Chapter 181 — Three Sects at One Table

CHAPTER 181

Three Sects at One Table

“Sit,” Wei Chengyuan said.

Shi Feng took the empty chair without treating the word as a personal favour. He Zhen sat opposite him with a brush case beside one hand. Mu Shuyun occupied the third side of the table.

Three sect delegates. One champion's choice.

Outside the recruitment room, attendants waited with prepared documents. The remaining successful candidates would hear their own offers after the champion answered.

Wei Chengyuan noticed Shi Feng's changed aura immediately.

“Late Foundation Establishment,” Wei Chengyuan said.

“Yes,” Shi Feng replied.

“A successful night,” Mu Shuyun observed.

“The medicine was useful,” Shi Feng said.

He Zhen looked pleased, then remembered that looking pleased didn't improve the offer he could make.

Wei Chengyuan opened the first document.

“Martial Palace,” Wei Chengyuan said. “Direct inner entry, as the champion's right provides. Three thousand spirit stones on arrival. A personal sword instructor selected from the inner court. Proper access to our technique halls.”

He paused, allowing the numbers and promises to settle.

Shi Feng listened without interrupting. The offer was good. He didn't need to pretend otherwise because the man making it had threatened him the previous night.

Wei Chengyuan added a replacement refined artifact sword and priority in the first year's training allotments.

The delegates outside would hear how generous Martial Palace had been.

So would the other candidates.

“What do you expect in return?” Shi Feng asked.

Wei Chengyuan's smile tightened slightly.

“The duties of an inner disciple,” Wei Chengyuan replied. “Loyal service to the sect, proper conduct, and progress worth supporting.”

“Anything else?” Shi Feng asked.

“Nothing that should concern a capable young man,” Wei Chengyuan said.

Shi Feng looked at him quietly. The Yunze threat wasn't printed on the document, but leaving it unprinted didn't make it disappear.

He would remember the difference between the offer and the conversation that preceded it.

Mu Shuyun opened her own paper before the silence became a quarrel.

“Hundred Flower Valley offers the same rightful inner entry,” Mu Shuyun said. “Our resources suit careful sword cultivation. You would have access to the sword pavilion and the medicinal gardens under the ordinary inner-court rules.”

She named the stipend and the instruction available. The sum was lower than Martial Palace's first gift, but the practical benefits were clear.

Shi Feng asked two questions about the teaching. She answered both directly.

Then her gaze moved briefly to the violet cord on his everyday purse.

“Your wife is already with us,” Mu Shuyun said.

The room became quieter.

Shi Feng didn't look down at the cord.

“She chose a useful teacher,” Shi Feng replied. “I'm choosing my own.”

Mu Shuyun studied him for one breath, then nodded.

“Naturally,” Mu Shuyun said.

She didn't repeat the marriage as though naming it twice would decide him. Ling Qingzhu's place belonged to her own recruitment. It wasn't a rope tied around another candidate's neck.

Shi Feng appreciated the restraint.

He Zhen unfolded the smallest paper last.

“Artificer Hall,” He Zhen said. “Direct inner entry. The standard lodging, library access, and inner-disciple allotment.”

He stopped.

Wei Chengyuan waited. Mu Shuyun waited. Shi Feng waited too, because the delegate seemed embarrassed enough that another sentence might need time to escape.

“There isn't an arrival gift?” Shi Feng asked.

“Not one to match theirs,” He Zhen replied.

“How much?” Shi Feng asked.

He Zhen named the ordinary allotment. It wouldn't make a successful alchemist rich.

The delegate's expression became more uncomfortable.

“I won't invent a treasury to win an argument,” He Zhen said. “You'd find out after arriving.”

Shi Feng nodded. That answer was more useful than a flattering promise about resources nobody could explain.

He wasn't confusing limited funds with virtue. A poor sect could still contain greedy elders and cruel disciples. Honest figures on one piece of paper didn't make every person behind its gate trustworthy.

But at least he knew what this offer actually contained.

“Teaching?” Shi Feng asked.

“Crafting is our broadest strength,” He Zhen replied. “There are sword methods too. Xu Changhe didn't invent being an enforcer by himself.”

Shi Feng smiled slightly.

“I didn't think he had,” Shi Feng replied.

“Must every inner disciple become a crafter?” Shi Feng asked.

“No,” He Zhen said. “The Hall needs people who can protect its work too. Different instructors handle different paths.”

“And alchemy practice?” Shi Feng asked.

“You can arrange a room and buy your own materials,” He Zhen replied. “Your certification doesn't make you a refiner, and we won't pretend it does.”

Shi Feng liked the clear distinction. Mo Tianheng's expertise gave him medicine, not mastery over every puppet joint and weapon channel. Xu Changhe's useful crafting notes were a separate, much smaller beginning.

He could study more if it served his purpose. He didn't need a sect to rename the things he already knew.

The three documents lay before him.

Wei Chengyuan tapped the Martial Palace paper once.

“Compare them properly,” Wei Chengyuan said. “Your future shouldn't depend on gratitude for a dead man's notes.”

“It doesn't depend only on that,” Shi Feng replied.

“Then consider what the stronger sect can provide,” Wei Chengyuan said.

“I am considering it,” Shi Feng answered.

The delegate looked unsatisfied. He'd wanted agreement, not confirmation that the young man understood the words and still intended to think for himself.

Mu Shuyun folded her hands and waited. He Zhen checked the cap on his brush, apparently wishing he'd brought a larger treasury inside the case.

Shi Feng read the final line of each document.

His alchemy could earn resources. His sword path already had a beginning. A Great Sect would open a wider world, but it wouldn't replace his own choices with the most expensive offer on the table.

He knew where he wanted to go.

“The formal announcement is outside?” Shi Feng asked.

“Yes,” He Zhen replied.

“Then I'll answer there,” Shi Feng said.

Wei Chengyuan stood first, certain that public comparison would favour the richest promise. Mu Shuyun rose without showing what she expected.

He Zhen gathered the plainest document and followed them.

Beyond the doors, the recruitment courtyard was already full.