Data-Driven Daoist

“I have been slandered by discontented employees,” Wen Liujie said without flinching.

“Do not worry,” Tan Ruoxuan said. “The violence to come is merely me, a woman of yin, exercising my nature to correct deviations in the name of the law. I shan’t look the other way from your dalliances, and will sharpen my blade.”

Wen Liujie stared into the distance, as if pondering the mysteries of the blue heavens and yellow sun.

“I told you he was a grumpy man,” Tan Ruoxuan said to Huang Niuniu. “Will you follow his advice? To a hateful extent, he is not wrong. The ancestors may not like the ink, but they certainly love the stability. Our sect master is serious in his pursuit of change.”

Huang Niuniu spread her arms wide and unfurled the blanket. She stretched; a cute yawn escaped her lips. The girl stood up, staring into Yu Han’s eyes. They glittered with silent stars trapped in a teal pond.

“Not yet,” she said. “Someone isn’t ready.”

“What do you mean, yet?” Yu Han said defensively. “Who is this someone?”

“When, not if,” Huang Niuniu said. “Either with an adorable, smelly, grumpy little man, or a hero who’ll sweep me off my feet.” She kicked his thigh, ever so lightly.

Wang Daming’s group were apprehended. They had been made a laughing stock when a passing party of outer sect disciples discovered them naked and tied up. No one freed them, but somehow they got loose and had limped all the way back to their huts without taking public roads. A legend of seven naked streakers was still born, so enough eyes had to have witnessed them.

They were in the middle of plotting revenge when the law enforcers swept in with Suppressing Evil Chains.

“Point to the ones who attacked you,” Tan Ruoxuan said. Wang Daming’s group were still chained and made to stand against a wall in one of the holding chambers of the law enforcement hall. Iron bars separated Yu Han from the crooks, but it didn’t stop the hateful glares.

Yu Han pointed at seven. That was all of them.

“We didn’t attack no one!” Wang Daming said with his ugly face and missing teeth. “The rookie can’t take a heavens-damned joke---”

He didn’t look too worried. This wasn’t the first time he was caught, nor his first time standing in this room. The worst the guards would do was lock them up for a couple of weeks. Force on them community service jobs and fines at worst.

Tan Ruoxuan took out a jade of moments and played it.

“T-Tha---fatty you snake!” Wang Daming’s shouts fell on deaf ears. “It’s a fake! Who knows what sorta scum this rookie’s been hanging out with---”

“The jade of moments has not been tampered with,” Tan Ruoxuan said. “As was confirmed by the law enforcement hall. Your actions are a blatant violation of the sect’s edicts. Unlawful attacks against a fellow sect member and a rookie no less. You spit on the face of the law enforcement hall.”

Tan Ruoxuan and the other law enforcers turned as one towards a lone inner disciple. He stood motionless in the gloomy corner, observing the proceedings with unblinking eyes.

An adjudicator-apprentice.

From the incarceration hall.

“Are you certain?” the man pressed. “The Prime Disciple issued no formal orders, yet he signalled the Sect Master’s priorities with unmistakable intent.”

“The ultimate priority of the Sect Master is orthodoxy as he had declared during his investiture,” Tan Ruoxuan said. “This shall set an example.”

“I suppose that is true,” the incarceration hall disciple said. He scanned each of the guilty with dispassionate eyes. “Utter fools. To make the one mistake they should have avoided. To get caught with undeniable proof.”

Wang Daming’s face paled. “H-Hey, we ain’t doing this for no bad reason. We got orders from the core disciple Zhang Jiyou ---”

“Silence!” The adjudicator-apprentice waved his hand; the suppressing evil chains glowed with white characters. They groaned, falling down.

“Why interrupt?” Tan Ruoxuan said. “Let them finish.”

“It is too early for these games,” the adjudicator-apprentice said. “They shall be passed to the far north penal colony. Ten years of service, and then they may be released. I shall register them in the incarceration hall, so no need ferrying them over. Just send them north.”

Wang Daming struggled, tears in his eyes. He groaned and choked, unable to make a sound.

Just like that, their fate was sealed.

Yu Han glared at the thugs, holding their gaze.

“That’s what you get,” he said. Wang Daming’s struggles intensified. “Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.”

“Vindictiveness is a poor reflection of one’s character,” the adjudicator-apprentice said. “Do not throw away Senior Brother Duan’s face.”

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Yu Han clasped his fist at the man. “Senior Brother is right.” He turned to Tan Ruoxuan. “Are you sure they weren’t the ones who burnt down my hut?”

She shook her head. “They do not know either. We’ll catch the rogues. The sect won’t wrong you.”

Yu Han exhaled a long breath, turning back towards the adjudicator-apprentice. “I thank the Senior Brother for his impartial judgement. I pray that when Senior Tan apprehends the arsonists, the judgement will be just as swift.”

The demure man left without even a nod.

“You do realise you just insulted him, don’t you?” Tan Ruoxuan said. The other law enforcers chuckled as they dragged Wang Daming’s group out.

“How?” Yu Han followed Tan Ruoxuan. The law enforcement hall was winding as always, and like last time, the number of law enforcers was greatly reduced.

It must be because of the demonic cultivator activities.

“By the very fact of requesting he pass down swift judgements,” Tan Ruoxuan said, “you suggest premise that his usual pace is slow.”

“He’ll survive,” Yu Han said.

“If this was a year ago, it would not be a shock if the senior brother invited you to an educational spar,” she said. “One that you could not refuse. Well, not this senior, but most others.”

“Let me guess. I’d leave the spar with half my bones broken while thanking whoever beat the crap out of me for their benevolent guidance?”

“Precisely,” Tan Ruoxuan said. “You have done your due diligence. So why take the risk to offend?”

“Maybe because most core and inner sect disciples I’ve met so far have been way too relaxed,” Yu Han said. “They gave me the wrong impression.”

Tan Ruoxuan chuckled. “With that, you basically said that it was the fault of the inner and core sect disciples. You do realise that I too am an inner sect disciple? If there were idiots around who would want to butter me up, they would be lining up to invite you to spars.”

“Like you said, they’re idiots.” Yu Han said. “Who would dare butter you up when Senior Wen is still alive and kicking? More importantly, what’s the difference between outer and inner court disciples?”

“Potential. Resources. Strength.” Tan Ruoxuan took the change in topics in strides.

“Could you kindly elaborate?” Yu Han asked.

“Does Junior Yu know of the paths to inner court promotion?” She asked back.

“Reaching qi gathering before the age of thirty. If not, placing in the top ten of either the rookie or outer sect tournaments? An invitation from an inner court elder would also work, regardless of if the other criteria had been met. They can’t officially become an inner court disciple without breaking through to the qi gathering realm first though.”

“These points signify potential,” Tan Ruoxuan said. “Either raw talent or gems hidden under dirt waiting to be unearthed. Now suppose a body tempering realm disciple is to place in the top ten of the tournament, or a genius new recruit is invited to the inner court, but they cannot officially join the ranks. What is it that they do get?”

“Access to the inner sect sanctum,” Yu Han said.

“Do you not know what the sanctum is?”

Yu Han shook his head.

“It is a residential area, surrounded by mountains,” Tan Ruoxuan said. “The natural formations make the ambient qi density tens of times than in the outer sect centrum. A number of grand formations and artefacts are set up to directly contribute to a disciple’s cultivation. For example, there is a deep cave where the further you go, the stronger the pressure pressing you down to the ground. As you labour, your body gets refined and the environment makes it many folds easier to convert ambient qi into true qi. Near my cultivation cave is a tower with numerous chambers. Each trap the material ghosts of powerful creatures, organised by cultivation levels, unique abilities, danger scales, and other criteria. Death in the chambers do not correspond to death outside, so one can fight without fear of permanent injury. Each disciple gets a monthly quota to all the crafting related halls such as the alchemy and forging halls, not to mention a spiritual herb plot. These are resources that outer sect disciples do not have. For official inner sect disciples, the monthly stipend is far higher, as is the access granted to them of scripture hall texts. If you are part of a courtyard or a pavilion, the tax you pay further decreases. All these conclude in the third and final point. Strength. There is a world’s difference between a qi gathering realm cultivator of the inner sect and one who grinds it out in the outer sect. Even if that were not the case, the other peripheral benefits are too many to name and I must file paperwork. You have time for one last question.”

“Why are most people working in the halls members of the core clans?” Yu Han asked. It’s a question that had been bugging him for weeks.

Whether Liang Fuyu, Shu Boyan, Wen Liujie, Tan Ruoxuan, or even Dong Tianlan who as a rookie got work at the scripture hall, they shared one thing in common. None of them were non-core clan members or external seeds. Tan Ruoxuan’s subordinates (including the talkative senior sister to whom Yu Han returned the jade of moments), the adjudicator-apprentice just now, they were all core clan nobles.

“The nobles were there before the halls,” Tan Ruoxuan said. “Before the sect. The sect and its halls were set up to do advance cooperation between the clans, to cement our dominion over the sunken mountains. Throughout the millennia, the dynamics have changed, yes. Palaces were established with vast authorities, and cultivators not affiliated with us grasped the position of sect master. Despite so, the clans cannot give up power. It pertains to their survival. Even now, with the new sect master on the stormy throne, all hall masters are clanskin.”

It was an answer to more than what Yu Han had asked. But it made sense. Fair or not, if Yu Han founded a company and was forced to abdicate down the line because most employees and directors weren’t from his inner circle, he would not feel good.

Being on the side of the employees didn’t feel good either.

At least there were institutes like the Night Alchemists’ Yard. They could even be considered sub-halls; they were permanent sect presences conducting essential work. The lead disciple was a Wen Clan weirdo, yes, but the elder in charge was not a core clan noble.

It also made sense that clansfolk would have a separate, easier path to the inner court. The chairman’s son would get that internship. Depending on the country, they’d be directly made a director.

But those training resources, Without seeing them, Yu Han couldn’t gauge how effective they would be. The cave that boosted both spiritual and body cultivation was a no brainer. How many common talents would kill to get access to it?

Halls for the clans, palaces for all else. That’s the message. There were seven palaces in the sect. If Yu Han wanted to give up his autonomy, he could join one.

His courtyard could fold under their influence. There must be benefits that made it worth doing so.

Did he want to, though?

He exited the grand gates of the law enforcement hall. Huang Niuniu rushed over to him the moment she saw him.

“How’d it go?” She asked.

“They’ll be basically exiled for the next ten years,” Yu Han grinned. Heads turned their way.

Niu’er linked her arms with his. “Let’s go to the Heavenly Friendship Palace!”

She had a problem. How was she supposed to accord with a stream of wisps underwater? Feral Spot had a solution. It was exciting enough to distract her from what Wen Liujie had said.