Death... and me

Zuo Fin was one of the ex-slave kids that came from the Zasfins territories. He succeeded in passing the Marathon and Spiritual Energy Pressure test. However, his performance in both was nothing remarkable, which made Suana confused. If there was anything unexpected, it was the fact that he was already in the Body Transformation Realm's Spiritual Vision stage. Of course, that wasn't anything amazing either. 'Why would Elder Roan ask for this boy?'

It was then that she noticed something. 'Wait! I haven't seen this Zuo boy during the evaluation.' Suana quickly browsed through the documents with the disciples who passed by Roan's checking. Sure enough, Zuo Fin was not one of them. However, she found out that Zuo Fin did take his badge. 'Why didn't he come to get a cultivation technique?'

Suana became more curious as she started to ask her subordinates to look for the kid. The sect was big, but not to the point someone could disappear inside. It didn't take long for a disciple to find Zuo Fin sitting on a boulder as he looked out in the distance. It didn't seem like he was doing anything at all. "Hey, are you Zuo Fin?"

Zuo was surprised someone called his name and quickly looked behind. Once he saw the sect disciple, he quickly nodded and replied, "Yes, sir. I'm Zuo Fin."

The disciple then jumped to appear by his side before using his Spiritual Energy to grab Zuo. "There's someone requesting your presence, so you'll have to come with me." Before Zuo could say anything, the disciple already darted in the distance with him on the side. Naturally, that disciple brought Zuo to where Suana was working, the sect's office.

"Is this the boy?" Suana asked the disciples.

"Yes. He's Zuo Fin."

"Very well, you can leave now."

The disciple then left Suana and Zuo together in the room. Eventually, Suana asked what was bothering her. "Why didn't you appear for the evaluation of your abilities? Everyone else already got their cultivation manuals and should start to cultivate anytime soon. You're a new disciple, so you shouldn't let this opportunity pass up."

Zuo scratched the back of his head, clearly with some issues. Nevertheless, he still replied, "Can I... cultivate on my own? I won't bother anyone, nor will I ask for resources without taking missions to earn them. I just prefer to be alone."

Suana narrowed her eyes after hearing that. That wasn't exactly the answer she was expecting. "No can do. Everyone has to take part in the evaluation. It's the sect's duty to make sure its disciples will take the right path." Soon after, she took an Elemental Affinity Orb from one of the shelves in the office. "Let me check your Elemental Affinity first. Once I find out which affinity you have, I can ask the right disciple to help you select a cultivation technique." Well, in fact, the one who would help him is Roan. Suana was just curious to see what was different with this boy.

However, when Zuo saw the orb, he took a few steps back. It was obvious that he didn't want to touch it. "Why are you running away? Have you never seen an Affinity Orb before?"

It was then that a voice echoed inside Suana and Zuo's minds, telling them, 'There's no need to test his affinity. Our sect definitely doesn't have a cultivation technique suitable for it.' 

Suana was taken aback as she immediately understood that it was Roan who talked to them. 'E-Elder Roan!'

Zuo, of course, was even more shocked. From the expression on his face, it looked like he knew what Roan was talking about. 

Roan didn't care about that, though. 'Stop wasting time and send him to me. I'll deal with it.'

'Yes, Elder Roan,' Suana replied straight away. Roan's words only made Suana even more curious. But with Roan's intervention, she wouldn't dare to wait any longer and quickly brought Zuo to Roan's residence close to Freedom Mountain's peak. It was just a small hut, quite similar to the one he and Old Worm passed their time in the past. Not too far from it, there was a bigger building, which was the place where Rean and Qia lived. Of course, it was empty at the moment since the couple was out installing and testing the antennas. "Elder Roan, I've brought the boy."

As soon as she said that, the door of the hut opened as a woman came out. Suana immediately recognized her. "Senior Calina, Elder Roan asked me to bring this boy to him."

Calina nodded with a smile and patted the boy's head. She could tell that he was very young, around 7 to 8 years of age. "So you're Zuo Fin, huh? My husband is waiting for you inside." Calina then looked at Suana and said, "Thank you for bringing him here. I'll take care of it from here on out."

Suana then looked at Zuo one last time before leaving without saying a word. As for Zuo, it looked more like he wanted to flee from the scene. He was just a kid and had just joined the sect. It was normal for him to feel like that, especially since he was trying to avoid attention.

Calina then brought the kid inside and went to the living room, which wasn't that big. There, she gave him a few snacks while Zuo waited for Roan to come. Roan was working on some potions, so he was quite busy.

Time passed, and two hours went by in a flash. Calina entertained the kid, which made Zuo relax a bit. Eventually, the door of the alchemy room opened, and the smell of spiritual herbs came out, assaulting their noses. "Alright, I'm done with it." Soon after, Roan looked at Zuo and said, "There's no need for you to worry. I know that your Elemental Affinity isn't any of the main five elements. So, how about you show it to me?"

Roan quickly took another Elemental Affinity Orb from the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm and told Zuo, "Put your hand on it."

Zuo felt somewhat conflicted since he was trying to hide it. Yes, he didn't have any of the mainstream elemental affinities. Basically, he was just like Rean and Roan, but without a system. 

Calina then patted his head once again, consoling Zuo, "It's fine. The Demon King isn't too bad. I can protect you if there's a need for that."

Roan's mouth twitched a little, but he didn't say anything.

Nevertheless, Zuo nodded after hearing that and touched the orb.