Sofie sat quietly on the bench, as she watched elder Mei Yue go out of the courtyard followed by a few loud yells from the outside.
The lecture today on cultivation gave Sofie a lot of information about the different cultivation realms, all the way up to the third major realm. Just thinking about how strong Ling Yue was only at the qi condensation realm made her excited.
How strong would someone at the core realm be?
Thinking this far, Sofie felt herself getting fired up. Looking around, she saw most of the other new disciples had already left the courtyard. Left the courtyard?
"Ah!" Sofie let out a slight gasp, as she remembered about them going to the martial hall to pick a cultivation manual.
Quickly standing up from the bench, Sofie rushed after the last disciple who was slowly exiting the courtyard.
"No need to hurry, we will have to wait in front of the martial hall anyways…" A voice came from the new disciple in front of her and only now did Sofie realize that the disciple in front of her was none other than the little dumpling from earlier.
"L-little dumpling?" Sofie nervously called out to the boy in front of her.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING LITTLE DUMPLING!" The little dum- boy in front of her angrily yelled, earning a look from a few other new disciples in front of him.
"S-s-s—sorr-y, I-I didn't k-know- "Sofie tried to apologise and slowly felt tears welling up in the corner of her eyes making her look extremely pitiful to all the onlookers.
"Ah… I-It's okay, don't cry, don't cry." The little boy called out trying to calm down Sofie, while a few of the disciples in front of them had stopped walking and was slowly making their way over for unknown reasons.
Sofie heard the little boy apologising to her and trying to calm her down, so she quickly got rid of the tears in the corner of her eyes, as she tried to give the panicking little boy her best smile to reassure him everything was alright.
Seeing Sofie calm down, the little boy quickly let out a breath of relief, as he looked at the few bigger boys who made their way over before stop and move towards the exit of the courtyard again. They of course did not forget to send a few death-glares his way, before leaving the courtyard.
"C-come, let's go to the martial hall. Everyone else have already left." Trying to appear calm, the little boy started to walk in the direction of the courtyards entrance.
Sofie did not think much of it and quickly followed behind the little boy, while feeling extremely ashamed on the inside.
To think she called him little dumpling! And he even got angry at an elder for calling him that! Why did I start crying? N-no I-I did not cry, something just got into my eye. Yes, that is it, some dust got into my eye, that is why I started tearing up!
Desperately trying to convince herself, that she was not some cry-baby, that would start to cry just getting yelled at, Sofie and the little boy finally made their way out of the gathering hall.
Though this was the first time someone ever yelled at her…
*****
The outside of the gathering hall was mostly cleared, as you could see a few senior disciples here and there walking away with a depressed attitude. The only people soon remaining in front of the gathering hall being the new disciples of the sect.
The little boy and Sofie both exited the gathering hall at the same time and was met with the kind smile of elder Mei Yue.
Sofie smiled back, while the little boy started sweating for some unknown reason.
"Now that everyone has gathered, let's move to the martial hall. Please follow behind me." Mei Yue said, as she turned away from Sofie and the little boy. Starting to walk in the direction where the martial hall was most likely located at.
Sofie obediently followed the elder Mei Yue together with the rest of the new disciples like her. The little boy on the other hand stood frozen in place. Only after awhile did he wake up and began moving after the group of people slowly disappearing into the distance.
…
"W-wait! Hah… hah…"
Sofie looked back and saw the little chubby boy running, clearly exhausted from running no more than a few hundred meters.
"Wha-what are you doing…?" Sofie asked, as the little boy finally managed to catch up to the group of disciples walking towards the martial hall.
"I-I spaced out a little and when I came to everyone had already left." The little boy said as he was blushing slightly.
"ah, okay?" Sofie did not pay much attention to him, as she half-heartedly answered.
The little boy did not talk anymore and walked besides Sofie the rest of the way to the martial hall.
…
A giant pagoda appeared in front of the new disciples. The door or more like gate into the giant pagoda had the words "Martial Hall" engraved above it.
Sofie was speechless, as she looked at the giant pagoda in front of her. The height of it was easily a quarter of a mile, if not more!
"Okay children, this is the martial hall also know as the martial pagoda. When we enter a moment, we will only go up to the first level of the pagoda, as none of you have access to more yet. Any questions?" Mei Yue asked, as she sent a glare towards the little boy besides Sofie.
Not disappointing in the slightest, the little boy raised his hand. Looking closer, he was clearly holding himself back from yelling something unbefitting out loud like last time.
Mei Yue looked around at the other new disciples and seeing nobody else raising their hand, she decided to pick the little boy. "Little dumpling, what is your question…?"
A little offended, the little dump- boy, glared angrily at elder Mei Yue, before calming down again after a few seconds.
"You said that we could only enter the first level of the pagoda, what are the other levels and how can we enter them?"
Hearing his question, Mei Yue pondered for a moment, before answering his question. "The pagoda is split into 5 levels. The 1 level is for new disciples and is made out of 2 floors in the pagoda. The first floor is where all the cultivation manuals are stored, while the second have martial art techniques. To gain access to the 2 level, you need to become a senior disciple. 3 level, you need to be a core disciple. 4 level, an elder of the sect or have reached a certain level in your cultivation. 5 level, only sect leader and former sect leaders can enter freely. The only way other people can enter, is if sect leader grants them access. Any questions left?"
Sofie listened attentively and picked up something she thought was weird, so she raised her hand.
"Yes, little girl besides the little dumpling." Mei Yue called out, as she pointed at Sofie.
"Y-yes, I was just wondering why all the cultivation manuals are available on the first floor." Sofie asked, as she tried her best to look at elder Mei Yue while asking her question.
"Well firstly, there is not really anything special about the cultivation manual, so it would not really matter if they leaked outside. Secondly, if all new disciples have access to the best cultivation manual or most fitting cultivation manuals from the start, they will improve faster and with a more stable foundation. Any more questions?" Mei Yue splendidly and saw that nobody raised their hand this time around.
"Good, we will now enter the martial hall!"