‘’Then-’’ the man on the wooden podium stopped for a moment to take a sip from his gourd, then continued. ‘’-How do we face with such a decision?’’He wore a pure white robe, with the words Combat Master reading under the symbol of Cindersnow. The sleeves were unusually long, each time he moved they would shake and flap in the air.

‘’Salvon Xiao, in the Love Of Baybur, explains it this way: ‘’To live as an immortal, and to live as a mortal is the same. One loves, one hates, one rejoices, one mourns. Their heart is the same! Past is also the same, and no ties are so light that they can be severed. They can be ignored, yet to ignore the past means to destroy the present, and forsake the future. And Baybur knew, more than all nobles and officials inside this hall, that only people as cruel as Forsakens could do that. Even while he was one of them himself.’‘.’’

‘’So it would be right to say that our essence, in its purest form is mortality. That is why rather than cultivators, we are called Immortals more frequently. To not forget about your mortal side is also a duty of immortal.’’

‘’Now back to the topic.’’ He stopped stroking his beard at some point, then faced the crowd of disciples listening to him under the scorching sun. ‘’Next week; Shu, Shi, Zhang, and Wang. Read the whole novel before attending to the lesson. For the others, it is not a necessity for you but I would advise doing so if you want to come and listen again.’’

‘’Thanks for the guidance, senior master Quan.’’ Four disciples stood up among the crowd and gave a bow, and soon the others followed. As they rose, Quan spoke again with a nod.

‘’Then you are dismissed, be careful on your cultivation.’’ And he propelled himself into the air with his Qi, then disappeared with the flappings of his sleeves towards one of the many masses of earth revolving around the mountain. They were accommodations of Elders, Combat Masters, Masters, and top students like the famed Gaobun from the Department Of Punishment And Military, as well as the personal disciple of Elder Windblade. Not many were like him though, Ubel heard of only six of those people. Boris seemed to be a candidate to those people as well.

Mentioning Boris, He was now busy with slapping Ubel’s shoulders to wake him up from his stupor. It was as effective as it was painful, and he turned his attention back to the huge bronze man. Why does he keep his hair that dirty? If he had taken care of his hair properly, instead of letting it loose and curly behind, drowned in scalls, then he would look pretty attractive. That was Ubel’s estimation though, and his measure of attractiveness seemed to improve after meeting and feasting his eyes on many men and women inside the sect.

This meant he also evaluated himself as nothing unique, he was somewhat above average compared to the crowd. Whether this was a good thing or not, Ubel couldn’t decide.

‘’So, how was it? Are you impressed?’’ Boris spoke, flouted with pride, and confused Ubel more on his strange personality.

‘’It was better than the senior master Wuji’s augury class. I didn’t understand anything about feng shui and five elements.’’ Ubel told the truth. He somewhat undermined the value of the lesson, he could accept that much. The road that led from the entrance of the boroughs five, six, seven, and eight were all downwards slopes, with the road ending at a huge square for holding tournaments and greeting guests. And for some kind of reason, all entrances of the houses faced the slope with no exception. Shapes of the houses were also fixed to a design, mostly square or round. Whether this affected anything or not, Ubel wasn’t sure. But it showed that master Wuji’s lessons held some unique and important aspects at the layout of the mountain.

‘’I knew you would say that.’’ No, he definitely didn’t. But Ubel didn’t point out. ‘’Anyway, elders only give lessons on the fifth day of the week, and there is no more Masters or Combat masters giving lessons today. What would you like to do?’’

‘’Hmm, I’m not sure.’’

‘’Then shall we check up your house? It has been a week at least.’’

‘’Oh, I asked about it at disciple hall yesterday.’’ Ubel sighed. ‘’There seems to be more work to do.’’

‘’But how? It shouldn’t take more than two or three days to complete the construction.’’ Boris supported his coarse chin with his fist, then a sharp glint passed through his eyes.

‘’Junior brother, did you anger someone? Are there disciples troubling you?’’ His voice resounded colder than ever and even garnered some attention.

‘’No. I don’t think I’ve done something wrong. Borough seven isn’t such a shabby place too.’’

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‘’Ooh-’’ Boris exclaimed. ‘’Junior brother, your house is among the six hundreds, right?’’

‘’Six hundred and thirtieth house.’’ Ubel corrected.

‘’Then it is understandable. I heard that a junior sister is coming back from a mission outside. She had done some remarkable work in administration at there.’’

‘’Mission?’’ This was the first thing that intrigued Ubel. At least he heard about missions, simply duties sect assigned for people to do on their behalf to gain money or merit. He didn’t know further than that.

‘’Hm?’’ Boris smiled a bit as he led Ubel down the hill, towards one of the many dirt roads covered in purple bonsai trees. They were unusually huge, some of their branches were as long as him, and he doubted how they managed to cultivate such a tree.

‘’I thought your ears would pick up about missions as well.’’

‘’Well senior brother, my ears aren’t as sharp as you make them to be.’’

‘’Alright, let me explain. But first-’’ he stopped in front of a small stall on the road, not far away from the entrance of the borough six, and took out a soulstone. Strange currency. Ubel had to comment at least. These stones were as big as a pinky finger, hard to carry in pockets or pouches, and only had an attractive dark blue color. He expected them to use silver or gold, which he sometimes saw people exchange them, but mostly soulstones occupied the mainstream currency.

‘’Two bowls of beef and noodles.’’ He ordered and put the soulstone on the counter, then grabbed two small stools for them to settle down. ‘’Eating while talking seems easier.’’ Boris explained. The man behind the counter started to work immediately. Under the frame he lit two ovens and placed identical pitch black friers with wide bottoms. He poured some kind of liquid and heated the oven more.

Ubel watched the progress with interest until Boris garnered his attention with a small clap.

‘’Now, where do I begin?’’

‘’Missions?’’

‘’Yes, missions.’’ He grasped two cups, filled by the food maker with a reddish wine as they started to talk, then placed them on a small end table in front. ‘’First, they are the pillar most students and elders rely on. You must know that foremost.’’

‘’Pillar? I can’t really understand why you would put it that way.’’

‘’Let me explain thoroughly first, then you might get it.’’

‘’Now, think of the disciples on the mountain. There are at most eighty-thousand people, that is the number while also including the laborers. But the total number is around two hundred thousand, which means the majority of the sect members are out in the continent.’’

‘’Sect likes disciples to go out and explore, experience new things and improve themselves. This way, we can be more useful to the sect and humanity all together. Most missions outside the sect are important, too. Administration, medicine and health, engineering, military, and other sorts of professions are available for disciples.’’

‘’As an example, your new neighbour. Agatha is said to be one of the best administrators of the Han dynasty she is coming from, even Emperor sent a formal request to keep her in the empire for some while to finish their new finance system. But when she left the sect, all she knew about money and currency were as much as we knew. Just some coins that helps you buy things.’’

‘’She must be an amazing person. Though when did she leave the mountain?’’

‘’About twenty years ago? It should be around twenty.’’

‘’Isn’t that...like pretty long?’’

‘’Long? Of course not.’’ Boris frowned. ‘’At Qi Destruction, an immortal can live up to a hundred years. In Path Finding, its one-hundred and fifty. Path establishing, its three hundred, and at the peak of Path Opening, it is near to four hundred years.’’

‘’Well senior brother, there is a certain person who is just an immortal for one week.’’ Ubel had every right to grumble, of course. He heard and listened to people's talks and gossips, but only a little fraction of those were useful information. Well, immortals’ love life and who stole from whom could be somewhat of use depending on the situation But for now, they were just useless.

‘’Ah, sorry. Oh look, the meal seems done.’’ and it indeed seemed so. The man behind the counter unbound the bandana on his forehead and wiped the accumulated sweat with a grey towel right beside him. Oh- it seems delicious! He put four clay bowls, two filled with steaming golden noodles and other two stinking of oil and fresh meat. Ubel put one of the beef inside his mouth, then flinched a little from the heat.

‘’It tastes too good.’’ Ubel exclaimed. His comment put a smile on the owner’s face, and the man returned to his counter with a pleasant whistle. ‘’Then senior brother, you mean to say missions are a pillar because they bind the empires to the sect?’’

‘’Oh, yes. When people descending from Cindersnow occupies important positions in vassals of the sect and becomes an important asset to both sides there won’t be a turning back. Essentially, the system is making them dependent on the disciples themselves, and the sect makes disciples dependent on itself. This way, it controls a vaster territory than it is capable of in usual ways.’’

‘’But isn’t this wrong? Won’t this close the way of development for the empires?’’

‘’I thought so at first, but when you go outside it is easy to see why it won’t do as you suppose. I...can’t explain why to you for now. It is something you have to experience yourself.’’ Boris stumbled on his words for a moment, then gobbled up the remaining food.

Ubel finished his own portion and drank the cup of wine in front, then twisted his face. It is too sour! Wine wasn’t his thing, it seemed.

‘’Well then, shall we go back?’’

‘’As you say, senior brother.’’