Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

"The sects donate a yearly amount to the orphanages in all the cities. In return for doing that, they get to choose what children they can take with them to make their disciples," the guard said.

"The kingdom doesn't take care of the orphans?" Alex asked.

"The agreement between the sects and the orphanages was found to be a better choice than just having the kingdom take care of it," the guard said. "Because of how many sects there are that want a piece of the pie, they end up donating some good money to the orphanages."

"And there is a competition between them?" Alex asked.

"Sort of," the guard replied. "Whoever pays the most that year gets to have the first choice at one kid that that they want to take away, every other kid is then divided based on whatever the group of sect prefers."

"Such competitions end up with the orphanages getting donated a lot of money."

"I see," Alex said. "It's a good incentive, I suppose. Morally it feels like you're paying to buy someone, so I don't think I can ever think of copying such a strategy to my own continent."

The guard said nothing. 

After flying for nearly an hour, the guard spoke. "It's about 2 minutes away in that direction," the guard pointed.

"We're close, huh," Alex said. "Get away from me for now. I want to go in here alone."

"But your majesty," the guard spoke. "It could be dangerous."

"You can come if it feels dangerous," Alex said. "I just don't want the sect to hide things when they notice you."

The guard frowned for a bit but said nothing in return. He slowed down, creating a gap between him and Alex.

Slowly, Alex drifted away from the guard, and by the time he arrived at what was the Frozen Glacier school, the guard was nowhere to be seen.

He slowly landed in front of the gate of the school and was stopped by the guards there. They looked at him with a confused look as they neither recognized his clothes, nor the mask he wore.

"Greetings, senior. May we know what your reason is for visiting?" one of the guards asked.

"I was on a date with a girl just a few hours ago, but she left in the middle of it to come here," Alex said. "I was wondering what she was doing, so I followed her here. Can you take me to her?"

The guards looked at each other, slight surprise clear in their eyes. "Who might it be that you are talking about?" the guard asked. "We have to keep our guest's privac—"

"I'm talking about Talia, the disciple of the Cloud Iron sect," Alex said. "I want you to take me to her."

"But… senior Talia is currently with the sect leader. I'm afraid I cannot take you to her," the guard said.

"Do you have the authority to stop me from entering, young man?" Alex asked. "Should you at least not ask your seniors before deciding if that's a good idea or not?"

The guards hesitated a bit. It was obvious that they could not let someone without any prior appointment into the sect without knowing who they were.

The guards didn't bother asking who he was as they didn't want to offend a senior by asking them to name themselves. However, now that Alex had said that, they held back no longer.

"What should we address you as, senior?" the guard asked. "I will notify the sect leader of your arrival and see if he wants to meet with you."

"You can address me as Talia's date," Alex said. "Since your sect leader is currently with her, she can tell him who I am if she wishes to."

The guards had no reason to hesitate, so they quickly messaged the sect leader. After waiting for a while, they got a response back.

"The sect leader will be out in a bit," the guard said.

Alex nodded and remained where he was, waiting for the man to come out.

Surprisingly, the man that came out was someone who looked like they were in their late 20s. "Is that the sect leader?" Alex asked the guards.

"Yes, that is our sect leader," the guards said. They bowed toward their sect leader and moved out of the way to let him meet Alex.

The young man arrived close enough for Alex to see that he was slightly taller than him. 

"You must be sect leader Lan Sikong," Alex spoke up as he looked at the man.

"Can you take off your mask so I may see who it is beneath it?" the man asked. 

"I'm afraid I can't do that. I'm wearing this mask precisely for people to not see who I am beneath it," Alex said.

"Okay, then may I know your name?" the young man asked.

"You may address me as Talia's date, as I had your guards tell you," Alex said.

The sect leader frowned a bit. "I wasn't aware that Talia courted men. I had believed she was too focused on her own self to court men at all," the sect leader said.

"Well, I only met her today, so I can't tell you how she is normally," Alex said. 

"Then did you follow her because she left you?" the sect leader asked.

"No, I came because I was told by a kid in an orphanage that I shouldn't have left Talia alone," Alex said. "Now, may I know where Talia is?"

The sect leader looked at him for a few seconds and nodded. "She's over on the other side of the sect, taking care of sick children," he said.

"I see," Alex said. "Let me go meet her then."

The sect leader nodded and stepped aside for Alex to walk in. He followed behind Alex, showing him the way into the sect.

Alex looked around at the sect, somewhat surprised at how good the sect was overall. From architecture, to maintenance, to Qi density; everything was exactly what one would think when they thought of a large, powerful sect.

"You are quite young, sect leader," Alex said. "How did you come to this position?"

"Mostly luck," the sect leader said. "You could say I got lucky at every step and reached where I am today."

"I see," Alex said. 

Alex noticed a severe lack of students walking around, which felt a little weird, but not enough for him to think of anything. There were enough walking around, so Alex didn't focus on that for the most part. 

After walking for a while, he walked into a room where he finally saw Talia. Only, she was inside a barrier. Not only her, but many other people were inside of different barriers as well.

"What the hell is going on here?" Alex asked, confused.

"You will find out soon," the sect leader said as he pulled out a sword. "For now, you should move inside as well."