"You've finally done it. You killed the Murim Alliance's Leader. Congratulations, it only took a few years." An overbearing man who was seated spoke to a cloaked individual who was bowing at his feet.
The cloaked man didn't reply in any way, just continued to bow to this man with respect.
"However.." The man suddenly got up. "You didn't accomplish the secondary mission.. Why?" The man became angry and glared at the cloaked individual.
"..." The cloaked man still kept silent and had their head lowered..
"You are not useful if you are not used in the correct manner. A dog who doesn't listen to its owner is nothing more than a brain-dead animal to me." The man kicked the cloaked person on the head. The cloaked person didn't make a noise or move in the slightest.
The cloaked person slowly looked up and directly looked into the abusive man's eyes with a glare.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Is the great assassin known as the Shadow Follower going to betray its leader? You know we can get rid of you just as easily as we got you, right?" The man said with a light chuckle as he grabbed the throat of the Shadow Follower and lifted him up into the air.
The Shadow Follower choked while trying to breathe but didn't do anything else. The leader looked at the assassin with malice in his eyes. He was going to directly snap his neck.
However, the leader suddenly fell to the ground in shock with hellish pain encompassing his entire body..
The assassin lowered the mask covering his mouth. "My mission wasn't to kill the Murim Alliance Leader, boss. My main mission was to kill you. Ah, as for that secondary mission to kill his daughter.. Well, I don't kill kids. You broke the only rule I have, so don't be so surprised or angry at this. The only one to blame is yourself." The assassin expressionlessly walked over his previous leader's body as he groaned in pain, slowly dying.
"You.. YOU TRAITOR! YOU THINK YOU WILL GET AWAY WITH THIS? I WILL-" The assassin slowly turned their head and drew a cold side glare at him, he then twisted his finger and a dagger attached to a string that wasn't noticed before swung around and slit the throat of the man on the ground. The assassin then walked out of the room.
The previous boss of that assassin choked on his blood as he felt hellish pain he recalled the moment earlier. Realization hit him. 'That assassin must have dropped down that weapon when I kicked him. So it was then, huh? That's when you decided to kill me? I hope you're ready for the consequences..' the man thought as he slowly died on the ground with a large smirk resting on his face.
The assassin walked out of the room and stepped into the sunlight. This single action made him feel as if he had been liberated.
"Now, I suppose I will go accept the bounty that was on that fucker's head." The now free assassin chuckled to himself.
Five days later..
The entire world was in an uproar. The Murim Alliance Leader was assassinated, but so was the one known as the Demon of Tactics, the man that The Shadow Follower had killed. With the investigation of the situation it was clear that the Murim Alliance Leader's death was also his handiwork. There were many people currently after his head..
In the mean-time, The Shadow Follower wasn't doing nothing. He collected the bounty that the Demon of Tactics had on him and had then changed his face using one of his skills and effectively blended into the crowd of a local gathering on a small mountain. This gathering was currently attempting to join an orthodox sect known as the Blue Lotus.
Being in this crowd of course meant that The Shadow Follower was now forced to attempt to join the sect as well to fit in.
"Welcome everybody to this year's acceptance. I am the examiner this time for the Blue Lotus sect. You are here to try to join us and become a great warrior and bring fame as well as fortune to your families or brethren. I am here to assess you to see if you fit the qualities that we are looking for in our sect members." An elderly looking man in a robe with a scraggly beard said aloud to the group that was formed.
The crowd was still silent as they awaited the next piece of information that was given to them.
"The first thing we are going to test is your aptitude. This test is quite simple and will weed many of you out of this test. But do remember, your aptitude can change over the years as your body matures. The age of maturing stops for Qi at around 50. So we do still recommend you come to these acceptances so that you can see if you qualify until you are past 50." The seemingly ordinary old man finished saying as he brought out an orb.
"Each of you will take turns injecting what little Qi you have into this orb. Based on how bright it shines will show your purity, and the color will show what element you are talented with. A blank shine means that you are not talented in any element. A black shine will show that you are talented with every element, though we are not expectant for you to have this quality as it has not appeared for 300 years in our sect." The examiner then held out the orb and invited the crowd to come up one by one and attempt the first trial.
Many differing individuals stepped up to test themselves but were left with dissatisfaction as they were unfortunately not chosen. A particularly plain individual was more than upset at the fact.
"There has to be some sort of mistake! There is no way that I am ordinary and have no talent!" The plain man screamed into the face of the examiner.
The examiner wiped off the spit from his face and beard and looked calmly into the man's eyes. Qi was slowly building up around him.
A small looking man quickly escorted the rejected cultivator away from the area. "Sorry examiner, don't worry about acting. I will take care of this for you, " the small man said with respect as he pushed the plain man out of the area.
The Qi that was building up around the examiner dissipated, and the small man exhaled a sigh of relief and looked at the plain man in anger.
"You idiot! If you make the examiner angry, it's not just you that will have to bear the consequences! From this point on, you are banned from entering in the future! Goodbye!" The small man pushed the plain man down the mountain before he could even speak and made his way back to the area where the examination was taking place.
As he was making his way back, he was met with a strange sight.
The orb was currently emitting a black light with enough Qi to destroy the entire mountain..