After Instructor Yuan left, my classmates looked like they were getting ready to settle down for a long group conversation about what we would all be doing next. I wasn’t prepared for that, so I had to stop it before it began.


    “Let’s all take a couple of hours to think about what the instructor said. It might be best to think about our plans and goals on our own first.”


    This caught most of them off guard, but Yan was there to quickly agree.


    “Yes, we should all take some time alone first. Think about if you really want to walk the path to become a Sovereign. You should all already know that it is impossible to become one on this continent. If you want to become a Sovereign, you will have to leave, and after you do, you will almost certainly never be allowed to return.”


    He looked at us gravely to make sure his words sunk in.


    “This isn’t the choice you have to make now. Right now, you are just deciding if you want to continue down that path. But make no mistake, becoming a Sovereign through the Nine Rivers Sect means abandoning your home, your clan, and your family forever. If that’s not what you want, think about what you do want and how you want to achieve it.”


    Before anyone responded, Yan stood and left. Then, we all separated to think about our decisions.


    I hurried back to my room to make a quick purchase.


    “System, change my secondary reset point to this moment.”


    Purchase confirmed. Cost 26,266,240. 1,160,799,004 credits remaining.


    With a new reset point locked down, I had significantly more freedom to act. So, I left my room to visit Zhuge Yan.


    <hr>


    When Yan opened his door, he didn’t seem overly surprised to see me.


    “What are you planning?”


    Instead of letting him take the lead, I gestured to the small sitting area inside his room, silently asking for permission to enter.


    He opened the door wider, welcoming me inside. Once we were seated across from each other, I took out several pill bottles from my storage space and put them on the small table beside us.


    “I’m leaving the Academy.” I looked him in the eye to show that this was a fact beyond question. “I need to start advancing my cultivation as quickly as I can. To do that I’m going to need karmic energy. I’m hoping to use these pills to trade for it.”


    He picked one up and carefully examined the pill inside. He might not be able to accurately appraise the various pills, but at a minimum, he would be able to tell that they were all Rank 4.


    “And you’re offering this trade to me?”


    I chuckled slightly, knowing his likely answer. “I’m hoping to contact Grandmaster Ning for the bulk of this transaction. I believe I can get enough energy from him for the ascensions to Lord and King. I would like to make true ascensions at each level of the Lord realm, though, so I’ll need more energy than I can easily get from him. I was hoping to make a deal with you for this extra Lord-level energy.”


    He looked intently at the pills, considering my offer.


    “I haven’t talked with any of you about the situation with my family, but you need to know that my position isn’t very good. They were entirely against me joining the sect, and they are absolutely furious that I would even consider attempting to walk the Sovereign path. They’ve cut off nearly all my resources. If Ning ChenKun hadn’t offered me a place in his retinue, I wouldn’t have even been able to enter the Academy.”


    He tried to mask it, but I heard a deep sadness in his voice.


    “I’m only telling you this so that you can understand the position I’m in.” He paused for several seconds before continuing. “I can get you a lordship, but it won’t be anything great. Building up enough energy to ascend to Peak Lord would take at least a decade. From your urgency, I’m guessing this won’t meet your needs.”


    I sighed. It was an option. I didn’t have to rush that much.


    Seeing my expression, Yan decided to give me other options.


    “You should consider talking to YuLong. His father is only a King, but if you can provide him with enough resources, he can get you a decent lordship. The only problem with this is the Ning Clan. You can’t get the extra energy from them because they want something from you, right? If YuLong’s father helped you avoid that pressure, it could be seen as slapping the face of the Ning Clan. It’s an option if you’re desperate, but I wouldn’t recommend it.”


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    I laughed wryly. “So, if they help me, even unknowingly, they could be targeted by a Sovereign force. I can’t do that to YuLong.”


    Yan nodded.


    “If you want to advance as a true Lord as quickly as you possibly can, you only have one option. I can’t say what it will do to your deal with the Ning Clan, but if you are successful, that deal won’t be so important.”


    For a second, I was confused, but I quickly caught on.


    “The sect?”


    “Yes. Without the next ten years of classes, joining as an inner or core disciple will be difficult, but with your skills, you should be at least a top outer sect disciple. If you have access to a large volume of quality Rank 4 pills, earning enough karmic energy for Peak Lord will be simple. Unless you can get your hands on Rank 5 pills, buying King-level energy in the sect might be difficult, but it should be possible.”


    “So, join the sect to reach peak lord, then make a deal with the Nings?”


    He shook his head. “No. Once you join the sect, you are usually a member for the rest of your life, and members are not allowed to cultivate karmic energy from outside. You can live outside the sect, but you will always be a member and will have to follow their rules. The only way to leave is by taking a position in one of the Sovereign forces. You would have to join the Ning Clan, not just make a deal with them.”


    “That’s… an option.”


    “Think it over carefully. You will always be limited in how far you can go as a member of another clan. Even if you join them, you are not of their blood. Even if you marry into the clan, your descendants will still be looked down upon by the main family.”


    That… wasn’t a concern.


    “Thanks, Yan. I’ll think about what you said.”


    I reached into my storage bag and pulled out an empty notebook. I placed it on the side table and rested my hand on it.


    “I have another favor to ask of you. Over the next several years, can you take some notes for me? Anything you think is important, please, write it down. If there’s anything you learn that you wished you had known ahead of time, or something that would have been valuable to know ahead of time, write it down for me.”


    He cocked his head to the side, trying to understand my purpose. “How long?”


    I thought about it. How long did I want to spend before I did a reset? My goal had been ten years, but I blew through that last time in an effort to reach Martial King. I was already five years into this life, and I didn’t know how much longer I would need to spend to get the most out of it, but I doubted it would be overly quick.


    Keeping to the original deadline wouldn’t be possible, but spending a total of fifteen years on this life wouldn’t be so bad.


    I clenched a fist.


    “Ten years. If you can get the notebook back to me in ten years, it should be okay.”


    He nodded cautiously. “Alright. In return, can you give me some pills? I’m not worried about advancing while in the Academy, but once I enter the sect…”


    I smiled and passed him a storage bag.


    “This should have everything you need. Use some of it to pay for everyone’s education here. I’m sure the Grandmaster courses are going to be expensive. Anything else you can keep or hand out to the others as you see fit.”


    <hr>


    I considered just vanishing like I had last time, but instead, I met with my classmates one last time.


    We all returned to the table and sat down together. The only difference from a few hours earlier was that JiaQi was holding a small, young deer in her arms.


    She seemed a bit sad as she looked at us. “I’ve decided to leave the Academy. I want to give LuLu a chance to live outside as she grows up. I’ll come back for the first term as a Grandmaster, but I’ll skip next term. I know I’m not going to be a Sovereign anyway.”


    LuLu was the young deer she was holding. After years of looking after the egg she had gotten in the Water Peak Trial, she was finally rewarded with LuLu. A deer hatching from an egg made zero sense to me, but I was apparently the only one confused by it. According to JiaQi, all demon beasts hatched from eggs.


    YuLong was the next to announce his decision. “I’m going home too. I know my limits. I’ve tried to learn to make talismans, but I have no talent for it. I only know how to fight. The best I can do is join someone else’s retinue. I need to talk with my father about my future before making any further decisions.”


    LiTing looked nervous as she spoke. “I am going to take the regular Grandmaster courses. I wasn’t given enough funds for anything else.”


    Yan put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry about that. I’ve been provided with enough to cover everyone’s costs. You should take the second term of the elite Master course with me.”


    I raised an eyebrow at his wording but didn’t interject to tell her I was the one paying. If Yan wanted to take credit here, well, I would just consider it part of the cost of getting his help.


    LiTing looked conflicted, but she eventually agreed to his offer.


    With everyone else’s plans out in the open, I was the only one left.


    “I’m leaving the Academy. I plan to quickly cultivate to Grandmaster and enter the sect. I plan to advance as fast as I can once I’m there and scout the place out.”


    Everyone except Yan was confused by my choice.


    “But… why?” JiaQi had a baffled look on her face. “Of all of us, you have the best chance to be successful here. Isn’t rushing to join now… wasteful?”


    “There are reasons… I need to hurry. There’s a lot to learn here, but I can probably get everything I need in the sect. It’s just a different kind of challenge.”


    YuLong gave me a thumbs up. “Good luck. Takes courage to make the jump like this.”


    JiaQi hit him on the arm.


    “Don’t encourage him.” Then, she turned back to me. “You need to think about this. If you rush now, you might get stuck at low Lord. You need a solid foundation in the Warrior Tier before you become a Ruler if you want to keep advancing.”


    “Thank you, JiaQi. I know there will be problems, but this is what I need to do. When you join the sect, let me know. I might already be a King by then. I’ll have to look out for my juniors.”


    She seemed to want to argue with me, but Yan stepped in to stop it.


    “Everyone has to walk their own path, JiaQi. Fang has his reasons, even if he can’t share them. All we can do is support each other whenever possible.”


    She smiled resignedly and gave up on trying to convince me to change my mind.


    Her concern made me decide to add something extra to my plans.


    “We’re all going our separate ways, but we’ll always be classmates. Let’s try to keep in touch. We should send each other letters about anything important or troubling that happens in our lives. Even if we can’t help, it’s good to share your worries with others.”


    While the others gave me a faint smile, Yan narrowed his eyes. I doubted he suspected the truth, but there was no doubt in my mind that he suspected something.