I didn’t know what Old Pei’s story was, but his demeanor–his kindness to me–it made me want to help him. I just didn’t know what I could do for him. I could take him away from this place and let him live a life of luxury, but would he even want that? Would uprooting him from everything he knew be a blessing or a curse?

I needed to leave and not look back. My presence was only causing him pain.

Before leaving, though, I took out most of my silver and a single gold coin and hid them under the blankets. It was the only thing I knew to do to repay his kindness. I was worried about leaving the gold, since too much money was more curse than blessing, but Old Pei seemed smart enough to be discreet.

As I wandered the Brilliant Sun City’s streets in the morning sun, I centered my mind.

I needed to learn more about how the palace recruited new servants, so I drifted around the streets and listened in on people’s conversations. And as it turned out, getting more information on this topic wasn’t too difficult. It was about the only thing that people were discussing.

Most of the empire’s awakening ceremonies had already concluded, but a few smaller towns and villages did things later than the larger cities. Once these finished up, the palace would then give the newly awakened individuals a week to travel to the capital before beginning their recruitment drive.

So, I found a small hotel and handed over a silver coin to book a room for ten days.

I had a little over a week to do anything I wanted, but what did I want to do? I didn’t want to cultivate before entering the palace, and there wasn’t a safe way for me to practice alchemy or formations. I didn’t want to, either. I wanted to try to just live… to be normal. But what did ‘normal’ people in this world do with themselves? How did they spend their time? I had no idea.

Interested in finding out, I left my hotel room and walked the streets to observe people as they went about their daily lives and learn what they got up to.

The answer seemed to be work. Almost everyone I saw was doing work of some kind. Men were carrying lumber and bricks to feed the construction projects that were happening all around the city, women were sewing and embroidering garments, and both men and women could be seen selling various foodstuffs from stalls throughout the city.

The only people I saw who were actually relaxing were two old men who were sitting on the side of the road and playing a game of chess under the gaze of a small group of onlookers.

Each player had a set of wooden discs in front of them marked with symbols such as general, advisor, elephant, and chariot, and the players moved their pieces to capture those of their opponent’s. After watching this game for more than half an hour, I had a decent understanding of how most of the pieces moved, but the majority of the rules still eluded me.

I could have asked for an explanation, but I chose not to. I only wanted to observe.

After several days of this leisurely life, it was finally time for me to enter the palace.

The palace wasn’t just recruiting servants. There were several different jobs that people could apply for, and all of them had strict requirements. For example, if a person wanted to become a guardsman, then they would need either an earth or metal affinity. If one wanted to become a gardener or farmer, then they needed a wood affinity. To get a job as a palace servant, a water or fire affinity was needed.

Following Old Pei’s advice, I chose to apply for a position as a servant. Becoming a farmer or gardener might have also worked, but I was worried that this might lead to me being sent out of the capital. As a servant, I would hopefully be able to stay in the palace, where I might be able to learn more about Formation Emperor Du XiongMing.

Therefore, I knew that I needed to display either a fire or water affinity, but which one? I had more experience with fire qi, so that was the obvious choice, but thinking about choosing fire yet again instantly made me anxious. I needed to break away from my last life, so I decided to go with water.

At this point, all my affinities for all of the basic elements were mid eight-star, so if I used a testing orb, it should show that I had no affinities at all. What level of affinity was proper here? What would they expect from a servant?

If my affinity were too high, then I might get assigned duties that I didn’t want. If it were zero, then I would simply get rejected. I wanted the highest affinity that would secure me a job as the lowest-level servant. That would put me in a position of authority among my peers while also being among the least valued and most overlooked.

If I was going to make the right choice, then I needed more information, but all that anyone knew were the required elements. No one that I talked to had any information about what level they should be at.

So, I walked over to a hidden alcove and made a quick purchase.

“System, I want to make it so that when my affinities are next checked, the testing device will show me as having a water affinity at the level that will result in me being selected as the lowest level of servant in the palace. I want the orb to show the highest possible water affinity that will result in this outcome.”

Purchase confirmed. Cost 10,000 credits. 149,963,275 credits remaining.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

With my affinities taken care of, I went back to my rented room to wait.

The servant selection was held in an outer courtyard on the east side of the palace, where an elderly man in simple, clean robes stood in front of everyone who had come to apply.

Surprisingly, only three dozen young men and women had shown up. I had thought that people would be fighting for an opportunity to enter the palace, even if it were only as a servant, especially because of how much the people in the city had been talking about it. But, from what I could tell, only the lowest of the commoners had come here. Every single person was wearing frayed, worn robes, and many of them looked like they hadn’t eaten in several days.

Following the elderly man’s orders, we took turns entering a small stone room off to the side of the courtyard to test our affinities.

When I walked inside, I was seated in front of a cloth partition that blocked me from seeing the affinity testing orb hidden on the other side. Following instructions, I reached my hand through a narrow opening in the partition and placed my hand upon the orb.

What was the reason for this? Everyone who became a servant would know that they had an affinity for either fire or water, but they wouldn’t know the level of their affinity. Why didn’t the people in charge of the test want us to know?

Unable to guess the rationale here, I just followed instructions, stuck my hand through the opening, touched the orb, and channeled qi into it. I knew that the orb would show that I had a water affinity, but I had no clue what level the System had decided I needed. My best guess was mid nine-star since that was high enough to cultivate but low enough that no one would care about it.

After I was done, I went back out into the courtyard to wait for everybody else.

This entire process took a little over two hours to complete. A few of the children had been dismissed the moment they had left the testing room, but most were broken up into smaller groups and taken to different parts of the palace complex.

I joined a group of four boys and four girls who were assigned to a middle-aged man dressed in clean, brown robes. We were taken to a library and each assigned a cultivation technique based on the results of our test, but we weren’t told the names or levels of these techniques.

I only caught brief glimpses of what the other boys were given, but they all seemed like rather common Rank 1 techniques. The one I was given, however, was strange. Its manual was the thickest Rank 1 cultivation technique that I had ever seen. Not even the Peak-Earth technique I had could compare to it.

I wanted to directly open it up and find out what made this technique so different, but once everyone had a book in hand, we were quickly herded out of the library. Our last destination for the day was the dormitory. The four girls were assigned to one room, and the four of us boys were assigned to another. When I looked inside our room, I found that there was only slightly more room than necessary for the four of us to all be able to lie down.

Our guide cleared his throat to get our attention. “Your duties will start tomorrow. Spend the night studying your cultivation technique. Start practicing them as soon as you are able. The first to achieve Martial Disciple 4 will be chosen as your group’s leader and earn four copper a day instead of just two. This is your best chance to stand out, so don’t miss it.”

After saying this, he left us alone to rest.

I expected the others to start studying the cultivation techniques immediately, but they just threw the books on their beds and started talking.

“I’m Ko,” said a large, muscular boy. “Since I’m the biggest here, I’ll be your big brother. If anyone tries to bully you, just call on your Big Brother Ko.”

Ko pounded his chest with one fist. He seemed to be staking a claim as the leader, and I expected the other two to start fighting for it, but they just laughed cheerfully at the proclamation.

“Big Brother Ko. I was the second one here to be tested, so I’ll be your second brother. Call me Brother Hong.”

The third man looked at me, but I didn’t know what to do. I just shook my head meekly.

He smiled and patted me on the back. “I’ll be your third brother. Call me Brother Tu.”

They all looked at me.

“I’m S—” I started, but I realized that no one had included the name of their clan. “I’m Fang.”

“Fourth Brother Fang, don’t worry. Us brothers are here to help you. You can count on us.” Ko patted me on the shoulder and looked at the others. “Right?”

“That’s right, Fourth Brother. If you have any problems, just let us know,” said Hong, raising his arm to show his muscles.

Tu just gave me an encouraging thumbs up.

I nodded, not knowing what to say.

The three boys talked late into the night about their dreams for the future, but I stayed silent and sat in the corner. I was more an ornament than a real part of the conversation. Listening to them, I was able to learn a bit about the city, but most of the talk was about trivial personal things that didn’t interest me.

It wasn’t like I had never talked to people before, but it had been so long, so very long since I’d had anything that could be considered normal human interaction. If they wanted to talk about formations or alchemy, it would be easy, but they just wanted to talk about life. What could I add?

After everyone had settled down for the night, I finally had a chance to look through the technique manual that I had been given. I didn’t have time to read the entire book in detail, and figuring out why the technique was so complex would take hours–if not days–but it didn’t take me too long to come to the most important conclusion: This was a slave technique.

That explained why only the lowest commoners had come here. They were the only ones ignorant or desperate enough to be willing to cultivate such a thing. It also explained the reward for reaching Martial Disciple 4 as quickly as possible. They wanted the technique’s hooks to lodge themselves firmly within our minds.

If I made sure to use a Peak-Yellow level filter and cultivated this technique perfectly, then based on my past experiences, the effects of this technique should be minimal. With the resistance to mental effects that I had purchased, I should be able to suppress anything that a Rank 1 technique might do to me.

Still, after everything I’d been through, there was no way I was willing to cultivate this technique. It may be worth studying it to understand its complexities, but I would not risk letting it control me.

I opened my mental library and flipped through my collection of cultivation techniques. I found a Peak-Yellow technique that had the effect of making those who cultivated it less outgoing. This was the least intrusive technique I had, and its effects might help me remain overlooked.

“System, I’m going to cultivate the Subdued Waves Mantra, but I want it to look like I’m cultivating the technique that I was just given. If it makes it cheaper, this disguise only has to be effective on cultivators up to the level of Martial Emperor.”

Purchase confirmed. Cost 30,000 credits. 149,933,275 credits remaining.

None of the other boys had started cultivating, so I set the cultivation technique aside for the night and went to sleep. I wanted to stay ahead of them, but not by too much. I just needed to stay slightly ahead of the pack.