“I plan to get better at making formations,” the man said after some time. “To better fight demons and fiendish demons—”
“—to protect this city. I’ve got it. Next!”
“I see you went to law school,” Cha Ming said to the beautiful blond-haired cultivator seated before him. “Why did you choose to study law in a world where violence solves all problems?”
“Because violence doesn’t solve all problems,” the woman said, adjusting her glasses. “As evidenced through hundreds of thousands of successful prosecutions.”
“Fair enough,” Cha Ming said, mildly impressed. It wasn’t often that he met people with such a reasonable mentality. “What do you want to learn from me?”
“I want to learn how to bring justice to those the law unjustly shielded,” the woman said with a faint hint of bloodlust in her eyes.
Cha Ming mentally facepalmed and immediately began winding down the failed interview.
“Are you sure you want to use fighting to decide the results of your interview?” Cha Ming asked from the other side of a sparring ring.
“Definitely!” the scholarly, frail-looking man said from behind the circle. “All I ask is that you go easy on me.”
“Go ahead and do your worst,” Cha Ming said lazily. “Don’t worry about blowing me up. As long as I don’t lose more than a limb or two, I’ll be all right.” He readied his staff to jump in once the man showed any weaknesses. He didn’t plan on testing his abilities, but his willingness to learn and to change.
“Great Phoenix of the Void,” the man intoned, holding out his hands. A vermillion bird of flame appeared behind him, its wings obscured in darkness. “Lend me your favor and destroy my foes. Channel your wrath in a fiery ring of doom.” His eyes flashed.
“Ring of inferno!” The phoenix shrieked and surrounded Cha Ming with mild flames that seemed rather weak compared to the level of the technique.
Cha Ming didn’t react. He just stood there. He was speechless at the needlessly theatrical display. “How many fights have you been in, exactly?”
“Fifteen!” the man said proudly. “My fighting skills have impressed everyone so much that no one dares accept my challenges anymore.”
“Right…” Cha Ming said, coughing lightly. “I think there’s something I can work with here. I’ll be in touch.”
He tossed the man’s resume into the flames when he got back to his office. He didn’t bother witnessing his final form.
Eventually, Cha Ming settled on six prospects. They weren’t as promising as his four original disciples, but they were the least awkward amongst the scholars who’d applied through the Alabaster Group. After a small ceremony, he announced that he was also willing to teach others. He gave similar terms to what Lu Tianhao had—teaching time for confirmed devil kills. In addition, after discovering that the branch had a merit measurement stone, he laid out a system for teaching time through merit accrued.
Before sending them off, he gave each of them some individual advice based on their interview and gifted them with the remaining instruction jades from Fuxi’s Library. He’d given a sigil instruction jade to each of his four original disciples, so all he had to do now was wait until they mastered their contents. It would only take a few months until his karmic obligations to Fuxi were fulfilled.
Finally, he slumped on a sofa. His four original disciples were equally exhausted, as they had just taught their first classes. Jin Huang taught poison arts, Yue Bing blood doctor arts, and Ling Dong demonic smithing. Ling Dong knew they wouldn’t be able to learn his art in depth. His students just attended to gain inspiration from nature and infuse it into their craft, which was fine by him.
They settled into a lull, and before they knew it, two weeks had passed by uneventfully.
“Master! Master!” a voice yelled.
Cha Ming opened his eyes and saw Zi Long shaking him. “Didn’t you get the message?”
“Message?” Cha Ming asked.
“Elder Yang’s tribulation,” Zi Long said in exasperation. “It’s happening soon.”
“I guess I lost track of time,” Cha Ming said.
The two men zipped out of the Alabaster Group’s building in Haijing Academy and flew outside the city. They traveled in the ocean for ten miles before arriving at an open space on the seabed where people were floating. A lone man sat cross-legged nine miles away from them. Nine miles was the maximum size for transcendent tribulation clouds. Intruding into his personal space might be mistaken as aiding him, which would drag the offender into the tribulation.
Excuse me, excuse me, Cha Ming said, moving through frowning cultivators who ultimately backed down when they saw his elder badges. They soon arrived near the other Haijing Academy elders in a reserved area near the edge. Zi Long excused himself, leaving Cha Ming to speak to the other elders.
They spoke for a short while as Cha Ming observed the terrain and his opponents. The Obsidian Syndicate was ready for battle, as were many other groups in the academy. Some scholars were here just for the show, of course. While they were mighty cultivators, they just couldn’t compete with battle-oriented experts in the upcoming struggle.
He watched in silence, taking note of the major players and their potential techniques. Many were devils, and many others were angels. Most of them, however, were normal qi or body cultivators.
In the distance, he saw another smaller crowd. The nobles in Haijing City were seated next to the royal family. All of them had long white hair that flowed in the water, while many had white or blue skin. Some even sported runes on their skin, but that was apparently much rarer. Cha Ming recalled the girl he’d rescued and the blue-gold runes she’d sported.
She must have been a member of the high nobility at the very least, he thought. Perhaps even the daughter of a duke.
His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden crackle of lightning that appeared above the man, despite them being fifty miles
