"Sorry for making you wait, Disciple Yuan, but you are free to go now that the guests have left. And fortunately for all of us, nothing significant had occurred." Elder Xuan said to Yuan after returning to his side.
"Just remember, don't tell anybody that you were the one who cleared the tower today no matter what, and don't approach something that has a ranking. We cannot risk having your identity leaked before the Mystic Realm." Elder Xuan gave him another reminder.
Yuan nodded and said, "Don't worry, Senior Xuan, I won't do anything that might jeopardize my life as a disciple— oh…"
Yuan suddenly stopped speaking, and then he continued, "Disciple Min, my neighbor… she knows I was supposed to enter the tower after her."
"Disciple Min… Min Li from the Seven Legacy Families?" Elder Xuan immediately frowned.
"This is going to be troublesome and complicated…" he sighed a moment later.
"Why would it be complicated? I can speak with her and ask her to not tell anyone," Yuan said.
Elder Xuan shook his head and said, "The Seven Legacy Families is not as simple as you think. Even as a Grand Elder, I cannot approach her as I please. Furthermore, the Seven Legacy Families are always looking for talented individuals to join their family, even fighting with each other at times over individuals, and I cannot imagine that Min Li would intentionally hide your existence from her family since it will greatly improve her position within the family."
"Her family recruits talented people? Why would they do that? They're not a sect, right?" Yuan asked Elder Xuan.
"They may not be a sect, but that doesn't mean they have no reason to recruit talented individuals to further expand their own family's power and influence. In fact, large families like them tend to take recruiting talents more seriously than sects." Elder Xuan said.
"Anyway, don't let my words stop you. If you think you can convince Min Li to keep your identity a secret then by all means try. Even if she lets her family know, your identity should be safe for a while since I doubt the Min Family would be stupid enough to reveal your talents for their competitors until they can secure you."
"If the Min Family cannot persuade you to join their family then they might threaten to reveal your identity. Try to stall them until the Mystic Realm if they do approach you."
Yuan nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."
Sometime later, Elder Xuan left the scene, and Yuan returned back to his own living quarters.
However, as one would have expected, a familiar figure approached Yuan and blocked his path the moment she saw his figure from afar.
"Come with me. This is not a good place to speak," Min Li said to him before turning around and entering her own home.
Yuan nodded, "I also wanted to talk with you."
Yuan then followed Min Li into her home with an innocent and calm look on his face. If it were anyone else in his shoes right now, they'd be too nervous to enter Min Li's home alone.
Once they were inside, Min Li pointed at the couch and said, "Sit down. I'll go brew us some tea."
After Yuan sat down, Min Li went into the kitchen to brew some tea.
A couple of minutes later, she returned with a whole pot of tea and two pretty teacups.
"Here. Don't worry, I didn't poison or anything like that," Min Li said to him.
Yuan raised his eyebrows after hearing her words. Why would she say something like that? It was not as though he was expecting her to poison him in the first place.
A few moments later, the two of them began sipping on the tea without talking to each other for a few more minutes until Yuan placed down the teacup and sighed in a satisfied voice.
"Haaa… That was some great tea."
"Thank you, it's a family speciality." Min Li said after she placed her own teacup down.
"Anyway, what did you want to talk to me about?" Yuan asked her afterward.
"It will be a little long, so you can go first. You also wanted to say something to me, right?" Min Li said to him.
Yuan nodded and said, "I'd appreciate it if you can keep what happened today a secret. For various reasons, I cannot let people know that I was the one who cleared the Carp Leaping Over Dragon's Gate Tower today, as it might affect my life as a normal disciple in the sect."
Min Li looked at him with a dumbfounded look on her face. "A normal disciple? You? What kind of a joke is that? Would a 'normal' disciple destroy Training Puppets with Mortal-rank techniques? Would a 'normal' disciple clear all 100 floors in the Carp Leaping Over Dragon's Gate Tower? Who are you, really?"
"I don't know what else to tell you since I have already said that I don't belong to any powerful family…" Yuan said as he scratched his head, and he continued, "I am just someone trying to enjoy life in this world while also trying to understand the cultivation world better."
Min Li turned silent after hearing his words, and after a long moment of silence, Min Li spoke with a serious look on her face, "If what you said just now is true— that you don't belong to any powerful family, then why don't you join my family?"
"..." Yuan widened his eyes when he heard Min Li's words, but he wasn't shocked because of her words. Instead, he was surprised at how Elder Xuan was right on the mark regarding Min Li and how she might try to recruit him to join her family.
"If you join the Min Family, you'll receive endless resources from the family to assist your cultivation, and if you receive enough support from the family, there's even a good chance that you will get to travel to the upper heavens and join the Min Family that's there."
