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"His relationship with his family isn\'t good, and if we play our cards right, we might be able to bring him to our faction."

Elder Fang explained his reasoning, but the two girls remained unconvinced.

"Even if that\'s true, why does it matter? I heard that he advanced at a young age with a shaky foundation. He won\'t be able to break through to the seventh stage even with his family\'s full support."

Diana said with contempt as she thought of the foolish act. She was surprised he could advance at such a young age. But it would be his undoing if he sacrificed his foundation for that.

Elder Leylin took the chance to scold his unwise disciple and her friend.

"You girls judge too quickly, and those rumors are there only because the young boy wanted them to be. We were there when he dueled the other kid, and he faked all his hardships. In fact, he showed such a control over his body, that he might pose a threat to the two of you in a fight."

Jane\'s competitiveness flared when she heard that claim. She was only 25 and already at the High Core Formation Stage. Despite her young age, she was ranked 728 among the core disciples and could get to the top 20 of the age group of 25-40 in the inner sect.

"What are you talking about? He is two sub-stages under us, how can he pose a threat to us?"

She was only ranked so low among the core disciples because they weren\'t divided into the same age groups as the inner sect; there were only two age groups. Under 50, and above 50.

There was a fixed number of core disciples, and each elder had a certain number of disciples he could take and nominate as core disciples. Under the age of 50, there was always a quota of 1,000 core disciples.

Sometimes there were fewer disciples than that because some elders didn\'t pick their core disciples. For example, Elder Fang and Elder Leylin had the right to pick 2 core disciples each, yet they only had Diana and Jane.

"It\'s easier to move a mountain than to change a person\'s basic nature. You girls always barge into my words without learning the reasons."

Leylin said while stroking his beard, lecturing the tomboy who just waited impatiently for an answer.

"He displayed great control over his body, and he managed to suppress Paul so badly that everyone was convinced he barely won. Can you win just barely in a completely convincing act?"

Elder Fang chose to intervene when he saw a vein throbbing dangerously in his disciple\'s forehead.

"Well, it wasn\'t so convincing if you saw through it, was it?"

Diana asked with a hint of ridicule, but Elder Fang didn\'t take her side this time.

"It was. There\'s a limit to how much a fourth-stage cultivator can fool the perception of a seventh-stage elder. He is very talented."

"Indeed. In the Yangzi River, the waves behind push on those ahead." (1)

Elder Leylin commented on his friend\'s words. Diana was tempted to attack his beloved beard with a knife almost every time she interacted with him when she saw him stroking it with a wise expression. 

"All right, we will approach him. Are you sure he will appreciate the company of two girls?"

"Yes. It\'d be better to send boys his age, but for obvious reasons, it\'s impossible. Since you\'re older, it\'s easier to be attracted to an older sister figure than to an older brother at this age. Just don\'t treat him as a normal kid; his intelligence is off the charts. Although I couldn\'t find out his rank, I\'m sure he is registered as an alchemist in the Alchemy Division."

Elder Fang explained to the girls, who still had one question left.

"Why would the Sue Family hide such a genius then?"

"We believe that he is hiding it even from his family. As we said, he doesn\'t trust them and wants to keep a low profile. Just control your anger no matter what he says and try not to bring up the weird nickname you mentioned earlier."

"We\'re not dumb, we won\'t bring up his nickname. I guess it\'s understandable that he hides his abilities then."

"Indeed, the boy is wise. Big trees attract the wind." (2)

Elder Leylin nodded sagely as he commented on Elder Fang\'s words again.

"Enough with those stupid idioms and stop stroking this damn beard!"

Diana snapped at him and yelled. For the life of her, she couldn\'t figure out how Jane got along with such a master.

Leylin only looked at her with hurtful eyes and complained.

"You can\'t appreciate my words of wisdom. I\'ve been playing the flute to a cow." (3)

"I\'m not a cow!"

"Enough, enough. Diana, you must speak to your elders more respectfully. I already told you, you must keep your tongue at bay even when you\'re angry."

Elder Fang intervened before it escalated, but Elder Leylin still had some insight to share.

"Illness enters via the mouth, and disaster comes out of the mouth. It\'s important to watch your tongue, Young Lass. (4)"

"ENOUGH!"

"Fine, I will stop."

---------

"It\'s not like we have any bad intentions towards you, Little Brother Ken. We just want to form a good relationship with a promising youth, isn\'t it the smart thing to do?"

Jane answered Ken\'s suspecting question with friendly words to alleviate the awkward atmosphere. The pair of girls shared the same frustration as Nick and Maria when they found out how untrusting the kid in front of them was.

"All right then. Since you seem to know a lot about me, how about telling me about yourselves? What are your stages and preferred weapons?"

"Sure, it\'s not a secret anyway. Both of us are at the High Core Formation Stage and 25 years old. I use a bow, and as you can guess from her nickname, Jane uses the sword."

Diana told him about herself and her robust friend. She significantly calmed down once they changed the subject, and a pretty smile adorned her face as she felt relief from Ken\'s interest in them.

"What about your core attributes?"

"For me, it\'s Bow Qi and Wind Qi."

"And I have Sword Qi and Runic Qi."

The two of them followed their master\'s steps and had the same attributes as their masters. Their compatibility with each other was why those two elders picked them in the first place.

"Runic Qi? Are you a formation master then?"

Ken asked curiously, wanting to find out whether she was a fellow formation master.

"No, I\'m a runologist."

"Don\'t act humble, tell him your rank."

"Hehe, I passed the test to become a fourth-rank runologist last month!"

She chuckled and said proudly. Becoming a master in any profession wasn\'t something to scoff at, and doing it by 25 was considered a great achievement.

"You\'ve worked hard, good job."

Ken smiled and nodded at her. He knew he couldn\'t compare regular humans with himself; they didn\'t get a blessing from God and weren\'t born with awareness.

Both Runology and Formation Mastery were derived from runes. The difference was that one was the doctrine of using runes on objects as clothes and weapons, while the other was the doctrine of laying formations on large surfaces like floors, walls, and doors.

Formation masters like Ken used runes to affect the world outside the formation, for example trapping or killing an opponent, gathering Qi, or changing the temperature.

In contrast, runologists like Jane used runes to inscribe objects and affect them. For example, all flexible swords had runes that turned the metal elastic, as well as runes for enhancing power, sharpness, and more.

Since both relied on runes to achieve their effects, they both used Runic Qi, but people always focused only on one branch of runes. Each doctrine was difficult and endless, and trying to learn them in-depth would lead to mediocrity in both.

Of course, Ken didn\'t plan to limit himself to only one branch. He planned to learn Runology as well, he just didn\'t find the time yet. Once he mastered Runology, he\'d be able to buy weapons and inscribe them himself.

"All disciples, listen."

A strong feminine voice reverberated throughout the square. All disciples, Ken included, stopped their conversations, and looked toward the stage, seeing a female elder standing on the platform.

"I\'m Elder Rita, I will take you to the meeting point with the Divine Sword Sect. They can\'t take you from our sect directly as it will seem like we are intervening in the war between the two top sects. We will ride on land mounts to the borders of our territory and meet with them there. Follow me."

The elder introduced herself and explained how things will work. She jumped off the platform and walked away.

"Hmph, aren\'t we really intervening in their war?"

Diana snorted and commented on the elder\'s words. She didn\'t like to be used by stronger people.

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A/N: (1) idiom - In the Yangtze River, the waves behind push on those ahead. / Each generation is replaced by and often surpassed by the next. I tweaked the name of the river since it probably doesn\'t exist in the cultivation world, unlike Yangzi River.

(2) idiom - Big trees attract the wind – being high profile invites jealousy of others.

(3) idiom - Playing the flute to a cow – talking to someone stupid about a concept they can\'t understand and appreciate.

(4) idiom - Illness enters via the mouth, and disaster comes out of the mouth – too much or careless talk can cause a lot of grievances.