Back to Crystal City

A few days after that, Nalos accompanied the children selected to test into Storm Sky Manor, along with their parents. Shui was also among this group but he obviously wasn't one of those attempting to enter the sect. Although he did consider it, that would be an event for the future. Nathan was also among the children selected but he seemed different from the last time Shui saw him. Nathan's aura had changed far too strangely for there not be a specific cause, but no matter how long he looked at him Shui couldn't see it.

'I really hate leaving something unfinished.'

The Heaven clan group made it to the city the day before the envoys would come. This time, for once, there was no interference from the Clite clan. When dinner was finished and the children were already in bed, Bartos sat by a table on the balcony with a glass of beer. He had given his consent but inside he still felt empty. After all, his dear daughter was leaving, no good father would be able to accept this easily.

He rarely drank on the clan premises with the kids home and all, but he felt the uncontrollable urge to do it here.

"Do you mind if I join?"

Bartos turned his head to find Nalos walking towards him.

"I hope you brought your own cup."

Nalos chuckled in response and sat on a chair on the opposite side of Bartos. He took out a clear cup from his sleeve and poured some of the beer into his cup.

"Ahh~. I see you've brought out the good alcohol."

"...Right now, there's not much point in drinking if it can't get me drunk."

As a peak Soul Realm cultivator, it was near impossible for him to become intoxicated by normal liquor. Therefore, he had to buy alcohol specially made for cultivators. This alcohol, known as cherished nectar, gave the same obvious effects as normal alcohol, but provided no permanent damage to the cultivator's organs.

Nalos and Bartos silently immersed themselves in drinking. They stayed in this state of peace until Bartos emptied the bottle of beer and frowned. At this point, Nalos also took out his own liquor.

He asked while filling Bartos' cup, "Do you think you can accept it?"

"...I'm trying to."

"You mind taking a piece of advice from this failure of a parent?"

"You're surprisingly being honest. Fine, I'll hear it."

"It's easy to make the boys stay home. Just give them some responsibility and a position with power attached and most of the times they'll give up their dreams once they find a wife. But girls can be tricky. They usually listen to you but one day, when they've made their resolve, they'll do whatever it takes to get their desire. So as a father... you can't be afraid to let them follow their heart. But, you have to be there for them if it fails."

Little emotion could be detected in Nalos' tone, but it was enough for Bartos to send a worried glance to him. Despite the fact that Nalos was far older than him, their apparent age was similar so they seemed like a pair of dads drinking together.

"That sounds like personal experience. I'll remember it."

And so, these two old men continued drinking under the moonlight.

The next day at noon, there was a large gathering at the stadium. Not only those from the three clans, there were also many children that weren't from any notable clans. Most of them would fail to meet the base requirements, but a few would become outer sect disciples. Of those in the Heaven clan, only Nalos was certain that Kalos was behind the assassinations, so the general level of hostility between the Heaven clan and the Clite clan was around the same. If Bartos refused to let Kate go, he considered telling him these suspicions, but luckily it wasn't needed. Nalos knew that even if Bartos understood that he couldn't attack Kalos, with his temperament it was hard to imagine him staying calm.

Soon after, with a sea of people waiting in the audience seats of the stadium, three figures appeared in the sky. One was an elder with grey hair but no wrinkles, along with two juniors riding a blue raven large enough to cover the stadium in its shadow. It was so big that it couldn't land in the stadium and the two juniors went to the stage and then waited for the elder. All three of them wore silk coats with a thundercloud on their left chest, with the elder's coat being white and the juniors' coats being blue.

Based on the colour of their coats, everyone with knowledge of the Storm Sky Manor knew that the elder belonged to the outer court, meaning he likely had a cultivation at least of early Sky Realm, while the juniors were inner sect disciples. Juniors they may have been, but both of them were in the late Soul Realm. One of the inner sect disciples was a charming young man that instantly stole the hearts of many young girls in the stadium. However, the men were all displeased with his arrogant demeanour.

The female inner sect disciple was also a top-tier beauty however her charm was something that both males and females could admire. She had not only a pretty face and a sensual figure, but also emanated a gentle aura that made everyone like her.

'She dual cultivates energy and soul.'

Of those below Earth Realm, only Shui could see through the girl. Though it wasn't very obvious in his case since he constantly suppressed his aura, those who cultivated the soul would have a charismatic aura that drew people to them.

"Candidates, line up before me. Only those below the age of twenty-five may join the line. If you are above twenty don't bother joining if you're not at the late Soul Realm and if you are above fifteen then don't join if you haven't made it to the Soul Realm."

When the elder spoke, his voice easily filled the entire stadium. There were a few disappointed sighs when he announced who should leave, but no one openly opposed him.

When all of the candidates crowded the area in front of the stage, the elder spread his spiritual sense and pointed towards a couple children.

"The ones I've pointed at can leave."

The ones that were pointed at had their hopes quickly smashed but they didn't dare try to shameless stay there. Not just elder, the disciples that were with him also cared little about this group. Majority would be trash that they wouldn't spare a second glance at, but for the occasional hidden gems, they had to do this.

After the couple that he pointed out left, there were still over two hundred children waiting to be given a chance, but the envoys would only stay here for one day. Luckily, it only took around ten seconds for a child to be tested with a talent-checking gem. Unlike the gem that was used to check Shui's talent as a baby, this one gave a ranking to the talent of the one that touched it, along with their cultivation and their age.

By the time the number of children had been cut in half, there were only three children chosen and all of them were to be outer sect disciples with their average talent. Outer sect disciples were basically servants in the sect that handled the menial jobs that no one else could be bothered to do. Even so, the status of an outer sect disciple was still great for the ones chosen as they were from poor backgrounds.

When the number was below one hundred, Rune of the Clite clan went up on stage. He went to the male inner sect disciple who held the talent-checking gem and placed his hand on it. The blue orb shined with light that reached one feet away from the surface of the gem.

"It seems we have a new junior brother."

The female disciple nodded her head at the male disciple's words while Rune had a big smile on his face. He already knew that he would be qualified to be an inner sect disciple, but the affirmation still made him proud.