14 The outer sect

Li Zhu limped out of the tower, holding onto his left arm, which was poorly bandaged. As he came out of the door, the whole crowd's eyes were on him.

This was not for any particular reason, beside the fact that he was the only one in the tower, and him exiting was of course the center of attention.

After the crowd saw his injuries, displayed in the sunlight, many shivered, some even feeling sick.

His whole body was full of bruises, and his left arm was covered in blood, besides being visibly misshapen. Many of these young cultivators had never witnessed such grave wounds, so they winced at the sight.

Li Zhu, though, looked extremely calm, having been trained to ignore the pain. Slowly, he walked towards the elder, before politely asking, "Senior, may I have help treating my arm? The bones inside are completely shattered, so I cannot heal it myself. Do not worry, once I gain some riches, I will pay the sect back tenfold."

The fourth elder, seeing this young man staying composed with a fully broken arm, even being polite, was impressed, realizing even he would probably be more impatient if he was in the same situation.

"Of course, that is what we are here for. I wouldn't put you in harms way if I was not willing to help you recover." replied, the elder, as though it was obvious.

At the same time, he looked at a few elders, standing beside him, making them carry Li Zhu by the arms and legs, before flying off, presumably to heal him.

Li Zhu was surprised by the caring treatment, since having been raised in the competitive royal palace, it was not something he was accustomed to. Although many dreamed of being a prince and effortlessly growing strong, the reality was quite the opposite, and it required strong mental fortitude to survive, having to grow without the support of family or friends.

As the elders flew him to an infirmary, they suddenly asked him, "How many floors did you pass?" curious about whether he would pass the trial or not. Seeing his low cultivation, they had initially taken it for granted that he would fail, though the pain tolerance and composure he was showing had changed their minds, making them realize there was more than what met the eye with Li Zhu.

"Five" simply replied Li Zhu, who saw no reason to lie. If they knew he was powerful, they would only treat him better, which was always a good thing.

Hearing his answer, the elders had shocked expressions on their faces, with one of them even shaking, in what could either be excitement, anger, or just plain surprise.

"Did I hear wrong? You said five?" asked the elder, trying to confirm what he had just heard.

"Yeah, why?" Li Zhu could not understand why they had reacted so much to his accomplishment, which he was sure many others could replicate.

"Well, only a few people in the past decade have passed five floors! One of the reasons is that geniuses of that caliber are generally at the ninth Qi gathering stage when they enter. Because of this, one stage higher is a core consolidating realm illusion, which is basically impossible to beat. In that sense, you had an advantage, though beating the fifth floor still means you can beat opponents one stage higher than yourself, which is rarely seen." the elder patiently explained, as he looked at Li Zhu in a completely new light, with a tinge of respect.

If the elder knew the training Li Zhu had gone through as a child, though, he would not be surprised. To become the crown prince, Li Zhu had trained twelve hours every single day of the year, taking no breaks except for ceremonies he was forced to attend. Not only that, but his master had used a punishment and reward system, which lead to him often being beat, to make him tougher.

By the time they finished their conversation, the elders and Li Zhu had reached Phoenix Peak, where all cultivators who specialized in healing stayed, and practiced. This included the peak's lord, Shen Zan, who was famous for his skills as an alchemist.

The elders landed on the peak, before approaching random cultivators who were walking by. "We need healing for this young recruit." they stated, neither impolite nor too respectful, since they did need to uphold their status as elders.

Seeing that elders of the sect were asking for assistance, many members of Phoenix peak crowded around Li Zhu, eager to earn the favor of such important figures. The sect only had about fifty elders, out of thousands of sect members, and each one had the power to change the fate of disciples they took a liking to.

"Don't worry, I will heal him!", hearing those words, the crowds turned around to see who was so arrogant, to dismiss all the people present. Seeing the speaker, though, they immediately dispersed, returning to their daily business, as though healing Li Zhu had never been their intention.

There stood a young woman, with long, dark blue hair, falling over her shoulders. She quickly walked towards Li Zhu, before taking a shiny blue pill out of her bag. Then, she decisively threw it in his mouth, before coolly walking off, paying no attention to the elders.

"That was Yun Mei, the direct disciple of peak leader Shen Zan! I've heard so many rumors about her, and it seems that her reputation was well founded!" mumbled the elder, as he noticed Li Zhu's arm gradually shift into its former position, with the blood returning into his body.

Li Zhu was even more shocked, though, as he wondered 'How can a member of the Divine Water Clan be here, in Crouching Tiger kingdom?!'

The Divine Water Clan was a prominent force in the west of the continent, near the ocean. They specialized in alchemy, using their mysterious method which consisted in using water instead of flames, when making a pill.

No one outside the clan knew how this was achieved, since the Divine water clan had always been quite secretive. At the same time, they remained the main supplier of spirit pills for sects around the whole continent, giving them a massive influence and power. No single sect or empire would dare destroy the clan, because then the rest of the continent would turn on them, most likely causing their own sect to be exterminated.

Surprisingly, he had seen a member of that mysterious clan here, in Flaming Saber sect, which made him suspect a storm was brewing, though he still couldn't figure out what could possibly happen.

Having been healed, though, Li Zhu did not want to waste any more time, so he politely asked the elders, "Seniors, can you please bring me back to Trials Peak, to see if I have passed the recruitment exam?"

The elders, hearing this, glanced at each other with a weird expression, before one of them explained to Li Zhu, "There is no real need, since you have definitely passed. Even if your points were insufficient, which is highly unlikely, the sect would still accept you on the basis of having passed the fifth floor, which signifies being a genius. If you want, we can already show you to the housing for outer sect disciples"

Hearing this, Li Zhu was pleasantly surprised, and thanked the elders, before following them to the housing, while asking about how the sect functioned.

According to them, the sect was divided into Outer sect and Inner sect, with the Inner sect housing anyone who reached the core consolidating realm before the age of thirty. There was a large difference in treatment between an inner and outer sect disciple, though if one was talented, this wan't an issue.

All disciples of the outer sect lived in one large building, with about a thousand small rooms. The building was massive, with many courts and gardens in-between rooms. After seeing it, even Li Zhu was impressed by its size, though not to the point of being shocked.

Having reached the housing, Li Zhu bid the elders farewell, after having confirming with them that for summoners like him, the spirit beasts picking would go down two days later, in the obviously named Spirit Beasts Peak.

Li Zhu quickly entered an empty room, which the elders had arranged to be his, and placed his treasures on the bed, which was simple yet clean.

Ignoring the Phoenix-Blood armor and the Blue thunder gauntlet, Li Zhu picked up the Divine Beasts pill, before popping it into his mouth.

He was going to take these two days to raise his cultivation as much as possible, as he felt the pressure to regain his former power.

Sitting in a lotus position, Li Zhu started to assimilate the energy in the pill, while driving it through his meridians, into the Dantian.

As he did this, he thought, 'I will become strong, no matter how many challenges I may face!' and that he meant, even though the challenge that would soon come was not something so easily dealt with.