Chapter 46: Life 58, Age 33, Martial Grandmaster 1
“Are you ready?” asked Jiao on the day of the Inner Sect Challenge.
“Yes,” I said. “My skills in Rank 2 pills have hit a point of diminishing returns. Without a significant time investment, or a better affinity or blessing to help me, I think I’m at my limit. If this isn’t enough to join the inner sect, then that is simply my fate.”
“Just remember,” said Jiao, “joining the inner sect is all about either having uniquely powerful abilities or having connections. The more of one you have, the less of the other you need. Since you’re an independent, you don’t have to compete with the faction disciples, but it does mean you need to shine brighter. Your elder can only do so much.”
The unwritten rules of this challenge had become clear to me over the years. Each of the three factions would always receive the same number of inner sect disciples, and it didn’t matter too much how qualified those people were compared to everyone else. If the second-best alchemist was part of the same faction as the best alchemist, it would be extremely difficult for them to be selected.
Of course, the same number for each faction didn’t always mean only one for each faction. As long as it was balanced, two or three could be selected for each faction. The complication was that if the Snakes had three excellent alchemists, but the Tigers only had one, there was a strong incentive to only allow one person per faction to pass.
Since I was under Elder Mu, and he was an independent elder, the faction games didn’t affect me too much. I wouldn’t be excluded because someone better had already been chosen, but I also wouldn’t get included when there was an extra slot. I just needed to be in a position where the elders saw value for the sect in my promotion.
Value wasn’t just determined by the quality of pills an alchemist could make, but also the quantity they made. Completing missions and bounties in the pill hall was factored in when the elders were making a decision. If you were contributing more, your promotion would have more value.
“Elder Mu said it shouldn’t be a problem,” I told Jiao. “He seemed confident that I would succeed.”
“Really?” she asked. “That’s odd. This year, Elder Hu, the head of the Tigers, decided to personally serve as a judge. This made Elder Long, head of the Snakes, and Elder Tao, head manager of the Eyes, also join. The judging panel is stacked against the independents this year.”