9 Sect Head

A few seconds passed before the man came out of his shock, shaking his head. "I can send the request up the chain of command, but whether you can see him or not, I'm unsure. Is the letter significant? If a new disciple that hasn't even registered yet is the one delivering it, it can't be that important... right?"

"No idea." John shrugged. "Outer Elder Amanda just told me that it's important and for the Sect Head's eyes only."

"Alright, I'll send word up," the man said with a sigh. "Go get your robes and then someone will show you to your new living quarters."

"Thank you." John looked around for the stairs and went up to the second floor with the form in-hand.

John was soon in possession of his new robes. They were black with silver edges, just like his gloves and mask. What is it with the black and silver colours in this world? He checked the robe with Analyser Eye and noted them to be Mythical class too.

John changed into the Daoist robe. It tied together at the front, coming down to his knees. The sleeves were long though, John was tempted to remove them. He'd have to ask permission to do that.

Dressed and prepared, he walked back down to the first floor.

"We've received a reply," the desk man said. "The Sect Head will see you. He can't be kept waiting, so go up to see him first. We'll see to your living quarters after."

John was stunned at how quickly he'd gotten the go-ahead. "Which way do I go then?"

"If you walk it from here, it will take you weeks to arrive. You're going through the greater teleportation rune at the back." The man pointed towards a door at the back of the room.

John went pale at the thought of the teleportation rune, but it was a necessary evil.

He walked into the room, saw the only rune on the floor, and stepped on it.

Because there was no one inserting Life Power into it, the ride was ten times worse than before. John could feel his organs shift and his stomach lurched. He wondered how people survived these trips.

When he arrived at the other end, he collapsed face down. Although the system removed his disorientation, he was still heavily affected by the journey. After a moment of rest, he slowly brought himself to his feet and took in his surroundings.

It was a small, plain room almost identical to the one on the other end, made entirely of wood. John shook off his reservations and opened the nearby door.

What he saw shocked him. It was a massive hall with pillars reaching a hundred feet into the air. They were made out of white marble, and they seemed to go on forever in both directions. He looked up and saw stained glass windows in all sorts of different designs, a window in between every pillar.

The ceiling, too, was made of marble but was decorated by ornate paintings, not one inch plainly coloured. Before each pillar, there were statues and items such as vases, swords and armours on display.

"Done looking?" The voice interrupted the serene silence and scared the shit out of John. It came from nowhere! John glanced around and saw no one.

"Turn to your left and walk to the end," the voice sounded again.

John did as told, but his eyes were torn between absorbing the scenery and searching for the speaker. As he walked, his gaze drifted back to the many displays. Back on Earth, he'd been in a museum once, sure—but this place felt completely different.

He eventually came to the end of the corridor. In front of him was a green garden in a circular shape, and in the middle was an old man sitting on a throne. The old man had brown hair, blue eyes, and a white beard that went down to his stomach. On the old man's left side was a table with a few drinks and snacks on it. John couldn't help but guess at the identity of this man.

"Hello, I heard you have a letter for me?" the old man smiled at John.

"Ah, sorry for my lack of manners." John did his best to sound as formal as he could. "My name is John. You must be the Sect Head then?"

The old man nodded.

"I have a letter for you from Outer Elder Amanda Burch." John picked up the letter from inside his bag and walked up towards the Sect Head. He gave him the parchment, then backed up a few feet.

The Sect Head removed the rune, opened the letter, then read it.

John could see surprise bloom onto the Head's face.

"So, you're a Sider?"

John was stunned. The letter was about him being a Sider?

"Yes."

"Come here. I'm going to see if what Amanda said is true about your impurities."

John relaxed a little. At least being a Sider didn't seem to put him in ill favour of the Head. He approached the man once more, prepared to have his body checked again.

"Hold your arm out, and I'm going to insert Life Power through your wrist," the old man smiled and reassured John. "Relax, it won't hurt."

John put his left hand out and waited. The Sect Head grabbed his wrist and John could feel the Life Power enter him like what Amanda did. This power was different, though. It was more concentrated and stronger than Amanda's. As John felt it navigating through his body with unmatched precision, he tried his best not to gawk at the Head's skill.

"Amanda was right. You have no impurities whatsoever. The Life Power that you've just collected is already moving at twenty-fold the speed of a normal person. You also have a peak body before Life Stage, which no one has attained for thousands of years too. It seems as if you are made to be an immortal." The old man paused and ran his fingers through his beard as he thought aloud. "I've never accepted anyone as a disciple before. How about it? I'll teach you the best fighting methods, the best absorption techniques, and give you the best resources. In return, you help protect this sect if it ever comes down to it."

John's eyes were wide open, his mouth gaping. He was frozen in place, unable to think or speak. The old man laughed heartily at this. Slightly flustered, John tried to recompose himself, finding his words stumbling out of his mouth in an unorganised fashion.

"Er, I've never done this, ah, so, I don't know if I'm doing it right, uh... I greet Master!" John put his left palm up and his right fist into his palm. If he remembered correctly, this was the martial arts way of greeting. It was very close to the hand-motion for a duel to the death, and John prayed he didn't mix them up.

The old man smiled. "That's probably the best way to greet me, to be honest. I don't like people kowtowing, bowing, or getting down on one knee. That kind of thing is too formal for my taste. While the tradition is for you to pour me a cup of tea, that's not my style either."

With a wry grin, the Sect Head chuckled and continued, "My style is never to use connections to get where you're going. So, unless you're on the brink of death, I forbid you from telling anyone below the Grand Elder rank that you're my disciple. Those who know your identity will only be the Grand Elders in the sect, and they will keep the secret."

John opened his mouth to speak, but the Head raised his hand to stop him.

"I don't want you to have an easy life, and you need more experience. Fighting as a mortal and fighting as an immortal is completely different." His gaze hardened as he looked down at John in an equally mischievous yet serious light. "While fighting as a mortal, you factor in the fitness of your body, the equipment and techniques you use. But with immortal fights, they focus on the speed of your Life Power, the amount of Life Power you have, and the way you use Life Power. Only then will the body and techniques gain importance.

"However, that's for when you're in Life Stage, at the very least. Right now, you need to absorb more Life Power, purify it as much as possible, and store it inside your mind. Purifying it changes the colour. Life Power is originally green, but that's not purified. Life Stones carry the Life Power, and they're these types of rocks."

The old man took out a Life Stone after saying that, and John jolted in recognition.

"I've found a few on my travels before coming here," John tried to bite back his excitement and he took out one too.

"Brilliant!" The Head beamed proudly at John. "This stone stores the natural Life Power from the earth and purifies it to a certain degree, but not much. It just makes nature able to grow faster, that's all. Once it is purified completely, it changes to the colour white. That's when there are zero impurities inside, and that's the aim of every immortal. To my knowledge, no one in this universe has obtained that colour yet, though. Even an individual such as myself still has a shade of green Life Power mixed into my white aura."

John nodded. With the system, he should be able to get a pure white colour somehow. He had a gut feeling that the Idle System 2.0 had a lot in store for him.

"Anyway, let's take the first step nice and slow." The Head's gaze softened and became warm and inviting. "For now, I'll arrange a decent place for you to live that has plenty of natural Life Power. You need to get to Life stage as soon as possible so you can begin your other training. It should take you roughly two years if you're fast."

John couldn't help but bite back a snicker. I wonder if I can halve that time...

"When you reach that stage, come find me again," the old man continued. Then, with a quirk in his eyebrows, he added, "Oh, my full name is Jamie Cooper. I'm over 34,000 years old, and like you, I'm a Sider."

John felt his jaw drop again.