It was rather late at night when Sana returned to her dwellings. She checked in briefly in her own unit, it was a standalone home, with one bedroom, a small guest room, a cultivation room, a tea room, a storage area and a washroom and toilet.
It was lavish, and Sana knew from the other young masters that this was not typical housing. The disciples that got in through the trials lived in shared dorms on another side of the New Ring City.
She picked up what she needed, and instead of resting, she went to the unit next door. The door opened naturally when she was at the door, as if he already sensed her there.
“-husband.” Sana said with a bow, as she walked into his unit.
Zahar was in meditation, and she could feel the energies in the unit swirled differently. His eyes opened, and he smiled. “Welcome. How was the cocktail party?”
Sana didn’t know how to say that she might’ve given him trouble, but Zahar promptly pulled her closer.
“You smell of alcohol.”
She blushed. “I did drink a little. But- no man touched me!”
“I know.” Zahar said. “So, which young master am I fighting?”
Sana was dumbfounded. “How- how did you know?”
“I guessed. It’s entirely expected that these young masters wouldn’t take your arrangement so well. Did you tell them I am some sort of reincarnated ancient?”
“I didn’t. Should I say so?”
“Up to you. I have no issues either way. Actually, it’s probably a good idea if you did.”
“They’ll ask ‘which reincarnated ancient’?”
Zahar didn’t know a good one to say. All of them were way beyond the power levels of this realm. “That’s a good point. I actually don’t know any ancients from this world to take as a persona, and my real one- I wouldn’t want to use it.”
“Why?”
Zahar paused and sighed. “I have some things I don’t want to say.”
The young lady’s maroon eyes met Zahar’s once more. Sana searched for some emotion in those eyes, wondering what past baggage the man in front of him had. After a while, she pouted. “Fine. That means you’ll just have to fight all these young masters.”
Zahar laughed. “Send them my way. I’ll take ten at the same time if they want.”
“Can you win?”
“You doubt me, my dear?” Zahar laughed, and pulled Sana closer. She shook her head, and then noticed the presence of his aura.
“You- you have an aura.”
“Ah. Yes.” Zahar lifted his leg to show a bracelet. It was invisible, and then it just appeared on his leg suddenly. “This thing. Bracelet of the Illusion Dragon. I tuned it to show my strength to be of the 2nd realm.”
Sana’s eyes were immediately drawn to the beautiful bracelet on Zahar’s ankles. “That’s- this thing could buy a city.”
“It could.” Zahar’s hands touched Sana’s robes, and then, deftly, pulled apart the ribbon that held it together. Her robe fell to the bed. He then pulled her closer. “But let’s forget about that.”
Sana’s face turned red. “I’m dirty-”
“Some dirt doesn’t smear your beauty.”
They spent the night with their bodies intertwined, and Zahar’s bed stained with their fluids.
***
“Welcome to the Roaring Dragon Sect, I’m Elder Parshen, and I’m the one assigned to look after the Invited Outer Disciples for this intake.” The elder’s words were polite. Sana was fairly sure he wasn’t going to be so polite if its the trial disciples who stood in these fields.
Everyone was gathered in a field close to the residential district, and looking around, Sana noticed about two hundred of them. If she was not wrong, there were also about four hundred disciples that were accepted through the normal trial route.
A total of six hundred new disciples. Zahar stood next to her, and Sana could already feel the glares from the other invited disciples at her partner.
“Right, I think all of you should know the rules, so I don’t have to brief you. But mainly, I’ll be here once a week to guide you in any of the Roaring Dragon Sect’s six main cultivation methods and manuals. You can pick whichever you prefer, and after one year, you should achieve at least First Mastery in any one of them. If you don’t, you’ll have a meeting with the Disciplinary Elder Kairan. That is not good, but it shouldn’t be a problem for almost everyone here.”
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Everyone nodded.
In truth, most of these young masters and ladies came from a family that was an alumni of the Roaring Dragon Sect, so most of them already achieved first Mastery. The Roaring Dragon Sect did not forbid fathers or mothers from teaching their children or siblings, and thus the methods have spread outside that even some commoners have learned the basics.
Sana was no exception. She has achieved Second Mastery on her chosen method, the Fire Dragon Form. The six methods of the Sect were the Fire Dragon Form, the Ice Dragon Form, the Lightning Dragon Form, the Earth Dragon Form, the Iron Dragon Form, and the Light Dragon Form.
First mastery, essentially meant the ability to properly use any of the five steps of that form. Second mastery, the ability to use ten. Third mastery, fifteen steps. Complete mastery was ability to use all the steps, and each form comprised around sixty steps.
A cultivator doesn’t actually need a high cultivation to achieve any mastery, though some steps require quantities of Qi or energy only available at the higher realms.
“Now, under the laws of the Sect, I must grant each and every one of you a manual of one of these forms, containing the first thirty steps.” Elder Parshen declared and pointed to six stacks of books. “So, please pick one. I know some of you have seen it and already learnt it from your parents, but still take one and don’t make things difficult for this Elder.”
“We certainly won’t, Elder Parshen.” The disciples all did, and Zahar waited for his turn. Now that he radiated at least the presence of his supposed realm, the glances reduced. In the greater scheme of things, he was considered on the low side.
Sana, naturally, picked the Fire Dragon Form. Zahar stood for a while, and then decided to pick the Iron Dragon Form. She briefly wondered why, before concluding it’s likely because the Iron Dragon form was based on ‘Steel’, and ‘Steel’ was a relatively neutral element.
“Alright. Everyone’s got a manual, so that’s it. I’ll be here once a week to provide guidance, if you need it. But if you don’t, you’re free to go do missions to earn merit and money. I’m sure some of you already want to rush for the Inner Disciple promotion, so, let’s put it out there. Promotion to Inner Disciple requires Third Mastery of your form, Third Realm, 10,000 merit points, and a recommendation letter from any one of the elders. Is that clear?”
Everyone nodded.
Elder Parshen was likely in the mid fifth realm, and then, he leapt away to somewhere else.
Evin immediately came over to talk to Sana. “Alright! The boring stuff is over! Sana! Let’s do our missions together.”
Sana looked at Zahar, and Zahar nodded. “Go ahead, I won’t take you away from your friends. I’m actually just planning to walk around the city for a bit.”
Sana nodded reluctantly, not sure why she was feeling a little attached to her husband. She wondered whether all those intimate moments created an emotional connection, but as Evin tugged her hand, she decided to go with Evin.
“You really plan to stick with that man?” Evin didn’t seem particularly satisfied.
“Yes.” Sana said. When she woke up this morning, still lying in his arms in their state of undress, she realized that there really was no reason to dishonor her father’s judgment. Her father survived in the Roaring Dragon Sect as an Inner Disciple, and she certainly didn’t think she had better chances on her own. If father thinks this arrangement was worth doing, she would honor it until proven otherwise. “Until I see a really good reason, or he’s dead, I will be with him. Even if I don’t love him, I trust my father’s wisdom.”
Evin was a little taken aback. “Wow.”
“Lady Eshtar, Lady Emmaria! Are you headed for the missions?”
Evin turned to see two young masters already walking over to greet them. It was the same two that they met the day before, Serhan Mong and Jahan Ladar.
Evin nodded. “Yes. We are. But we have not decided which one to do.”
“With our abilities, we can take pest-removal missions. There are some beasts around the surrounding lands that need culling.” Serhan Mong proposed. “With four of us, we could do it faster, and better.”
“What do you think, Sana? Do you want to join them on the pest-removal missions?”
“Can we look at the list? I’d like to see what else is there.”
Serhan Mong nodded. “We’ll lead you there. We checked it out last night.”
Jahan then added. “Bairong plans to challenge Zahar. Think he’s approaching him already.”
Sana paused as a brief moment of panic appeared on her face. But then, she realized her man wasn’t likely to fall so easily. “I see.”
She briefly wondered what the punishment was for causing death. She hoped Zahar didn’t go overboard.
The list of open missions was quite large. A sect like the Roaring Dragon Sect received a lot of requests from the nearby cities, all of which paid tribute to the Sect, and supplied the Sect with large sums of money.
Some of the missions were given by the elders themselves, mainly to harvest resources or run errands on their behalf. Not all missions were on the board.
“It seems the pest-control missions do appear to have the best rewards.” Sana read through the massive board. There were some mundane missions, such as cleaning the buildings, or doing errands for elders that paid less. Most commoner disciples would often start off with such missions, due to their relatively weaker background and cultivation.
“Of course, Lady Eshtar. We’ve done our research.” Serhan responded.
Sana paused as she considered the mission. It wasn’t far, but as she glanced at the two men, she had a feeling she shouldn’t. The thought of traveling with two men made her feel a little uncomfortable.
It wasn’t a good look for a concubine to travel with other men, especially men she hardly knew.
“I think I’m not yet ready to take those pest control missions, but Evin, if you want to join them, please feel free to.”
Her eyes looked back at the board, and looked for more mundane tasks in the city, such as doing some errands for the elders.
“I’ll go do some work for the elders instead.”
“Sana!” Evin pouted. “Fine. Sorry boys.”
Serhan and Jahan both glanced at each other, a brief hint of frustration in their eyes.
***