“And here we are, the proud city of Oie! And right up this flight of stairs is the renowned Myriad-Arm Sect!” as he opened the door for his passengers to step out, he would have offered to help them carry their baggage but they were already holding them.

Edrick didn’t say anything as the looked up at the white ramparts built right upon the edge of a high hill, cultivation sects, from what he had heard, were akin to small cities of their own, members would typically be made to stay on sect ground for the majority of their times, they lived, slept and ate here for the most part.

So naturally, the whole sect looked very closed-up, separated from the rest of Oie despite standing right in its heart, surrounding the hill were small, natural moats, the bottoms filled with moss-covered water, to get in and out one had to use the stairs, which were carved from the same polish white stone as the walls.

“Welp, on this note I’ll be heading back, if you need any carriage service, there is actually my cousin’s right over there-” as the coachman tried to slither away, Anoteros grabbed his shoulder.

“Hold on”

“Sir?”

“I have not paid you yet, have I?”

“Huh? Oh, I guess not! But you know…” somehow, even inside the city he didn’t feel very confident that Edrick would pop his skull like a rotten watermelon on a whim, even with people walking around and quite a few looking in their directions as Anoteros’s sheer height was noticeable, especially coupled with the wideness of his shoulders, most common folks were probably under the assumption that such a big, well-dressed gentleman was already a cultivator.

“Why so afraid, my friend? You squirm like you did something wrong, are we not at the right place?” Edrick didn’t expect an answer, obviously this was the right place.

“Here you go, for your noble services, I shall grant you a tip” sliding something in the middle-aged man’s hand, Anoteros casually tapped the coachman’s shoulder and walked past.

“Thanks for the ride”

“Be thankful”

Fanqia and Linmin passed by him right after, saying their own piece as they quickly followed after their lord-husband.

The man, meanwhile, looked at their retreating figure for a little while just to be sure and then only opened up his hand to see what ‘tip’ Edrick had awarded him.

“By the lord…” it was a silver Leyen, a very generous tip indeed, as the true price of the travel would normally have been about a hundred copper Leyen, this was way too much for such a single job.

‘I better hide it well… How can I get it turned into copper Leyen?’ the joy of money washed away all piled-up anxiety and notions he had of Edrick, instead focusing on how to make proper usage of this sudden wealth he hadn’t expected to ever lay his hands on, for a small business owner like himself that lived in a poor area, this was enormous.

Meanwhile, the trio was already ascending the rather numerous steps required to reach the gates of the Myriad-Arm Sect, there, leaning up against a regular-sized door next to the great entrance was a single youth dressed in ample clothing suitable for fighting in, coloured white for the most part with hints of light blue.

He also wore a small, rather ridiculous hat which one would just want to flick off.

Noticing their approach, he opened his eyes, raised an eyebrow, and then looked up.

‘Am I sitting down or something?’ he wondered as a wide shadow was cast over him.

“Welcome! Are you here to enlist into our O-noble sect?” reciting the text he had memorised flawlessly, the young man straightened his back and rested one hand against the hilt of his sword.

“Yes, me and those two” the youth looked back down at the mention of more people only to flashed with a sight of beauty that wasn’t very common at the gates, as the Myriad-Arm Sect tended to attract rather rugged people and the poorer as they didn’t charge money at all to get in, it was all based a simple test conducted by the person at the gates, of course, once you got in, one would have to show some merit to stay.

“Aherm… May I ask for your names?” usually the ladies would start looking very pretty after they began their cultivation, at least, the youth felt that way as those he had admitted looked much less filthy and more refined after making some progress.

“People call me Edrick Lucien Anoteros, but my birth name is Zixuan Elt, those two are my wife, Fanqia, and my wife, Linmin”

“Both?! I mean, sorry for the sudden outburst… Did you say Elt, as in Elt? E L T? Those three letters?” quickly getting over the urge to ask how he had gotten those two to marry him, he instead put his focus on the actually much more surprising thing Edrick had said.

“Yes, as you can see here” only then did Anoteros pulled the most important item in his possession, which was rather plain in the surface, but actually common for noble scions to bear, a small charm of some kind bearing the insignia of the Elt household, such things were only to be given to direct descendants, and as an Elt, even the pitiful Zixuan had gotten one for himself, which he had safely kept close even after having been sent away.

“One moment, please excuse me” the youth raised his hands and slipped into the smaller door to go fetch some assistance as, for one, he didn’t know how to tell if that charm was the real deal, and secondly, because even if it was, he absolutely had to get someone higher-ranked to help him.

“Senior?”

“What is it? You don’t have to come get me for every minute problem…”

“There is a man carrying a family charm of the Elt at the gates”

“Huh? An Elt? Bollocks! They always join those questionable sects like the Sect Of The Horned One or Sect Of The Old Decay, why would one want to join our respectable sect?” the senior was instantly suspecting that it was a lie or prank of some kind, but immediately stood up from his seat either way, fixing his attire.

“What is the name?”

“Hum, he said that he was called Zixuan Elt, but that people referred to him as Edrick Lucien Anoteros”

“Edrick Lucien… Anoteros? Sounds like a foreign name- Is he alone?”

“No, he is accompanied by two majestic-looking women called Fanqia and Linmin- You’ll see, the one with the flat chest is a real feast for the eyes-“

“Junior, if it’s burning down there, just go see the ladies of the night” slapping the youth on the back of his head, the senior rolled his eyes and stepped outside by himself.

‘How did this brat forget to mention that he was so freaking large? Definitely an advantageous physique for our sect…’

“Hello, I am Gang, an elder of the sect, may I see the familial charm?” Elder Gang was very clearly an old man, having lost all hair on his head and without any mustache or beard to hide the rather flappy wrinkles he had accumulated, it was easy to mistake him as frail for a second, but he stood tall and clearly still bore a trained physique underneath his ample clothing.

Edrick, who was still holding the item in question, just raised it up.

“…”

“Open the gates!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep