Nangong Cheng fell silent.
Zhang Deming smiled. "Rest assured, the organization is like an Alliance. It doesn't require you to betray the Academy or anything."
"Membership isn't mandatory?" Nangong Cheng asked, still uneasy.
Zhang Deming glanced at Nangong Cheng and said, "I'm just giving you a heads-up. It's not even certain you'll be able to get in. You should know, even for my family, getting in is incredibly difficult. I'm only telling you this because I recognize your exceptional talent; I figured I'd take a chance and see. Your talent is impressive, but for the place I'm talking about, it's honestly not at a level where we would force you to join. If you don't pass the review, you could cry and beg all you want, and you still wouldn't have a sliver of a chance."
Nangong Cheng seemed to understand the nature of the organization now. After a long hesitation, he looked at the beads in Zhang Deming's hand and said, "Alright, I accept!"
