Bai li yue didn't wish to talk about her history with a stranger. Several people had asked to know her realm during her travels. A vague answer worked most of the time. They filled in the holes themselves. Since he had given her an excuse, she agreed with him.

'Yes. It is a concealment amulet.'

'I see. I already saw the array and I must say it was more than I expected. There are so few remaining examples of ancient arrays. Apart from old books, many of us haven't seen one with our own eyes. This is a wonderful opportunity for us all. Shao ba li, go now, make sure that the test room where the array is located is kept under lock and key. I don't want anything to go wrong before the other eminences arrive.' 

'Yes, your eminence.'

President shao left to execute the order. The two of them were alone.

'As to the matter of your accreditation, you have no need to worry. The array alone is enough for you to earn a three star badge. Don't look surprised. It is even more valuable than a three star badge. Unfortunately, four star badges have to be issued at the headquarters.'

Bai li yue couldn't believe her luck. The day was turning better than she'd expected.

'Thank you, your eminence. A three star badge is more than enough.'

'Enough? I wonder if you know the value of what you have in your hand. You don't seem to know what our profession has lost. How did you come about it anyway?' 

He stared intently in her eyes, eagerly awaiting the answers she would give. Bai li yue gave him an

'I was stuck in a cave for years. I found the remains of an ancient cultivator whose spirit tried to possess me. It was too weak so I was able to fight off the possession. Once i was free, i realised that i had become knowledgeable in the area of arrays.' 

She had left out parts of the story, sticking as close as she could to the truth. Could he tell the lies from the truth? 

His black pupils glinted. He'd read something in her eyes. What, she couldn't say.

'You've mixed truth and lies into a good story, but you're still too truthful for your own good. Next time someone asks you, lie. It might be what saves your life one day.'

She accepted his advice in good faith.

'I wouldn't be able to keep a straight face if I said that a deity visited me in my dreams or that i am a reincarnated immortal.' 

'You should learn to. The more outrageous it is, the better. People will often believe a good lie than the truth. But luckily for you, i am scholar. I'm more interested in knowledge than wealth. When my colleagues arrive, we will relocate you to the headquarters. There you'll be made an eminent elder and begin the work of a lifetime.'

Did she hear him correctly? 

Something inside her rebelled at the idea.

'Thank you, but I've no intention of going to any headquarters.'

'Rest assured you will be well treated.'

'I don't care about that. I just came to get accreditation, not to be shuttled off without a say.'

He sighed. He couldn't deny that her words held a grain of truth. 

'I can't force you, but will you consider visiting the headquarters?'

'If I ever happen to be in the area, I'll call on you. How about that?' 

She countered.

'Please do.'

Bai li yue felt like it was time she left. She didn't wish to be wrangled into something again. Zhou Jinhai didn't see her off. Countless eyes would focus on her if she was seen in his company. For now, he preferred to keep her identity secret. 

Downstairs, in the main hall, she wrote another statement, the second of the day. This time, the attendant had learned his lesson and he promptly processed it. He informed her that her badge will be ready for pick up the next day.

Bai li yue thought of everything that had happened as she headed back home. The streets were just as deserted as they had been when she'd left the tournament grounds. She was mildly curious to know how her fellow sect members had done, but she'd find out eventually when they returned for the night.

Her mind a jumbled mess of formations and her body itching to get to work, Bai li yue walked back to the house in the Amber river district. If she didn't have the seal inside her and a mission to reach sage level before it broke, she might have gone to the headquarters. Even now, she thought that it wouldn't be a bad idea. The arraymasters' headquarters was the heart of the profession. They would have unimaginable resources that could aid her advance her realm. She would end up learning more about formation and progressing faster than she would if she stayed on her own. Why then did she recoil against it? An image gradually took form in her mind. It was that of a fattened pig on a bed of silk. She shivered.  

That night, she made a breakthrough. Studying the broken array in the testing room had proved to be the key. Material components were akin to runes. They powered and directed the array to fulfill its purpose. They replaced dao insight with the tangible. The dao of formations emphasised the dao. Runes and material components were substitutes for dao insight. In the end, to step onto the true path one must break away first from diagrams that were shackles before finally abandoning the substitutes which were weaker versions of the dao.

Bai li yue finally understood the underlying meaning of han bei jie's words. The formation inheritance he'd left was his understanding of the formation dao. 

Alas! She had to face the fact that she hadn't reached the point where she could break away completely from her shackles. 

Zi yu and Huang rong had gotten phenomenal results fighting the mist warriors. Wen shan shan was unsatisfied with her results. She couldn't bear to fall behind anyone, especially Huang rong. 

'You, who gave you permission to sit with us?'

'Wen shan shan, don't take your anger out on Bai li yue.'

'What did you say, Lu dou? Shut up before i beat you up!'

Wen shan shan jumped to her feet and drew her blade. Lu dou did the same.

'Stop!'

Bai li yue shouted. She didn't know why their blades were already drawn. She didn't want to be the reason any of them got injured. 

'Wen shan shan, can't we just be cordial with each other?'

'You are a member of the chores division, Bai li yue. You should know your place.'

'I'll remember it from now on.'

'Good! Go and prepare a bath for me.'

Lu dou growled but Huang rong held him in check. Bai li yue smiled and consoled herself. 

Aah… i am a saint. I am an angel. I am a kindness personified.  

 

She put up with Wen shan shan's demands for a bath and tea throughout the night and slipped out when the latter fell asleep with a smile on her face. Huang rong was once again training in the garden. His sword bended, rose, swivelled to the right. It danced in the air, his body closely mimicking the movement in perfect unison. 

Bai li yue watched the scene in open mouth admiration. She recalled what she'd said to him that night when they celebrated the end of the inner sect exam in the courtyard. Seeing him now, she wondered about the wisdom of her words. To her ears back then, they were wise words. Remembering them now, they sounded arrogant and pretentious. 

She must have been crazy to speak like she did.  

'Bai li yue you're really something! Who are you? What right do you have to tell anyone to limit themselves when they have so much potential? The thousand bamboo immortal sect is a one star sect. It will take them one hundred years if not more to become a two star sect; several centuries to reach the level that matches Huang rong's potential. Yet you told him that the sect is the best place for him? Why? Has being called little ancestor gone to your head? Because you want what's best for the sect? What about him? Would you sacrifice his future to satisfy your selfishness? Bai li yue, who the hell do you think you are?!'

The realisation shook her. She had changed. It wasn't a drastic change but it was there, right under the surface. At first when the elders called her little ancestor, she'd felt uneasy, but these days she accepted it as her due. She could sense the self importance she tried to hide when talking with others. Her teacher was a spirit from three thousand years ago. She was better than them. She wasn't a normal student. She couldn't be when she was always interacting with and being validated by elders and eminences. 

Bai li yue wouldn't have believed that she'd be thinking of wen shan shan in the middle of the night.  

'Wen shan shan was right. I am a member of the chores division. I am anything but special. Instead of being a normal student who works hard to achieve her goals like the others, i am acting like a benevolent ancestor.'

The thought stayed with her as she lay in bed. She didn't sleep a wink that night. When dawn came, she went to help Ye zhian prepare breakfast and help him prepare bath water for their guests. 

Ye zhian noticed her pensive mood but he wasn't by nature a nosy person.

Bai li yue watched the tournament with a distracted eye, but the human struggle was still poignant. The sect members made it into the top three hundred to nobody's surprise. They had undergone training equivalent to that of a three star sect. They had weapons, martial skills and cultivations that put them shoulders above most of their competition. 

The next stage was a skill showcase. Here, the contestants would display their martial skills against a stage full of training dummies in the hopes of impressing the audience. Zi yu's sword was as thin as a branch. It didn't look impressive until cherry blossom petals appeared in the air around her. They exploded outward piercing the dummies like blade through paper. At times, they formed a shield to protect her from attacks. 

'Zi yu has shown incredible aptitude with the five flower guardian skill. The others are not that far behind either.' 

The first elder leaned in and whispered, drawing Bai li yue's attention back from her pensive thoughts. 

They watched several skill displays until Lu dou arrived on stage. New training dummies reformed from the ashes left behind after the previous contestant had burned them to ashes. Lu dou's sabre turned bright red as did the arm holding it. It spread across his skin, gradually transforming him into a red eyed devil. His demeanor changed alongside his transformation. The devil roared and attacked the dummies in bloodthirsty delight and fervour. 

'That's the hell guard transformation. It suits him well.'

'Is he in control of himself?'

'At the moment, yes. The hell guard transformation's favoured environment is the battlefield. It shines in battle, but at the same time the potential for loss of control increases drastically.'

'He chose it knowing the danger?'

'With great risk comes even greater rewards.'

He answered.

It was a concept she was beginning to understand. These contestants were different from her. Each one of them was seeking to better their life. It was normal to take risks. It was sometimes even more desirable than caution. 

In the afternoon, Bai li yue left the venue. She didn't get to watch the rest of the displays as it was time to collect her badge. President Shao and Zhou jinhai were present to induct her into the association. As a three star array master, she could buy material components at a discount. She could also get priority for some jobs if she wished. 

Elder Zhou surprised her by giving her a welcome present. He stopped her when she refused it. 

'Don't say no yet when you haven't even looked at the present.'

A blue bead lay on a soft bed of silk in the box. Blue light whirled slowly inside the bead. Bai li yue took a closer look at the bead and lost herself in its depths. She was like a fish swimming in the blue depths; without a care in the world. She snapped out of the trance when he shut the box.

'What- what was that?' 

She shook herself, unnerved by her loss of awareness. 

'This is a dream bead that i've been saving for a long time. It was taken from the belly of a fish in the black miasma lake, but it is yours now. I swallowed a purple bead years ago and saw myself as a young man. I don't know what you'll see when you swallow the bead, but it will definitely be of great help to you.'

'I have no interest in learning the future.' 

What if she saw spoilers?  

'I'm not forcing you to take it. The choice is yours.'