Duncan's enrollment into the sect was a quiet affair.
Once Little Wan informed the person behind the counter that Duncan was the newest direct disciple of Vice-Sect Master Liang Tianye, the processing was done at a breakneck speed.
Duncan felt as if he was spun around by a cyclone with how fast things moved after that. He vaguely felt that his enrollment wouldn't have been so smooth if not for Little Wan informing the person in charge of his direct disciple status.
Nevertheless, he didn't complain much.
The only snag in the entire process was when they asked him his last name and cultivation. As a homage to his destroyed town, Duncan decided to adopt a last name for himself in the form of taking the name of the town as his last name.
So, he would be going with the name Duncan Starsinger after this.
As for the bit about cultivation, both Little Wan and the person in charge were surprised when they got to know that Duncan wasn't a cultivator yet. The looks they gave him were inscrutable and Duncan felt as if Little Wan was trying to dissect him with his eyes.
However, it didn't stop them for long. They both tacitly didn't comment on it, but rather acted as if they haven't heard that information. However, Duncan was sure that it was significant information for these two from their immediate reactions.
The person at the desk gave Duncan a small bag containing a few essential things containing the sect rulebook, a booklet about the various parts and aspects of the sect, a bottle of pills that was apparently used for cultivation, and a few spirit stones that looked like something he would have mined a few months earlier.
Duncan took the bag graciously and nodded at him. Once the formalities were taken care of, Little Wan once more took charge and took him on a tour throughout the sect introducing him to the various spots in the sect like the training grounds, combat arenas, and much more.
Initially, Duncan had been worried a little that Little Wan's attitude towards him would change since it has been revealed he was not a cultivator yet. Contrary to his belief, Little Wan was even more friendlier towards Duncan during the tour. This surprised him a bit, but he took it in stride not willing to comment on it.
Their tour finally ended at the scripture pavilion where Little Wan dropped him off and left to do some other work he has been assigned to. Duncan watched him go for a few moments and turned to look at the building in front of him.
The scripture pavilion was a seven-story building. It looked both tall and intimidating to him. He had never been inside buildings that were more than three stories tall and the new experience was beginning to turn him anxious.
Duncan transferred the cultivation technique in his pocket into the small bag that was given to him at the registration desk and took a deep breath, before walking into the scripture pavilion.
The interior of the building was warm and cozy. Duncan assumed that it was kept in such a manner to accommodate the books present. He felt a good vibe coming from the place the moment he stepped in.
The first person he laid eyes on was an old man sitting behind a desk and apparently dozing. There was a cordon separating the bookshelves that were lined up behind him.
The desk looked completely non-assuming and the old man looked even more so. But, Duncan didn't dare to walk inside without the old man's say so. So, he waited patiently for the old man to open his eyes.
Meanwhile, he began eyeing the stacks and stacks of books that were adorning the bookshelves. Duncan had never imagined that so many books can be placed inside a single room.
And it was not just this room, Duncan could see sections splitting off into another room or a pathway in the distance as well. To make things even bigger, there were seven stories of this building that were filled with books.
Not just any books, but books on cultivation to be precise.
The sheer amount of books that could possibly be present in this room just boggled Duncan's mind. Where he grew up, a shop with more than five or six shelves of books could be considered a big shop.
However, his view had altered a little when he visited the shops in Starmist City. But, this building was putting all those to shame. And these were not books on general subjects, but cultivation to be precise.
Before this, he had never even seen a single book on cultivation. Now, he was seeing a building bigger than any other shop he has seen containing books, filled with books on cultivation.
He felt that it was really unfair that these cultivators could hoard such a vast amount of knowledge, while he had to struggle very hard to find even a single book on cultivation.
The scroll in his bag felt heavier all of a sudden.
Duncan gulped a little and averted his eyes from the bookshelves. He tried to check out any other interesting stuff in the building but only came up in vain. So, let out a sigh and decided to wait for the old man to open his eyes.
Duncan wasn't angered due to the delay. Rather, he was glad for it. When he had met his master, the amount of information that had been piled on inside his head from that brief conversation was more than enough for him to ruminate on for days.
Just the mere concept of cultivation felt so vast to him. As he was thinking about the conversation he had with his master, Duncan suddenly realized that his master never answered his final question at all.
When he had asked why he was being treated special, his master had merely complemented him and changed the topic smoothly. He hadn't even realized that his question was not answered until now.
This brought a frown to Duncan's face. However pretty he wanted to paint it, the truth of the matter was, he was now stuck inside the Heavenly Demon Sect. While he wasn't averse to the idea of learning about cultivation in one of the famed sects, it was ultimately a choice that was forced upon him.
He couldn't just walk away from this as it would mean it would be his death. His master had been very clear on that aspect. And now that his whole town has been razed to the ground, there wasn't anything else he could do currently.
However, the mere thought that he was being essentially forced to join the sect rankled him a bit, to be honest.
Duncan felt like he was being set up for some big scheme. He didn't know what it was or why he was special to warrant such special treatment. He had his suspicions that it was probably due to his change in the Grasslands. But, he couldn't be entirely sure about it because he didn't have enough information to formulate his opinion on it.
But, one thing was clear to him.
Why was he now forced to follow the path laid out by his apparent master? It is because he was powerless in front of them. If he had some decent power, then he was sure that the sect wouldn't be so tyrannical from the beginning itself.
He had seen merchant guilds that operate in Starmist City. They would never force a wealthy person to do some things. In fact, they will try to win them over instead of threatening them.
Likewise, if he was powerful, the sect wouldn't have taken such an approach. Rather, they would have tried to win him over. They would have tried to get him beholden to them and would slowly work their way up.
Duncan frowned the moment such a thought popped up in his head.
His experience in life so far had taught him that everything has both good and bad attached to it. There wasn't something that was entirely good in this world. The world is not made of rights and wrongs, there was a lot of stuff that fell in the middle.
As he started pondering about it seriously, he began to notice a change in his thoughts recently. His desire for power had been prominent of late. He didn't know why his mind had started to think about only attaining the power of late.
He couldn't exactly pin down when it began, but as he went through his experience in the past few months, more and more things started to pop up. Starting from his abrupt departure from the town, his actions have always been of someone chasing after power.
First and foremost, why was he so hell-bent on chasing after cultivation? He had been content with his life until the moment he passed out while talking to that old coot.
Why would he all of a sudden cast aside everything he was comfortable with out of nowhere and chase after cultivation? Was that even normal? Duncan couldn't understand why he did such a thing.
In the Starmist City, he had been ready to abandon the mercenaries whom he had faced life and death with. He hadn't even stopped to think if he was abandoning them out of nowhere. All he cared about was that they weren't ideal to help him obtain more power and he was ready to leave them.
Then, he wandered into the Wang Clan with no sense and got stuck there. He normally would have been much warier about the job seeing the reward money for it. But, his mind had only cared about earning enough money at that moment so that he could learn about cultivation.
Then, his actions in the Grasslands weren't any better. He could have probably thought a bit more and found a way to escape the encirclement. Instead, he had baited the bandits and had somewhere deep in his heart wanted them to chase after him.
Not to mention his whole episode with the wild beasts.
It was as if he was getting more and more into ridiculous situations in his chase for power. It was as if something inside him was pushing in that direction time and time again.
He didn't know what it was, but it didn't sit well with him. Even now, after learning about the destruction of his entire town, all he could think of was becoming more powerful.
And he wasn't grateful that these people from the Heavenly Demon Sect had saved him from that woman. Instead, he was now complaining that if he had been powerful then the sect would have treated him differently.
What more did he want? They have rescued him; admitted him into their sect; given him a chance to cultivate, which was something he had wanted; even made him a direct disciple when he couldn't even become an outer disciple on his merit.
And after all this, he still felt dissatisfied with his treatment.
This wasn't how he would usually react.
The more he thought about it, the more agitated he became. Duncan was truly troubled now. He didn't even know why his thoughts have changed as of late. There was something sinister going on, and he couldn't exactly pin down what was happening to him. And it freaked him out a bit.
"Calm down, young one. Whatever you are thinking isn't doing you any favors," an old voice floated into his ears causing Duncan to snap out of his downward spiral.
Duncan looked around frantically for the voice and found the old man, who had been dozing till now, was looking at him scrutinizingly.
*****
A/N: Hey folks!
Make sure to add this book to your collection and vote with your power stones to show your appreciation for this work.
You can also check out my other book [Booking Glory] and see if it is to your liking.
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