Volume One: "The Nature of the Devil Does Not Change"
Da Fu stepped down from the platform and walked toward Lin Yuan, patting him on the shoulder as he spoke:
"Very well, young man. I have chosen you and your son to enter my sect. You will also become disciples under the elders."
Ikalat moved and gestured for Scarlet King to step farther away. Scarlet King nodded in response to Ikalat's signal, but Elder Da Fu stopped him and asked:
"Young boy, what is your name?"
Scarlet King looked at him with lifeless eyes and replied calmly, without blinking:
"My name is Gu Yue."
Elder Da Fu spoke again, suspicion flickering in his narrowed gaze:
"Hm? Gu Yue? But your father's name is Lin Yuan. Shouldn't your name be Lin Gui?"
Lin Yuan was about to speak, but Scarlet King interrupted, turning to face Da Fu:
"He isn't my real father. I'm his adopted son."
Scarlet King moved away, and Ikalat followed him, while Lin Yuan spoke to Elder Da Fu:
"Master Da Fu, I apologize for my son's behavior. That is simply his nature."
Da Fu gestured for Lin Yuan to calm down, placed a hand on his chin, and spoke softly:
"This boy… is very interesting."
Scarlet King and Ikalat stood far from everyone else. Ikalat asked in a very low voice, almost a whisper:
"Why did you forge your identity, change your appearance, and hide your cultivation level?"
Scarlet King answered coldly, placing his hands behind his back as his robe shifted slightly:
"I currently have no talent or roots, so I staged all of this to avoid the test and exposing that fact. I hid my cultivation level because it makes no sense for a nine-year-old child to be at the third level of the Qi Refining Realm. I now have a full year to prepare before it's revealed that I have neither talent nor roots."
Elder He Xuan spoke from atop the platform:
"Very well. I have chosen that boy to become a disciple of my sect."
He pointed toward Ikalat. The dark-haired elder laughed and said:
"What a remarkable trio! The first is outstanding, the second is average, and the third is small. The Heavenly Food Sect and the Sky-Grasping Sect have obtained excellent talents. I believe it is now the turn of the Thousand Flowers Sect, Sect Master Qing Mang, and Elder Tian Lang—that is, me."
Ikalat thought to himself as he exchanged glances with Scarlet King:
(Elder He Xuan, the leader of the Sky-Grasping Sect, chose me as a disciple… which means the group is splitting up for now.)
Elder Tian Lang spoke with a light smile:
"Let Lady Qing Mang, the blind sect master, choose the female disciples first."
Qing Mang spoke in a soft yet enchanting voice:
"I will choose only the best girl to enter my sect… I choose Xiao Ling, the girl with violet talent and Cloud Roots of the second elevation."
Xiao Ling stepped forward and stood beside Qing Mang, while Tian Lang spoke cheerfully:
"I will take the remaining fifty-eight disciples into my sect. Since the other three sects have all obtained great talents and I have not, I will accept the rest into the Heavenly Moon Sect. Do any of the great elders object?"
All the elders shook their heads, raising no objections.
Da Fu thought to himself:
(Tian Lang is an ambitious young man—the youngest among the elders. He is known to possess white-and-black talent and Existential Roots of the eighth elevation, and he has a chance to participate in the Grand Sect War in four years if he moves to the Second Dimension with Lin Yuan.)
Scarlet King moved and stood behind Lin Yuan as a dimensional gate opened. From it emerged the Third Elder of the Heavenly Food Sect—the Cosmic Travel Elder—with a white beard, black hair, and a brown robe. He bowed slightly to Sect Master Da Fu and spoke respectfully:
"Greetings, Sect Master. What new talents have entered the sect, and how many are there?"
Da Fu laughed lightly, raised two fingers, then pointed at Lin Yuan and Scarlet King as he replied with satisfaction:
"Two extraordinary talents. The first is Lin Yuan, currently the greatest talent in the sect, and his adopted son Gu Yue, whom we hope will possess great talent like his father."
Scarlet King sneered inwardly with malice:
(Hah… let's see who gets the last laugh after a year.)
Sect Master Da Fu entered the gate, followed by the Third Elder. Scarlet King and Lin Yuan followed them. Scarlet King walked with his hands behind his back, Lin Yuan was tense, Da Fu was delighted with the talents he had obtained, and the Third Elder remained calm and unreadable.
Before Scarlet King entered the violet gate, he looked at Ikalat and winked. Ikalat understood, moved toward his own sect master, He Xuan, and entered his sect's gate.
Within the distorted space-time, another gate opened and everyone passed through it. When they emerged, they found themselves atop a mountain surrounded by lush green trees. Before them floated a sect in the air, with the emblem of a dragon attacking a serpent carved into the massive sect gate. A waterfall poured from one corner of the floating island, beneath which lay a simple village. Numerous flying boats approached and departed from the sect.
Da Fu laughed cheerfully:
"Welcome to the Heavenly Food Sect, my dear disciples. We hope you will forge glories the sect can be proud of."
Meanwhile—
[Sky-Grasping Sect]
The sect lay among snowy mountains, green plains, blue skies, and bright sunlight. It was vast and divided into three major sub-sects ruled by the greatest families, together forming the Sky-Grasping Sect under He Xuan's leadership. Ikalat observed it coldly; as a being from the Ninth Dimension, he had seen far grander sights than this.
Ikalat thought calmly to himself:
(Hm… a simple sect. But we need to leave this dimension as soon as possible. The qi here is weak and scarce. And how will Scarlet hide the fact that he has no talent or roots?… I'll plant a few spies in the Heavenly Food Sect to monitor Lin Yuan and Scarlet King.)
"Power Stones + rating, please"