Chapter 14 – Could This be the Famous Training Arc?

“All done!” Ren said with the satisfied sigh of a man pleased with his work. He’d finished sorting the first floor of the Hall of Scripture with a few days to spare. So he went back through the shelves and further rearraged them based on not just the attributes but in groupings of similarity. If he had even more time, then he would have further sorted by cost.

For better or worse, he was out of time, so he went to the taciturn elder in charge of the hall. The older man hadn’t said a single word to him other than to shoo him away in the month he had worked here. The only times he looked up from his ‘Romantic Novellas’ was when someone paid him for his advice. Ren had judged him for it, but as the days had passed, he recognized a pattern. The bribes would change based on the disciple and the specific advice he was asked for. Ren confirmed it when he had seen the elder charge two different prices for the same manual.

Ren’s current theory was the price was determined by the wealth the disciples had as a way to ward off grudges. Never too much or too little, just enough for the advice to be valued. Though he found it strange, Ren could no longer judge him so severely. Especially when he realized that the elder was using the famed “Divine Sense” of cultivators to estimate wealth!

It was said to be another sense that was gained once you broke into the foundation establishment realm and somehow related to qi. Since that realization, he had remained on his best behavior, not even daring to mumble under his breath, in fear he would be heard.

“I have accomplished the task you set me, Elder.” Ren said tentatively to the Elder.

Slowly looking up, they replied, “So you have. You performed adequately.”

Ren hesitated but didn’t dare outright ask for the promised bonus, so he just kept silent.

“Tell me, why did you put the Elemental Forge auxiliary method in the fire attribute and not the metal attribute shelves?”

“Um… The description said that it was used for forging, but it also highlighted its use in talisman making. I got the feeling that it would be more useful for fire attribute users based on the requirements.”

The elder didn’t nod or make any signs of disagreement at that. “Hmm… and why did you…” Then he asked a few more such questions.

Feeling there was no particular answer he was searching for, Ren gave his honest opinion for them all. He had parsed a tremendous amount of manuals and techniques and, with additional research on his own, had gotten a good sense of where each one belonged. He just had some theories, completely unverified, which he followed.

The elder’s questions slowed, all without him revealing a single emotion. Realizing this could be his opportunity, Ren decided to ask some questions in return. He asked about those manuals he felt uncertain about, and there were many.

For once, the elder actually replied. He wouldn’t confirm if Ren had sorted it right or not, only pointing out other aspects that Ren had failed to consider. Despite the vague replies and the obscure remarks, each one felt like a lightning strike. They opened up avenues of thoughts and perspectives that Ren had never imagined.

After the longest and most insightful conversation he had ever had with any elder at the Heavenly Sword Sect, he was finally stopped with a wave of the elder’s hand. Ren’s identification jade zoomed from where it hung on his waist to the elder’s outstretched palm.

“That’s enough for today. Here is your additional bonus. Now off with you!” He said, handing the jade back.

Ren gave him a deep and heartfelt bow of gratitude and turned to leave. A voice sounded out behind him.

“In the future you may address me as Elder Yun Peng.”

Startled, Ren turned back only to see him nose deep in another book of the now familiar series, “Passionate dual cultivation beside the moonlit lake.”

Without a single comment, Ren bowed again and left.

In the following 3 months leading up to the tournament, Ren filled his days with activity. There were enough demands on his time that he never felt like a cultivator from the stories, who would seclude themselves from the world for years at a time. While he had never been in secluded meditation like that, Ren imagined he would be bored out of his mind and preferred his busy days.