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Instead, the challenge mostly came from the environment. With bandits ready to attack if one made the slightest error and only a single opportunity for success, the mental pressure of the test would be intense for those not confident in their abilities.

For me, the test was as simple as walking. I had made these low-level Rank 4 pills more times than I could count. Even after getting distracted by the idiots in the holding area a few times, my lock on the ingredients never faltered.

Once I completed the tenth and final pill, I expected to leave the cave system and appear near Profound City. To my surprise, the stone arch instead led to a small sitting room where an older man in orange robes was waiting for me.

I quickly checked in energy vision and noted that everything, including the man, was an illusion. Even so, I needed to be careful with how I acted here.

The old man gestured to a seat across from him.

I gave a slight bow and sat down. I stayed quiet and let him direct the flow of the conversation.

“Earth Peak Disciple Su Fang. You have requested to be allowed access to alchemy missions. This has caused a few… difficulties.”

The man steepled his fingers and clenched his jaw slightly.

“Moments after your peak elders received this request, your master appeared and exhorted them to accept it. Of course, due to his station, the elders were no longer in a position to make such a decision. That was when the Master of the Earth Peak had to get involved.”

My eyes widened in fear. My ‘master.’ Who was my master? Someone from the Ning or Zhuge clans? Possible because of my connections with their scions, but that didn’t make much sense… The only possibility that seemed even plausible was… Emperor Li.

Why did he get involved? What did he want?

I needed to go back to the beginning and just pay the damn teleportation cost to come to the Nine Rivers Sect and avoid any complications caused by using that coin of his.

The only thing that stopped me from doing so was the thought of my classmates. If I returned to the beginning, anything I was building with them would vanish. This thought struck me as foolish and sentimental. My time with them would disappear eventually no matter what. Still… I wanted to let it last as long as I could.

Unwilling to pursue that train of thought, I put my existential crisis on hold and returned my attention to the elder who had been patiently watching my deliberations. He cleared his throat and resumed.

“Peak Master Shen decided that you have shown both an interest and a talent in formations. As you are a member of his peak, he is adamant that you must not be allowed to advance based solely on your talent in alchemy. After a lengthy discussion, he and your master came to an agreement. Of the ten missions you are required to complete for each step of advancement, five will be related to alchemy. The other five must either by formation or combat missions.”

That was… good news? It would help but…

The elder continued.

“As you have advanced to Lord and are now entering Profound City, your position in the inner sect must be re-evaluated. Your performance on the Path of Mind has demonstrated sufficient ability in alchemy. However, as you are a member of the Earth Peak and have not demonstrated any ability in Rank 4 formations, you will be demoted to the outer sect. If you wish to reclaim a place in the inner sect, you must prove yourself in the Exam.”

Before I could react, the elder whipped out a hand, pulled my identity jade from where it had been hanging on my waistband, and replaced it with one for the outer sect. I wanted to look carefully at the new badge which didn’t have the sheen of an illusion covering it, but the elder didn’t allow me to do so.

“By order of Peak Master Shen, you are to report to Earth Peak directly upon your arrival in Profound City.” He breathed out heavily and gave me a stern look. “Finally, on behalf of the elders, I must tell you this. We do not appreciate being placed in this kind of position. In the future, do not involve your master in sect affairs. Is that understood?”

I gave a half bow from my seated position. “Yes, elder.”

With a final glare, the elder disappeared along with everything in the room, including the chair I had been sitting in. Unable to react in time, I crashed to the floor.

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After the elder disappeared, I continued down the cave until I reached the exit. Stepping out of its opening, I found myself on a bluff overlooking Profound City.

The city was over twice as large as Yellow City and had tall black walls surrounding it. Peak Grandmasters ready to ascend to Lord would venture to Yellow City, but they would only stay there until they had enough confidence to continue further up the mountain. Profound City, on the other hand, had everything from low-level Lords to those who had already advanced to King and were preparing themselves for the road ahead.

To be fair, the number of cultivators who could reach this point was only a fraction of those who began the journey in Mortal City, but many of those who came here would end up staying here for the rest of their lives.

Still, the size of the city wasn’t just a reflection of the number of cultivators living here. Numerous mortals also called the city home. As descendants of Lords and Kings, they had the privilege of living in the city until they started cultivating. Given that they were born with no affinities, that would only happen if someone decided to bestow them with essence.

The path forward was clear and open, so I had no difficulty making my way to the city gate. There were only a few pedestrians walking the streets, and I did my best to avoid catching anyone’s eye. I was one of the weakest cultivators in the area, and if someone decided to attack me, there would be nothing I could do.

I hurried to the center of the city where I found the Gateway Plaza. Following the elder’s directions, I stepped through and returned to the Earth Peak.

When I arrived, I looked around at my surroundings and found that I had come through the same arch that had previously led to Mortal City. Somehow, this single arch detected where a traveler was supposed to go and sent them to the appropriate place. The arch had to be reading the information from the jade identity badges, but I didn’t see any formations that could have accomplished this.

Dismissing these thoughts, I turned and headed toward the small village that served disciples of the peak. As I did, a man who looked to be a couple of decades older than me approached.

“Su Fang?”

I nodded.

“I’m Tie Yang. I’ve accepted the mission to assist you in improving your skills with formations and entering the inner sect. Please come with me.”

Did the elders and the peak master arrange this? That wasn’t great. I wouldn’t be able to stay under the radar here at all if I had gotten so much of their attention. I would have just done the damn combat missions if I had known asking about alchemy would have led to this.

“Thank you, senior brother.” I gave the older man a slight bow. As I did, I quickly analyzed him. He was a high-level Martial Lord, and the badge at his waist indicated he was an inner sect disciple. So, not someone who completely outclassed me. He was closer to a peer.

Tie Yang led me to the Mission Hall.

“When you are ready to do your alchemy missions, you can speak to a receptionist. They will assign you one directly. Today, however, we are going to be doing a formation mission.”

We walked to the area of the hall where the missions for Lords were posted.

“Senior Tie, when I looked in the past, I was unable to find any formation-related missions open to outer sect disciples.”

He gestured to a different section of the room.

“You were a Grandmaster, so you were looking for outer sect missions over there. Those are mostly going to be combat missions. You might find the occasional one to teach a servant disciple or create a Qi Gathering Formation for a Grandmaster of another peak, but you can’t expect much else. The people hiring us are typically all Lords and above. For them, the difference in cost between an inner and outer sect Grandmaster is meaningless, so they usually just default to sending their formation missions to inner sect disciples. Doing so doesn’t always result in higher quality work, but it usually does.”

He pointed to the nearby boards.

“As a Lord, you’ll find more options available for outer sect members. Being a city lord earns a decent amount of contribution points, but purchasing the services of any Formation Lord is expensive, and many are unwilling to pay a premium to hire someone from the inner sect.”

He took me to another section of the room.

“This is where we’re looking for something today. These are missions that require a team to accomplish.” He placed his identity badge on top of one of the missions, accepting it. “This mission is to build a defensive formation around Black Sun City. It calls for a team of five outer sect disciples led by someone from the inner sect. I was told that you’re new to grand formations, so this time, I’ll have someone on my regular team show you the ropes. Just follow along with him and you’ll learn what you need to learn.”

Tie Yang led me back through the portal to Profound City. Once there, we followed the road back to the gate I entered from and found four outer sect Lords waiting for us. Tie Yang introduced me to the group and then headed out the gate.

I considered speaking up at this point since, as I understood it, the one rule of Dragon Peak was that you couldn’t go back down the mountain, but these guys knew what they were doing, so I simply followed behind.

The moment Tie Yang and the others stepped through the gate, they vanished, and my space affinity indicated some form of teleportation at work. When I followed, the moment I stepped through the gate, the mountain around me was replaced with the area outside of the gate to Mortal City.

The others acted like nothing had happened. They were used to this, so I did my best to blend in.

On the hill where the portal to the Academy and the Exam site were located, Tie Yang pointed out three other arches.

“These go to the North, East, and West Empires. Sometimes, the Emperors in charge like to change their names, but just remember them as North, East, and West. Black Sun City is in the Green Hill Kingdom of the West Empire. Just follow me.”

The portal to the West Empire took us to a plaza with several more arches. We walked through the one to Green Hill, and then from there, took another portal to Black Sun City.

When we arrived, Tie Yang gave me a pensive look. “You might already know this but seems like the portal network is new to you, so I’ll give you the rules. Only sect members are allowed to pass through. Anyone else will be killed by the formations on the gateways. You are only allowed to use the portals for assigned missions. You cannot use them for vacations, and you definitely cannot use them as a way to assault a city. If you are found to have done so, you will probably be killed by one of the elders.”

I nodded in understanding.

“Alright, well, we have to set up a new city defense formation. For now, just follow Lu and do what he tells you. He knows what to do.”