Interlude: Su An

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Of those who took the Xiao Sect’s entrance exam, many were children without exceptional backgrounds. Some were orphans. Some were poor. Some were just utterly unremarkable.

Su An considered herself to belong to the latter category.

Her mother died shortly after she was born. Her father was a city guard who spent most of his days guarding the walls. As a result, Su An had grown up largely without adult guidance or supervision. She got into fights with the neighboring kids and wandered into parts of the city a young child wasn’t supposed to.

To Su An, every day was an adventure. Perhaps, that was why she had taken the Xiao Sect’s entrance exam.

The Xiao Sect was the best of the best. People talked about it in reverent whispers, and Su An couldn’t help but find herself drawn to it. The mystery. The power. The fame. She wanted all those things. Her father had no qualms with her chosen path. Most parents wouldn’t. To join the Xiao Sect was a great honor, one many aspired to.

Unlike most of those people, Su An managed to get in.

Su An, daughter of a simple city guard, was accepted into the strongest Sect of Eastern Port City. When said like that, it sounded significant, monumental even. Unfortunately, the truth was anything but.

People from common backgrounds were not uncommon among Outer Disciples, something Su An discovered early on. It was a numbers game. Many took the entrance exam every year, and there are only so many prestigious clans within the city. Thus, many of the people who joined the Xiao Sect were ordinary. Talented but ordinary.

However, it is an entirely different story if one is talking about Inner Disciples.

Many people from ordinary backgrounds joined the Xiao Sect. That much was true. They were people who were considered talented among their peers. Yet, upon entering the Xiao Sect, they learned how average they were. They trained and trained every day only to ultimately be left behind by those who possessed real talent.

Of those who passed the Xiao Sect’s entrance exam with Su An, most never became more than Outer Disciples. Some of them left the Xiao Sect, having given up on ever achieving notoriety. Others were transferred to other branches more suited to their meager talent. It was something Su An saw countless times, and every time it happened, she thanked the Heavens for being gifted with talent above her station. Su An was a true rarity, a person from a common background who had risen to become an Inner Disciple. Many expected her to fail, but she hadn’t.

As an Outer Disciple, Su An had been diligent and talented. As an Inner Disciple, not much changed. There had been some initial friction as she found herself being looked down on by some of the Inner Disciples from wealthier backgrounds, but Su An had managed to win them over. She had always been good at making friends.

For a moment, it looked like her time as an Inner Disciple would be as simple as her time as an Outer Disciple.

Yes, for a moment, Su An had thought someone like her could one day become a Core Disciple and had allowed her mind to be filled with fantasies of what her life would be like once that happened.

Then everything changed.

It wasn’t the result of something someone else did. No one conspired against Su An or accidentally caused her harm. If it had been something so easily solved, everything would have been fine. However, the root of the problem did not lie in anyone else.

It lay within herself.

She was the problem.

It was something Su An had seen countless times before. All people eventually hit a wall, a bottleneck they could not overcome no matter how much they tried. Their growth slowed down until they might as well be crawling while everyone else was running. Eventually, they were left behind. Yes, Su An had seen it countless times. It had happened to many Outer Disciples she had known, and now it was happening to her.

That was how she knew it was the end of her.

It wasn’t as simple as putting in more effort. Things wouldn’t work out just because she tried harder. What Su An was facing was the harshness of reality, and there was nothing she could do other than submit to it.

She would soon lose the authority she had as an Inner Disciple. Her peers would realize she was stagnating and leave her behind.

In no time at all, she’d find herself at the very bottom of the Inner Disciples.

After that, it would only be a matter of time. Either she’d be relegated to a minor position within the Sect, or she’d be sent to one of the Xiao Sect’s branches where someone of her skill could be better used. As Su An agonized over it, she found herself preferring the latter option. At least that way, the other Inner Disciples wouldn’t be able to see her humiliation. Some would even consider it a graceful exit. There were many days in which Su An wondered if she should take the first step and go to Elder Gang to request a transfer before her state became apparent. Better to leave than to be kicked out.

Yet, Su An was never able to go through with it. No matter how much her mind told her it was the wisest choice, she couldn’t do it. Her spirit rebelled against the notion of quietly fading into obscurity. She hadn’t climbed so far only to give up!

That was when she had gone to Liu Jin.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Su An had heard of him before. How could she not? Though he did not realize it, Boss always had a reputation among his fellow disciples. The son of a crippled doctor who had been accepted into the Xiao Sect. The child who was close to Young Master Xiao Nan but did not get along with Young Master Xiao Fang. His notoriety had only grown when news of his engagement had spread through Eastern Port City and then grown even more when the wedding actually happened.

It was around this time that Su An hit her lowest point. Boss had been right when they first met. She had been desperate. While the other Inner Disciples were weighing their options, Su An had jumped right in.

It was the best decision of her life.

It hasn’t seemed that way at first, of course. Boss did not cut the most impressive figure, and interacting with him did little to change that.

Boss could be a little… atypical.

As Xiao Zheng’s son-in-law, no one would bat an eye at Boss living in the main house. Anyone else would have moved there already, yet Boss didn’t. Instead, he made the trip from his small home in the Outer Districts to the Xiao Sect and back almost every day. Instead of indulging in the luxury he had earned, Boss kept acting as if his status hadn’t changed. He treated the patients that showed up at his little family clinic as if he weren’t the son-in-law of the most powerful man in the city.

If she had to be honest with herself, Su An had been certain Boss had been faking it at first.

The Xiao Sect was a harsh competitive environment. Outer Disciples wanted to become Inner Disciples. Inner Disciples wanted to become Core Disciples. Core Disciples wanted to become Elders. Even Elders competed with each other for power and influence within the Sect. Yet, that wasn’t the case with Boss at all! He seemed almost removed from the competition happening at every level of the Xiao Sect, always doing things at his own pace.

At first, Su An thought she had saddled herself to someone with no ambition, but that wasn’t the case. The answer was far more simple than that, and it shamed Su An that it had taken her so long to realize it.

How many times had she been in his home before she had noticed it? How many weeks had passed before she noticed the expression on Boss’ face was completely different when he was listening to his father or grandfather?