The lower ranked disciples were happy to have me around as the inner disciples stopped picking on them as much since I was glad to beat anyone up to test my martial arts as I was a man of justice, as long as someone gave me a reason I'd come running like the hero I am to pummel someone and make them repent with my beatings of justice
I had become one of the strongest disciples in the sect excluding the disciples that had been in the sect for many years and the core disciples
I had mastered the techniques I had been practicing and moved on to more advanced ones that were given to me by Grand Elder Lou, as a direct disciple I was also allowed to learn the martial arts on the 4th floor which I had also recorded entirely
I also began practicing rune engraving and pill refining, I decided against blacksmithing as it required a blacksmith shop, although the sect provided one it still felt like it wouldn't match my dream of traveling, maybe if I got rich enough and bought a large storage ring or created one for myself using the rune engraving techniques
Pill refining only required a cauldron which could fit in a sack and be carried and rune engraving only needed a set of carving tools
I also practiced playing the bamboo flute out of boredom as other than fighting and practicing there was hardly anything else to do
I had gained a music talent which was at lvl 5 from Elder Chang who lived at the back of the sect and had a very high talent for music, his martial talent was not very great and he only became an elder after decades of staying in the sect and practicing and now takes care of the finances of the sect
As a direct disciple I moved into a building closer to Grand Elder Lou and had my own private courtyard with a little pond that had a curved bridge and a weeping willow that stood over it
I liked to sit on the wall of the courtyard that overlooked the sect training grounds and play the flute as I watched the disciples practicing below and spitting vulgarities at me for distracting them
"Senior Via, are you here?"
A feminine voice called out to me as I stopped playing and the disciples below finally calmed down when I left to greet the girl
"Junior Elizabeth? Why have you come to visit?"
I was stunned to see that the girl had tried her best to apply makeup which had turned her uglier than she actually was
"I-I wanted to thank you for helping me, because of you I became a direct disciple"
"there's no need, I didn't do anything, I only played my small role in the greater picture called fate"
I turned and looked to the sky dramatically like I was in some romantic play
"E-even so, I can't be ungrateful for what you did"
She said with a blush on her face which I couldn't see because of all the blush makeup she layered on
"there's no need, but if you truly insist, then I hope you can become the greatest and most talented healer in the Lin empire"
I said while patting her head
"I will try my best! I will become the greatest healer in the Lin empire so that I can treat you if you ever get injured"
I don't care about that I just want you to increase your talent, it seemed possible to increase talent through various means such as eating elixirs or practicing the talent
Take for instance the sword heart talent, when I practiced it I managed to gain 4% experience over the year, which was useless as when I met Lin Fan again who had already reached lvl 5 it instantly became lvl 5, this puzzled me as to how he managed to increase his talent so quickly especially how rare and difficult this particular talent was
I had also wanted to visit the Grand Elder who was a healer to try copying his talent, last time I saw him he had a level 2 healing talent
I decided to go together with Elizabeth to greet Grand Elder Yu