"Me?" Wu Ling asked, trying to keep the surprise in his voice mild. The sect wouldn't frown on it if they thought he had a relationship with Meifeng, but he didn't want to create any mistaken impressions while she was joining the sect. "You mean in the sense that it will help me choose a second path since I'm close to being a late-stage Aesthete and then an Understudy?"
"No, I mean because the number of crystals each of your companions lights up will determine how many contribution points you receive for bringing them into the sect. If they lack the potential to become second-stage cultivators without the support of pills and elixirs, you'll be awarded five hundred contribution points, but if they have greater potential then each larger stone that lights up is worth an additional thousand points for you and each smaller stone is worth one hundred," the Novice Scholar said.
Adding to the sect's general ranks was important, after all, there was never a shortage of work to be done by skilled Aesthetes, but bringing in cultivators with the ability to progress beyond the first stage offered considerably more value to the sect. The reward structure was intended to encourage disciples to bring over exceptional cultivators and not simply to find large numbers of mediocre talents.
"Ladies, learn well from this moment," Florist Dongtian cautioned. "The Bamboo Silk House values talents, and talented cultivators who are suitable for the Dark Half of the sect are rare treasures. Choose those you bring here with care. Reckless recruitment will result not only in a suspension of recruitment privileges but punishments as well. If you can discover true gems, however, young women who are as capable as you two seem to be, bringing them into the sect can be incredibly rewarding for you."
"Sister Wu Ling," Su Yao said, her voice rising sharply. "You didn't just bring me here so you could get rewards did you?" Su Yao asked, her blue eyes flashing in an imitation of Su Xiang's intense gaze.
"Sisters, please," Wu Ling said, placing his slender fingers over his heart in mock offense. "I told you why I brought you here. That I get a small reward for it is wonderful, but it's hardly how I intend to harvest most of my contribution points. When I asked Mother, she wasn't sure what the rewards were and said it might be enough to buy myself some brushes for painting and calligraphy but probably not more than that so I didn't give it much thought."
"Well, in that case, I forgive you for profiting off bringing us here," Su Yao said with a teasing laugh. "Sister Meifeng, you go first, I want to see how amazing you are so I can imagine your family's faces when they find out what they're missing out on."
Needing no further encouragement, Yao Meifeng pushed down her anxiety and placed both hands on the formations, shivering slightly as energy from the Pathfinder Tree Formation flowed through her, reaching from the tips of her fingers to the bottom of her toes, wrapping around her heart and mind, even sinking deep into her soul to take a full measure of her potential.
"Brilliant," Novice Dongtian said with a warm smile. "It seems like the playfulness of the Snow Storm Sable has cleared the way for you all the way to late-stage Trusted Artist and all the way to late-stage Awakened Mystic. You should consider that as a second path to truly leverage your potential. If you're able to reach the end of the third stage without encountering obstruction, obtaining the pills you need to break through to the fourth stage and become an Inner Sect disciple or an Outer Sect Elder shouldn't be too difficult. It seems like this level of potential has cost you some of the strength a bearer of the Surging River Grizzley bloodline would normally possess though," the older woman mused as she studied the results.
"At most, you could become an early-stage Soldier and neither of your bloodlines have lent themselves to the path of a Scholar, I'm afraid that you'll need help there if you ever want to move beyond being an Initiate," she said a touch sadly. "Still, you have an extraordinary future ahead of you with potential like this. Once we're finished here, I'll bring you to the Hidden Library to select an appropriate ice attribute cultivation manual and if you'd like, you can also browse similar manuals for Mysticism so you know what kind of opportunities you'll find there," she said helpfully.
Yao Meifeng stared at the glowing spirit stones for several moments as the Novice Scholar's words sank in. The potential not just to reach the second stage, but deep enough into the third stage that she would approach the fourth. Moreover, the sect had the resources to allow her to continue forward from there instead of becoming stuck as the Yao family patriarch had.
Patriarch Yao could walk proudly with little opposition in the Outer City for reaching the end of the third stage but no matter what he did, he had no path forward from there. It was one of the reasons that Yao Meifeng's father pushed so hard for her to marry into the Xiao Clan and obtain the favor of a faction with closer ties to the Inner City. Only with the resources available to fourth-stage cultivators could the Yao family hope to break the shackles of their bloodline and ascend to greater heights.
"Thank you Florist Dongtian," she finally said, cupping her hands formally and bowing in gratitude. "This past year, I'd all but given up hope that I'd have a bright future in cultivation. Today, you've given me something of immense value just by performing this test. Thank you."
"Didn't I tell you?" Wu Ling said, slipping an arm around Yao Meifeng's waist and giving her a gentle squeeze. "You were far too talented to waste your time playing zither in those crowded taverns. You're meant for greater things Sister Meifeng," he said, smiling warmly at the diminutive musician.
Seeing her heart swell at the revelation of her potential, Wu Ling felt that it was worth all of the risks he'd taken in bringing her here. Her family's constant pressure and the year she'd spent running from them had worn away the once bright and hopeful gleam he'd seen in her eyes when they attended school together. Now, it felt like that hope for the future was truly coming back to her.
"Okay, my turn," Su Yao said, eagerly bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. "I want to see what my path looks like!"