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Maria walked downstairs with great energy, almost like a child excited to play with a new toy.
Once she reached the bottom, all the disciples were already gathered, waiting for her. She roughly counted over three hundred people present.
Around 160 of them had beco Jiangshi, but aside from their pale blue skin, white hair, and red eyes, they looked much the sa as the rest, who were still alive.
Or at least, in Maria’s mind, they all seed the sa.
"Attention everyone, I present to you your new Sect Master," the White Mist Immortal announced. "She will not simply watch you from afar; she will personally teach you new techniques and impart her legacy to you."
"W-What?"
"The legacy of an outsider..."
"That sounds shabby..."
"Technically, it’s not like we can leave... we’re hostages."
"Well, do you want to leave?" Maria asked. "All the Elders you respected and your sect master are here. They will continue helping you cultivate your martial arts. Think of this as just a change in managent. If anything, your daily lives will improve! You’ll have better food, more resources, larger rooms, more luxurious weapons, armor, clothing, and much more."
"You’ve already received so of the new benefits," Yoomyung added. "Today’s breakfast was delicious, wasn’t it? Large and nutritious."
The disciples couldn’t deny his words. They agreed, though so still resented the idea of a foreigner taking over their sect. In a world where the strong always ruled, they had to accept it quickly or face death.
Maria, however, was already considering letting them leave if they wished, though she tried her best to convince them that staying would only bring improvent, not decline.
"What about everything we learned before?" a disciple asked. "Is our White Mist Martial Arts pointless now that we must learn sothing new from you?"
"Yeah, I trained my whole life for this!"
"I left my hotown and traveled to the Thousand Mountains using the money my poor parents saved for ..."
"Is everything we’ve studied aningless now?"
"No," Maria replied. "The White Mist Sect remains the sa, only with a new, brighter na. You will continue learning and perfecting the White Mist Arts. I will also teach you additional techniques, which won’t clash with your martial arts but instead enhance or even evolve them."
"But won’t they be the sa as what the Vampires offer?"
"In fact, the Blood Arts are much stronger!"
"Yeah!"
So disciples had already learned Blood Arts from the Crimson Order. Maria had surveyed the entire town but found no Vampires except for Partner, so they clearly weren’t living among them.
"Who taught them these Blood Arts?" Maria asked.
"It... it wasn’t ," Yoomyung said. "It was the Sect Master’s idea."
"I struck a deal with the Crimson Order through the Murim Alliance’s connections," the White Mist Immortal explained. "I managed to secure a powerful Crimson Codex, a cursed magic book that imprints Blood Arts onto those who read it. Not everyone was compatible—so went mad and failed. But those who succeeded gained imnse new power."
"Give that right now," Maria demanded, extending her hand. "Is there anything else you’re hiding from ? Hand it over. No more secrets."
"Yes..." The White Mist Immortal couldn’t resist a direct order from his necromancer master. He handed her a golden pouch filled with resources: Ki Beads, used to restore Ki and aid cultivation; various dicinal herbs for alchemy and pill-making; Martial Beast parts for crafting Martial and Immortal Artifacts; and the artifacts themselves. There were also hundreds of Blood Beast Pills from the Crimson Order, lanterns, rings, bracelets, blood swords, a blood axe, and finally, the Crimson Codex.
"Wow, what a haul! You were saving all of this?!" Maria exclaid. "Alright, this is everything, right?"
She grabbed the old, tattered red book. A crimson eye on its cover shifted, following her gaze. When opened, it released abyssal and blood energies as the runes inside glowed bright red.
"Hmm, I see... Ah, I already have a similar skill, so this isn’t anything new to ," Maria said, closing the Codex. "However, it’s far too dangerous. My thods are much safer, and they won’t corrupt you."
Maria conjured white flas from her hands and burned the Crimson Codex, leaving not even ashes behind. Everyone was stunned.
"T-That was very expensive! What have you done?!" the White Mist Immortal cried. "It cost so many Immortal Ki Beads! Over a thousand! Do you know how hard it is to make or earn even one?!"
"Are Ki Beads so kind of resource here?" Maria asked. "You don’t use coins or System Points?"
"We do, though mostly mortals use coins. System Points are used by everyone. However, Ki Beads remain a strong currency in Murim, specifically controlled by the Heavenly Palace," Yoomyung explained.
"Alright," Maria nodded. "Anyway, stop crying. I’ll teach your disciples sothing even better. For now, as we discussed, everyone listen to ."
With the help of the Elders, Maria cald the disciples, who lined up before her in the large training yard. She spread her arms, invoking the power of her newest title.
[Ghostly Fist Sect Master]!
"I assign all of my disciples a simple task: follow my movents and repeat them a hundred tis."
At that mont, sothing unprecedented occurred. Every disciple saw a system ssage.
None of them were Players; they hadn’t even attempted the trial, believing themselves too weak.
Yet, as if Maria could manipulate the system itself, she granted them...
"A Quest?" one of them whispered. "What... what is this?"
[Your Sect Master has granted you a Training Quest: {Practice The First Step of The Spectral Ghostly Fist Art a Hundred Tis}!]
[Your Sect Master, Maria, has chosen to pass on her personal Martial Arts, beginning with the basics. No talent or strength is required—only willpower. Imitate her movents a hundred tis, and you will inherit the first step of this powerful and unique Martial Art born in the World of Yggdrasil.]
[Rewards]: [Spectral Ghostly Fist Art: First Form – Phantasmal Fist] [ 100 Attack Stat]
[Ti Limit]: [12 Hours]
Granting this quest to a single disciple cost Maria about 10,000 System Points. Multiplied across all 307 disciples, the total reached around 3,070,000 System Points. It wasn’t much, considering she had nearly two billion points and hadn’t even touched the reserves held by the White Mist Immortal.
"Now, follow ," Maria commanded.
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