Momo looked up at the woman, feeling confused.
Alex stared at her, wondering if he had heard what he thought he heard. Surely not, right?
"Can you repeat that?" Silvermist asked. "I don't think I quite heard that right."
The woman sighed angrily. "This young woman must break off her relationship with her master. Only then can we take her in. His Deadliness won't accept a disciple with another master. He's not the sort to share disciples."
Momo had her jaw open, unable to form a single word in objection. She was too stunned to even speak. She simply stared, no words forming in her mouth.
Alex gave a small empty laugh. "Senior, you might have been mistaken," he said. "I do not teach Momo anything about poison. I only teach her about Alchemy. So His Deadliness wouldn't be sharing anything with . We would simply be in two separate categories."
"Do you think I do not know this?" the woman asked, openly rude. She didn't seem to care. "She will still have to disavow you as her master."
Alex was left speechless now.
Grimsight stepped forward at that mont to do the talking on behalf of everyone else. "Will this young lady be made His Deadliness' disciple right away?" he asked.
The woman scoffed, seemingly disgusted by Grimsight's re presence. Still, she chose to answer his question.
"She will have a chance, if she can prove herself within the cult," the woman said.
"And… are her chances good?" Grimsight asked.
"A normal saint joining the cult would have no chance. But, since she has learned an important dao pertaining to Poison, and thanks to her having a Poison body, she will have a much higher chance," the woman answered.
"How much higher?" Silvermist asked. "Do you have any more specific information?"
"She should only have a few hundred other rivals that will want the sa thing. It's a good chance."
"A few hundred?" Silvermist asked. "So, there is not even a solid guarantee that she will beco His Deadliness' disciple?"
The woman scoffed again. "Others would kill to receive the sa chances that she is receiving, and yet you want to argue?" she asked.
Silvermist failed to co up with a response. He looked at Momo and then Alex. "Are you okay with Momo not calling you master anymore?"
Alex shook his head. There was no way he was okay with that. However, he felt that the decision was not his to make. He could probably influence Momo to give up on this matter, but he didn't want to.
Instead, he turned to her. "You should make the decision, Momo. You have all the facts. If you wish to join the Poison God's cult in hope of one day becoming his disciple, I won't hold a grudge against you. You can choose freely. Whatever you want to do."
Momo hesitated, a conflicted look falling upon her. She looked at Alex and then toward Silvermist, but neither of them helped her in her decision. Then, she turned toward the woman.
"Senior, would you mind quelling a curiosity of mine?" Momo said.
The woman looked at Momo for a mont, sighed, and then nodded. "What do you want to know?"
Momo cald her nerves as much as she could before saying, "Does His Deadliness have direct disciples and honorary disciples, just ones in na?"
The woman nodded. "He does. I was an honorary disciple myself at first, before His Deadliness made his direct disciple," she said.
Momo's eyes brightened. "Then, if I were to just seek the position of an honorary disciple, could I perhaps still remain a disciple to my master?"
The woman's eyes were wide with incredulity. Never in her life would she have imagined sothing like this.
Alex frowned. "Momo, I told you, you don't have to worry about . Do what you need to do for your future. Not mine."
Momo turned around. "But I am doing this for my future, Master. You taught all I know. I don't want to lose you as my master." Her eyes were beginning to tear up.
Alex felt warm on the inside, hearing Momo talk about him like this. He liked that she reflected the sa feelings he had for his masters. But, he couldn't let that feeling keep Momo away from a very bright future.
Momo was a good alchemist, but her physique gave her the potential to beco a far better poison master. And this was perhaps the best way to utilize that potential.
Before he could say anything, though, the woman spoke up.
"Be it honorary disciple, or direct disciple, or nothing. If you wish to join this cult and learn anything from His Deadliness, you must end your master-disciple relationship here. Either do that, or don't join our cult at all."
"Then I won't join!" Momo answered. Her sudden words were t with a pause. The silence emphasized the surprise and shock everyone felt.
Silvermist hurriedly tried to calm the situation. "She didn't an that. It was an emotional outburst," he said, quickly grabbing hold of Momo. "Momo, don't let your anger make the decisions here. Be calm and think this through."
"I am, Grandmaster," Momo said. At this point, her tears were beginning to overflow. "But isn't it unfair? Why must I stop being a disciple to my master? Or do you wish to rid of as a grand disciple too?"
Silvermist hurriedly shook his head. "Of course not. I am pained to let you go too, and so is your master. But we will handle the pain if that ans we can see you move on to a better future. And to work under a God is the greatest chance you can ever receive."
"But I don't want to stop being Master's disciple," Momo said. "And… It's not like I have no other choices either. The Alchemy God wants to help too. It may not be as great a—"
"What?" Silvermist asked. "The Alchemy God asked you to join him? When?"
"Back during the test," Alex answered. "Or afterward. When she failed in the final contest and we talked to figure things out, he asked her to join him."
"And you refused?" Silvermist asked.
"No, we just said we'll think things through later," Alex said.
"W-w-why didn't you say anything before?" Silvermist was quite stunned by all of this. "You should have told about this."
"We were going to," Alex said. "As soon as things slowed down a little. We were interrupted before Momo could get to that point in her story."
Momo nodded. "He said he will take in and teach , but not as a disciple. He said the offer stood for as long as I wanted to accept it."
Silvermist could not believe his ears. His grand disciple had offers from not one, but two Gods? In a single day?
Having this happen just once was incredible enough. Having it happen twice was… there were no words to describe how amazing that was. He was about to say sothing when the doors slamd open and the Poison God walked out.
"The Alchemy God approached you?" the Poison God asked, his voice carrying his anger. "He dares try to steal from ?"
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