In the moment it took for me to read the system message, both the sect master and Lou Xia stopped arguing and looked in my direction. I did not know what their argument was about, but if I had to guess based on the looks they were giving me, I must have been the subject of their ‘friendly’ conversation.

Luo Xia then jumped forward and said, “Vale! The Sect Master is trying to make you do something stupid for no reason!”

Before I could even react to that, the Sect Master stepped forward and countered, “That is not what I was saying. I was merely-”

He was not able to finish as Lou Xia interrupted him, saying loudly, “But it was! She already won the competition against people who were already able to enter the inner sect!”

The Sect Master then started to counter before I could contemplate what was going on again, saying, “And I was trying to explain to you-”

Lou Xia was still not giving him the opportunity, however, as she then said, “And your just trying to make Vale do something for you!”

The sect master sighed at that and was about to speak, but I was the one who cut both of them off this time by saying forcefully, “Can both of you be quiet for a second!” That surprisingly worked as neither of them said anything more and let me catch my breath for a moment. When that was done, I looked at the Sect Master and asked, “What was it that you wanted to say?”

This caused Lou Xia, who was holding on to my arm for some reason, to explode next to me, but I shushed her and let the Sect Master explain, “What I was trying to say before being interrupted was that according to the rules, I can not allow you to enter the inner sect without first completing a few missions or at least a considerable enough feat beforehand. It is also not restricted on what quests you can take, but I would recommend that you take one of significant importance so that you do not need to complete as many.”

Hearing that, I saw the problem and was not too pleased with it myself, so I asked, “And the ones of the highest significance are the ones about making new techniques?”

The Sect Master surprisingly shook his head at that and then explained, “That would only be the case if you wanted to become an elder, and besides, you are already doing that, so it would not count for as much coming from you. What would actually give you the most contribution would be the ones needing you to leave the sect. I would not be averse to more techniques, though, so you can do as you wish.”

I was even more surprised by his answer. Lou Xia also seemed caught off guard, as she did not try to protest for a moment. It was only a moment, though, as she quickly responded, “Didn’t you also say that she could not have any help!?”

The Sect Master shook his head again and replied, “I only said that you could not help her, not that no one could.”

Lou Xia then fired back almost immediately, “And why can I not join her?”

The Sect Master replied once more, “Because you would always help her and give a false report to the sect.”

Lou Xia got angry at that remark and started to reply, “I would not-”

I did not let her finish and spoke up, asking, “And what if you sent someone else along with us?”

After I asked this, the sect master turned his attention back to me and said, “That would be fine so long as they are a neutral party.”

Happy with that response, I nodded and said, “Alright then! How about I go look at the quests tomorrow? I will have to pack for it after all.”

The Sect Master then asked me out of the blue, “How about you go look at the quests right now? After all, you should still have all the weapons from the ship you scavenged, even though they should have been returned to the sect. You can also make a shelter whenever you want, so long as you have the materials. And do not forget your prowess with a bow, which should allow you to hunt almost all the food that you would need.”

My eyes widened as he kept explaining as I did not even think about any of that and nodded my head to show my agreement with him.

All his arguments were valid, and nothing was wrong with them. All I needed now was to know where I was going and the mission I would need to complete, both of which could be found at the mission hall.

With that thought in mind, I quickly ran off toward the mission hall. What I did not notice during our conversation was both the Sect Master and Lou Xia looking at something behind me for most of it.

After I left, Lou Xia turned to the Sect Master and asked, “Why did you convince her to look at the mission board?”

She asked this question with some anger tinging her voice, but the Sect Master seemed not to notice and replied calmly, “You may not understand this right now, but there are points in your life where you will need to do anything you can to save your @*$, or in this case the Sect’s @*$.”

Lou Xia stood there for a moment, not saying anything. When she did respond, she did so with some anger, asking, “And how does that apply to Vale!?”

The Sect Master remained calm after hearing that question and only sighed before explaining, “I have to kitsune proof the Sect for the delegation that is coming in three months, which means I have been doing as much research as I can on them. During that time, the most common thing that I saw was that if a young kitsune has too much energy, then only destruction would follow. And since Vale was unable to control her tails from the looks of it. I can safely assume that she has too much energy at the moment, and it is best to get her out of the sect before she makes an even bigger explosive that will destroy half the sect.”

It was at this point that Irony decided to make her appearance, as Raina had just walked out of the library with a few extra books in her arms after hearing the conversation, and a loud explosion emanated from the center of town near the shrine.