CHAPTER 19

-Hum…What is luxury to you?

-A big house with everything I want inside and enough to eat whatever whenever.

-I understand. please, let me ponder a bit longer.

-Alright, take your time elder Lan.”

It wasn’t like Mir could escape anyway. If the elder decided to kill him, he was finished. It was better to tell the elder his thoughts without hiding anything. Elder Lan was thinking. If Mir had a grudge or an ardent desire to rule, he would have had to end his life but now? Mir answered truthfully that he just wanted to be strong enough to laze around without care. That’s not the kind of ambition that could bring disasters. He was going to become strong, maybe the strongest? But he would only use this strength to be able to laze around? Honestly, there isn’t much to that. Elder Lan was sighing in his heart. Truth is, he really wanted to nurture such a talented child. He would probably never ever meet a second Mir in his life. There might never ever be one at all for all he knew. And so, he made a decision that would change the fate of this world. He looked to Mir and said:

“Little Mir, I made a decision. From now on, I will side with you. Whatever happens. But in exchange, I want you to do as I say when it comes to concealing your abilities and talent. Can you at least promise that?

-I will promise to do as much as I can to respect elder Lan’s words!

-Ah, well, it’s better than a complete rejection at least. Now, we need to deal with Okami accordingly. It is a shame but he has to disappear.

-Wait elder Lan! There is no need!

-Hum? Did you not just promise…

-Wait elder! Hear me out! Oka’s an orphan. If we just say that his bloodline revealed itself only after he reached the fifth realm due to it being so powerful, wouldn’t it be enough?”

The elder pondered for some time before nodding. It was indeed possible to do it this way. There were cases when bloodlines were only discovered and usable after reaching a certain realm or clearing particular conditions. He smiled brightly at Mir. Today, he got two students with heaven-defying abilities. If he nurtured them well, ah, he wasn’t able to even dream of it. He took Mir back and they went to check on the sleeping Oka. Elder Lan asked:

“Do you know how long this one is going to sleep?

-No. it was an experiment after all.

-Hum…I see. I’ll post an elder to watch over the door, if he wakes up, we’ll be meeting him first. In the meantime, don’t do anything too reckless again.

-Yes, elder Lan!

-Nothing higher than rank 3 or I will be mad!

-I understand elder Lan!

-Good, good. By the way, do you want an elder to help you cultivate? You are still not at the first rank after all.

-Actually, elder Lan, I can’t cultivate yet…

-You! Did you also play with your own core?!

-Well~

-Y-You! No wonder you awakened so early!

-Ahah~

-Ah, what am I going to do with you I wonder, ah… When will you be able to start cultivating then?

-I don’t know? Once my core merges with my body. None of my ancestors ever had cores, this can’t be done in a matter of days.

-It is such a shame...Wait! Does this mean that you can grow cores?!”

Seeing the surprised expression on the elder’s face, Mir thought “not this again…” yet still nodded affirmatively with a smile. The elder pondered for a moment and asked:

“Little friend Mir, do you think it is possible to re-grow a destroyed core?

-I don’t know. I’ve never seen a destroyed core.

-Then, if you see one, would it be possible?

-At least, I would be able to tell you if a possibility exists.

-Good, good. I will be leaving for a few days, you handle Okami. Don’t do anything too eye-catching. I will ask elder Bu to watch over you two, he will probably rejoice.

-Thank you, elder Lan! Have a safe trip!”

After that, elder Lan left the Herbal Mountain and headed for the Burning Sea Head Mountain. The place where the school headmaster resided and assemblies took place. There was something urgent he needed to report. He wasn’t going to talk about Mir’s talent though…

On the other end, Mir was facing elder Bu at the ground floor of the Herbal pavilion. They were having a disagreement. Mir wanted to go outside but elder Bu was told to keep both Mir and Okami in check. However, Okami was still deep asleep. If he went outside, he wouldn’t be able to watch over the sleeping child and vice versa. Then Mir told him:

“Just post a different elder to watch over this lazy idiot!”

After minutes of heated debate, a different elder, friend of Bu, told him he didn’t mind watching over Okami since he was also having a break. In the end, elder Bu and Mir went outside. As they were going down, elder Bu asked Mir:

“What do you plan to do, little friend Mir?

-I’ll buy herbs and make pellets, then I’ll sell them and make money.

-Hum…That might prove difficult.

-How so?

-Last time, you were able to buy herbs because you were with me. Do you remember, we used my school token to register the purchases?

-That’s right! But I don’t have such a token elder Bu.

-Exactly. This is a school token, it contains the identity of an individual, it is unique and lists everything that happened to the bearer. It is like an auto-recorder of one’s life inside the school. However, only members of the school own them and only those with a token can use the facilities normally. Yesterday was an exception since both the purchase and the room renting was done by using my token.

-Then, why don’t I have one?

-That’s because you aren’t officially a disciple of this school, little friend Mir. You haven’t passed the entrance exam!

-Oh? But aren’t I elder Lan’s assistant?

-That’s right. This status enables you to walk around in the school and use the reserved facilities on this mountain. The pavilion and the training house. But that’s it. Okami is a disciple though so there are no restrictions for him.

-Hum…But the recruitment is in June, isn’t it?

-Exactly, ah, that’s why I was trying to stop you from going outside. The thing is, there isn’t much you can do right now.”

The entrance exam took place only during a single month of the year and even though Mir satisfied the conditions, being under ten and having an awakened core, he couldn’t pass the exam! And he couldn’t get a school token! This gave him a headache. If he couldn’t do anything by himself then wouldn’t he be wasting his time here? This was a pain. He looked to elder Bu and asked:

“Elder Bu, are there other ways to get a school token?

-There are. Of course. We are, after all, a martial school focusing on talent. If one’s talent is high enough, rules can be bent.

-Tell me more, elder Bu, please!

-Alright… We have many mountains composing our school however, only grand elders have the rights to make a mountain their own. For example, after elder Lan became grand elder, he chose this mountain and turned it into the mountain specialized in herbalism. Other grand elders turned their mountains into different specialties. Each one had the right to give out school tokens as long as one cleared the requirements of a genius talent regardless of the date.

-Then, can’t I get a school token from here?

-You could, theoretically. For that, you would need to succeed the mountain challenge.

-The mountain challenge?

-That’s right! If you succeed a mountain challenge, you’d get a school token but that’s not all. most of those attempting the challenge already have one after all. The reward is a core disciple title.

-Core?!

-That’s right! Until now, there hasn’t been a single disciple succeeding a mountain challenge! Those challenges exist only to say that we give everyone a chance, it isn’t really made so one can pass it.

-Elder Bu, what is the Herbal Mountain’s challenge?

-Hum… It is divided in three parts. Do you remember the two books that were in your room?

-I do!

-The first test is to be able to learn it all. It is a written exam based on your knowledge of those two books. Only by reaching 95% or higher can one pass the first test! As of now, I’ve only seen no more than ten disciples succeed the first test.

-Incredible! Elder Bu, what about the two other tests?!

-Ahah, don’t be so impatient, I will tell you! The second test is even harder. It is to recognize a modified herb. There has never been anyone to pass this second test! Being able to find all the different plants composing one without knowing exactly how many were combined is near-impossible! And there is only one chance to guess it right!”

Up to there, Mir was smiling widely, this would be too easy for him. If the third test was also simple, there wouldn’t be anything left for him to fear. He waited patiently for elder Lan to continue.

“As for the third test, the challenger would have to create a rank3 pellet in front of the audience in one try. We would be providing the resources but it would still be incredibly difficult.

-Elder Bu, what if the challenger can’t use energy? Would he receive help from someone?

-Hum…Yes. If he can’t get the fire on, then someone should help. Well, such things never happened since no one reached the third test anyway.

-Elder Bu, I can’t read the books because I can’t yet use energy, is there a way for me to read it?

-Oh? If someone channel energy in the book and in you at the same time, you would be able to read the contents. Would you like me to help?

-Can you?!

-Of course! But we would have to sit down for that.

-Please, elder Bu!

-Alright, come with me then, ahah!”

Elder Bu was pleased to find a diligent disciple and one so young at that. They sat down under the shadow of a tree and opened the book pertaining to herbs. Elder Bu channeled the energy into Mir then into the book and the contents appeared directly in front of Mir’s eyes. He could use his peculiar sight to comprehend everything he saw. It meant that as long as he could flip the pages, he would remember all of their contents. However, there were more pages than he guessed, it took the entire day to finish one book. As the moon was already in the sky, Mir asked elder Bu:

“Elder Bu, can we read the second book tomorrow?!

-Sure!”

Elder Bu was pleased with the child’s attitude. He didn’t expect him to learn much but just to be more familiar with the contents of the books would help him later on. He had a good impression of Mir. The next day, Mir read the second book entirely. With so much knowledge, both the first and second test would be a piece of cake. As for the third one, since he now knew the plants, he could make whatever kind of pellets he wished to. Basically, he could succeed the challenge anytime.