the sudden announcement drained away from everyone.
Eventually, when the Absolute White Lotus Hall was stuffed to the brim, Chu Mingxi took a step forward and lightly clapped her hands. That light clap thundered heavily akin to a clash between mountains.
All excited discussions stopped and attention was turned toward the main platform.
With her part complete, Chu Mingxi stepped back and gave her nephew a glance. Wuzhi received his cue and wheeled forward in his wheelchair.
Cupping his hands, he offered a bow and began. “Humble Wuzhi offers his greetings to this gathering of beautiful Fairies. Firstly, I would like to offer my apology for the frenetic announcement. I did want to be subtle about the request, but my aunt here,” he side-eyed Aunt Mingxi, “thought it would be better to use the sect’s emergency broadcast network to have everyone gather.”
“Again, I’m extremely sorry.” He bowed deeply.
“Now, I will waste no time and arrive immediately at the point. As you might’ve guessed from seeing me, I suffer from a chronic injury that has left me crippled in my lower body. The injury is also rapidly progressive and will kill me soon if it is not resolved promptly.”
“The wound is of an extremely sinister kind that makes it so that most traditional methods of healing do not work on it. This leaves me in an unfortunate position where there is no immediate cure to save my life.”
“Fortunately, I am not so helpless as to tie my hands before this affliction and wait for my death. I have some accomplishment in the [Healing Path] and therefore have a preliminary idea for a prognosis.”
“This is where you beautiful fairies come in. Time is pressing and the cure is not something that I can come up with by myself in this extremely short period. It is my selfish request to ask for the help of Fairies to help me find a cure.”
“I understand that after hearing this request, some of you might feel angry and betrayed. Rest assured, I completely understand your sentiments. I also understand that it’s somewhat scoundrel-like of me to use my aunt’s position to abuse her authority. Believe me when I say that if not for the pressing nature of the injury, I would have never resorted to such schemes.”
“I do not want to force anyone to comply with my wishes. I understand and will not hold it against you if you wish to leave. However, should you choose to stay and indulge me in this request; know that I will forever be extremely grateful for your help.”
“In terms of compensation for your services, I’m afraid that I cannot offer you any monetary payments. However, at the risk of sounding audacious, I can guarantee you this…”
A smug expression appeared on Wuzhi’s face as he gazed at the silent and interested fairies.
“Everyone who chooses to stay and assist in my research will see at least a minor breakthrough in their path!”
It was a shocking declaration that not even a Sovereign would dare promise.