Everything seed like a blur to Han Yu after the results.
The elder dismissed him and had the disciples throw him in with the rest of the Red Ranked recruits—like expired produce being chucked into the discount bin.
He then gave a short speech about the code of conduct, what was expected of disciples, and all the usual sermon-like fluff that made people start blinking slower. It was the kind of speech that only parents and administrators pretend to listen to. Most people tuned it out completely. Han Yu didn’t even pretend.
Once the formalities were over, the elder announced the conclusion of the appraisal and handed everything off to the outer court disciples to handle.
He was too ntally drained to bother anymore and longed for so calming tea to ease his nerves. As for Han Yu’s punishnt? That could wait. First: tea. Then: ruining soone’s life.
Xu Qing, anwhile, was having her own personal crisis.
"UGH! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!" she scread, practically pulling at her hair. "The bracelet showed his talent! It couldn’t have been wrong!" she thought in frustration, still refusing to believe reality.
She briefly wondered if sothing had gone wrong with the Talent Seeking Tablet. But alas, she wasn’t in any position to question it.
’I’ll just have to ask Master to look into this ss,’ she decided grimly.
For now, her fate was sealed, her reward thrown overboard like unwanted cargo. Regret hit her like a spiritual shovel. She should have stayed out longer. Maybe if she returned with more recruits, she could salvage sothing.
Technically, she had three weeks left in the recruitnt period. If she ran, begged, and bribed hard enough, maybe she could scrape together a decent haul. But she’d need to check with the sect authorities first—and that required facing people. Ugh.
She didn’t even have the energy to think about Han Yu anymore. She had given up on him entirely.
She also gave up on any reward she was supposed to receive. A single Red Ranked recruit who hadn’t even beco a proper disciple was worth, what, ten rit points?
She could earn more scrubbing latrines blindfolded!
With that cheery realization, she made the executive decision to leave imdiately. She refused to take any more public sha by being associated with Han Yu. She couldn’t even bring herself to glance in his direction.
And off she flew, her robes billowing behind her like a banner of regret.
Of course, in all this chaos, she forgot one small—yet catastrophically important—detail.
The bet she had made with Brother Wei.
She had completely overlooked the fact that Han Yu was the wrong choice from the very beginning. In her blind rush to secure a "genius," she had missed the golden goose waddling right past her.
Fatty Kui.
Sure, he didn’t look talented. He looked like he was one bowl of rice away from collapsing. But talent? Oh, he had it.
Xu Qing would realize this later. Right now, she was still waiting for that bitter pill of regret to be delivered.
Once it hit, she’d have to deal with the fallout of not just embarrassnt—but losing the bet.
Xu Qing shivered mid-flight.
’Am I forgetting sothing?’ she thought, her expression scrunching. But she couldn’t rember what it was.
Pushing the feeling aside, she headed toward her residence, hoping her master was ho—and miraculously in a good mood.
And sowhere within the sect, a rather rotund faced Brother Sun sneezed.
"Huh... Why do i feel lucky?" He wondered.
anwhile, Han Yu stood motionless, like soone who had just watched their life’s savings turned into Monopoly money.
The other Red Ranked recruits instinctively took a step away from him, afraid that whatever divine misfortune he had caught might be contagious.
While they did that, an outer court disciple walked up to them.
"Ahem~" the disciple cleared his throat, drawing their attention.
Most of the children looked up nervously. Han Yu, however, remained unresponsive—still ntally arguing with fate and possibly the universe.
The disciple didn’t care.
’He won’t survive long anyway,’ he thought.
"Everyone, listen up!" he began. "You have chosen to beco servants of the Twin Leaf Peak Sect. I, Outer Court Disciple Bian, will be initiating you into your new roles."
"We greet Disciple Bian," the children mumbled back, voices full of forced enthusiasm and suppressed dread.
"Co with . I’ll take you to your quarters and explain everything there," he said, already turning to walk.
As they started moving, one brave—or foolish—child raised a hand.
"Um, Disciple Bian, may I ask sothing?"
Disciple Bian sighed. "What is it?"
"Isn’t the initiation supposed to be held at the Grand Peak?"
Disciple Bian turned and looked at the child as though he had just asked whether pigs could cultivate.
"The Grand Peak?" he repeated slowly. "Are you dumb?"
The air went cold.
"That’s for recruits joining as disciples. You lot are just servants." He didn’t even try to sugarcoat it. "Congratulations. You now have as much prestige as a particularly well-behaved mop."
The kids gulped audibly. The poor child who asked instantly regretted ever opening his mouth.
"You will have no connection to the ten main peaks," Disciple Bian continued. "Your duties will be at the very bottom—literally. Only those who prove themselves might be allowed to move up to the residential peaks."
"We... understand," the children said in unison, subdued and slightly traumatized.
"Good. Now follow. I’m not here to babysit," he muttered, walking faster.
Han Yu shuffled along behind them, not entirely sure if he was alive or dreaming. His body was moving, but his soul had apparently taken a vacation.
In his stupor, he didn’t even realize that he never received his reward for placing first in the combat assessnt.
Not that it would matter.
Even if he asked for it, no one would give it to him. His antics and low talent had earned him the prestigious honor of being quietly punished behind the scenes.
It was his first punishnt. Probably not the last.
And Elder Nie Jing didn’t even bother informing him.
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