"Sadly, though your ability is impressive, we cannot go against the Poison Sect's rules. You must go through the battle test, and I hope you can succeed in getting past it. It isn't difficult by any means, but it can be frustrating sometimes." Said one of the elders.
"No worries, if it's battle I'm confident in my ability," I replied nodding.
The two elders finished up the matter inside the hospital and asked me to follow them to the next place.
From the monotone, bored and annoyed expressions when they guided me the first time. This time they were jubilant and were asking many questions about how I created such a 'revolutionary' medicine.
"That's not really medicine," I said. "That's more of a poison than medicine, but it's potent enough to destroy fungi. As for antibiotics, those exist in most foods. Though with smaller concentration thus I needed a lot of materials to have a decent dose." I said.
The two elders nodded and seemed to take notes of my words, not interrupting me as I explained more about antibiotics.
I don't have great knowledge in regard to medical experience, but this is more basic knowledge.
We continued talking until we arrived at an open arena that seemed to have almost no audience.
A few cultivators were sparring in the arena under the watch of a couple of other elders and once we arrived, the spar was paused.
"Disciple Shen Mo is here to take his Inner Disciple's test. Please clear the arena," one of the two elders spoke.
With the request given, the sparring disciples came down from the arena with grumbles, but the elders didn't mind them any heeds.
"Go up, you'll be facing the elder over there."
I looked up to the arena, it was the same person who was acting as a judge for the earlier spar.
"Come up," he said.
I got onto the arena and clasped my hands.
"Please give me some pointers," I said then took a fighting stance.
The elder frowned, "A poison cultivator using hand-to-hand combat?" he tilted his head.
"I'm confident," I said.
"Good," he said and then he pointed his hand at me, "Break his legs."
I didn't understand at first, but it didn't take time for me to realize the meaning of his words.
Two puppets shot from the ground, they seemed to have been hidden in there.
Wooden puppets at that.
They had a sword for the right arm and a mace for the other. And they came at me with great vigor.
If it was any other cultivator at the same cultivation rank as me, they'll probably be disturbed. Fighting two Soul Formation puppets at the same time isn't easy.
But for me, it's pretty advantageous.
Instead of backing away, I moved forward.
The two puppets struck down with the mace in their hand. But I only needed to do a frontal flip to avoid the blow.
Just as I was falling to my feet, the two puppets twisted around themselves and were about to lob my legs off.
Yet my reaction was far faster than the two puppets as I spread my legs open, mid-air causing their swing to miss.
My palms then struck the back of their heads, sending a surge of demonic Qi into them.
Any other cultivator would think that my action was pretty foolish since I had a good opportunity to deal a great blow instead of sending some Qi into them.
But once I landed on my feet I clasped my hands to the elder.
"Thank you for your guidance," I said.
The elder, frowning on how I was 'declaring' my victory before his two puppets had even been disposed of was about to speak.
Yet his puppets suddenly started to shudder and shake, then immediately fell down, completely disabled enough for him to turn the frown into a smile.
"Hah, you seem to have some mastery over puppeteering," he said.
"A little bit," I replied.
"That was a little bit? You sent a perfectly tuned Qi surge into their formation, completely disabling it and disrupting it, they're nothing but scraps now. Ah, good, it's good to see decent disciples in the poison sect. How about this, would you be willing to learn the art of puppet mastery under me?" he asked.
"With all due respect, I wish to refuse your offer, since I already have a master, I cannot go against his will," I said
"Ah, then it cannot be helped. I declare Shen Mo fully able to enter the inner sect," said the elder.
"Good, congratulations Shen Mo, now you're officially a true member of the Poison Sect. Follow me, we need to get you a Bound," he said.
"A bound?" I asked.
"Yes, a battling beast," he said.
"Euh? I'm confused, I'm sure we're the Poison Sect, what does having a bound mean to a poison sect?" I asked.
"Ah... it seems little Mo here doesn't fully know how our sect functions. For outsiders, we're all poison fanatics that use poison to defeat our foes and bring plague and chaos, but the truth is, a Poison Cultivator's martial and battle prows are slightly inferior to a cultivator of the same rank."
"You mean combat?" I said
"Yes, in large-scale battles Poison Cultivator can be pretty fearsome, but our ability to defend ourselves is rather lacking when it comes to hand-to-hand combat or sword fights. If a Poison Cultivator comes across a well-prepared cultivator of the same rank, the result will be obvious. Since a lot of our poisons can easily be neutralized with Heavenly Medicine and antidotes we find ourselves in a difficult spot when facing a single opponent. Thus our Ancestor had ordered all Inner Sect Disciples to obtain a Bound spirit, training it until it grows strong and formidable to fight alongside you in battle. We have a few Bound spirits in the sect possession, you can choose one of them, or if you're feeling brave. You can venture the Dark Forest to obtain your own," he said.
"Hmm... if it's a Bound creature for battle, I think I can manage myself," I said.
After all, this is pretty convenient for me, since I wanted to bring the Dark Beast cub out. Now I have a perfectly good reason.
Not to mention that this Dark Beast is mutated, even if someone were to know of the Dark Beast's existence, they wouldn't be able to understand that the small fur ball I have is one of them.
"Very good then," the elder said, "Follow us, you'll have a set of new robes to wear now that you're an Inner Disciple. After entering the inner sect, you'll learn more about the Poison Sect."
I followed the elders to the inner sect's gate. It was at the base of the main mountain where the Poison Sect was built around.
At the gate, two disciples wearing black robes clasped their hands to the elders and opened the door for us.
Another set of stairs revealed itself behind the opened door.
"You'll climb this stair alone, once you're at the top, you'll have to be careful. The inner sect isn't as peaceful as the outer one. It is forbidden to kill anyone there, no matter the reason. All grudges are solved in the Death arena, as for injuring or maiming your opponent, providing enough contribution to the sect can alleviate the punishment. Make sure to make allies who will help you in your time of need. As for your cultivation resources, only your ability will allow you growth. Good luck Shen Mo," he said.
'Damn, I thought this sect would be rather calm and peaceful, I guess I was wrong.'
I nodded at the elders and began climbing.
Before I reached the end of the stairs I had already worn the black robes of the inner sect. And just as I arrived at the entrance, an arrow went flying towards my face.
I tilted my head dodging it and took note of the shooter. It was a young male who seemed to be in the company of three other cultivators.
"His resources are mine! Hands off!" the archer said.
"Tian Hu, take him down!" he said.
A powerful and loud growl echoed to my right, and a tiger that seemed to have been eating pretty damn well jumped me.
"Hah he is frozen in fear!" said the archer while the rest of his company were smiling.
Yet the moment the tiger met my eyes.
Or to be franker, the eyes of Kyuu who was hiding under my robes.
It froze in fear. The tiger's ears drooped and it cowered in front of me shaking in utter fear.
It then turned on its back revealing its belly.
This was an obvious submission from the feline creature. Revealing its belly meaning that it's revealing its weakest part as if it had no intention of fighting and had surrendered.
I took another look at the four disciples who didn't even hesitate to spread in four different directions.
"What a warm welcome," I said and moved forward into the inner sect.
This content is taken from free web nov𝒆l.com