“Are you okay?” Xu Ruomei asked, her golden eyes examining my now pale face. “You look like you’ve seen a demonic spirit.”

  I wish it was that.

  Dealing with a demonic spirit would be much simpler than a Civilization Realm expert.

  “I’m good,” I replied and tried to force a smile. “Thanks for the offer, but I don’t think I am ready to commit to being a disciple of a Civilization Realm elder. With everything that’s going on right now, I’m not sure that I’m ready for that kind of commitment.”

  That was the most polite way to tell her no.

  There was no way that I was selling my soul to this devil.

  No matter what she offered, I wasn’t going to make a deal.

  Risking myself to save my best friend and hoping it would all turn out for the best was just reckless.

  I wasn’t exactly in a position to gamble with fate.

  This wasn’t some cultivation story where plot armor would save me.

  And this wasn’t similar to when I made a deal with Ke Jun.

  Ke Jun was a former Civilization Realm expert who was degraded into a blood statue.

  We also had the meeting in my inner world, where the Genesis Seed’s power was at its peak.

  Xu Ruomei was actually a true Civilization Realm ancestor.

  And since she was aware of the Genesis Seed, it probably wouldn’t be able to protect me from her.

  I looked at her, awaiting her response.

  For a while, Xu Ruomei didn’t say anything.

  Instead, she looked at me with those unsettling golden eyes, her facial expression blank.

  The longer that the silence continued, the more uneasy it became.

  The painted figures closed in a bit closer.

  It was as if some of them were trying to drag me in there with them.

  My forehead started sweating, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I hadn’t worded my rejection properly. Cultivators of higher realms were known for their lack of patience with perceived insults and being rejected by someone who she probably viewed as a lowly junior might just be enough to provoke a violent response.

  Eventually, after what felt like forever but was likely only a couple of minutes, Xu Ruomei spoke.

  “Well, I can see why you’d be hesitant. Making a decision like that does take a considerable amount of contemplation.”

  Her words sounded as though she had anticipated this result and had developed contingency plans for it.

  “Don’t worry,” she continued, that unnervingly perfect smile returning to her lips. “I’ll come back with a better trade proposal; one that I hope you’ll find more appealing. After all, I’m nothing if not persistent once I spot something I want.”

  The polite words and sugary tone failed to conceal the threat in her words.

  It was obvious that this conversation was far from over.

  Whether I liked it or not, she wouldn’t leave me alone.

  She would continue to pursue me until I gave her whatever it was that she truly wanted.

  What I was concerned with was whether or not next time she would be willing to accept a polite refusal.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Before I could respond or ask her what she meant by a “better trade”, she vanished.

  Everything around me changed.

  The rough stone that I had stepped on previously had transformed back into marble, and the high ceiling of the gallery along with the gold gas lamps had reverted to the plain wooden beam and basic lighting of the outer sect residential district.

  All of the beautiful artwork of the moving paintings were gone, replaced only by the common buildings and yards that I recognized from my countless strolls through the area.

  In comparison to the thick atmosphere in Xu Ruomei’s manifested space, the night air felt crisp and clean.

  I breathed a few times deeply to slow down my rapid heartbeat.

  About a minute later, I shook my head and headed toward my living quarters.

  I couldn’t allow myself to be consumed by this game of politics right now.

  The championship match against Wu Kangming was scheduled for tomorrow.

  And I needed to be ready mentally and physically.

  Whatever game Xu Ruomei was playing, it would have to wait until after I either won the championship or was eliminated.

  The familiar sights and sounds of the outer sect residential district helped pull me back to reality. Most of the disciples walking past me appeared excited for the championship match. A few of them even nodded respectfully to me, which still felt strange after a full year of being just another nameless outer disciple.

  “That was a traumatic experience,” I said to Azure as I rounded the corner toward my room.

  “Yes,” Azure replied. “It appears that she uses some type of consciousness manipulation paired with spiritual commerce to create her deals. At first glance, they seem mutually advantageous, but in the long run, she gets the better end of the bargain.”

  “Do you think that is what happened to Wu Lihua?”

  “Yes,” Azure stated. “But Wu Lihua was probably a much more complex situation. To change a person’s personality while maintaining their cultivation level would demand a high degree of skill and probably couldn’t be done in one step.”

  The thought sent shivers down my spine.

  “Do you think she could actually help Wei Lin?”

  Azure paused for a moment before responding. “It is possible. Her cultivation method appears to involve exchanging and converting spiritual essences. If someone could exchange the corruption of foreign energies, it would be a person with her particular set of skills. However, the cost...”

  “The cost would be to become her disciple and to have my mind changed to fit her needs,” I completed.

  I paused for a second to reflect on a darker idea.

  “That is if things are the best case scenario, of course.”

  “What do you mean?” Azure asked.

  “Well, that’s assuming that she’s still in control of her own actions. What if she’s already been corrupted by that otherworldly entity? What if the blue sun influences in her paintings aren’t simply inspirational influences she drew from, but active corruption that is slowly programming her reactions? It’s entirely possible that she’s not aware of the fact that she’s recruiting disciples for a greater purpose.”

  “If she has been manipulated by the same force that generated the collective delusions in the Realm of the Chosen’s...”

  “…then her offer to ‘help’ Wei Lin could be part of a larger strategy to further corrupt other cultivators using these energies. And if she takes me as a disciple, it won’t just be to alter my personality to meet her desires, it’ll be to include me in a list of puppets for whatever game that entity is playing.”

  I shook my head firmly.

  “Either way, the answer is clearly no. But knowing which scenario we’re dealing with will help us in figuring out how much danger she represents if I continue to refuse her offers.”

  Azure fell silent at that point.

  It was a lot to process.

  Once I reached the simple entrance to my quarters, my mind turned to more pleasant thoughts.

  It didn’t matter whether I won or lost tomorrow; I would be done with the outer sect.

  If I won, I would be promoted to inner disciple status, or even possibly to core disciple status.

  And if I lost, I would still likely be promoted due to how I performed in the competition, although I wouldn’t receive the extra rewards, such as entering the Elemental Chamber, associated with winning the championship.

  Regardless of the outcome, this quiet little sanctuary that I had referred to as my home for the first year at Azure Peak Sect would be nothing more than a memory.

  “You should probably try to get to sleep soon,” Azure said softly. “Tomorrow will require your complete focus and energy.”

  Of course he was right. The final match tomorrow would determine not only my placement in the tournament, but potentially my entire career path within the sect. I needed to be sharp and focused, not distracted by the complex politics that I had no chance of sorting out anyway.

  As soon as I entered my room, I lit a small lamp and sat in my usual meditation posture.

  The routine was soothing and allowed me to organize my thoughts.

  Tomorrow, I would fight against Wu Kangming, whose swordsmanship was presumably trained by some sort of Sword Saint or Sword God. Tonight, I would prepare as well as I could and trust that my training and abilities would be enough for whatever he had up his sleeve.

  As for Xu Ruomei and her ominous declaration to return with a better offer, that was a concern for future me to deal with.

  Right now, I had a championship to win.

  As I meditated, the flames from the lamp danced and cast flickering shadows across the courtyard walls. And in the distant background, I could hear the other disciples practicing their techniques and betting on the final match.

  The sounds of the sect life were familiar and reminded me that, in spite of the dangers and politics closing in on me, I was still just a student trying his best to cultivate in this brutal world.

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