Chapter 33

Chapter 33: The Probing Began

The Hao Ran Sect’s identity jade token was a bean-paste green jade pendant. On the front was the sect emblem – a cloud with purple edges – with the two characters Hao Ran beneath it. On the back were the holder’s name and their assigned peak.

Making identity jade tokens used divine sense, so it was very fast. It was clear Steward Zheng was highly skilled. After he made all twenty-two jade tokens, he distributed them along with Outer Sect disciple robes, a jade slip of sect rules, and the ?Qi Refining Manual?. He also gave five low-grade spirit stones, one bottle of Fasting Pills, and one bottle of Nourishing Qi Pills, all useful for beginner cultivation.

After everyone received their items, they carefully put them into their storage pouches. Then they followed Steward Zheng on foot to the nearby mountain peak, which was where the Outer Sect disciples lived.

“This area has plenty of empty houses. You can live in one by inserting your identity jade token. One courtyard can house four people. You can choose on your own. Once you choose, you can’t change it unless your cultivation level improves.”

After speaking, Steward Zheng waved his hand again and tossed each person a jade slip. He continued, “Inside the jade slip is the layout of the Outer Sect. There’s a cultivation hall dedicated to training, a dining hall, and a lecture hall dedicated to teaching. What you want to learn is up to you to arrange.

“You only have one year to adapt here. If after one year you can’t reach the third level of the Qi Refining Stage, you will automatically be demoted to a menial disciple. Of course, during this year you won’t need to take any tasks and can focus on cultivation. After one year, you must accept sect tasks, because the sect can’t support your cultivation resources for free.

“This year is very important. Besides adapting to the cultivation environment, you must also choose what you’re good at. Don’t waste time.”

“Yes, Steward Zheng!”

Steward Zheng waved his hand. “Alright. That’s all I need to say. You’re new here, so you don’t need to know too much yet. If you want to learn anything, you can go ask at the Disciples’ Hall. Now you can go choose your residences.”

After Steward Zheng left, everyone went to look for empty courtyards.

Wei Yun Xi stayed close behind Wei Yun Ting. The Wei Family disciples would definitely live together. First, they could supervise each other. Second, they could stick together so they would not be bullied by older disciples.

Wei Zong Hao rushed ahead and chose two adjacent courtyards. “There are two empty courtyards here. Let’s split by boys and girls!”

Wei Yun Ting nodded. The four girls chose the courtyard on the left. There were exactly four slots on the wall by the entrance. The four of them inserted their identity jade tokens one by one. Once all the slots turned green, the courtyard gate opened automatically. Only then did they take their identity jade tokens back.

Wei Zong Hao and the others did the same, and the two groups entered their respective courtyards.

The small courtyard was a square. Facing the entrance were two connected rooms, with one room on each side. The courtyard was not big, only about one hundred square meters. A pear tree grew in the middle, and under it there was a jade table and four jade stools.

After looking around, Wei Yun Ting said, “You choose rooms first.”

As the eldest sister, she still took good care of her younger sisters.

Wei Yun Qing looked around and chose first, taking one of the main rooms.

When Wei Yun Xi saw that, she immediately chose the room on the left. She did not want to be next to Wei Yun Qing.

Wei Yun Ying also did not want to be next to Wei Yun Qing. She chose the room on the right, which happened to be opposite Wei Yun Xi.

When Wei Yun Ting saw this, the corner of her eye twitched. Then she went into the room right next to Wei Yun Qing.

“Everyone’s been tired from the tests these past two days. Luckily, we all passed smoothly and didn’t shame the family. Rest first. Tomorrow morning, we’ll all go eat at the dining hall together.”

“Okay, Sister Yun Ting.”

The other three did not object. Along the way, they had been mentally tense and also had to deal with the tests. Their little bodies could barely take it anymore, and they badly needed rest. After chatting a little, they each closed their doors and went inside.

The nice thing about these houses was that each had an isolation formation. As long as you inserted your identity jade token into the slot inside the room, the isolation formation would activate, ensuring privacy and making sure they would not be disturbed during cultivation.

The layout of the room was simple. Upon entering was a main room. On the left was the bedroom, and on the right was the cultivation room. Tables, chairs, and stools were all provided. If you needed anything else, you could buy it yourself.

After a quick sweep of the furnishings, Wei Yun Xi lay down on the bed. She was too tired to clean up. She closed her eyes and reviewed the entire process of joining the sect and taking the tests, checking whether she had missed anything. That was her instinct as a worker.

Luckily, after reviewing, she did not find any obvious mistakes. She relaxed and fell asleep.

On the other side, Wei Yun Qing did not rest. She recalled what she had experienced in the Heart-Seeing Mirror’s Illusion Realm. She kept feeling like those events were too real, with a strange sense of familiarity.

However, some parts of the Illusion Realm differed from reality. First was Wei Yun Xi’s spiritual roots and attribute. Second was the experience of this test. Wei Yun Xi had not acted with them at all in the Illusion Realm, and this time, Wei Yun Xi’s test results had been outstanding.

Wei Yun Qing’s brow slowly knitted. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. She knew what she should do next.

Nothing happened overnight. The next day, the Wei Family’s eight members gathered again at the gate. The disciples who had entered at the same time also left their residences and chose to move together with the Wei Family disciples.

In their eyes, the Wei Family’s eight newly entered disciples all had cultivation, and in an unfamiliar environment, people instinctively chose to band together.

The group of twenty-two went in a grand procession to the Outer Sect dining hall. It provided two free meals of ordinary food each day. If you wanted spirit food, you had to spend spirit stones to buy it.

But as newly entered disciples, aside from the Wei, Feng, Liu, and Sun families who had some savings, the other disciples only had five low-grade spirit stones to start with. They could not bear to waste them on food.

Wei Yun Xi had no appetite for fancy tastes. She just wanted to eat enough. So she chose ordinary spirit rice porridge and spirit rice buns, plus a free small dish. After filling her stomach, she planned to walk around the Outer Sect and look over all the places she would need to go in the future, so she would not get lost.

Wei Yun Ting had the same plan. She led everyone around the entire Outer Sect, especially places they would often go in the future, like the cultivation hall, lecture hall, dining hall, martial hall, and the library pavilion.

This tour took a full day. Do not underestimate the Outer Sect. Though it was only two words, it had nine peaks. They had only just entered, so they lived on the outermost mountain.

The spiritual energy concentration of the nine peaks increased from the outside to the inside, from thin to rich. The peak closest to the inner sect had the richest spiritual energy. The disciples living there were all late-stage Qi Refining Outer Sect disciples.

Wei Yun Ting encouraged them. “Don’t be discouraged. Once your cultivation improves, you can choose peaks with richer spiritual energy to cultivate. This is a step-by-step process. You must set your goals.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. No one wanted to cultivate on the outermost edge of the Outer Sect for their entire life.

At this moment, an unfamiliar Outer Sect disciple spoke in a mocking tone. “Tsk, tsk. I didn’t expect this batch of new disciples to be so ambitious. I wonder if you actually have the skills to match?”

The little radish heads all looked toward the speaker. That Outer Sect disciple raised his chin provocatively.