After the Elders had left to attend their own business, a crouching old man reappeared near the cell where Han Xuhan's memory had been unlocked.
"I must know how that guy did it. I tried for so long, yet the array wouldn't activate. It was almost as if there was no memory seal in the boy's mind. How did that amateur run the array?"
Wu Di examined the microscopic designs on the wall of the cell, trying to find what changes made by his competitor had successfully kicked off the memory awakening procedure.
But even after spending a long time walking around the cell, he discovered nothing.
"Ai~ It looks like my age is catching up to my skills. How many years do I have left? No, I have to enter seclusion and break through the current bottleneck.
"It doesn't matter if that little piece of shit is after my position as the lead arraymaker of the sect. Once I manage to break through, he won't stand a chance in front of my skills."
Lamenting to himself in a low voice, Elder Wu Di hurried away. Barely a minute later, a disturbance became visible in the air around the cell. It was as if the space itself was being twisted into chaotic shapes!
Suddenly, a man rolled out of the chaotic spatial mass and began to wheeze for breaths. But a smile was plastered on his face nonetheless.
"Yes! That old man has been fooled! Hahaha!"
The distorted space began to settle down, and the man crawled over to the vibrating walls of the cell to fix the arrays.
"What a stroke of luck! Now Wu Di will abandon his post to enter seclusion. This is my chance to snatch the resources of his mountain peak! Nobody will know my little trick on this array!"
In truth, he never had such a plan. Only while watching Wu Di fail to activate the seal detection array did he come up with the strategy to humiliate the old Elder and leave everyone in doubt of his skills.
He himself hadn't been able to activate the array. So he had reversed a part of its composition to awaken not the memories of the boy's past life, but to retrieve some forgotten memories of his current life.
Thankfully, nobody suspected a thing!
That was also the reason why no heavenly thunder was attracted by the seal-unlocking process!
As for the ramifications of his trick, he didn't care at all. It wasn't his fault that the boy didn't have a detectable memory seal. He wasn't even a real immortal's incarnation, going by that fact. So there was nothing to feel guilty about if the little trick could get rid of Elder Wu Di!
Extremely satisfied with his handiwork, the young Elder looked around the mountain peak shiftily before vanishing from his spot like a ghost.
A moment later, sect master Xuan Zi reappeared in front of the cell, hands held on his back, his countenance morose.
"Hmph! These young upstarts really don't know the immensity of heaven and earth. Let me see exactly how you go around snatching Wu Di's resources under my watch. I will teach you manners that you won't forget on your deathbed!"
Turning back in a different direction, his gaze seemed to rip through the hazy mountain air.
"Han Xuhan... What a strong fate you have, child! You almost slipped past this old man. How interesting! Let me see what surprise your fate can bring me..."
Several mountains away, under the roof of the massive Archives Pavilion, Han Xuhan was attentively listening to the instructions of a senior disciple. Standing at a distance, Xuanyuan Zhou was watching them both with narrowed eyes.
"As an attendant of a disciple, you won't be allowed to participate in the weekly lectures. You won't have access to the signature techniques of our sect. You will have to buy and prepare your own food, arrange your own lodging, and find a way to manage your daily necessities yourself, as well as performing the extra duties given by Junior Disciple Zhou."
"In the past, handling so many tasks proved to be very time-consuming and expensive, not to mention unrewarding. Eventually, the sect decided to help the personal attendants keep up with their master's progress, which is where these residential packages come in."
The senior disciple pulled out a list and handed it to Han Xuhan, who couldn't help but find the writing atrociously ugly.
Why did this look like someone wrote it with his left hand under a strict time limit?
"Erm, Senior Lin, can you help me decipher what's written here?" He had to ask.
Senior Brother Lin didn't seem annoyed by the request. With a gracious smile, he began to explain the contents of the list.
"These are the tiers of available residential packages for every member of Crimson Snow Sect. Aside from the Sect Master and the Elders, everyone must subscribe to a package. Each tier has a fixed amount of resources and some benefits.
"For the average disciple, these tiers carry significant meaning. The better tier you subscribe to, the higher the chances are to boost your progress as a cultivator!
"So, even if you work here as Junior disciple Zhou's attendant, you can outsource most of your duties to the ordinary servants of the sect. Those mortal servants of your mountain will cook, clean, and serve both of you under your subscribed package.
"This way, you will be free to spend your time doing whatever you wish, be it cultivation or accompanying your mistress... Ahem, ahem."
"Then why doesn't everybody subscribe to the best tier available?" Han Xuhan asked, ignoring the jibe even as the older guy kept winking at him.
Why did this senior's sales pitch make him feel like he was about to be scammed?
"Ahahaha! How could that be possible? Not everyone has that kind of money. The best package tier is pretty expensive. The average new disciple wouldn't dare to spend that much money before finding a stable footing in the sect."
Then Senior Brother Lin glanced around the area sneakily, and leaned in to whisper in Han Xuhan's ears.
"But this top tier package is truly worth the money. Senior Jun told me you're in a tough spot and allowed me to give you an advantage. So I'll let you in on a secret.
"Our Sect sometimes allows new disciples from poor backgrounds to apply for high tier packages as a loan. Once you've had a couple of breakthroughs, earning money as a disciple will be very easy.
"Then you can slowly begin paying the money back in instalments. Only the disciples with proper connection to the sect know about this hidden rule.
"So if you don't want to miss out on unearthing your true potential, go inside the Archives and ask for a five-star curriculum credit form!"
"Senior, I appreciate the goodwill. But I don't think it would be appropriate if an outsider like me got access to the best resources of your sect, would it?" Han Xuhan said, mostly out of caution against forming inexplicable ties with this sect.
But in the back of his mind, the temptations to dive head first into the world of cultivation was slowly growing. How could he resist, when opportunities to join a powerful sect were being thrown at his face at every step?
Senior Lin grinned, giving Han Xuhan a look one would reserve for idiots.
"You won't have access to our signature cultivation techniques, pills, and refined treasures. But Crimson Snow Sect has numerous manuals collected from outside, pills and treasures purchased from other sects.
"You'll have full access to those under the highest tier! Now, hurry and go submit the application before somebody else does!"