After they left the hall where their Masters and the Sect Master remained, the group entered a floor with various rooms and plates of numbers above them. They looked like a school dorm hallway, but larger, as the space between each room was 5 meters.
Hesroth turned around once everyone was in sight and shouted, "to your right and left exist rooms. Enter them separately and in succession, start with the ones at the end of each row!"
Without much fuss and under Hesroth and other higher-ups' eyes, the former students and teachers quietly entered the rooms. After five or so minutes and checking that everyone occupied a chamber, Hesroth turned to the higherups that included: Sarah, Dominic, Declan, Myzer, Hiari, and the newly appointed Deckim.
"See the black plates," he pointed at the rooms with green doors and black plates, "these rooms work like a bound weapon or item. Drip a drop of blood, and they will open only to you." After explaining, Hesroth waved them away.
"Is Master going to be alright?" Nathan asked, glancing back at the door they just passed through. Everyone left, leaving him and Hesroth alone in the corridor.
"I'm not sure," he replied, "but what I do know is that nothing will happen to them!"
He didn't know why the Sect Master who was so excited to meet Xue Mo acted like that back there, but knowing him, he was sure Xue Mo and Lu Yao would be safe. His answer didn't completely reassure Nathan but made him left tense and worried.
***
Xue Mo deliberated his talk with the Sect Master; he felt more at ease after meeting him. Considering his ability to analyze personalities, he saw that the Sect Master wouldn't do anything to him. On the contrary, he might support with everything he needed. This would greatly help his plans, 'one step at a time.'
'Don't worry, that old geezer Purple is a nice guy. Though only nice to who he likes, I sure as hell don't want to make an enemy out of him,' Lu Yao transmitted through their Soul connection.
'I know, and I can also tell that he genuinely wanted to give you that ring,' he smirked, remembering Lu Yao returning it. 'You should have kept the items in it at least.'
Lu Yao thought it through, and it made sense. What was essential to Purple Ash wasn't the items inside the ring but the ring itself. 'Hey, I was a little emotional back then, so I didn't think things through. You should have told me to take them seeing my state at that moment,' she pouted.
Purple Ash wasn't that far behind them, but he couldn't hear their conversation. They sauntered their way and conversed before entering the door Hesroth and the others entered.
When they set foot inside, they saw the empty hallway of dorms and observed Hesroth and Nathan at the end of it. Before they could come to them, Xue Mo already moved and emerged in front of them.
"You already arranged everyone's rooms?" he asked.
"Yes, Master," Hesroth replied and bowed his head in apology, "I am sorry for not telling you that we would come here. The Sect Master wanted to meet you so much, and he ordered me not to tell you to keep it a surprise."
Xue Mo waved his hand, telling him to forget about it, but Lu Yao voiced her displeasure, "you should have told us." She said, still sitting on top of Xue Mo's shoulder, "because you didn't tell us that asshole geezer did something unnecessary!"
Hesroth could feel the anger in Lu Yao's voice and felt nervous. Still, before he could apologize again, Lu Yao continued with a calmer voice, "the old geezer already pleaded for your forgiveness, so forget about it. I just wanted to warn you!" Hesroth felt his heart go cold at the last sentence and thanked Purple Ash many times in his head, wishing him a smooth advancement in his path.
"Lead us to our rooms," Xue Mo ordered to diffuse the situation. He didn't care if Lu Yao killed Hesroth, but he was still useful, and it would be a shame if he died here.
Hesroth quickly nodded and let Xue Mo take the lead after pointing him in the direction to go. "Masters, your rooms will be next to the Sect Master. He already prepared them for you," Hesroth relayed while taking Xue Mo and Lu Yao onto another floor through a series of stairs at the end of the floor they were on.
Nathan followed wordlessly and had a wide smirk that he didn't try to conceal after seeing Hesroth the goody-two-shoes getting scolded. The latter simply ignored him while making sure to remember this for later.
The journey to the second floor took five minutes as the stairs leading to it were too long. It took that long because, in actuality, the second floor was the ground floor and the only floor anyone other than Hesroth and Freya ever entered. It was also where the Sect Master's accommodations and training ground existed.
When they arrived, two big rooms appeared in sight. One looked old as if it had been there for thousands of years while the other seemed to have been constructed recently. The old room was built using some old metals and bricks but had Qi coursing through them, whereas the new one seemed to have more precious materials in their making.
Xue Mo could tell that the new room that stretched for 2 kilometers was theirs while the older one, which also had the same length, was Purple Ash's. He could tell that these rooms could be bound and dripped some of his and Lu Yao's blood on the greenish golden plate.
Purple Ash had made sure that the room could bind to two people, and Xue Mo's successful actions confirmed it. He turned around to see Nathan and Hesroth still there, "what?"
"Don't you have any orders for us, Master?" Nathan asked.
"No, I will see you in five days," he said before deciding, "I will make a new schedule for everyone's training after I do some research."
Once he shooed them away, Xue Mo entered the room. When he bound the room to him and Lu Yao, they received information on using the space and its functions. The first thing he did once they were alone, "Infinite Darkness record this information, scan the room for any spying or recon devices, and check if these Runes, Arrays, and Array Formations can help further my and Yao's knowledge!"
[Affirmative Father!] The system replied in a professional voice. It became a little colder after the last admonishment and seemed to be pouting, but as long as it did as ordered, Xue Mo didn't give a shit.
Xue Mo stood staring at the empty room. According to the info transmitted to his head, they could summon anything they needed as long as they thought of it. This included original books from the library, materials concerning alchemy, forging, potion brewing, etc. Also, they had access to the sect resources, which could help them further their Cultivation.
Purple Ash treated them better than he would treat himself but to keep suspicion about their plans hidden, Xue Mo wasn't going to abuse these benefits.
After a couple of minutes of scanning, Infinite Darkness relayed its conclusions.
[I have discovered more than 500 Runes, 600 Formations, and over 300 Array Formations of various levels embedded in this room but none of them correspond to any spying or similar functions. As for the other order, I was able to identify over 200 Runes that Mother didn't possess, 40 Formations that Father does not know, and many Array Formations that had an intricate and complicated structure that would help Mother and Father in their Cultivation journey]
Xue Mo wasn't that surprised and was even happy; the more knowledge there existed for them to learn, the stronger and firmer their paths would be.
"First things first," he put his palm on the multicolored breaks and inwardly commanded, 'summon a bed, alchemy cauldron, potion beaker, a forge, and apply the Mana and Qi gathering arrays!'