Chapter 131
Matters of Sect Founding
By the time Leo came upon the clearing where Azariel and he initially stumbled upon the chaos, the man was gone, and in his stead were the scattering few embers and the drifting ashes. There was only one corpse present, the woman's, something Leo had hoped. There was something that the system had given him—the ability to consume a dead person's memories—that he was yet to test. While he couldn't do it to that behemoth in the Well, he'd hoped he'd be strong enough at least to do it to the woman, merely to learn whether they actually did kill the rest of the Clans in the forest.
He crouched by her body and tried sitting her up, but the rigor mortis had already set in; she was heavier and wholly inflexible. Either way, he poured a twinge of Qi into the tip of his index finger and pressed it against the woman's forehead. The head lit up like a main street during Christmas for a moment as Leo felt a deluge of memories suddenly appear inside his mind.
They appeared precisely as that—memories, as though he himself had experienced them. Thankfully, whether it was the system or something more innately his own, he very much knew the distinction between his and her memories. Furthermore, hers were erroneously fragmented—there wasn't a single full, unbroken memory in there, even of things that happened a few hours ago. It was similar to how he, and, indeed, most other people he imagined, remembered high school almost twenty years out of it—scattered few fragments around which the context was built.
Of the years he spent in the education system, he would have been lucky to string together a two-hour-long movie of memories. Perhaps it was on him and his excessive drinking, but he believed it was not. That was simply how a mind worked—old memories got compressed further and further until only contextual fragments remained, while the new ones took their place.
It was strange that all of the woman's memories were that way, yes, but also not; it may simply be the issue of transference or that he'd waited too long after her death to do it.
Nonetheless, he did learn a few things from her memory—they, indeed, had hunted down all three other Clans that were set to awaken in the Forest. They also swung by Azariel's place but found abandoned homes and figured they must have run off or been killed by something or someone.
Besides a couple of shockingly... disturbing memories of her supposed 'brother' and her, there was little else; the old memories, the ones from before she woke up, were even more scattered and fragmented. Rather, there were only three snapshots: a moment before she and the others were entombed, with the memory depicting a rather lavish courtyard and some hundred people in the audience, with tall towers rising in the distance.
The second memory was of when she seemed to have been informed of the plan, as it also included her 'brother' and quite a few other people. They were presented the news in a rather cozy-looking hall by a masked figure draped in shadows.
The last memory was of when she was a kid, as the world around seemed far taller and larger than in other memories. It was a singular snapshot of a battle between her brother and another person, of when the former seemed to have compelled the latter to commit suicide.
All other memories were worthless or the ilk that were just byproducts of living. As such, Leo opened his eyes with a frown, having expected more.
Since all other bodies have been obliterated with the lightning (which bore the question of how the woman's survived), there was nothing else to do here. Glancing over, he flinched—the body was... gone. For a moment he wondered whether he dreamed the whole thing up and if the body was never truly there, but chances were higher that his act of reading the memories was the culprit.
Regardless, he oriented himself toward the camp and started heading back.
He was already formulating plans, though not well; of the many things that he was, both back on Earth and here, a planner... was not one of them. He wasn't much of a strategist, even less so considering the absolute blind spot he had toward this world's common knowledge. Though he wanted to start a Sect and grow it, he had just about no knowledge of any of the logistics behind it.
Thus, he had to sit down the kids and the old man and ask them. There was little he could divulge, though he suspected that at least Azariel and Lu Yang would have an inkling of why he was doing it, which, for the time being, would be enough. He also wasn't exactly certain how to ascertain someone as a Direct Disciple—there was little doubt in him that Liang and Yue would be the first two, but perhaps he first had to establish the Sect and accept other Disciples before crowning them. Either way, the two needn't know anything for now—they were still young, doe-eyed in a way, and he just wanted them to slowly grow stronger.
By the time he returned to the camp, it was almost dawn, and, without resting, he quickly whipped up a breakfast. Others started leaving the longhouse not too long after, and animals began to converge.
He was a bit shocked, altogether, as there were more of them than ever before—a quick summary told him there were just shy of two hundred animals lodging around the longhouse at the moment, and that excluded those who exclusively showed up at night. He had to quickly spin up a new round of fires and fill the pots back up, feeling momentarily like a haggard chef in a highly ranked restaurant.
It was about an hour later that things finally calmed down and he could sit and eat himself, with the kids having scattered about beforehand. Though he wanted to sit them down and discuss the Sect business, he figured asking Lu Yang first might be for the better.
"I want to create a Sect," His words dragged the old man's attention away from some flowers he was inspecting. The bushy eyebrows were raised, and the sagging eyes were opened.
"Then you should."
"Thank you for your endorsement, but that's not why I brought it up."
"Why did you bring it up, then?"
"Because I don't know how to create a Sect," Leo spoke rather honestly as the old man chuckled.
"Ah, and you are asking me?"
"Something like that, yes."
"I don't know how to create a Sect either, however. If you'd recall, I didn't reign over a Sect, but a Clan. And though, in some ways, the two can be similar, the reality is that they are as different as different gets."
"See? I didn't even know that. I just figured, hey, it's telling kids what to do. How different could it be?"
"Yes, that's all Sect is—old people telling kids what to do," Lu Yang said, though he restrained himself from rolling his eyes at the very least. "But... I will help, at least."
"... I cannot leave the Forest," Leo said. "Not any time soon, anyway."
"You don't have to," he said. "Really, recruiting kids might be the easiest part."
"Hm?"
"The biggest hurdle any new Sect encounters isn't the Disciples--there are millions of kids being born every year, after all. And, yes, most of them aren't talented, and better-ranked Sects do get a priority on the talented ones, but that is precisely it: resources. And, well, if there's one thing you don't lack, it's resources. In the past week, I ate twenty-four G'umani Fruits," the old man said. "If I said that, out loud, to anyone outside these woods, they'd think me a charlatan."
"..."
"Smaller Sects struggle not just because no talented kids come to them," he added. "But because even when they do, they have no means of rearing them. Yue and Liang are proof enough for you—all you have to do is send them out, let them show off in one of the many tournaments, and kids will start flocking here. Yes, here. The Forest is scary, and it's a monstrous concept, but there will always be those who will disregard everything if it means there's a chance."
"So, your big idea is... send the kids out to show off? Roll back for a moment," Leo said. "What will be the highest hurdle, then?"
"The word will get out," Lu Yang said. "And this place will be attacked. Repeatedly. From the light, from the shadows, and from within. So, unless it's imperative..."
"It's imperative," Leo said as the heavy silence hung between the two men. There was a glint of understanding within Lu Yang's eyes as he smiled.
"Then, a Sect we shall build," he said. "For starters, we should probably build a Sect."
"Right. Well, we can't do it here," Leo said, already having considered this.
"Hm?"
"There's a place about ten minutes from here that I... helped a while back. It's rather vast and open, and there are no trees or hovels anywhere. It should make a perfect place for a Sect."
"What about roles, then?"
"You'd be the Sect Master."
"No I wouldn't."
"If you want to keep eating G'umani Fruits, you will."
"... I always dreamed about being a Sect Master, actually." Leo laughed momentarily as Lu Yang took out two bottles of that awful alcohol, sharing one. "Why not you? Or do you simply prefer to work from the shadows?"
"Many reasons," Leo said, not mentioning that chief of which was the likelihood that he'd have to leave at some point. "Namely, you are vastly more likable than me. You have that sweet grandpa look down pat. I look so homeless I am a stone's throw away from wholly losing my mind."
"We still need Elders, teachers, and a litany of people to take up perfumatory functions," Lu Yang said. "Especially if, as I imagine, you plan on having more than ten Disciples."
"Aza can be one of the Elders."
"Great. Now we only need nine more."
"... haah, looks like I'll have to call in some favors," Leo said, taking a swig of the alcohol. "Okay. Tomorrow morning, take Liang and go to the Holy Blade Sect. Ask to meet with their Sect Master and just mention my name. Inform him or her—I don't know if he's recovered yet—that I'm looking to start a Sect and that I could use their help. Maybe they know some hermits and such that we can try recruiting."
"Aha, aha. You want me to do what?"
"You heard me perfectly fine. Not too long ago, I saved the life of Holy Blade's Sect Master."
"..." Lu Yang's expression was rather comical, prompting Leo to smile for a moment.
"And some time before that, I saved some of their Disciples and one of their Elders. It should have bought me some goodwill with them. If you're uncomfortable, I can just send Liang."
"... no, no, I will go," Lu Yang said, suddenly seeming a couple decades younger. "It was always a dream of mine to stand on equal ground with those lofty Sect Masters of big-shot Sects. And it doesn't get bigger than Holy Blade Sect. It will do wonders for my ego, I believe."
"I don't doubt that. A warning, though."
"Yes?"
"Be reasonable."
"What's... that supposed to mean?"
"You will know," Leo replied rather mysteriously, imagining that Yu Minge and Xiaoling would likely offer Elders of their own Sect if he'd read them correctly. Leo, naturally, would not accept that—nor would he accept any of their Disciples. Ultimately, even if the reason he was building a Sect was for the sake of something grander than his own ambitions, it wasn't as though he could well enough say it.
As far as other Sects were concerned, his would be a competition, and he wouldn't abuse his good standing to extort beyond reason. All he wanted, really, was a bit of guidance... and perhaps some building materials. Which he was just about to mention before stopping himself—Holy Blade Sect recently underwent a massive attack and was also in the process of rebuilding. He had no heart to ask for supplies.
There was still the stone quarry and some leftover stones they'd mined for the longhouse, and there were plenty of trees to go around. Perhaps, for the beginnings, it would be enough. As for the future? Well, he was never much of a planner—and that seemingly hasn't changed, even with death. He'd worry about it when it became time to worry about it. Until then? There were Sect names to peruse, after all.