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Approaching the city, I couldn’t help but notice that it was surrounded by a wooden palisade, not a stone wall. Being made of a high-Rank wood, the strength of this palisade wasn’t much different from what would be expected of a stone wall made of comparable materials, but the problem was that wood was notoriously difficult to use in formations.

Setting up a grand defensive formation and channeling its energies through a wooden palisade would have been nearly impossible. The only reason I could think of for why they would use wood in their defenses despite this drawback was that the city lacked a strong formation specialist. Without anyone to set up a proper high-level formation, the city must have opted to just build fortifications from the most durable resource that was readily available, and being located in a forest, that was wood, not stone.

As we passed through the city gates, the canopy overhead disappeared, and we were bombarded with warm sunlight. While the buildings around us were made of wood, they were spaced out and painted in a variety of earth tones, making them feel connected to the surrounding forests, but also separate from it. I was almost as if we had exited a cave and stepped out into a bright green meadow.

As we walked, Young Master Wang told us a bit more about the place.

“Most sects prefer to recruit disciples in small towns, but the Verdant Forest Sect is a bit different. Green Leaf City is the capital of the Green Leaf Kingdom, the largest kingdom-level power under the sect’s aegis. As such, it’s a veritable metropolis.”

We passed by several shops and storefronts, and Young Master Wang gestured to him to make his point.

“In places where other sects do their recruiting, such as the famous South Gate City, everything is focused around preparing cultivators to enter the sect. Here, however, you can find a mix of stores catering to cultivators and mortals alike.”

The more shops we passed, the more SuYin’s brow wrinkled.

“That sign says the store is run by a Grandmaster Carpenter, and we just passed one that said it has pieces made by a Furniture Lord. What… what is going on? Are they just exceptionally skilled craftsmen?”

Young Master Wang laughed and shook his head. “Yes, but also no.”

Saying this, he led us on a slight detour to the shop with the Grandmaster Carpenter and pointed out some of the furniture inside.

“It’s all made from Rank 2 or 3 wood. Working with such materials is beyond the capabilities of mortals, so it must be crafted by cultivators.”

SuYin’s confusion only increased. “But, carpentry is considered a mortal profession. Wouldn’t most cultivators look down on it? Most cultivators seem to be rather… arrogant.”

SuYin blushed as she said this, realizing that not only was she surrounded by cultivators, but also that she was one herself. I could understand her confusion, though. Having lived her entire life in the Wastes, the quality of cultivators she had encountered was generally rather low.

Young Master Wang nodded and smiled at this, understanding the issue as well as I had.

“That might be the case for some people, and in a sense, taking up a ‘mortal’ trade might limit one’s future prospects, but there are countless powerful and wealthy Rulers out there who are looking for high-quality, elegant furniture.

“There were always those who didn’t want to fight, and not all these people will have a talent for herbalism. Being a master carpenter might not sound as impressive as being an Herb Lord, but there were enough people in the world willing to pay unreasonable sums of money for luxury furniture that was still a viable path to fame and fortune.” Ɽ

Hearing this I was reminded of a conversation that I had with Meng LuYao during my last life in the Nine Rivers Sect, and I suddenly wanted to try something.

Looking away from the group, I began subvocalizing.

“System, improve my comprehension of carpentry by 100 credits.”

Unable to purchase such an enhancement with credits.

As I thought through the implications of this response, Young Master Wang led us to a large building that abutted the western edge of the palisade where a constant stream of young cultivators could be seen entering one door and exiting another. Those who were entering had looks of hope and optimism. Those who were leaving wore expressions of loss and dejection.

While there was a long line snaking around the front of this building, Young Master Wang only needed to flash his sect token for us to be granted immediate entry. Once inside, he bypassed the front desk and took us upstairs.

The three of us were then split up and sent in different directions. SuYin was to be tested as a special recruit, and Bao was to be tested as an assistant herbalist. After a bit of discussion with Young Master Wang, I decided to be tested for a position as a servant disciple under SuYin with the dual roles of guard and assistant herbalist.

I was first led to a room on the second floor where a middle-aged man stood behind an affinity testing orb. As I had done with Young Master Wang previously, I showed him a mid six-star wood affinity. This time, the man checked for any hidden secondary affinities, but I completely blocked them from showing through.

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The somewhat confused frown he gave me told me that this might have been a slight mistake. Most people who had a six-star affinity would also have a couple of other low-level secondary affinities. While I had known this, I had been reluctant to show too much without knowing more about what someone in this sect would expect.

When he asked me about my blessing, I only said that it had helped me learn martial skills. Even though I wanted to learn herbalism while in the sect, I still wanted to maintain the pretense of being SuYin’s guard, and this was a proper blessing for a guard to have.

After the man recorded my information, I was then taken to a room on the third floor where two people sat behind a long table that held a variety of fruits, leaves, and grasses. As I approached, the woman on the left gestured at this collection of random herbs.

“What can you tell us about these?”

This was a rather open-ended question, so I just approached it methodically.

I picked up the leftmost herb which was a sprig of a green-leafed plant that held several small white berries. After examining it closely for several moments, I set it back down on the table.

“This is white nightshade. It’s a potent Rank 2 herb that can be used in any number of poisons. However, when used in certain pills, it will have a chelating effect that can help remove certain metal-based poisons. This plant appears to have been grown by a talented herbalist, and it looks to have originally had a decent level of medicinal efficacy, but excessive inept handling has caused it to deteriorate. I would estimate that it now only has an efficacy of about 53%. A skilled alchemist could potentially restore some of its lost power, but it would be nearly impossible to raise its efficacy much beyond 70%.”

This analysis surprised my examiners, and the woman on the left gave me a quizzical look. She seemed to want to ask me a question, but she held off and just gestured to the rest of the herbs on the table.

I picked up the next one and gave it a quick examination.

“This is a red-veined ganoderma. It’s a Rank 3 fire-based herb useful in a range of healing concoctions. Like the white nightshade, it looks to have been grown by a competent herbalist, but based on its current appearance, I would judge that this particular specimen is little more than waste material at this point. Its medicinal energy has already been all but destroyed.”

The man sitting on the right cleared his throat.

“Yes, but what can you tell us about the red-veined ganoderma? What is its natural environment? What does one need to do to successfully grow such an herb?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. I can only tell you the properties of these herbs. I don’t know how to grow them.”

The two examiners looked at each other and then jotted down a few notes. Without waiting for me to identify anything else, they sent me away.

I was then taken to a large room on the fourth floor to have my combat abilities assessed.

There was no examiner in this room. It appeared to be entirely empty. However, I easily detected a couple of Rank 4 formations blanketing the entire space. The first was a defensive barrier designed to contain attacks and prevent them from damaging the surrounding building. The second was an illusion formation.

Only moments after I entered, both formations activated, and I was suddenly attacked by a Rank 3 demon beast. It was a huge bear that swung at me with viciously sharp claws. Without even thinking, I charged forward and slammed a qi-empowered fist into its head.

After defeating three such beasts, the formations powered down, the door of the room opened, and I was escorted out.

I was then brought to the fifth floor where an older, white-haired man in a dark green robe carefully looked me up and down. I couldn’t be certain, but he was likely using qi vision to examine my foundation.

“You are qualified to become an outer sect disciple. Are you certain you wish to enroll as a servant? You should know that the restrictions that come from such a position are rather severe.”

“Will I be allowed to learn herbalism?”

The old man nodded slowly. “Yes. However, it is impossible for servant disciples to earn contribution points. You cannot accept missions, and you cannot sell items to the sect. This means that you will not be able to purchase any techniques, lessons, or supplies. Anything you wish to buy must be purchased for you by your master. You will serve her, and she will provide for you in return. Even then, you will still only be allowed access to items and knowledge one Rank below what she can access for herself. This is far from an ideal situation, and considering your abilities, I would recommend becoming a normal outer sect disciple instead.”

I bowed my head to the man. “Thank you for your concern, but I would like to continue as a servant.”

The restrictions placed on servant disciples might be a bit annoying, but in truth, I wasn’t too interested in the benefits of becoming one of the sect’s disciples. I only wanted access to a bit of their knowledge, and if I could get that by acting as SuYin’s servant, then that was the right path for me.

There were a couple of reasons for this, but the most important was that I had obligations in the Wastes that would require me to spend a significant amount of time outside the sect. If I were an outer sect disciple, vanishing for long stretches of time might be considered suspicious, but as SuYin’s servant, if she didn’t report me missing, who would even know that I was gone?

The old man let out a resigned sigh at my decision and handed me a small jade token marked with the symbol for ‘servant.’

“Very well. If that is your decision, then so be it. Place a drop of blood on this token to bind it to you.”

I did so and then attached it to my waist.

Finally, I was led to a small room on the seventh floor to wait for my master, SuYin.

After being tested, SuYin was given the token of an inner sect disciple. This showed that the sect not only valued her current knowledge, but also that it had high expectations for her future.

I had expected Bao to join me as one of SuYin’s servants, but after being tested on his knowledge of various herbs, the sect more or less conscripted him and directly made him an outer sect disciple. This created a bit of distance between my two disciples, but I was confident that it wouldn’t be long before Bao was able to advance and join us in the inner sect.

As we sat and waited for Young Master Wang, SuYin shared a little about what she had recently learned.

“As an inner sect herbalist, I’ll have access to all the sect’s information on herbalism up to Rank 3. I’ll also have access to their Rank 1 information on the other professions, but I’ll have to become a core disciple before I’ll be allowed to learn anything more than that.”

While I didn’t share these concerns, I could still appreciate them. Information was tightly controlled in this world. If the sect made high-level knowledge available to everyone in the sect, it would be all too easy for a portion of that information to find its way to outsiders.

“Did they tell you anything about what you would need to do to become a Lord?”

SuYin nodded.

“The sect controls 100 cities, and each city is run by a core disciple. Each year, five of these core disciples are replaced, and the inner sect disciples compete for the open positions. However, if I want to advance, I’ll first have to prove that I am both capable and loyal.”

I didn’t doubt SuYin’s abilities, but proving her loyalty might be difficult.

We chatted for a few more minutes, but soon enough, Young Master Wang found us and led us up to the roof of the building. At first, I thought that this was a bit strange, but when we arrived, we found a large rope bridge leading from the edge of the roof into the canopy of the surrounding forest.

Young Master Wang guided us across this bridge and up into the canopy. After passing through a wooden archway, the boughs of trees parted, and we beheld a sprawling city built into the tops of the trees.

The young man gestured with open arms.

“Welcome to the Verdant Forest Sect.”