I Just Won't Play By The Book

"Brother, it's not like you don't know me, I…" Jiang Beiran said.

"Alright, alright. I won't advise you to advance your position in the future." Lu Bogui smiled and shook his head.

Seeing the rather disappointed look on Lu Bogui's face, Jiang Beiran was also very helpless. Actually, it was really not that he didn't want to advance his position, but because the system's options made it impossible for him to progress.

When he first came to the Sect of Returning Hearts, Jiang Beiran passed the qualification test and became an Outer Disciple, gaining the eligibility to learn the Rhymed Formula of Returning Hearts and the Sword Technique of One Word.

According to the rules of the Sect of Returning Hearts, as long as an Outer Disciple had mastered the Rhymed Formula of Returning Hearts and the first move in the Sword Technique of One Word, he would be considered to have passed his first test and become an official disciple. He would then be qualified to apply to enter an order.

As for how the application to enter an order worked, first, we must start by looking at the 24 orders established by the Sect of Returning Hearts. Each of these 24 orders had its own characteristics, including music, chess, calligraphy, painting, swords, spears, and sticks, and the Outer Disciples could choose one according to their own strengths or preferences.

When Jiang Beiran first heard about this, he was a little surprised, wondering if all sects in the world were teaching people according to their abilities, or if the head of the Sect of Returning Hearts was particularly forward-thinking and knew the importance of having a variety of talents in the sect.

When Outer Disciples passed the first test and became qualified to apply to enter an order, they could choose one of the 24 orders that they liked to find a mentor. As long as they succeeded in doing so, they could learn more advanced internal cultivation methods and martial arts in the order. If they were talented enough, there was even a possibility that a Blue Flag or Black Flag of the order, or even the Order Master, would take them in as an Inner Disciple, whereby they would be able to enjoy an absolute one-on-one elite education.

…

The Rhymed Formula of Returning Hearts and the Sword Technique of One Word were among the most introductory basic moves, so naturally, there was no mentor to provide elite one-on-one teaching. Hundreds of Outer Disciples sat down in the lecture hall, and the lecturer was no senior teacher, but a very young-looking Brother.

During the class, Jiang Beiran found that, in addition to their batch of new students, some senior students that seemed to have been there for a long time also attended the class.

There were four classes a week, and the course was over after two weeks. Before leaving, the Brother told Jiang Beiran and the others that the rest would depend on their own practice and understanding.

When it was time for self-practice, Jiang Beiran found that he was exceptionally gifted and was the first among hundreds of Outer Disciples to master the Rhymed Formula of Returning Hearts. But just as he was about to go and report to Qing Gang, who was in charge of managing them, three options suddenly popped up in front of him.

[Option One: Immediately tell Qing Gang that you have mastered the Rhymed Formula of Returning Hearts. Reward for completion: Forceful Claw of Achieving Zen (Black Grade Medium Tier)]

[Option Two: Continue practicing in silence. Reward for completion: Iron Arrows of the Black Dragon*20 (Yellow Grade Low Tier)]

[Option Three: Do nothing. Reward for completion: Random basic attribute point +1]

"Oh boy… is it so dangerous?" he wondered.

Seeing that the first option directly offered a reward of Black Grade Middle Tier, Jiang Beiran was a bit stunned. After all, this reward could basically be directly equated with getting killed.

"Could it be because the nail that sticks up the most gets hammered down?" Jiang Beiran asked himself.

Because of the extremely good impression he had of Lu Bogui, plus the fact that the latter had often talked about how good the Sect of Returning Hearts was on the way here, Jiang Beiran had formed the mental image of the Sect of Returning Hearts being a prestigious sect whereby everyone within, from top to bottom, was righteous and proper.

But at the moment it seemed that merely revealing some extraordinary talent would lead to death.

But Jiang Beiran thought about it and it made sense. Even in the 21st century, where the judicial system is mature, the streets are full of cameras, and the impressive technology of facial recognition had been developed, there were still people who dare to kill and commit crimes. Of course it would be the same in a mythical land where even fingerprint technology had not yet been developed.

If someone really wanted to kill you, they could simply poison your food, or suddenly kick you in the back when ascending the mountain. They could even directly stab you or something when you went to the toilet in the dark. All those methods would result in a death without evidence, and a detective would be considered a peerless legend if he could even catch two or three real culprits out of 100 such cases.

But while Jiang Beiran could still understand why the first option would be dangerous, he couldn't really see why the second option of practicing in silence would bring disaster. But it didn't matter, because he had already chosen Option Three.

After that, Jiang Beiran obediently acted as if he was a salted fish with no aspirations in life. Most of the disciples living in the same dormitory area got up around 5:00 am to practice, while he would only get up a couple of hours after the others had done so.

When the others were ready to go meditate after practicing swordsmanship, he also followed along and pretended to meditate for a while.

Over time, he became a useless idiot in the eyes of most of the Outer Disciples. Sometimes Jiang Beiran could even hear their mocking laughs they deliberately let him hear while he was eating.

"I don't know how this kind of person could pass the qualification test."

"Yeah right. Every day he sleeps in until 9 o'clock. Not even my pig can sleep that much."

"Forget it. Let's not talk about others like that. We can't blame them for having poor talent, too."

…

Faced with such ridicule, not only was Jiang Beiran's heart calm, he even wanted to laugh a little.

‘Isn't this the typical opening for stories where the protagonist started out as a loser? Steady!' he thought to himself.

Such learning continued for two weeks, and eventually, a handsome male disciple named Wei Yang came out top. He told Qing Gang that he had mastered the Rhymed Formula of Returning Hearts as well as the first move of the Sword Technique of One Word.

Amid the envious gazes from the crowd, Wei Yang waved goodbye to his fellow disciples whom he had been studying with for a month and was ready to apply to enter an order.

After two more weeks, most of the Outer Disciples of the same batch had mastered the skills required and passed the test. Only thirteen disciples, including Jiang Beiran, were left in the lecture hall.

Another early morning, without any notice, Jiang Beiran discovered that a new batch of Outer Disciples had arrived at the lecture hall.

"What a steady intake of students…"

In just over a month, another hundred Outer Disciples had been recruited, which gave Jiang Beiran a more concrete understanding of the size of the Sect of Returning Hearts.

But the other Outer Disciples who were from the same batch as him were not so relaxed. They all had very ugly expressions when they saw the new Outer Disciples because they knew that they had become those that were left behind that they had once ridiculed.

…

After that, Jiang Beiran did not stay back for too long. At the end of the first month of the new batch of Outer Disciples' arrival, when there were a few others from his batch left with him, two options appeared in front of him.

[Option One: Remain in the lecture hall. Reward for completion: Palm of Clear Skies (Black Grade Low Tier)]

[Option Two: Pass the test. Reward for completion: Random basic attribute point +1]

It was rare to have only two options, and Jiang Beiran didn't bother to think about why Option One would offer such a good reward. He instead directly chose Option Two.

Having found Qing Gang in the hut outside the lecture hall, Jiang Beiran told him that he had mastered the Rhymed Formula of Returning Hearts and the first move of the Sword Technique of One Word.

Without much reaction, Qing Gang nodded at Jiang Beiran and let him demonstrate the first move of the Sword Technique of One Word, then pressed his palm on Jiang Beiran's chest and asked him to practice the Rhymed Formula of Returning Hearts.

The moment he practiced the Rhymed Formula of Returning Hearts, Jiang Beiran immediately thought that if he had chosen Option Two and continued practicing in silence, he would have been discovered to be hiding his talent by this Qing Gang before him. Then there would be no telling what would have followed.

Sensing that Jiang Beiran had managed to practice the Rhymed Formula of Returning Hearts with difficulty, Qing Gang nodded and said to Jiang Beiran, "Well, you have passed the test.. You are now an official disciple of the Sect of Returning Hearts, so you can go and apply to enter an order on your own."