Galron was stunned. He'd never been beaten so easily and this fast before aside from when training with his Senior brothers. He tried to move but James simply tightened his grip, not giving him any chance of resisting.
"You aren't the only one here who's been training. In fact, I know at least 1 Outer disciple who could easily overpower you right now. Not sure if your master explained this to you yet but we're all basically the same before entering the Foundation Establishment realm. Until then, physical strength is what matters since no matter how much mana you have absorbed, it means nothing since you can't use it."
James gazed over to Eric who had sweat on his forehead whiel watching the scene from afar. He couldn't believe the kid he'd just been talking happily with had the guts to throw a Core disciple, the top one at that, face first into the dirt.
Galron looked over to where James was indicating and saw Eric. After seeing his muscular body that was covered in scars, clearly indicating extensive body and combat training, he knew what James was saying was right.
"I'll be honest with you. I'm also a Direct disciple, my master is Peak master Faldon of Enlightenment peak, but you don't see me going around calling people losers and weaklings because of it. We're all sect disciples and we should get along."
Galron was stunned, the surrounding Inner disciples were stunned and all the Outer disciples from earlier were stunned. News of the Enlightenment peak master taking in a second disciple had not spread within the sect since Faldon had convinced the Sect master that James was blessed by Heaven. With such an extreme talent within their sect, they needed to keep his related information under wraps and avoid promoting his talent publicly so that James would be able to cultivate in peace without outside interference.
The Drifting Clouds sect was a medium size sect within the eastern part of the continent. There were other sects in the surroundings that competed with them over various natural resources. There were also a number of Demonic sects hidden throughout the continent from small to large who's strength rivals the orthodox path sects. The Demonic sects have been known to summon demons from the Abyss to harass their orthodox path neighbors and kidnap young talent cultivators for various rituals.
"Impossible! My master has told me about all the direct disciples and Enlightenment peak only has 1 and she's in the Core Formation realm. Do you know how much trouble you' be in when the elders find out you're walking aroubd claiming to be a Direct disciple, under a Peak master on top of that? You'll be lucky if the only thing they do to you is strip your cultivation and make sure you won't be able to ever get it back."
Galron started throwing a fit. Listing off all the ways that James will be punished once he tells his master what happened. Just then, James took out a small wooden token with the words 'Enlightenment Peak' etched in gold writing. At it's appearance, Galron fell into a sudden silence.
"That's a Direct disciple token…but that's impossible…unless you're newly accepted?"
"Doesn't matter, either way i'm a Direct disciple just like you so our status is pretty much equal. Now will you keep throwing a tantrum or can I stand up?"
James had enough of this kid throwing a fit. He understood this world was different than the one he came from but the strict status based system was really starting to get on his nerves.
'Is it really that hard to just get along and nit have all this negativity floating around? It's really exhausting listening to it over and over again.'
James got up and let Galron go, but he stayed on the ground as if still kept there. He'd come to the gathering today because he loved getting attention and praise, having other kids his age telling him how great he was and following his orders was all he thought about. But now he'd been beaten up by someone of equal status and he'd seen someone 'Eric' who was just a lowly Outer disciple but who's physical features made him wary.
At this time, the other Core disciples who'd been watching from a bit higher up the mountain finally came down. They walked over to Galron's side and helped him up while also looking warily at James.
"Look everyone, I don't want to fight, honetly i'm happy living a quiet life filled with just cultivation. I find negativity tiring so how anout we all just get along and not worry anout status today?"
All the disciples at the scene looked around hesitantly. The importance of status has been ingrained in their society for thousands of years. Their parents had taught them from birth to never slight someone of higher status as it could lead to very bad consequences. The world was unfair and they were taught that since birth to avoid any mishaps.
James then walked over and continued talking with Eric. The more he talked with him, the more James thought Eric to be a potential protagonist. Eric had grown up abandoned in the north-estern wilds. He was raised by a Demonic cultivator who'd murdered everyone from his village and taken him for experiments. Eric had grown far stronger physically due to the experiments but suffered a lot of psychological damage. His body was also not able to contain the amount of strength he'd acquired and was bedridden more than once after exerting too much strength during training. It wasn't until a group of Core Formation disciples from the Drifting Clouds sect came across him and the Demonic cultivator while returning from a mission that he was rescued. An elder of the sect talented in formations and talismans used his skills to seal Eric's excessive strength, allowing him to not need to worry about it until he reached Foundation Establishment.