"Eh?!"
A startled sound left the mouths of both Damien and Long Chen. They hadn't passed the last exam since they had fallen unconscious before leaving the forest, but they still gained entry into the sect?
"You thought we'd allow talents such as yourself to fail?" The old man chuckled. "Both of you had already passed the exam after the first test ended. The rest was simply for show."
Now that he was back to his senses, Damien noticed something he disregarded previously. "You! You're that voice from before!"
"Finally recognized me?" The old man smirked. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tian Yang, and I am the Grand Elder of this fine sect."
The two men were both stunned into silence once again. The Grand Elder? Such a figure had status only below the Sect Master, and he was here taking care of them?
"No need to look at me like that," Tian Yang continued, "I am merely an old man with status. I really have too much time on my hands, so I decided to have a bit of fun."
"Well, let's ignore that for now as I introduce you to the sect." Tian Yang waved his arm, causing two blueish-black tokens to fly into Damien and Long Chen's hands.
"These are your disciple tokens. Not only will they indicate your status within the sect, they will also serve as communication devices and locators for various establishments on the premises.
"Our sect's facilities span this entire top half of the Star Mountain, so navigating can become quite difficult without such a guide."
Damien and Long Chen nodded, paying close attention to Tian Yang's words.
"As for the structure of the sect, it's quite simple. Since you are new, you will immediately become outer court disciples. The resources you will be distributed will be minimal, and the conditions are harsh. It is the gathering place for the majority of our sect's population.
"Every 6 months, there is an examination to enter the Inner Court. As for the requirements to do so, you can find out at the Induction Hall. The Inner Court is where the competition truly begins. Each disciple competes with each other for their place in the rankings, hoping to enter the Core Court.
"The both of you witnessed the pagodas lining the areas closer to the peak of the mountain, correct? Each of those is home to a core disciple or an elder.
"So far, our sect only has 10 core disciples. Considering how we have tens of thousands of disciples, you can imagine the difficulty and struggle it takes to reach such a level."
Pausing for a moment, Tian Yang's gaze drifted to Damien.
"As Elder Mu mentioned at the beginning of the disciple examination, this year the elders of the sect were looking to take disciples from the new entrants. Being the disciple of an elder will immensely raise your status, and even if you still need to work your way up the ladder, you will have a much easier time doing so.
"Not to mention, with an elder's backing and teachings, your realm progression and comprehension speeds will catapult."
"Young man, although I have talked so much, I am still unaware of your name, do you mind telling me?"
Even though Tian Yang's tone and phrasing was polite, like a gentle old man, it was clear that he wasn't simply asking.
"My name is Damien, senior. Damien Void."
His eyes flashed slightly, trying to see through even a hint of Tian Yang's power, but he failed to do so. Facing such a person with immeasurable depths, Damien decided it was best to be polite.
"Damien, is it. A truly odd name. However, this isn't important. What I wish to ask you, Damien, is whether or not you'd like to be my disciple. Although you aren't my only disciple, it doesn't mean I don't have the time to teach you."
This scene was familiar to Damien, as the same had happened with Malcolm in Apeiron. A peak expert was willing to teach him. Not only would he gain status to protect him if necessary, he'd also be able to progress with breakneck speeds.
It wasn't as if Damien blindly believed what Tian Yang had told him earlier, rather it was something he had felt personally. Even if he couldn't feel nor see any aura from Tian Yang, he could see the colorless mana that surrounded him.
There were two types of such mana, and Damien felt familiar with both of them. He knew for sure that one was spatial mana, but the other…
It was definitely one of the hidden affinities that appeared in his status sheet while he was in the ancient temple.
Unlike the master-disciple relationships people had in the Cloud Plane, where it would be an insult to take another master, there was no such custom on Apeiron. Malcolm was a teacher at an academy, not a personal master.
And although he trained Damien personally, it was mainly for the sake of the Nexus Event. They barely retained such a teacher-student relationship after the fact, becoming more like friends than elder and junior.
When considering all these facts together, Damien felt no need to hesitate. Quickly bowing his head, he spoke.
"Damien greets Master."
"Hahaha! Good! I like your decisiveness, young man. Such is a great skill to possess in such a world as ours."
Raising his head, Damien suddenly looked over at Long Chen, who was watching everything go down with a slightly sour look on his face.
"Senior, what about Long Chen?" He asked tentatively.
"What, you aren't calling me Master anymore?" Tian Yang teased, causing Damien to look away in embarrassment.
"Don't worry about him," he continued, turning to Long Chen. "You are actually a hot commodity among the elders, young man. There are plenty of them who wish to take you as their disciple, and you can choose who to take as your master after you meet them.
"The only reason it was this simple with Damien was because it was me who wanted to take him as my disciple. As for where to find those elders, simply inject mana into your disciple token and it shall show you the way."
Long Chen nodded, his precious sour look gone. His face now contained a fierce determination. Standing up from his bed, he walked over to Damien.
"Damien, you are the first person I've met within my age range who was able to force me into a stalemate. Therefore, I refuse to lose to you next time we fight."
"As if I'd let you win next time," Damien smirked. "I was going easy on you last time, so you got off lucky."
Long Chen couldn't help but smile back. "Then, until next time we meet."
With his parting words, Long Chen swiftly left the building they were currently in.
"I guess I shall leave as well. Damien, I will have someone sort out your registration and introductions. Later on, I will summon you when it's time to train."
Without another word, Tian Yang vanished from the room. No trace of his existence remained, not even the residual mana from his teleportation.
Left alone in the room, Damien wanted to take rest, but even that was disallowed to him. Instead, he was pounced on by a large black wolf who he had once again worried to death.
