Elder Cao's Request

After waking up once again Lin Tao spent the early morning going over what had happened. It was still a bit confusing but now he felt like he had a basic understanding of it all. He could go into a strange world that mixed dream and memory. But clearly it was more than just that.

As he sat on his bed he was holding the jade scroll in his hands. It was very long and went in-depth on all kinds of concepts and fundamentals he never knew existed. In truth, Lin Tao didn't even know what it was. One thing was for certain though, this was real, and so was the book he had gotten.

Clearly merging with Sun Wukong had done a lot more than simply change his body and make him stronger. He had asked Lin Tao to find out what had happened to him. Lin Tao planned on doing that either way, however clearly Sun Wukong had taken his own steps and measures.

Or maybe it wasn't even him who was responsible for this? He had no way of knowing for sure. As he read through the scroll he saw a paragraph that caught his attention.

'The way of Immortality is through the path of self-sustenance and internal reliance. Transform the body into a furnace and temper one's essence beyond the limits of flame, condense past all reason and mold one's flesh to contest all turmoil. Be empty of everything outside of one's self and reinforce one's will outward. This is the way of an Immortal.'

As Lin Tao read in the past, he felt confused but also enamored. This scroll was a method of Cultivation!

Yet he had never heard of such a domineering way of cultivation. To be an Immortal you must be outside of everything else. You and yourself must be your law and foundation, all power must become your power, and everyone that is not of you must be tamed. To assert your will over the world and tame all of the forces that are external to yourself.

This was the way of an Immortal!

Just reading this part alone made Lin Tao's body shake in a brief hint of excitement. He didn't know why but his body seemed to react strangely to certain things. It could make him act differently than he normally would, to the point he could hardly recognize himself. Still, he couldn't force himself to feel afraid of such a change.

It felt natural to him, he was no longer Lin Tao or Sun Wukong and used both of their names. As he thought that he spoke to himself.

"Still to have such an intricate scroll and method, yet I can barely understand even the first part. This was definitely given to me by Master Subhuti." If that was the case he would need his help if he wished to learn more.

After a few more minutes Lin Tao put both the scroll and book away. He was going to keep them on him of course. These two things were valuable beyond belief and proof that the dreamworld existed.

"Junior Wukong, are you awake?" Lin Tao heard a voice coming from downstairs which he recognized. Making his way downstairs Lin Tao spotted Elder Cao waiting at the door.

"Elder Cao? Do you need something?" He hadn't seen or talked to this elder since he gave him this house to live in.

"I'm afraid so It's quite a shameful request based on a blunder on my part." Lin Tao was wearing casual clothes that he wore inside. He only wore the armor he got from Sun Wukong when he went out. As strange as it was, it felt natural to him.

The two of them sat down in the living room on two opposite seats. In front of them was a small wooden table.

"So what is the nature of this request?" He was interested in what Elder Cao came to him directly for. The two of them were not close despite Lin Tao rescuing his students.

Elder Cao sighed as he spoke.

"It's about one of my students, Ye Men. As you know he is at the Second Stage of the Spirit Profound Realm. Being an Outer Disciple even if he is under my tutelage is a big accomplishment. It is due to this that he is looked up to by his Juniors."

"Every six months we Outer Sect Elders host a competition. Each of us must choose candidates, normally these candidates would be our own students. The competition is split into two separate parts each being equally important of course. Normally I would select Ye Men as my candidate however…"

Lin Tao knew Ye Men was injured, in fact, he couldn't even break through safely in his state, fighting was definitely a big issue. If his guess was correct Elder Cao wanted him to represent him during this competition to replace Ye Men.

"What is this competition about and what is it for? Surely fighting amongst your peers can't be good for the sect." Hearing Lin Tao was interested, Elder Cao gladly explained more.

"On the contrary, it's the opposite!" Lin Tao listened as Elder Cao went into detail. Originally this competition was a small matter, hosted simply for fun amongst elders. However, over time it eventually grew and attracted attention from the Patriarch. He felt it was a valid way of testing the sect's prowess and officially supported it causing the event to grow in measure.

There are twenty-five Outer Sect Elders as such there would be twenty-five candidates. Along with them, any number of Outer Disciples were allowed to volunteer to join in. This led to the first section of the competition. Each candidate would be assigned a certain number of Juniors they would have to spar against.

They couldn't simply beat them and win, but instead had to help guide them and provide pointers during the match. Depending on how valuable the insight was would mark how they did in total. This was to prove each candidate not only had strength but also had foresight and understanding.

And by doing this with so many different Outer Disciple's it gave them a chance to show off their capabilities and make it impossible to get lucky when giving advice. It was a fairly sound way of doing things. As for the second section of the competition, it was a lot more straightforward.

Depending on what grading you got for the first section, you would then fight against the person you were paired against. For example, first place would go against second and third against fourth. This way the difference in skill will never be overbearing, giving everyone a fair shot.

Listening to Elder Cao, Lin Tao understood this much but was still confused.

"Why go through all of this trouble?" It seemed like a lot of effort and time went into testing these candidates. Hearing him Elder Cao grinned as he spoke.

"Because those who land in first or second place, will have a chance to be promoted to an Inner Disciple. Not only that but depending on their ranking each Elder will be given more resources to raise the capability of their individual candidate." Resources in The Purple Raven Sect were tight.

As such many of the good pills and elixirs were saved for the Inner Disciples. This opportunity allowed the Outer Disciples to break the status quo! Not only that but as the student rose up surely the master would follow. It was an opportunity for the Outer Sect Elders to reach a higher status.

With that explained, Lin Tao finally realized why Elder Cao had come to him. Lin Tao was his best chance to participate. Lai Mai must have told him what he had done in the restaurant yesterday. Seeing Lin Tao go silent, Elder Cao got a bit nervous.

"Of course there will also be other rewards. Depending on your place you'll also be allowed to choose rewards directly from the sect treasury! This is an opportunity anyone would kill for even the Inner Disciples don't have such a privilege!" Lin Tai's brow perked up when he heard Elder Cao speak.

'Directly from the treasury huh?' He had to admit it was enticing and he was fairly confident in his ability and clearly, Elder Cao was as well, otherwise, he would not have approached him. However, at the same time, one issue remained.

"But I'm not a disciple of The Purple Raven Sect." And he had no intention of joining a sect either. Being part of a sect was a large commitment. If you joined one then leaving was extremely difficult and abandoning your sect marked you as a traitor.

Hearing him bring up that point Elder Cao smiled.

"Indeed I thought about this as well, so I looked into the rules. It turns out as long as the person acting as an Elders candidate is considered their student it's all fair. Meaning that you only need to temporarily come under my tutelage. After the competition ends you'll have no strings attached." Hearing him out, Lin Tao thought about it.

'This does sound like a good opportunity. The Purple Raven Sect's Treasury is something too tempting even for me…' But he couldn't be rash.

"I'll need some time to think about it." Hearing him Elder Cao nodded with a calm expression.

"Of course, the competition is in two weeks so take your time. But do inform me the moment you are able." In the end, Elder Cao couldn't force Lin Tao so with that he took his leave. After Elder Cao left Lin Tao prepared to head out himself. The information he requested should be ready today.

After getting ready he headed out into the city leaving The Purple Raven Sect. After going there once it only took him a bit to arrive. Walking inside he saw the same old chubby manager as before. This time when the manager spotted Lin Tao he didn't give him any strange looks but greeted him graciously.

"Ah, Dear Customer, you're here! I had just received word of the information you requested from us. Please let me fetch it for you." This Information Gathering Network along with others worked in a simple way. These buildings were just middlemen, in actuality, the real HQ would normally be hidden away.

There they would store information they gather for future use. As such when one of these middlemen contact them, they would either access their already vast amounts of knowledge or send out men together intel. Afterward, they would transfer the information through Sound Transmission Talisman to avoid eavesdropping.

Finally, the receiver would write it down into a letter and seal it to be given to the customer. It was a simple process on paper however involved a lot of moving parts. Soon the manager returned with a letter handing it over to Lin Tao. With that their interaction was over.

"Please return if you have any other needs of our services." The manager waved Lin Tao off as the latter nodded.

'Alright then, let's see here.' Opening the letter Lin Tao quickly began to read its contents. He was actually a little surprised at what he read. There was no Profound Ark within the city that could meet his requirements other than ones that could not be bought. For example, the royal family had such a Profound Ark but getting his hands on it would be impossible.

As such his only option was to have one made. Luckily the letter supplied him with the name of a Profound Ark Forger and information on him along with the potential costs. As he read over that last section he felt his heart leap.

'A Profound Ark like this will cost me two million Profound Coins!' The number alone made his head go nauseous. For reference, the Yin-Yang Snakes only got him a total of sixty thousand, not even one-tenth of what he needed. As he walked around the city he could only sigh to himself.

The sad truth was though that even with that being the case, it would still be faster for him to get the money and have the Profound Ark made, then travel the distance himself. The Profound Sky Continent was simply that large!

'Alright then fine. If money is what I need then the money is what I'll get.' And he knew exactly where he was going to find the opportunity. The Request Pavillion was always open for business, right?