The offer Mom made was very tempting but it also was not the deal that I wanted to make. However, it also included a few other things that I did not think of which I also wanted now that they were on the table.
Both options on whether to accept or not had their merits and benefits, so I was having a tough time deciding at this moment. Mom could also clearly see this and was about to say something when a forgotten type of system window popped into my vision without warning.
[Quest: Mainline 3: First Exposure to the World]
[Task 1: Accept the offer]
[Task 2: construct the shrine]
[Task 3: Gain Ten Religion Points]
[Reward: Three Tech Points]
This window caused me to jump and startle both Mom and the Sect Master, but I ignored this and instead focused on reading the window. When I finished reading, I looked up at Mom and said, "I'll take that deal."
When I said that, both of them looked at me confused. However, soon, Mom lost her confused look and asked, "Did you get a quest telling you to say that?"
I did not expect this question, and when I heard this, I completely froze up with all parts of my body going still for a few seconds before I explained, "I was already on the fence about it and would have needed some time to think it over so the quest was only there to push me over the edge. Besides, it has more than just accepting this as the task to complete it."
Mom's expression turned to one of relief after hearing this, but the Sect Master was now sporting a look of worry as I could hear him say under his breath, "I don't know if having someone who is clearly working for another party as a member of the sect is a good thing or not."
This caused me to raise an eyebrow, but I was going to ignore it when Mom suddenly spoke up behind him while patting his shoulder, saying, "It's fine in her case as the third party only cares about her development, and whether or not you are a threat to the world so we have nothing to worry about."
Seeing a small problem with what she said, I quietly interjected from the side and said, "Actually, the quest system is mostly autonomous, with only a few inputs needed from Elinaria. It is just that most quests have to go through her for authorization before they get assigned to me."
When I finished speaking, Mom gave me a look that was practically saying that I should have just kept my mouth shut but the Sect Master took this opportunity to ask, "Then what is the criteria for a new quest being generated?"
I did not think to deeply about why he was asking this question but quickly answered, "Most quests are generated based on my desires and goals, with only a few of them being made by the different gods that gave me their blessings. The rewards for the auto-generated quest, however, are only things like tech points or skill points, which can only be used through the system."
After I finished explaining, the Sect Master showed the briefest hint of disappointment before covering it up and acting like nothing happened. I was not fully paying attention to this, though, as I muttered under my breath, "I wish that I got more of them, though."
Mom then suddenly appeared next to me and whispered into my ear, "This is one of those moments where you need to be careful with what you say. You never know what people in power will do after they have had a taste of it. So unless you want someone to try and extract the system from you, you should be quiet about it."
This confused me for a moment, and I tilted my head while doing the same confused gesture I always do before saying, "But the safety measures would prevent any of that from happening."
My words seemed to have confused her for a moment as she asked, "What safety measures?"
This question left me confused, and I said without thinking too hard about why she needed to ask this question and answered her, "The same safety measures I told the elders of the sect about."
It was only after I said this and saw the confused look on Mom's face grow even deeper that I remembered she was not present for when I detailed most of the safety measures to the sect. I then proceeded to tell her about the full list of safety measures that the system had, including a few that I had not told the sect about.
Every time I did mention one of the safety measures, I did not tell the sect; I made sure to start with that.
While I was explaining this, I got to see the sect master's face and realized that he could not hear a word of what we were saying. However, he was able to see Mom's reaction to some of the things I was telling her.
This meant that when Mom showed an abject look of horror after I explained how a certain sequence of extracting the system by a certain type of individual would lead to the detonation of a neutron bomb. I got to see him start backing away in fear.
After that explanation, Mom said that she would not like to have any more nightmares and waved her hand before turning to face the sect master. She then said, "Since that is finished, is there anything else you would like to talk about?"
Remembering something else I wanted to do, I quickly spoke up and asked, "About those research materials. When would I be able to get them so I could upgrade the current facilities?"
The Sect Master smiled at this and, before Mom had the chance to mention anything, quickly said, "The sect won't be helping you with upgrading any of the facilities on the mountain unless you increase your rank to that of an inner sect disciple. After all, the deal only stipulated that the sect needed to give you research materials and not help you with your mountain."
The moment I heard this, I was instantly hoping that wasn't the case because I remembered all of those cultivation novels that had the protagonist showing up during these as well as their rivals causing issues. So I turned to Mom and gave her my best puppy eyes, hoping she would change the situation.
It was not going to be as I wanted, sadly, as Mom just looked at me helplessly and shook her head.
I did not want to participate in this kind of competition at all because of the trouble it could bring me, and the two of them could apparently see this as Mom quickly said, "You only need to make it into the inner sect and not win the competition. So it shouldn't be that hard for you."
Sadly, Mom's coercion was not working, and I still did not want to compete as, according to all the sect competitions that I had read about in books, you have to reach the top ten to enter into the inner sect. During this competition, you also can not forfeit the match and have to compete in all fights.
It was at this moment that to system windows suddenly appeared in my vision again.
[Quest: Mainline 2: Victory Is Assured]
[Task 1: Reach the peak of Qi Gathering]
[Task 2: Reach Level 100 in one combat skill field]
[Task 3: Achieve first place in the Outer Sect Competition]
[Rewards: 4 skill points (Bonuses available)]
[Quest: Mainline 1: Show The World How Behind They Are]
[Task 1: Research Nuclear Technology]
[Task 2: Upgrade the Research Complex]
[Task 3: Gather enough materials to Teach Three Students]
[Rewards: One year's worth of free nuclear power generation (one reactor only) and 5 tech points]
Seeing as I was still silent after hearing what she said, Mom spoke up again, saying, "The competition is also a month and a half away, so you have plenty of time to practice more."
The sect master turned to Mom after she said this, looking at her with some skepticism and incredulity on his face.
On the other hand, I turned to the sect master and asked, "Is it possible for the sect to give me enough materials to upgrade the shrine here first?"
The Sect Master then looked from my mother to me and asked, "Why would the sect give you the resources to upgrade the shrine here when I already said that you have to become an inner sect disciple first?"
This time, I had an argument to use at the ready and quickly replied, "Because I am going to be putting a shrine in the town square, and I don't know if its size would increase when it gets upgraded. So it would be best to upgrade the one I have here before placing one in the town were space is limited."