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After reviewing it in his mind, Ken could easily find Annie\'s mistakes. He waited until the spar was over with Louis\' victory before walking toward them.

"Senior Sister Annie, you\'re not crouching low enough when you deliver low attacks, and you need to control your body\'s momentum better if you want to execute your sword art perfectly."

Ken smiled at Annie as he offered her a few words of advice, making her frown in return. Louis couldn\'t waste the chance of going against Ken.

"What are you talking about? Are you familiar with Sister Annie\'s sword art? We know you mastered a speed art and an unsheathing art."

Although Annie didn\'t speak, one could read from her expression that she thought the same as Louis.

\'It\'s fine, those princesses just wait for a more talented guy to come around and beat them.\'

Ken thought to himself as he watched Louis with an amused smile.

"Let me demonstrate this art, then. Senior Brother Louis, how about we spar, and I will only use the same art as Senior Sister Annie?"

Louis hesitated for a moment, but seeing Annie\'s intrigued expression, he knew he had to accept the challenge.

"If you want to stop the spar because you can\'t execute her sword art well, just let me know and we can stop. I don\'t want to hurt you, Little Brother."

Louis forced a smile while agreeing to Ken\'s challenge. The truth was that he feared Ken\'s unsheathing technique and didn\'t want Ken to use it when he sees he can\'t win without it.

"Of course, Big Brother, thanks for going easy on me. However, there\'s no need; I\'m confident of my victory."

Ken switched his address to "Big Brother" as a form of intimacy after Louis used "little brother" to refer to him.

The spar began and Ken let Louis charge toward him.

"Step back and counter."

Ken took a step back and with a swift swing, the back of his sword hit Louis\' wrist, making him drop his sword.

"When you tried that, you didn\'t take a step back, which didn\'t give you enough time to counter."

He explained to Annie the art while Louis picked up his sword again. Louis\' face contorted with pain because of the bruise on his hand.

Annie just watched silently and tried to learn from Ken\'s demonstration. She could tell that his mastery over the sword art was at least at the Basic mastery realm.

It was a sword art without any attribute and given Ken\'s talent with swords as well as his mastery over other techniques, he had no problem learning it on the spot after playing a few scenes in his mind.

Earlier after reviewing the technique in his head, he just imagined himself executing the art until he got it right after a few attempts. 

"As for attacking first…"

Ken spoke as he charged forward. He couldn\'t speak too much because of the short time frame, so he had to keep his sentences short.

"Crouch, low attack, sweep, execute."

He crouched and attacked Louis just under his knee. After Louis blocked it, Ken kept rotating and his leg connected with Louis\' ankle. Louis fell to the ground, and Ken placed the tip of his sword against Louis\' neck.

"Senior Sister, I will leave now to let you guys spar. If you need anything, you can come to me."

Ken sheathed back his sword and left. He used his Qi to maintain the sword in its solid form, preventing it from becoming flexible. Annie used a normal sword and he wanted to show her the technique she was using.

Louis got up from the ground and looked at Ken\'s back getting farther away with hatred in his eyes, thinking about how he could get back at him. Annie on the other hand was just contemplating whether she should approach Ken or not.

"You aren\'t really planning to go to him for help, are you?"

"Why not? If I can practice with someone who practices the exact same art as me, I can benefit a lot from it."

--------

A week passed since Ken took the alchemy test and it was time for him to return to the Alchemy Division to apply for a master. 

Soon after entering the building, the same receptionist from last time approached him with hurried steps and bowed.

"Hello, Young Master Ken, how may I help you?"

"I want to apply to get a master who can teach me."

"Sure, I will take care of it. You can stay here, and someone will come shortly; Elder Michael asked me to let him know when you drop by again."

She led him to the waiting area and left to call for Elder Michael. She got many benefits in exchange for keeping Ken\'s existence a secret for a while, and she didn\'t have the right to refuse an Elder, so she just took the benefits and did as he said.

"Elder Michael, I\'m here to report Young Master Ken\'s arrival. He is here to get a master."

"All right, I\'m coming."

He was waiting for Ken\'s arrival those past few days, so he didn\'t engage in concocting any pills above the fourth rank.

"Hello, Ken. Good to see you again."

"Hello, Elder Michael."

Ken looked at him doubtfully. Michael knew he wanted a master who could give him permission to go to the higher floors of the library, so Ken wasn\'t sure what Michael came for.

"I came on behalf of Grand Elder Giles to bring you some news. Unfortunately, there is a rule that members of the big elite clans can\'t get a master in the Alchemy Division."

---------

A few days ago:

"Grand Elder Giles, I\'ve come to report to you about a new promising recruit."

Michael cupped his fist and bowed in front of Giles. He had been waiting to be granted an audition with the grand elder for 3 days after saying it was important. He couldn\'t label it as urgent since it didn\'t involve someone of Giles\' importance or an emergency.

"Yes, what is it you want to report? You\'ve been waiting here for three days."

Giles was concocting a seventh-grade pill, so he didn\'t go outside until it was done three days later.

"I\'ve found a promising disciple you might want to take as your direct disciple. He is only 6 years old, but he is already a third-rank alchemist. Not only that, but his concocting speed is amazing, and his proficiency with third-grade pills might be higher than mine."

Giles raised an eyebrow when hearing that news. He was one of the best alchemists in the history of the sect, yet he only made his first step in Alchemy by becoming a first-rank alchemist when he was 14.

Normally people would first get to the peak of the third stage before practicing Alchemy, much like the combat disciples do with fighting techniques.

He came from a normal family, so he couldn\'t afford to wait to be at the peak of the third stage. Hence, he started practicing right after he finished opening all his meridians.

"That does sound impressive. What\'s his name?"

"His name is Ken Sue, from the Sue Clan."

"You know that the grand elders can\'t take disciples from the big elite clans. We don\'t want the sect\'s divisions to fall under the rule of the elite clans."

"I know, but I\'ve made some research. His parents are runaways of the clan, and he was taken by force a few months ago. His aunt even crippled his mom right in front of his eyes, so I\'m sure he doesn\'t harbor any good feelings toward his clan."

Giles gave him a contemplative look but soon shook his head.

"Are you saying his family doesn\'t care about his talent?"

"They don\'t know about it. He asked us himself to stop the news from spreading in the sect, that\'s why I investigated his origins. It shows that he doesn\'t trust his clan, and we can play on that."

"Blood is thicker than water. When his family finds out about his talent, they will appease him for sure. If I take him as a disciple, the other grand elders will open a front against us in every decision in the future. Even worse, they might ally with other elite families and our independence will be lost."

Giles shook his head in disappointment. If he could find a commoner with this talent, he would be able to take the whole sect to another level, but he didn\'t want to give up his freedom and be under an elite family for that.

Giles preferred being free and letting the sect stagnant than losing his freedom and letting the sect thrive. 

Elite clans worked by the rule of "water beneficial to crops should not be passed to other people\'s fields". (1)

If one of them got too much power, they would oppress the rest of the sect. The price of the clan\'s prosperity would be the regression of the whole sect, which Giles wanted to prevent.

"Let his family nurture him. He will be banned from access to anything beyond his rank and will only get the treatment of a regular alchemy disciple. No senior elders are allowed to teach him either."

Giles gave Michael his last decision and sent him out. Although it was a pity, he would never let the elite families have too much power, and controlling the Alchemy Division was having too much power.

(1) A/N: Water beneficial to crops should not be passed to other people\'s fields. / Benefits should be kept within one\'s own family.