Outside the cell, the top brass of Crimson Snow Sect found themselves in a deadlock. The main witness himself had been summoned to give a proper account of the fiasco.
"How did you allow such foolishness to transpire right in front of your eyes, Lao Jun? This incident is unprecedented across all the years I've led this sect. Why didn't you contact any of the Elders in charge of recruitment?"
Sect Master Xuan Zi had a regretful look on his face. Bowing in front of him, Lao Jun shivered in fear.
"Sect Master, that boy... He put up an act and almost angered me to death with some tricks. I apologize for my failings. Please instruct!"
Lao Jun was ready to face severe punishments, because he was familiar with the sect master's eccentric and wilful character. What he didn't expect was for the man to reply,
"He pissed you off too? Goodness! It makes sense now!"
Xuan Zi's sympathy left Lao Jun a little confused. What did he mean?
Meanwhile, the Elders, who were listening to the whole story intently, finally began to voice their own opinions.
"Since the wager was made in full view of so many participants, it would be unwise to dishonor the rules outright."
"Yes, yes. No matter how talented that Zhou girl is, we can only hand over the slot to the boy. A lineage in contact with a fallen immortal's fate is of far greater significance than the girl's talent."
"But—"
"There are no buts to consider. Her misfortune was brought upon by herself, after all. Despite being selected as a disciple, who told her to go out of the tent to show off? Who told her to challenge this young man who didn't even want to compete for her slot?"
"That's one way to look at it. Seems like this young man was destined to be a part of our sect. Heaven's way is truly unpredictable!"
"Can't we make an exception for Xuanyuan Zhou, Sect Master? This girl sounds exceptionally resourceful, not to mention her unique disposition. I believe we'd be letting go of a true treasure if she is replaced by this boy just because of his fate."
Xuan Zi shook his head when the question was directed towards him, looking pensive.
"Compared to other sects at our caliber, we cultivate a lesser number of disciples by choice. Since I have taken over this sect, my focus has always been on quality rather than quantity. Neither the number of Elders, nor the number of disciples, not even the number of servants, has ever been an exception to the downsizing."
"But accepting that girl would hardly lower the overall quality of this batch!" The Elder argued back.
"The number of selected disciples more talented than her this year can be counted on one hand!"
"But her slot will be given to this guy. If we accept her as an extra disciple, she'll have to rely on extra grants of resources and a poorly adjusted curriculum. It'll do her potential more harm than good."
Xuan Zi cleared his throat loudly as the argument began to grow louder and chaotic.
"My dear Elders, let's put this matter up to fate. Why don't we ask the one who's in the center of our debate? Bring the boy out of the cell, Elder Wu Di."
The commotion died down as the cell door was opened, and Elder Wu Di hollered at the boy inside, who took his sweet time to walk out.
His countenance was gloomier than the overcast evening sky. Scanning the crowd of powerful cultivators in front of him, he didn't even perform a standard greeting.
"Young man, I have two pieces of good news to share with you," Xuan Zi announced.
"After hearing them, you must make a choice."
"Go ahead, Sect Master," the young man said with an unreadable expression.
"The first news is, we have adjudged you as a relatively safe anomaly. Based on the reading we've gotten from unlocking your memory seal, there was not much to be concerned about.
"Of course, as someone who experienced it directly, you'd know this better than us. Do you have anything you'd like to add? Any strange things that stood out to you in the unlocked memories?"
Han Xuhan shook his head.
"I was an ordinary mortal in those memories. I didn't have any contact with the world of cultivation. How could there be anything strange? Even if there was, I wouldn't understand it."
Xuan Zi glanced sharply at Wu Di, who nodded back at him, confirming that his mind-reading technique had detected no significant signs of falsehood.
"In that case, you are free to leave and do as you wish. Of course, it'd be safer if an experienced cultivator kept an eye on your life from here on. That brings us to the second piece of good news."
A look of relief finally spread on Han Xuhan's face. Life sparked back in his gaze.
"From Lao Jun here, we've heard that you made a wager with one of our selected disciples for her slot. The ancestry test was the foundation of your bet.
"As a general rule in our sect, anyone with a result such as yours is usually accepted into the outer court automatically. This means you've won the wager against Xuanyuan Zhou."
While Han Xuhan appeared delighted to hear the news, the faces of many Elders in the crowd grew restless. Having defended Xuanyuan Zhou till now, they naturally didn't find the Sect Master's approach proper.
"Lao Jun tells us that you weren't originally interested in joining Crimson Snow Sect. So I shall provide you with three choices today," Xuan Zi said, putting up three fingers.
"First choice: you take Xuanyuan Zhou's slot and become an outer court disciple of Crimson Snow Sect, as per the rules. You will receive the highest level of care under an elite curriculum."
"What happens to Xuanyuan Zhou in this case?" Han Xuhan asked curiously.
"The number of slots in our sect for outer court disciples is fixed. So she will be kicked out of the selected batch, of course; all according to the rules. What do you say?"
An inexplicable smile appeared on Han Xuhan's face, leaving the Elders lamenting about Xuanyuan Zhou's fate. Shaking his head, he said, "What are the other two choices?"