"I…" Anya couldn't say anything. On one hand, it was an incredible opportunity, on the other hand, she already had a master. Calling someone else a master while having one was disrespectful to the original master.
Ning decided to ask some questions himself.
"Mr. Preso. What exactly is your status in the Red Tiger Sect?" he asked.
"I am the third Elder of the sect, behind in status only to the second elder, first elder, and the sect leader," Preso said.
"You said you want to take Anya as a direct disciple, right? What benefit would she get?" Ning asked.
"Little Anya will be a direct disciple of mine, so she will learn a lot of different things from me directly. With her current cultivation base, she will become an inner sect disciple directly, and soon due to her age, may even end up becoming an influential figure in the Red Tiger sect," Preso said.
Ning thought for a moment. "What do you say Anya?" he asked. This was an amazing opportunity for her and he wanted her to take it.
" I- I don't want it, master. I have you as a master already. I don't need another one," she said.
"Silly girl, I can't stay here and teach you everyday. I need to live my own life too. Besides, your life will be awesome once you join the sect. Given how young you are, you will become an amazing person in the future," Ning said.
"But— but, I don't want to leave my father and brother," she said.
Preso walked forward and said, "Don't worry child, the sect will take care of your family too. We have a special housing area where the family of our important sect members live. We will keep your family there too."
"Think, Anya. If I am not here, how are you going to take care of your family," Ning said.
Finally, Anya's eyes showed determination and said, "Okay, I will do it." On her own, she drooped down her head and bowed to her new master.
Ning smiled and then looked at the third elder and the rest of the group and said, "I am weak right now, but I won't remain such forever. If I ever come to find out that you or your sect has mistreated Anya, I will personally come wreck havoc."
The elder saw Ning's serious face, and while he didn't necessarily believe Ning could do that, he still nodded in respect and admiration. "I will put my name on the line and promise that we will treat her the best we can," Preso said.
"Very well. You guys leave for today. I will come tomorrow morning to deliver her directly to the sect," Ning said.
The Red Tiger Sect members hesitated for a bit, but then they left. Ning closed the hospital for the day and decided to have Anya spend the rest of the day with her family.
They let know the father-son what had transpired and soon, they were rejoicing too. Hearing that his daughter would be a direct disciple to one of the elders in the Red Tiger sect, the father was beyond happy.
The family shared a hearty meal that night and went to sleep. The next morning, Ning stored all of their possession in a storage bag and left with them.
He walked with them for more than half an hour before he reached the gate to the Red Tiger sect. Preso seemed to be waiting for them, and when he saw Ning and Anya, his face lit up in happiness.
He made a disciple show the father and brother to the sect housing area while he took Anya towards the inside. Anya left his hands and returned to Ning one last time to give him a hug.
She started crying.
"Hey, it's okay. I am not going anywhere so soon. I will come to see you from time to time. Just study hard and remember what I taught to okay?" he said.
Anya nodded and finally left with the third elder. Ning now didn't have anything to do. He mindlessly returned back to the house, but it was empty.
He opened the hospital and focused his attention there. It worked for a few days, but soon he realized it wasn't so fun. He wanted more with life.
"Sigh, I should just go to the marketplace and set my hospital there," he thought. So, he did it. Over the next couple of days, he let the village folks know that he was going to shift places and on a fateful day, left the place.
The house would soon be occupied by a brother of the neighbor.
He set his new hospital in the middle of the marketplace and very soon, business was booming. He was the cheapest doctor around and had a much better attitude, so soon, he was stealing business away from the other doctors away as well.
They were already angry that Ning had taken away their customers from the city, and now he was taking the customers away from the marketplace as well.
But they couldn't do anything. Ning wasn't doing anything illegal, so they couldn't complain to the two sects. As for kicking him away, they had already tried that once and failed.
There was only one thing they could do, and that was begging Ning to stop his practice or at least increase the prices so that the others could compete.
But Ning didn't listen to any of them. In the end, the doctors couldn't do anything so they threw caution to the wind and went to complain to the two sects.
For the first few days, the sect showed no reaction as to whether they were listening to their complaints or not. However, after a few days of relentless complaints, even if the sect didn't care at first, they were now curious as to how a single person could disrupt the entire medical industry.
So, they finally decided to check what the fuss was all about. The Blue Dragon sect was going to take some action.