Alex opened his eyes back in house number 86 and looked at the time. It was close to 4 pm so he checked his badge to see if anyone else had registered a fight with him.
Thankfully, after the last match, nobody dared to register a fight against him. They had learned what he did to a core disciple and had thus left him alone. "I wonder if the poor guy at the 18th rank right now is fighting a core disciple right now," he wondered and chuckled to himself.
Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door. "Who?" he wondered and sent out his spiritual sense. Outside of the door were two people. One male and one female.
The female was a young woman wearing a yellow robe with orange linings, and the man was wearing yellow robes with silver linings. "A Core disciple and an Elder?" he was surprised.
He walked to the front door and opened it. He acted surprised when he saw the two as if he didn't know who was outside. "Greetings Elder, senior sister. Can I help you with something?"
"Hello," the girl said with a jumpiness in her voice.
"You must be Yu Ming, am I correct?" the Elder asked.
"Yes, Elder," Alex replied.
"Do you know who I am?" the Elder asked.
Alex looked at the elder closely. He couldn't remember seeing any bald Elder before this, especially not one that had no facial hair either. "This is my first time meeting Elder, so please forgive this disciple for not recognizing who you are."
"I see. So, you must really be new here." The Elder spoke as he kept on nodding to himself. The girl beside him was also nodding continuously.
"Yes Elder, I only joined 2 weeks ago," Alex replied.
"Just 2 weeks ago? And already so much progress. You must be really talented. Do you have a master?" the Elder asked.
Alex was about to answer when he realized that his master had told him to not reveal their relationship yet. 'He did that to make sure I don't get targeted by the other elders. Should I keep lying?' he thought.
"No, I don't, Elder," Alex replied.
"Oh, good, good," the Elder said with a smile. "Then, do you want to be my disciple?" he asked.
Alex was shocked. 'He came here to make me his disciple?' he thought in surprise. The Elder continued, "I saw your match with Huo Tu today. You have a lot of potential. Come under my wing and I will teach you how to soar to the heavens."
The Elder had a face of pride as he said that. Alex couldn't think of any answer for his invite. So, he decided to just refuse directly.
"I'm sorry Elder. But, I am not looking for any Masters at the moment." Alex tried to reject as politely as he could.
"Hehehe," the girl behind the Elder giggled. "You don't even know who master is, and you are already rejecting him. You got quite the confidence."
Alex was surprised at her words. 'Who is this Elder?' he thought.
"Now now. Little Su, don't say that. Disciple Yu, I am the First Elder of the sect, directly below the Sect Elder. Are you sure you don't want to become my disciple?" the First Elder asked.
"The First Elder?" Alex was even more surprised. 'Why is the First Elder here to take me as a disciple? Does he know about my talent, or is it really just the match with Huo Tu?' he wondered. Still, he had to reject him, so he said,
"I am sorry, Elder, but my answer remains the same. I am not looking for any masters at the moment."
"Is that so…" the First Elder's smile dropped a little. "Very well then, I shall leave you alone. However, my offer still stands. Come find me if you ever change your mind," the First elder turned to leave after saying that.
"You are kind of dumb, aren't you? Not even accepting master's offer. What? You think you will get to the top without a master?" the girl named Su left after her master.
Alex stood stunned for a moment and immediately locked the door. He then walked back into the house. He looked at the board in front of him and thought, "So that was Du Yuhan's master huh. I should notify the master about this tonight.
He sat down to read the book that he had borrowed from the library today.
* * * * * *
"That kid is kind of stupid master. Not even accepting after learning who you are. He will surely regret someday." The more she thought about what had just happened, the more irritated she got.
"That's enough, little Su. You don't have to get angry at every little thing," the First Elder replied.
"Master, are we just leaving like that? We could persuade him in other ways though," The girl immediately changed her tone of speech.
"That won't work. We have to be genuine in our approach to recruiting new disciples. What would you do if I threatened you to become my disciple," the First Elder said.
"I didn't mean threatening him. I meant like persuading him with spirit stones or some techniques and such," the girl pouted at her master misunderstanding her intent.
"Is that so? I'm sorry then," the master said with a smile.
"What do we do now then, master? I don't think you will let him grow as he is, will you?" she asked.
The master's smile immediately dropped, changing with a serious look. "I can't allow him to get higher rank and be noticed by the other elders. He is so young and talented that if the other elders find out about him, they might try to rope him in with whatever tricks they have. At that point, I will have no choice but make sure he doesn't get in my way of becoming the next sect leader, even if it means seriously injuring him through a fight."
"I see, master. Let's hope it doesn't come to that." The master-disciple duo then walked up the mountain and returned to their residence.