The day I had to enter the sect I took the few things I had brought from home and headed to a road that led out of the city.

There were actually quite a few people going that way, even in the early hours.

Many were just passing by the sect to look at the gates. It was almost like a tourist spot; I had been there too the day after coming to the city.

Today there would be even more, since would come to spectate. Nothing big was going to happen, as it was something routinely done, but sometimes the Elder said a few words to a new disciple. From what I heard, it mostly happened when there was a genius that hadn't already been taken to the sect by one of the Elders beforehand.

People would commit those names to memory, for possible future connections, to avoid them, or just for gossip. This had been told to me by Deng Chao, and also by the inn owner.

There would also be parents or relatives of the new disciples sometimes.

As the time neared, more people came until, at some point, a carriage came by and stopped near the gate. It was an amazing carriage – bigger than many I had seen before, and opulently decorated. Maybe someone important was going to join.

When the Elder arrived, everyone quieted down.

"Everyone who wishes to join the sect step forward, one by one. You need to hand me the token and state your name, age, cultivation level, and your place of provenience. Take note that any discrepancy will be easily found out and the consequences won't be pleasant," he said in a monotone tone, with his voice being easily heard by everyone even from a distance.

It was probably something he said ad nauseam.

After that, some guys and girls went forward to give their tokens. I could also hear them well for some reason. Probably something the sect elder did. They were mostly around 16 and 17 years old, three were 15, and one was 14; they were all in the early stage of qi gathering.

I was getting nervous.

I was nearly twenty, and was probably the oldest guy here. It was a bit embarrassing.

It soon came to my turn, and I had to speak.

"Greetings, esteemed Elder," I said, bowing and handing him my token, which he checked.

"My name is Gongsun Xianyuan, nineteen years old, early Qi Gathering, and I come from the Crossroad village," I said, trying to keep my face from reddening too much.

I'm not sure I succeeded, since I felt like it was burning, but the Elder just nodded and told me to get in the group with the others. They weren't actually whispering like the rest of the crowd since they probably didn't know each other, but I got some mocking glare.

Well, they can go suck each other dick since they feel so pumped up, I thought in a vain effort to distract myself.

As the last girl got accepted, the door of the nearby carriage was opened by the coachman.

From inside got down a thin guy with delicate features dressed in elaborate and expensive-looking robes. The first impression he gave, was that he looked down on everyone.

The second impression as he spoke to the Elder, was that he was an idiot that looked down on everyone.

"Greetings Elder," he said, just giving out his token. No bowing or courtesy.

“Zhu Jun, nineteen,…” he started, Eh! and he’s my age, idiot, “… peak Qi Gathering, Zhenxun city.”

Peak Qi… bloody fucking hell! I should have expected it…

Whether the Elder cared or not for his disrespect, he gave no sign, just dully saying, "mm, you must be the son of Major Jun. Looks like you'll enter the Foundation Establishment Realm before hitting twenty-five."

"Of course," he said with his nose pointing at the sky, "I will reach it before twenty, but father insisted I enter the sect now, so I had to come before my breakthrough.”

The Elder just nodded and pointed at the rest of us.

The pompous idiot just came our way, not really joining us as he stayed a bit of distance away. He just sent a grimace our way.

What a charming guy, I thought, dejected. Our difference was quite stark.

The Elder gave a look at the crowd then, seeing that there was no one coming, clapped his hands and said, "this concludes this acceptance ceremony, thanks for coming"

Ceremony? I thought, looking around, where’s the ceremony?

I did notice some that looked a bit bewildered, but everyone just nodded and followed along, so I did the same.

There were two people standing guard at the gate while I thought I saw others on the walls. Then the Elder led us inside a building just beyond the entrance. There was a room with metal bracers put neatly on a long table and a man next to it.

“Here, you will be given your metal bracelet. This is your identification inside the sect, and, as you can see, your name is stamped on it. The characters of your name will change color when you advance in the sect. Black for the Outer Sect Disciples, white for the Inner Sect Disciples, and Gold for the Core disciples. The lines under your name will let others know your cultivation level, since you are all in the Qi Gathering realm, a single one will be visible.

“The bracelet will also serve to record your sect credits and send an alarm to the Punishment hall, along with a loud sound, when you use your qi inside the sect.

“Qi techniques can only be used inside the rings and inside your own residence. In every other place, you will have to be authorized by the designated Elder and have it be recorded in your bracelet.

“If you are ever found inside the sect without the bracelet – excluding your residence – you will be punished severely.” said the Elder.

After each was called and given the bracelet from the man, we put it on.

"Now infuse it with some of your qi like the token you were given before," he said.

Shit.

Everyone complied, and the name on the bracelet got colored white for everyone.

Except for me, of course.

The Elder was still waiting after everyone was finished, so they looked around until they found me.

I was, after all, born to be at the center of attention.

I concentrated as much as I could to finish faster. Unfortunately, though, that was the limit of my meridians, and, no matter how much I willed the qi to move faster, it still took nearly a minute.

When the words glowed white, I just looked at the Elder, without saying anything. I completely ignored the gaze of the others.

I couldn't help but hear an arrogant snort and a comment, "What did that failure think by coming here? The sect is picking up every kind of rabble now."

I also ignored that, of course.

"I will now lead you to your residence. After you get to your house, you will be handed a book with all the regulations you'll have to follow. The sect has made sure that all the places inside its territory teach, at least, the basics of writing, and numbers, so this shouldn't pose a problem to anyone. Those who wish to bring in family members will find the procedures in the book. Also, remember that anyone with this ring," he said, showing us his ring, "is an Elder, and you will have to address him or her as such."

The ring was a white and black ring with small gold decorations and a purple gem.

After that, he led us outside to an area full of houses with a small courtyard.

"The houses here are all numbered, and to have one, you will just need to into the Management Hall over there and communicate the number. The book will be given to you there," he said, pointing at the building in question.

"The houses already occupied will have a small plate outside, beside the number. The houses are progressively better the smaller the number. If you want to take a house belonging to someone else, you either barter with him or defeat him in a duel in the arenas. The rules are all in the book.”

“This is all you need to know right now. Have a nice stay," said the Elder, then walked away without adding anything else.

We then all looked at each other. Zhu Jun just ignored everyone else and went his way, which was then imitated by others. I also saw some people that started to socialize before heading off in groups.

I tried to talk to a few of them, but they all just turned away when they saw me heading in their direction, so I just walked off on my own.

I would not find a friend anytime soon.

Looking at the numbers, I saw the direction where the best houses were, so I went to look. They were also the ones nearest the Management Hall. It was probably done on purpose since we had to see them every time we changed our residence.

The houses were grouped into different districts where each building had the same size and quality: the first house was the exception and the biggest one, it was grouped with the following nine, then another from eleven to twenty, twenty-one to fifty, and so on.

The first house looked fantastic to me.

It was bigger than my house, and just the decorations and garden outside were a world apart from what I was used to seeing. True, it was nothing compared to some of the villas I had seen in the city, and probably someone like Zhu Jun would not appreciate it much, but, to me, that was already too much.

I then went down, seeing a slow downgrade in size and décor.

It was clear which house suited me best.

There needn't be a genius to know I would not be capable keep any good house for long. And, given my rate of improvement, I would probably not be able to beat the newcomers even after a few years. I thus preferred to take a house in a place where no one went to, and since there weren't enough Outer Sect Disciples to fill all the houses at the moment, the last ones were empty – I would be left in pace, at least for now.

Luckily I didn’t bring Cong’er here though, that would have put me in a spot.

I mean, I could bear with it, but if I had to have someone live with me in one of these because of my inability, I would have died of shame.

The residences on this section were small, made to house many people in as little space possible. They were also in disrepair since most houses in this group probably never saw an occupant. Seen from the outside, they probably didn't have any more than three or four small rooms, or just a 'big' one. I choose a house of those in an isolated zone; if there was a need, I would move, but for now, I preferred to keep my distance from the others until I knew how to move around here. I'd also need to look into the book how much I could modify the house.

Choosing the best-looking one – there wasn't any difference in the last dozen – I went back to take the book and the plate to fix outside the door.

As I entered the building, I saw Zhu Jun and another in front of one counter.

“So, you’re leaving your place in the first house, and Junior Brother Zhu wishes to register it as his?" she asked, almost like she couldn't understand. She had an incredulous look on her face.

"Yes, that is, indeed, what I said." answered the man. Zhu Jun just stood to the side, looking annoyed.

"Very well then," she said, taking the small plate that was in front of her.

I went to the one next to them as it was the only other free, so I heard everything.

But I focused on the one in front of me, after all, if he had the money to buy all he needed, then good for him.

"Senior sister, good morning," I said, cupping my hands in the hand palm salute customary among cultivators.

"Good morning. Is Junior Brother here to pick a house?" she asked with a smile while returning my greeting.

“Yes, I wanted to pick the number 7-8-9-8-7," I said. I had chosen the number because it was easy to remember. When a district reached thousands of units, the second number indicated which section (a thousand buildings), the next which area (a hundred), then which group (ten), and finally the number of the house. Each section was divided by huge streets, with smaller ones for the area and group, which was just a short road with five houses by each side.

She looked at me like the colleague next to her looked before – though most probably for different reasons.

Houses in the seventh district ranged from 10001 to 20000. Judging by the state of disrepair, only the first few thousand were ever occupied.

Not that I cared.

After a moment of bewilderment, she just proceeded to the registration. And I had to infuse the qi in the plate for the association with the bracelet. Another long stare there.

“Useless," I heard the disdainful voice next to me.

I knew who that was, but I didn't bother to turn or to react in any way – there was no point. It would just end up with me eating the dust, and maybe a few teeth too if things went badly.

Not to mention I would become his target.

Just because we couldn't use qi, it didn't mean that I could match him in any way. I just had some muscle, he probably had training, other than a higher cultivation base.

Thus I just swallowed my rebuttal and finished what I was doing.

I heard him leave with after a snort before I finished.

Time to read a book, I thought, looking at the heavy thing I had in my hands, and feeling its weight.

Though maybe not all of it.