Days passed by since their comeback and things eventually settled down.
After a lot of thought, Yueshi and the others ended renting a bigger house that would act not only as their sleeping grounds but, also, as their headquarter in the Outer Court – obviously, everyone paid a bit.
Today they were once more reunited after everything was settled to talk about their gains after the mission. Wu Feng and the others, using the excuse that they had to train, had fled from the meeting – since it was extremely boring.
Therefore, the ten core members sat around a circular table in the conference room. There wasn't any sort of sitting order and they just sat where they pleased, with Yueshi sitting between his sister and Yuan Yue.
"Then, leader, tell us how many contribution points we've got!" Baiyun was the first to speak.
Because they had little to no time these past few days, this was the first time they were going to hear it.
Yueshi smiled, taking his time to tease them. After waiting for a moment, enjoying the impatience in their eyes, he finally spoke.
"The protectors said that our association was responsible for twenty percent of the contribution, as so, from the one hundred thousand contribution points awarded to our region, we got twenty thousand." His words immediately left the others astounded.
After all, even Yueshi, the one with the highest personal achievements of their group, was only awarded three thousand contribution points.
However, after thinking for a moment, it made sense. Those twenty thousand contribution points would have to be distributed between the twenty-five of them, after all.
"Any thoughts on how we should spend them?" After they calmed down, Yueshi asked.
As an association, there were many ways to spend the points. They could share it all between them, or they could also invest it in specialized training grounds or constructions.
The sect offered many things that could be built inside the headquarters, like special arrays and so on.
"Why don't we build some cultivation rooms?" Bei Lao was the first to speak, though he did not sound that sure about what to do.
The others thought for a moment. Cultivation rooms were spaces with qi concentration arrays inscribed on them and they could increase the amount and quality of qi inside that space.
A small room would cost two hundred points to build, while the highest level ones were priced at tens of thousands of points and could speed up one's cultivation by eight to ten times.
"I think it is good and all, but not the best choice." Baiyun uttered. "I doubt we will be able to acquire as many points soon, so we should think more about it." As a merchant soon, he wanted to consider all possibilities.
Yueshi just stood in silence. He was particularly biased toward training rooms specialized in training martial arts.
However, as the leader, he wanted to hear all their opinions and ponder about them, only that way he would be qualified to be considered the association head.
"Why don't we buy an alchemist shop?" While they were discussing the subject of the cultivation rooms, Yuan Yue spoke with a grin.
Everyone immediately turned toward her and Xiao Yao, that had been calm until now, twitched in his seat.
Because there were many things an alchemist needed to concoct pills and research new recipes, an alchemist shop came equipped with all sorts of arrays and items – all in all, it was quite pricey.
"Baiyun is right, and we will hardly have the chance to acquire that same amount of points soon. So why not invest them?" At her words, everyone seemed to understand. "If we turn Xiao Yao into a slav... I mean, if Xiao Yao can sell a lot of pills then we will be earning more in the long term."
Everyone nodded at her words, with only Xiao Yao keeping his cool. It was obvious that she was joking around about the enslavement part, so he didn't really take it to heart, and while he did not show, he was quite enticed by the idea.
In the end, he was a production-oriented cultivator, and what he wanted the most was to have his own workshop.
"Then, why don't we do it like this. We will buy the shop and invest some points to start production. Every month, fifty percent will go to the association's vault, and the other fifty will stay with Xiao Yao to buy new materials and recipes." After they discussed for a moment, Yueshi spoke and earned everyone's approval.
The shop would cost around twelve thousand, plus three thousand points of up-start investment, it totaled fifteen thousand.
The rest they would share between everyone equally, meaning two hundred or so points to each of the association members.
With that settled, they changed the subject.
"After the last battle, our association has climbed in the ranks, and though we are still at the bottom we are not the last anymore." This time the one to start was Baiyun. "Thanks to that and our achievements in the mission, many people wish to join us."
"Hm." Everyone nodded and thought for a moment. Even if they wanted, they could not accept all those peoples.
An association's rank restricted the number of members they could have.
With their current rank, they could have up to one hundred members at most. So they had to carefully select the new members – and since they were aiming for trust above talent and strength, that had to be done with even greater care and attention.
"Let's just leave it to Baiyun." After they thought for a moment, everyone reached the same conclusion.
He was a merchant's son and he should know how to read people better than them, they concluded.
With Baiyun's awry smile, another subject came to a close.
Because he felt that, as the leader, he had to give some sort of speech; Yueshi stood up and spoke then.
"From now on we will be living under the same room and will be sharing our fates. From now and henceforth, we are brothers and sisters, and I hope we can stay like that for many decades."
"How cheesy!" Unfortunately for him, he was immediately teased by Yuan Yue. Her words were followed by everyone's laughter, and he could only scratch his neck awkwardly.
With the serious matters settled, they started to chat about random things once more, deepening their bond.
Even without Yueshi saying it, their relationship was already as close as that of siblings, and even Ling Tian Tian had started to open up, though still being the quietest among them.
Like that, time passed by slowly and soon enough afternoon had arrived.
The group then separated to do their own things – be it training or focusing on their tasks, like Baiyun and Xiao Yao had to do.
After the intense battle, the calm offered by the outer court seemed even more precious, and even though they knew it would not last forever, it was comforting.
Once he went on his way, Yueshi immediately walked toward his training spot, planning to further refine and train his spear arts.
He didn't feel the need to keep cultivating for now, as he was almost at the fifth stage. What he truly wanted was to walk another step forward and reach the second realm of martial arts.
The river was still the same, and so was the green grass and the thick tree. The small hill, the little flowers, and the few pebbles… everything was the same, and, under the caress of the breeze, Yueshi's mind calmed down.
At that instant everything disappeared from his mind and, as he thrust and swiped with his spear, there was only him in the world and nothing else.
There were many things he still had to do, and he was far away from reaching his objectives, however, as his spear moved like an extension of his body, his mind was freed from all its burdens.
Moving his feet, Yueshi stepped forward and backward, them to the left and next to the right. As time passed, his footwork became more complex, his movements wider and steadier, until it reached the point where he seemed to be dancing with the spear.
Yet, even as beads of sweat flowed down, he did not stop for a second.
Maybe, it was a sort of escapism.
As he focused his entire heart and mind on the spear, peace finally descended upon him. There wasn't a single worry shackling him; as if his mother, his sister, and his friends had all disappeared from his mind.
And like that, he continued, a step at a time, a spear move at a time - until the sun disappeared and the moon ascended to the highest point of the sky.
— - -
There were many things that the senior disciples had to do right now. The Inner Disciple Examination was approaching and that meant that they had a new challenge to face; however, it did not affect only them, but the entire outer court.
If things were like usual, the top three outer disciples were as good as passed. Moreover, a considerable amount of strong disciples would enter the inner sect, and that meant a change in the associations' power, leading to a change in the ranks.
Because of that, everyone was excited and giving their all, preparing for the times that were coming.
People like Yueshi, however, were less excited. He was of the mind that if the association grew, then it was good, but if it remained a small place for him and his friends, then that was nice too.
Moreover, as high-key as he had been until now, he was no one that cared for fame and glory. Despite his name spreading amongst the court after he showed his strength, he was still doing the same as away – training his spear, visiting the training grounds like the pagoda, accompanying Xuehua and…
Well, maybe there was a change in his routine. Now he had to add 'being seduced by Yuan Yue' on it.
His charming disciple sister would frequently come to chat and spend time with him, and though, until now, she did not make any big move, it was unquestionable that they were spending more time together than ever before.
Like that, time continued to fly by and, in the blink of an eye, an entire month had gone by. That also meant that Yueshi had been in this world for around one month and a half.
While his progress on spear arts had slowed down since the last mission, all in all, he was continuously improving, becoming stronger each passing day. Other than that, a few small changes had taken place in the association.
First, there was their alchemy shop. Under the care of Xiao Yao, and a few novices that had been amongst the new members, the shop was thriving.
There were only three or four outer disciples on the same level as Xiao - when it came to the alchemy - so it was not strange that their shop was popular.
Moreover, while they could compare to him in alchemy and pill concoction, they were far from his level as a poison master
The first month earned then two thousand contribution points, even after discounting the young alchemist's shares and the part of his helpers.
According to Baiyun, the profits would be between two to three thousand during the following months.
They had honestly not expected it to be so popular.
Moreover, since they accepted more members they also expanded their headquarters. The profits from the first month also allowed them to build a few cultivation rooms that were being used in rotation by everyone.
Another good news was that the Qing twins had broken through to the third stage successfully by the end of their first month in the sect.
Baiyun had also given everyone a surprise, entering the first realm of martial arts.
The young man was also a great genius, and having the chance to spar daily with Yueshi and Tian Tian, he managed to improve immensely too.