Before the award ceremony, the remaining fights took place to decide the other positions. Maxwell only watched the fight to decide third and fourth place and sat in boredom for the remaining time.
Maxwell was alone at the award ceremony, with none of his family there to watch this momentous occasion other than Orphelia. Many families had come to see their younger generation get in one of the top three sects.
'I hope Lily is alright. She is probably writhing in pain from the burst of cold qi.'
Maxwell grew worried thinking about Lily's predicament. Only his mother was there to help Lily and she could not stick by her side permanently.
Suddenly a violent scene flashed in Maxwell's head. He stood among the rubble of a building, surrounded by corpses. He was holding a familiar body, it was the corpse of the only person who helped him as a child in his memories, his younger half-sister. She was the only one in his family to not ostracize him and bully him.
Tears rolled down his face and fell on the cold corpse. There were fires blazing around the ruined area and many fallen cultivators lay, with nobody to honor their remains. Maxwell's heart ached on seeing the scene. He only inherited the memories and he had not delved into them long enough to be affected by it. Yet it seemed that the memories invoked feelings that slumbered in his soul.
'Is this the other me telling me to not lose her? He must not want me to have regrets.'
Maxwell pulled himself out from the flashback and pondered what he was going to do after receiving the awards.
'I can find Earth Fire and suppress the constitution with it or send Lily to the Ice Lotus Sect. Trouble is brewing here so she will be safer there, but in the end it's all up to her.'
Maxwell avoided further boredom with his thoughts, and he was interrupted by the start of the awards ceremony. The announcer was Orphelia, and her beauty had captivated many of the young men who were present. The elders of the three sects sat separately to allow distinction. Orphelia called out the names of the lowest ranking cultivator to stand in front of the elders to be chosen.
Her voice was bright and was authoritative, it reached everyone's ears. Body Refining Sect had chosen the least disciples till now and the Immortal Sword Sect had taken most of the swordsmen and women. Even from the top 10 students, only one went to the body refining sect. Three had chosen The Immortal Sword Sect and One had chosen to go to the Roaring Dragon Sect.
Only the top five were left to choose a sect. They were called out, one by one with lots of applause and cheers to the stage. They were then given a box of good quality wood which contained a vial of Foundation Building Pills.
"I'm sure you must be wondering where the other rewards are. All those rewards will be picked by you in the sect of your choice."
"Now, it's time for you to choose the sect you will join."
The people at fifth and third place chose the Immortal Sword Sect and fourth place had chosen the Roaring Dragon Sect.
"Second place, Lucius Bright, it is your turn to choose your sect."
With no hesitation in his voice, he said," I choose the Immortal Sword Sect."
It was now Maxwell's turn. The elders wanted his talent to be part of their sect and they all made offers.
'I already made my decision but it's better if I can get more.'
"Boy, if you join the Body Refining Sect, we will help you train your body to the peak. You will get beautiful muscles like me. I will make sure you get extra training resources if you join us." A muscular elder said while flexing his arms.
"I would make you join our sect if you were a sword cultivator," an elder from the Immortal Sword Sect with a long beard and moustache said while sighing, "what a pity we have to lose out on your talents."
"I will allow you to qualify for the core disciple competition if you join our sect and you can become my disciple once you win the competition, as my disciple I will pass on my lightning techniques to you." The elder from Roaring Dragon Sect, who had black hair and a bushy beard offered Maxwell. He had a reputation as a lightning element user and was rather feared.
There was tension in the air as the elders waited for his response.
"I will join the Roaring Dragon Sect," proclaimed Maxwell.
"Good! You will directly be admitted as an Inner Disciple, but you will have to take some basic classes with the rest of the new disciples."
The elders then jointly announced, "All the new disciples, you have two months before you have to report to the sect."
They then left the venue with the award ceremony being over.
While Maxwell was walking off the stage he was hit on the back with a strong pat.
"Son, you did good, first place." Maxwell's fathers boisterous voice came from behind him.
"Ow, dad. You don't have to hit me so hard."
His father's appearance had shocked many people. His father still looked young and handsome and the people from his generation recognized him as if a day had not passed since they had last seen him. Many people shivered in fear after seeing him.
"Oh, there's a lot of my old acquaintances here, tell me if they ever make trouble for you. I'll give them a nice lesson after that."
"Sure, dad."
"Once Orphelia is done with her work, I'll take you to a good place for a meal. We can celebrate your first place."
"Where?" Maxwell asked curiously.
"You will see when we get there."
They sat near the area, talking about the last two weeks. Maxwell's father had barely been home for them to talk to each other. Orphelia quickly completed her work and greeted them.
"Hello uncle!"
"Hello Orphelia, you should just call me father. You look beautiful today, Maxwell thinks so too but he is not bold enough to tell you."
"Thank you." Orphelia looked at Maxwell to confirm it. His cheeks were slightly tinged red, and he was looking away.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Arthur spoke up.
"Follow me, we are going to celebrate."
They followed him to the center of the capital where all the prestigious businesses were located. They were heading in the direction of a restaurant when a token that Maxwell's father had on his hip glowed.
"Oh, it's Linda. I can give her the good news."
"Arthur!" Maxwell's mother spoke scared and worried, "Lily is covered in ice and it's spreading through the room."
The trio's expression instantly turned sour.
'That's the final burst of cold qi before the awakening. Someone must help her control it in time.'
"We can take Arion. We can use the carriage to let him fly quicker."
"Okay, Linda we will be there soon, try slowing the ice till we come."
They ran to the mansion with Orphelia tagging along.
"I'm coming with you. There's Earth Fire nearby, we can use it to melt the ice if we need to."
"Okay."
They entered the mansion and split up. Maxwell's father went to his study to bring some items and Maxwell rushed into the stables along with Orphelia where Arion was currently surrounded by mares.
"Arion, quickly get the carriage. We're returning."
Arion quickly left, grasping the situation as an emergency. They quicky entered the carriage and departed.
"I will fly as fast as I can. The carriage is weightless to me and it is giving me spiritual energy as we fly." Arion's voice echoed in Maxwell's head through their contract bond.
"I will give you higher grade Spiritual Herbs as a reward for your hard work later, thank you," responded Maxwell.
"It's nothing."
The carriage was filled with silence, and everyone was worried. Orphelia was sitting on a chair, contacting the elder to inform him of her departure. She then told her master that she would be away for a while to visit her hometown.
After two hours of travel, they arrived. Arion was exhausted but the carriage relieved most of his tiredness. Maxwell's father rushed into Lily's room and broke through the ice with brute force. Surprisingly, the ice bruised his fist.
The ice formed a cocoon around Lily, putting her in a slumber. Maxwell's father wrapped the cocoon in his Fire qi, trying to melt it. The fire did nothing to it causing them to panic.
Maxwell spoke to Lily, "Lily, control the qi. Restrain it in your body. It will hurt you but you will wake up after that. Don't let it rage through your body."
Maxwell was oddly calm but his mind was in a frenzy trying to solve it.
'She should be able to hear me. I don't know if she is strong enough to control the cold qi in her body.'
The cocoon around Lily grew smaller but it was harder and looked like glass. It was oddly smooth and lustrous.
'Do I really have to attack it with lightning qi?'
"Lily, I'm sorry in advance for this."
Maxwell placed his palms on the ice and sent a burst of Lightning Qi from his palms. It burst out like small lightning bolts and ripped through Lily's body and the ice. Her body shook and the Lightning flowed through it.
A tear rolled down Maxwell's cheek as he watched Lily get shocked by the Lightning. Maxwell's parents watched in fear, clutching each other's hands. Orphelia placed her hand on Maxwell's shoulder, supporting him.
'It's now up to Lily.'