Good question.

  Was she really into the idea of Ze Yun being her master? Not at all. This option had its advantages, but the drawbacks weren't much less. A career in the military was a good option for many people, but May wasn't sure she wanted to limit her freedom like that.

  So much time had passed, and she still couldn't make up her mind. It was a little pathetic.

  “I understand,” Lin Yun finally said and turned toward the sword thoughtfully.

  May frowned.

  “But I didn't say anything,” she replied uncertainly. Could she read minds, or what was going on?

  “You didn't have to. Your silence was your answer,” she said contemplatively, but May saw a hint of sadness in her gaze. She didn't understand her thoughts.

  “Leader, forgive me for asking, but why did you want him to be my master...? Just bringing me here should have been enough if you wanted to protect me for obvious reasons, and there was no need for Ze Yun to become my master.”

  “I think I already told you not to address me with titles. Officially, I do not exist,” she said after a moment. “As for my intentions... It doesn't matter now.”

  It doesn't matter now? She is hiding something, but she does not seem too eager to talk about it.

  May decided not to ask about it. Sometimes it was better not to be curious. Especially when it came to influential individuals. She sighed with a slight regret and also began to stare at the sword, along with the spirit.

  After a moment, Lin Yun spoke, turning her head slightly toward her.

  “To be honest, it's probably a better choice for you. Ze Yun isn't the best master. However, I was hoping that... No. Never mind. I shouldn't say too much.”

  May was confused. She clearly wanted to talk about something, but she seemed to have some regrets. The atmosphere was quite melancholic. It was a rather awkward situation for May, and she didn't know how to get out of it. Changing the subject or leaving suddenly didn't seem appropriate.

  “You really like getting yourself into trouble, May Shang.” She heard a voice. She didn't need to turn around to know it was Ze Yun. She sighed quietly and turned toward him.

  As she had been taught, she bowed and greeted him with the appropriate title: “Greetings, High Elder.”

  Without reacting, he looked at May, who continued to touch the sword. She had to do this in order to see and hear Lin Yun. After a moment, however, his gaze turned to the spirit. Could he see her without doing this? As befits a Golden Core stage cultivator.

  “Leader, this applies to you too. You shouldn't put the young son of the Chen clan to sleep. You know their father has a terrible temper.”

  “Yeah. If he found out about this, he'd be furious,” she said casually. “He probably started looking for him?”

  “Yes. We just finished the meeting and were about to leave. But he couldn't find Peng, and as you can imagine, he got angry and promised to beat his ass with a belt so hard that he wouldn't be able to walk for a week.”

  “What a miserable person.”

  “Perhaps. But not one we can ignore.” He said, picking up the boy and slinging him over his shoulder. “His children alone are the future of the sect.”

  He said, turning toward the door. However, as he stood in the doorway, Ze Yun suddenly stopped and looked straight at May, who swallowed nervously.

  “I'll talk to you later. Go back upstairs,” he said and disappeared behind the door.

  Was this the first time in her life that she had been in trouble? She had already seen Ze Yun kill people in the border town. Admittedly, they were murderers, but he had done so without any qualms. Of course, he would not kill May, but other punishments were not out of the question... She paled slightly with fear.

  “Don't worry about him. You're under my protection, as long as I'm here, you're safe.”

  May sighed with relief.

  “But of course, he can still knock you out with his belt. Perhaps Peng’s father inspired him.” May looked angrily at the ghost.

  “I was joking, come on. He’s not that kind of person... I think.”

  “You haven't exactly cheered me up,” she replied to the ghost with a sigh. She had to face the consequences.

  The ghost just shrugged. She may have been a leader once, but now she had no power. Even though Ze Yun respected her, objectively speaking, she had no function and, therefore, no rights in the sect.

  May said goodbye to her and returned to the surface. She had lost the desire to continue exploring the cellars.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  She looked for Ze Yun, but couldn't find him anywhere. She wanted to apologize for the trouble, but he was nowhere to be found, as if he had vanished into thin air. Finally, however, she came across Shui Gai. Her maid.

  “The High Elder said to convey that you are to attend dinner in the dining hall in an hour.” She said with a slight disapproval in her eyes, most likely already knowing the details. “I thought you were a more sensible girl, but as I guess, you can leave the Outer Court, but the Outer Court will never leave a person.”

  She said and then left. May stuck her tongue out behind her back. Although she was usually a nice old lady, she could be really mean from time to time. Her comment about her origins irritated her quite a bit.

  However, not wanting to stand in the hallway any longer, she returned to her room for a moment to get ready for dinner. She didn't have much time, but she wanted to at least organize her chaotic thoughts.

  Before she knew it, it was time to leave. She didn't want to be late, especially since she was having dinner with Ze Yun, who was the Elder of the sect. It would certainly be considered a great faux pas.

  She arrived early, and there was still no one there. However, the mansion's servants had already prepared the table, and now they were just waiting for them to arrive. May sat down in one of the chairs. The one she was supposed to sit in. There was a certain etiquette for sitting at the table. The most important person sat at the very end. In this case, May sat on the opposite side, as she was to have dinner alone with a person of much higher status. With more people, the order of seating at the table became very complicated.

  She still remembered those boring lessons from Shui Gai and sighed. At least they had been useful for something.

  A few minutes later, the main guest of the program arrived. Ze Yun entered the room, May stood up from the table and bowed again. She could only sit down once he had sat down.

  “I see that Shui's teachings have not been wasted. Your posture seems to be much better,” he said, sitting down. May soon sat down after him.

  “Shui Gai taught me a lot, Elder,” she replied.

  He just nodded and the conversation stopped. There was a brief silence. May decided that this was the right moment to apologize for entering places where she shouldn't have been.

  “Elder, I would like to apologize for my inappropriate behavior,” she said, bowing her head.

  She decided that a simple but sincere apology would be better than long explanations and excuses.

  “It was quite irresponsible. But formally, no one forbade you to do it. The only questionable thing was destroying that door, but I know you weren't behind it,” he said, pouring himself some wine. “Although you didn't do anything wrong, you should learn to stay out of trouble.”

  May didn't expect him to react so mildly. She had always considered him to be harsh, but also arrogant, so his calmness seemed unnatural to her. Was he treating her more leniently because he thought she would become his disciple in the future?

  No, probably not. He had had disciples before, and from what I had heard, he didn't treat anyone with leniency. He probably just didn't consider my offense to be anything serious.

  “Elder, as for whether you should become my master...” She began to speak, but the man unexpectedly interrupted her.

  “A month has not yet passed, so I do not want to hear your answer yet. Besides, I have other things on my mind right now, so regardless of your answer, I don't have time for anything right now, so just be quiet.”

  May was silenced in a brutal manner. To tell the truth, she didn't even have a definite answer, she just wanted to ask something. Now, however, she had lost the desire to do so.

  Dinner continued in silence. May hated the awkwardness. Back home, she always ate in front of the TV, or at least had someone to talk to during dinner. Here, however, she could only listen to the clattering of cutlery and the sound of eating.

  Dinner was coming to an end. Although the food was delicious as always, she couldn't fully appreciate it because of the awkward silence. When Ze Yun put down his chopsticks, he took out a book. May tried to see the writing on it, but he was too far away for her to read it, and she didn't want to use her Qi Sense on him, as it would be inappropriate.

  “I've heard about your progress. La Xia praised your talent, good job,” he said.

  May was surprised to hear praise from him. Geniuses really were treated differently. Perhaps her talent was the only reason she wasn't in trouble right now.

  “However, you must also train your martial arts.” Ze Yun stood up and came closer, handing her a thick leather book.

  May opened it and skimmed through the pages. Seeing illustrations showing various movements, she knew it was a martial arts manual.

  “But I already have technique...”

  “Water Art Knight. Your progress is too slow. You can learn it in your spare time, but you need something more reliable and less obscure.” He interrupted her again. “Regardless of whether I am your master or not, everyone in the sect knows that you are a guest of our clan. So it doesn't matter whether you want it or not, but you are already associated with us. If you show up with such a useless martial art, you will bring shame upon us.”

  May wasn't entirely sure what to think. She knew he had a point. Water Art Knight was a little too sophisticated, and it was difficult to make any progress with it. However, the new technique meant she would have to learn from scratch, and her current achievements would be wasted.

  But she could only sigh, knowing she had no say in the matter. She had to trust him.

  “Elder, may I ask what technique this is?”

  “It's called the Three River Fist Technique. It's our clan's technique, but it's not a clan secret or anything like that. Even an outsider can buy it for the right price.”

  May decided to look up the description of this martial art.

  Hmm, it's more expensive than my previous martial art. That probably means it's more reliable.

  The high price was due to the fact that purchasing it would mean 100% mastery of the technique at a superior level. In practice, that would mean decades of training. So the price was quite inflated.

  May wanted to thank him again, but the man had disappeared from the room. May sighed.