Chapter 18: Factions

Yee Rhys stood up and stretched. The first day as an disciple of the Outer Sect begins. By the way, the young man lowered his gaze to his clothes. He should change his clothes first. He took the Outer Sect disciple's uniform out of the bag and changed his clothes.

The uniform was a knee-length robe and pants. Both items were blue, only the collar was light blue. Yes, the clothes of all the disciples of the Seven Dreams sect were blue and the elders were black. The branches of the sect differed in the color of the collar: the Outer Sect's collar was light blue, and the Inner Sect's collar was green. The Core disciples had a yellow collar, while the Grand Elders had a gold one. The Patriarch's robes were all gold.

According to the information obtained from the jade, in the first month, there was a two-hour lecture every morning for the newcomers, giving them a basic knowledge of cultivation and explaining the sect's rules. For Yee Rhys, all of this was optional; he already knew both. But it was worth going. To see the people, to evaluate the competitors, to listen to the news. Though "not causing trouble" was easier by sitting at home, though attending a lecture was also something of an unwritten obligation, and the Lady had a point about that.

So, judging by the sun, there's still half an hour before the lecture. He decided to take advantage of the time to cultivate and get his head in working order. He'll need a clear mind for the lecture.

After performing the cultivation cycle, Yee Rhys shook his refreshed head and left the courtyard. He had already managed to match the number of the courtyard from the name slip with the map, so he confidently headed deeper into the neighborhood. The morning lecture was held in the central square, located, according to its name, in the center of the district. Around it piled the main public facilities, including the canteen, which was the young man's first point.

Once he was settled at the table, Rhys realized that he had arrived just in time. People were already there, but not so many as to crush each other. Slowly devouring his food, the young man listened intently. The dining room was probably the best place to gather information.

When it became too crowded, and fights for seats began to break out, Yee Rhys left the establishment and stopped at the edge of the central square. The lecture was still ten minutes away. The students had already started to gather, but so far they were crowded at the edges of the square. He was mentally listening through scattered conversations, trying to distinguish useful bits of information. Soon he began to gather the layout of the Outer Sect's main forces.

Yee Rhys already knew that factions were strong in this sect and in fact they were the ones who ran everything. The factions were tiered and had a structure.

Simply put, any elder or influential disciple could create a faction. Factions existed unofficially, so they were not registered in any way and were not funded by the sect. If you wanted, you created it; if you wanted, you dissolved it.

In practice, all influential disciples had patron elders, so Yee Rhys perceived them as a unit accountable to an elder. Most of the Outer Sect elders had patrons from among the Inner Sect elders. The Inner Sect Elders sought the patronage of the Grand Elders. The Great Elders sought the support of the Patriarch or one of the two Guardians of the sect.

The strongest factions grew from one of the Great Elders. The middle ones came from Inner Sect Elders. The weakest factions were founded by the Elders of the Outer Sect.

The Patriarch and Guardians spent most of their time in closed cultivation, so their "supremacy" was purely nominal. However, most Grand Elders also preferred cultivation to mundane affairs and didn't help their factions in any way. The exceptions were the two Managing Elders who, due to their age, no longer had a chance of successful breakthroughs, and therefore focused on managing the sect on behalf of the patriarch. Several other Elders were in a similar situation, concentrating on finding successors.

For disciples, joining one faction meant that when they moved to the Inner Sect, they would join the faction of the corresponding Elder. For strong factions, a similar thing applied when moving into the core disciples.

Simply put, the Outer Sect served as a sort of recruiting ground where disciples tried to stand out to get the attention of at least one faction. Because it was almost impossible to achieve success without faction support. And it wasn't just the extra resources and techniques. Factions almost privatized special resources like training zones and arrays.

In another situation, Yee Rhys would not have swum against the current and would have chosen one of the factions. The problem was the Lady. If she had wanted to, she would have already chosen a patron elder without asking either. Unfortunately, he wasn't even told which of the Outer Sect elders belonged to which faction. And if he chose the wrong faction... the Lady might won't tear off his had, but he didn't want to check the depth of her fantasy anyway. Better not to join anyone. Judging by Lady, he'd have a lot more problems than factional squabbles once he joined the Inner Sect. Getting to the Inner Sect is quite possible without official support.

The dilemma is that he needs to prove himself at his best. And that will naturally attract the attention of the factions. He's too old for the best, but the worst ones might be interested. He can ask them to think about it for a while, but he won't be able to stall for long. And, in the end, he will have to refuse all factions, effectively insulting them and declaring war.

Therefore, collecting information have to be added to the daily routine.

***

The Lady checked the mark and, making sure the subject was busy and temporarily not in need of supervision, soared into the sky. She had plans of her own. Yesterday, the young man had mentioned some rumors. Dra Jae was not in the business of collecting rumors, that's what servants do. But this time she was curious. In addition, this rumor had direct relevance to her.

Hiding herself, the Lady landed in the workers' camp and disguised herself as a rookie worker, then made her way to the canteen. She reasoned logically that no other crowded places were frequented by the youngster, which meant the source of the rumors had to be here.

The canteen was deserted, for breakfast was over and lunch was not yet soon. But such little things never bothered Lady.

- Excuse me. - She appeared in the kitchen doorway. - I'm new here. I... I overslept breakfast. Can I get something to eat? Please.

- Oh, girl. - The overweight cook in her thirties claped her arms. She was obviously an employee, for she had only six wisps of Qi. - Sit down, my dear, eat.

She quickly cleared a corner of the table and placed a bowl of rice there.

- Thank you, auntie. - Lady said sitting down on the offered seat. She couldn't remember the last time she ate mortal food. - Can you tell me how this place works? I heard about some scary Untouchable. I think he got some girl.

- Where did you hear that? - The cook frowned.

The lady froze. No such rumor? Was she mistaken?

- The Untouchable had four girls! - The cook said proudly, as if she had personally was there. The Lady even dropped her chopsticks in surprise. When did he do it? She seemed to be watching closely.

- And the boy, too. - The narrator finished off the listener. - And a...

- Ahem, ahem.

- Mr. Manager! - The cook turned to the voice.

- I have an inspection today. - The stout man shot a quick glance at the cloaked Lady, noting that the girl was not one of his charges. - Give me lunch.

- Of course, of course. - The lord of the kitchen deftly filled the box with food. - Have a good trip.

- Thank you. - The manager headed for the door.

- What happened to the girls?

The man froze when he heard the question. He recognized the voice. And then he quickened his pace. This situation was beyond him.

- Of course, baby. - The cook smiled. - It was like this. Two girls made a bet about who would climb on the roof of the Untouchable's house first. And they crawled. The roof collapsed.

The lady frowned. In her memory the only thing that had ever fallen was a fence.

- And that's when the Untouchable came home. When he saw the two girls, he thought they were coming for him. Growling like an animal, he pounced on the first one, fell where he'd caught up with her, and raped her right on the wreckage of the roof.

At this point the Lady connected everything and realized that there was no sign of the real thing. But it was still interesting to listen to.