A New Development

"Another person who is more worthy of being my direct disciple? Who might this person be?"

"In the next village over towards the east, there is a young girl around my age named Il Ji-Soon, I've seen her studying Taoist scriptures under a large tree like this one in the middle of the village the few times I've visited."

"A young girl studying Taoist scriptures in a village east of here... Hmmm, while that does sound like a good person to take as my direct disciple, it would be a waste for you to end up as a first-class disciple or lower."

I should have expected him to not be completely convinced by that, after all, why would a tiger give up a meal right in front of it? I could try to convince him that I should take the test like normal, but it would just make me seem unwilling to become his disciple.

"How about I take both of you under my wing?"

What?! He's allowed to take more than one direct disciple at a time? Why did none of the elders before me say anything about this!? There were so many talented kids I had to pass over because I thought I could only choose one!

Now isn't the time to freak out, I need to confirm that he can take more than one direct disciple then pounce on this chance!

"You can do that Elder?!"

"There have been one or two cases of an elder having two direct disciples before, so it is possible. I'd have to bring you and this Il Ji-Soon you speak of to the Mount Song Sect before tomorrow to get permission from the sect leader though."

With his current abilities, I bet Master could get both of us to the Mount Song Sect by sundown. And if it's the sect leader we have to convince, I happen to have an ace up my sleeve.

I bowed to Elder Ryom Un-Ju before opening my mouth to speak.

"I would love to have such a chance."

"Good, now I will go to ask miss Il Ji-Soon if she wants to become my direct disciple. If she accepts, I should be back around midday to bring the both of you to the Mount Song Sect. I will meet you at this tree to pick you up."

"Understood, Master. I will be here when you return." I replied, still bowing deeply to him.

However, no reply came.

I looked up to see if Elder Un-Ju was still there, but to my surprise he was gone. He had left the second I responded with 'understood.'

Though that should have been expected, my master was never one to waste time in any regard, be it training or even relaxing.

Sitting back down against the old pine tree in the lotus position, I slowed my breathing down again to continue the absolute cleanse. I had a little over four hours before midday, so I might as well use as much time as I could to clear the impurities out of my meridians.

---

"Hoooooo-"

I had spent the last three hours performing the absolute cleanse. But despite my efforts I could only remove ninety percent of the impurities, as the last ten percent were impurities close to the dantian. If I had tried to touch those impurities at my current level without help, I'd end up creating a dantian without going through the necessary steps.

I stood up from the tree and looked down at my robes, since I had been going through the absolute cleanse without stop, the impurities had seeped from my mouth onto my clean robes.

Well, I'm not able to proceed any further, so I should go back to the house and explain the news to my parents. Though I expected them to have started searching throughout the house for me already.

In fact, I'm surprised I haven't heard calls coming from the village yet, saying how hard it was to convince them to let me join the Mount Song Sect in the first place.

I quickly dusted myself off before beginning my descent down the hill, though the journey down the hill wasn't as pleasant as the journey up. As the impurities from within my meridians had seeped down my clothes and made them... Rather uncomfortable to run in.

Though it didn't really matter much, since I arrived at my house within minutes.

I slid open the door and walked into the house, the absolute cleanse had made my clothes and skin extremely putrid, at least soap and water could remove the smell after a while.

"Ryu Il! Where have you been?" My mother yelled as she walked sternly toward me.

"Mom, you won't guess what happened! I met an elder from Mount Song!"

It's a real pain trying to act kiddish with how old my mind is, but despite my efforts to distract her, my mom grabbed my ear and started dragging me across the house.

"I told you not to go outside without fixing your hair and putting on shoes! But then three hours later, you return home covered in mud, smelling awful, and without shoes no less! You're in big trouble, mister!"

"Ow, ow, ow! Mom, it hurts!"

"You should have listened to me then!" My mom replied as she dragged me into the bathroom. "Now clean yourself off before telling me where you've been!"

Thud!

Well, that went about as close to the plan as it could go. My mother slammed the door to the bathroom as soon as I cleared the doorway. I really should have just put the shoes on.

I was going to take another bath anyways, but being forced by my mother just adds a layer of guilt to it... I had better hurry as well, Maser Un-Ju could arrive at any moment, and I still haven't explained to my parents about what happened.

Throwing my dirty robes into the corner of the room, I hopped into the bathtub once more.