10 Mo Yan

Elder Pin's backgroung check would prove to be fruitless and an endless cause of future regret for two reasons, in the first place none of the elders would pay attention to someone that would at best participate in the trials in three years time, technically Huang Mu could join anytime after his first year at White Valley with a sponsorship from an elder, but who would bother sponsoring him when practically none of the 8/9 year olds they normally put forth was able to pass? Plus given his talent level they were happy enough that he seemed a hard working lad and had been graced with 4 years of time to prepare himself, when he reached the same age as the rest of the trainees they could check out his progess and see if he was worth nurturing in some side discipline, despite being unable to cultivate, and that was as far as their thoughts regarding Huang Mu extended.

Second, the only elder that might have told him not everything was as clear as it seemed with the kid was someone elder Pin would definitely not involve in his inquiry, namely elder Mo.

Mo Yan had been one of the most promising youths of his generation, unfortunately he leasurely spent most of his youth and middle years basking in the praise of his contemporaries for his ability to achieve much with little effort and had since come to regret wasting so much of his potential. Because of this he had decided to dedicate the last years of his time to properly educate youngsters, especially the least fortunate who unlike him would have to fight hard just to have a pleasant life. It was around this time that he met the old prefect, each having the characteristics that the other most admired they became fast friends.

Naturally when his foster kid was transferred to White Valley old Huang asked elder Mo to keep an eye out for the youngster; that's why when he heard about the condition of the kid from the visiting elder he had asked to hang around while he was busy concotoning a pill in seclusion, he almost blew his top.

Before the episode he was planning to take Huang Mu under his wing, but seeing how much of a bad impression he had to have developed of the sect and racked by guilt he decided to just let the boy play for a few years and check on him often to make sure everything was fine.

Still he could not fail to notice that Huang Mu was something of a cultivation freak, he smiled bitterly at his lack of talent, seeing him fruitlessly meditate every night, but did not have the heart to tell the kid he was wasting his time.

He also however learned that there was nothing wrong with Huang Mu's comprehension abilities, he was quite astonished at his progress in the other foundation arts, but being a genius himself he severly underestimated how abnormal his progress was compared to the average White Valley disciple.

Regardless he had formed a very favourable impression of Huang Mu by observing him in the past year and, given how motivated the kid was to cultivate even without a mentor, he was waiting for an opportune moment to introduce himself and start guiding the kid on a productive path.