Ruik indeed didn't put much thought on it.
"I see... Now that I think about it, I don't know your name either."
The Supervisor felt like giving Ruik a beating but held herself back.
"Anyway, come with me. I need to talk to you."
Ruik didn't have anything else to do at the moment, so he followed the Supervisor into her office.
"First of all, my name is Tarsa Fila, the supervisor of this branch of the Mission Hall."
Ruik introduced himself as well.
"I'm Ruik, but you know that already."
Tarsa nodded and went direct to the point.
"The thing is, for someone of your cultivation, the missions that you have been doing are all far higher in level. Still, you are having no problem in completing them. For you and the Mission Hall, this is obviously a good thing, but there is a problem. You are a Two-Headed Demon Sneak, right?"
Ruik nodded.
Tarsa then continued.
"The issue is, our Riren Planet has a Snake Clan, which is quite famous. There several types of Snake demon beasts that receive the best treatment, missions, techniques, etc. They have noticed your presence and your combat power, so they probably will want you to join their clan."
Ruik was taken aback. The majority of snake species are solitary by nature. If Krune hadn't come to him on that day years ago, Ruik would definitely be living alone until now. So it impressed him that the snakes created a clan for themselves. But that wasn't the issue at the moment.
"It doesn't matter how good my talent is, I'm still in the Core Formation Realm. Why would this Snake Clan even pay attention to me?"
Ruik felt like something was fishy.
Tarsa explained.
"That I don't know, but I believe that talent is welcome doesn't matter which realm they are. Now, the problem is the fact that they will definitely ask for you to leave the Mission Hall and go live in their clan territory. As you can imagine, losing good talents is bad for my Branch too. But if I didn't contact you, they would do so sooner or later, so I might as well tell you everything."
Tarsa continued.
"Also, they are quite wealthy, so things like cultivation resources or whatever won't be a problem for you anymore. They are the type that thinks about it as a long time investment."
In Ruik's eyes, whether he is part of the Mission Hall or the Snake Clan doesn't matter much for him. As long as this Snake Clan could provide him the resources for his cultivation, that would be fine. The problem is that once he joins this so-called Snake Clan, he probably will be bound to it somehow. Losing his freedom is something that Ruik doesn't want to happen.
"If I'm not wrong, I will be attached to them and will have to follow their orders if I want all of those benefits, right?"
Tarsa confirmed.
"Probably."
Ruik didn't have to think much to know his answer.
Also, another issue is that he is supposed to be the 'Rainbow Sect Sect Master,' so he can't simply join another organization. Although he feels like it is troublesome, the fact is that Ruik always liked his position. He really expects to one day return to the Luvile Universe and shows how 'amazing' he had become. He even dreamed about such a scenario before!
"Hum... You don't need to worry since I don't have any plans to lose my freedom. So if they appear making this request, just tell them that I'm happy with their offer, but I have no intention of joining any Clan at the moment."
Tarsa heard that and let out a sigh of relief. Although Ruik's realm is quite low at the moment, she believes that he will enter far higher realms in the future. Since he is registered in her Branch, it will be her and her Branch's glory.
"Very good. But like I said, the snake clan didn't ask me to invite you, I'm just informing you according to what I know. That means that they will look for you at some point."
Ruik heard that and asked.
"Will they try to force the issue?"
Tarsa shook her head.
"I don't think so since we have rules to be followed. But that doesn't mean that they won't try some other methods."
Ruik pondered a bit and then nodded.
"Alright. Overthinking about it now won't help. I will see what happens once they show before me. Thanks for the advice."
Tarsa then asked another thing.
"Now that it is dealt with, I want to ask you about Wulia Feier and Krune. They have combat power higher than yours, but they have never done a single mission ever since they got their qualification. What happened to them?"
Ruik wasn't surprised by that question. If anything, he was wondering why it took so long for her to ask it.
"Krune is an alchemist while Feier is a Formations Master. Both of them are at the Silver Stars level, so they don't need to do missions to get the Spirit Stones needed. They had made the Mission Hall test basically because they might need something from it in the future. Still, they will probably come soon since only cultivation alone isn't good."
Tarsa nodded and didn't say anything else.
Ruik then returned home and found out that Krune, Feifei, and Tiane were eating.
"Oh! I arrived at the right time."
Krune looked at Ruik and then pointed at the pot.
"There is quite a lot of food, just take as much as you want."
Ruik nodded and then took some food too. After finish eating, he took the chance to tell what happened today in the Mission Hall.
"Snake Clan? Aren't snakes solitary demon beasts in general?"
Krune asked.
Ruik then laughed since that was also his first thought.
"Right? I also thought about that. Anyway, I won't be joining them since I don't want to lose my freedom."
Krune then added.
"Well, they probably think you have some heaven-defying talent. So chances are that you will also be used for breeding. Haha!"
Ruik felt a chill on his back, only now did he think about that possibility. If there is one thing that he doesn't want at the moment, that is to have a family. Especially when it comes around in such a process.
"Now, I'm even more certain that I don't want to join them. If I see someone from their clan, I will run as fast as possible!"
Everyone started to laugh out loud after hearing that.
Ruik felt gloomy again, but that also reminded him about another thing.
"Talking about family, how come you and Feifei are still sleeping in separated rooms? Shouldn't you two be enjoying your time together instead? I'm still very curious to know how a child of a wisp and a human looks like."
Feifei and Krune immediately smile froze on their face. Ruik's counter-attack was very effective! Even Tiane felt a little embarrassed with such a question.
"Cough, cough. It isn't the time to think about something like that, we are still young and have a long way ahead of us. Right, Feifei?"
Feifei immediately nodded vigorously.
"Yes, yes! It's too early, very, very early!"
In fact, when Krune and Feifei returned home and Tiane wasn't around, they liked to be quite lovey-dovey. Still, they won't let those two know about it. Too bad, though. For Tiane, their real actions are as clear as day for her. Of course, Feifei and Krune haven't crossed that last 'line...' yet.
It was at this moment that Ruik noticed that he stepped on gold this day!
"Is that so? Well, I will let it slide for now, but don't think that I will forget about it."
Sometime later, Krune warned Ruik.
"Still, you better be careful with this snake clan or whatever. If something happens, just send me a message."
It was then that Krune thought about something else.
"Oh, right! Feifei and I are going to participate in the Alchemist and Formations Master competition that will happen in Anach. Tiane will be following to cheer for us, will you come too?"
Ruik pondered a bit about it. He had just come back from a mission, so it would be good to relax a little. He might as well use those competition days to sleep, which would be great.
"Sure, when is it happening?"
Krune could pretty much guess what Ruik was really thinking, but he didn't mind since Ruik had been advancing a lot in cultivation in the last few months.
"We received the news a few days ago, so there is still a week before it takes place."
Ruik nodded, and everyone talked about it for a while. Later, just as everyone was about to return to their own rooms, Ruik asked them something else.
"Now that I think about the Mission Hall, aren't you three going to do any missions? The Supervisor was asking why neither of you showed your faces. As you know, you can't rely only on cultivation alone, right? You need to go out to and do some battle so that you can get used to your levels."
Krune and Feifei nodded.
"We were already thinking about that too, especially Feifei, since she is close to the Divine Soul Realm. We are going to look for a good one once we return from the competitions. Now that you said, we might go together."
Tiane heard that and immediately shook her head.
"I won't be going with you, a mission that can give you or Feifei a challenge isn't something I can deal with. I'm planning to take another one around my own level. I believe I will get more experience like that."
Ruik then said.
"Oh, then let's go together. We are both at the 4th stage of the Core Formation Realm anyway. Not to mention that I know that Mission Hall quite well, so I can take a good mission for us. So far, I've been doing only solo missions, so it will be good to change a little."
Tiane immediately replied.
"No need, I don't want you to get in my way."
Ruik heard that but didn't get angry. Instead, he smiled playfully.
"Oh, I see. Because I caught you in cultivation, you are afraid of showing how weak you are in front of me at the same level. It's okay, it's okay. The great Ruik understands."
Tiane's pride immediately got a painful hit since it is true that she had been paying attention to Ruik's improvement.
"Hmph! Very well, let me show the difference between a lazy snake and a demon crow who had been putting the effort ever since she got sentience."
Krune and Feifei, on the other hand, just sighed and shook their heads. Tiane and Ruik had never been on friendly terms with each other to start with, so they decided that they might as well not meddle between those two.