Chapter 276 - Joining The Sect
The process was more straightforward than Rean and Roan thought. Calina first requested a private room and then called the Zafa Bank Branch supervisor in Majorias City. As soon as she showed her token, the Supervisor understood what kind of background she had.
He wasn't afraid of the token not being genuine. Anyone caught trying to fake the Imperial Family token would not have a good ending. It was to the point that all relatives would be affected as well. The Empire put very high importance on this topic too.
After that, they just had to wait a few hours. Not long after, the Supervisor came back with a bunch of papers containing all the background that Calina could work with. Their service was so good that even if the Dalamu Sect sent someone to check, they would really find a 'family, friends, story, etc.' Well, the Imperial Family was a very lucrative partner to the Zafa Bank, so they really took it seriously.
In the end, Calina's name temporarily changed to Illia Zafin, a young girl from the Fosk Country. Her background was quite a prominent one, which explained the resources necessary for her actual cultivation. She was sent to travel through the countries on her own to experience life, just like all the young members of the 'Zafin Family' did. As one can imagine, she decided to enter the sect for the time being out of 'necessity.'
This part wasn't a lie. There was really an influential Zafin Family in the country of Fosk. And thanks to the Zafa Bank's help, now they also had registries of a black-haired blue-eyed girl called Illia in their ranks. That's just how good this service was. Not many know, but the Zafa Bank can even arrange for someone to join the Shadow Reapers as a member, if necessary.
Soon, Rean, Roan, and Calina came out of the bank.
"See? My father is a prince of the Empire, but at the same time, he works with Empire's Bureau Office. He had used this service of the Zafa Bank several times in the past to investigate frauds. All princes and princesses in the Imperial Family aren't allowed to simply live there, doing nothing. They have to work and prove that they are worthy of carrying the family's name. It would also be the same for me once I become 15 years old."
Even Roan was quite impressed by that. It was quite a complicated system for a medieval world like this one. His opinion of the Imperial Family increased a little as well. The great majority of the Royal, Imperial, or similar powers he saw in his previous life would simply use the 'blood' excuse to keep enjoying their status. Only a few between them would run the family, leaving the rest free to do whatever they wanted.
"You are not as helpless as I thought. Oh well, it is mostly thanks to the system that the Imperial Family put in place, though."
After that, Rean's group returned to their hotel again, where Calina began to memorize all the details of her 'new' identity. Rean and Roan took a look at it as well, just to be sure. They weren't afraid of anyone coming to look for them since they warned Hulian about it. It's just that they didn't tell where they were going.
For the next two days, Rean's group did not leave the hotel. They stayed there cultivating or other things. Since Calina already knew about the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm, they even let her enter it again, where Roan forced his training methods on her. Fortunately for Calina, Roan didn't go all out. He wanted to leave her in top condition for the exam, just in case.
Soon, the Sect Exam entrance arrived once more. Rean and Roan left the hotel earlier to not be seen with the girl. Even when they went to the Zafa Bank, they kept Calina's head covered so that others wouldn't see her appearance. That way, no one would relate them to her once she appears.
"Do you think everything will be okay?"
Roan shrugged his shoulders.
"No idea. If worse comes to worst, we can talk directly with Mia. Let's go back to the sect. It would be weird if we suddenly decided to watch the Sect Entrance exam."
Rean nodded.
"By the way, who is overseeing the exam this time?"
"It's Zaia, the Inner Sect of the Blue Orchid."
Rean was quite surprised by that.
"Her? That's quite a coincidence. She definitely won't let a girl like Calina go and will use her first pick chance to get her."
Roan didn't mind, though.
"That doesn't matter. Do you remember Malaka's case? Zaia would still use her own methods to get Calina for herself. The fact that she is overseeing the exam just means that she won't have to pay anything for it."
Rean had to admit that Roan was right.
"Well, that's true."
Back then, everyone could have contended for Malaka. Still, Zaia got her into her Blue Orchid Faction with ease even though the other elders also wanted her.
It didn't take long for the exam to start after that. As everyone expected, just seeing Calina and her Peak Foundation Establishment Realm caught everyone's attention. After all, only those under 14 years old could participate in it. The guardians of each of the kids warned them to not get in her way at any cost. If possible, it would be better if they could ally themselves with her.
Quite a few young boys tried to talk to her, just to be ignored completely. Calina couldn't care less about all of that. In her eyes, only Rean and Roan could speak at the same level as herself in this place. Zaia also noticed Calina in the middle of the participants and was taken aback. If it depended on herself, she would have immediately brought that girl into the sect.
However, she knew better than to do so. With such a talent and cultivation, that girl would have no issues whatsoever to pass her exam. There was no need to incur others' evil thoughts by allowing her to enter through the backdoor.
No surprises appeared in the first part of the exam. Calina ended being the first place with an overwhelming advantage. Once the Affinity and Aptitude Tests began, the age test before them proved that Calina was indeed under fourteen years old, much to Zaia's delight.
Calina mentioned before that her Aptitude was at the Blue Level, which was confirmed during the test. Zaia wasn't sad by that, though. If Calina turned out to have a Red Color aptitude, the Core Elders would definitely have stepped forward to take her for themselves.
The next one was the Elemental Affinity Test. Roan warned Calina about her Cultivation Technique before that, though. It could increase her body's concentration of Yin Energy and allow its use. If she went all out in the Elemental Affinity Test, she would far surpass any of her peers. That being said, Roan told her to hold back. Calina, of course, followed Roan's orders there. Her Elemental Affinity Test lit up eight Affinity Orbs. Malaka, for example, lit seven during her time. However, Malaka was younger and had lower cultivation. Nonetheless, that was an excellent number already.
Finally, it was the practical exam that Zaia prepared for them. It was a group exam, just like Hulian did in the past. In the end, Calina carried her group members to the end. When the time came to pick up the member of each faction, no one was surprised that Zaia picked Calina straight away. Other than her, Zaia only got another three girls for her Blue Orchid Faction.
Of course, Zaia called Calina over on that same day to ask about her background, reasons to be here, etc. Calina then followed the entire script, saying that she was almost 14 years old. As part of her family's tradition, she came here to experience life and would only stay for a few years before going back. Since she had to live on her own efforts, she might as well join a local sect to acquire the resources she needed. It was then that she found out that the Dalamu Sect had its own Entrance Exam approaching. In the end, here she was.
Zaia felt somewhat sad to know that this girl would still go back to her country after some time. Nevertheless, having a strong girl like her in her Blue Orchid Faction would be a good thing to stimulate the actual members there.
She was offered to enter the Spiritual Rebirth Formation, just like Malaka. However, Calina refused, saying that she already received a similar treatment back in her home. A second time would make no difference for her. It wasn't a lie. If a faction in the Dalamu Sect could use such a thing, then the Imperial Family would surely have something like it as well. Theirs was even better, in fact.
Soon, the news about a super talented foreigner joining the Blue Orchid Faction spread. That same day, Rean and Roan went to see Malaka and made sure she wouldn't spill the beans. She could continue to be friends with Calina, but she had to call her Illia while in the sect, be careful of not showing that they knew each other already, and things like that. After some time, they could go back to normal except for Calina's real name. It would basically look like Calina and Malaka met for the first time again in the sect and turned friends after some time.
With that, everything was settled down. Finally, Rean and Roan could pay attention to their own things once again.