"I'm surprised a girl like you picked a sword like that, it looks rather inelegant." Shu Lin said.
Yuyue only gave a polite smile,
"I felt that it was right for me," She said simply.
"Mm, Mm, that is indeed important," Shu lin said nodding. "it's better than picking a spirit stone, that would truly be wasting your opportunity."
"Elder Sister Lin, what is a spirit stone?" Yuyue asked.
"A spirit stone is a cultivation resource, like a pill, it will help restore your Qi and you can use it to move towards the first step of Qi Development."
Yuyue nodded at the explanation, she was indeed right that picking the stones was worthless.
"What are the jade slips"
"Those contain martial skills, of course, the martial skills in there are fairly low level and you would need to be at the third step of Qi development to use them."
Yuyue now realized why she was unable to figure out the purpose of those jade slips, her cultivation was simply too low to use them!
"Also have you decided on a job?" Shu Lin suddenly asked.
"Medicinal plant gathering!" Yuyue said instantly.
She had read the fog forest manual and it was the only job that appealed to her, since she used to be friends with Ji Ruo she had confidence that she could navigate the forest and even find rare plants. Since she spent much time with him, he had taught her a few things about navigating in the forest.
"Mhmm, a good choice, much better than tree chopping at least," Shu lin said, she slapped the bag on her side and a small booklet flew out. The booklet described the plants that could be found in the forest and contained a few pointers on how to find them.
"Thank you elder sister!" Yuyue said.
They eventually walked back towards the dorms where Yuyue dropped her off.
"Your work will start tomorrow, you must bring 10 contribution points worth of plants otherwise you will be punished with no meals, bring more and you will be rewarded with spirit stones. The return counter is over there"
Shu Lin pointed to a stand that was near the dorms.
"That's the exchange desk, use it in the future"
Yuyue nodded at the explanation and then Shu Lin walked away leaving Yuyue to her own devices.
Yuyue returned to her dorm room and set the sword on her lap.
It seemed like the sword was still unsatisfied with her, but it kept its peace.
Seeing that she was unable to change its mood, she decided to focus on her cultivations. Yuyue cultivated until it was late at night before eventually laying on the straw bed.
She felt a pang of homesickness in her heart which she quickly suppressed, this was the life she chose for herself and she was not allowed to complain.
Closing her eyes, she fell into a milky sleep.
** ** **
They started early with a disciple who walked through the dorms banging a gong. Yuyue was instantly awakened and rolled out of her straw mattress rubbing her back.
It was the first time she had slept in such poor conditions and she began to realize how much of a toll it would take on her body.
"I must become an inner sect disciple" She resolved to herself.
According to the manual, inner sect disciples would no longer have to work and could spend the entire day focusing on cultivation. They would even be given a set amount of spirits stones to help their cultivation.
Yuyue tied the sword to her back and proceeded to walk into the forest.
Ever since she started cultivating the fog had become much easier to navigate and was no longer as thick as she once thought.
The booklet that Shu Lin had given Yuyue described the types of plants that grew around the forest and how they could be found.
The most common was a plant called "Fog Weed" it was a type of medicinal herb that when turned into a poultice could accelerate the healing of wounds, it also served as the base for many basic medicinal pills
Still, since it was the most common plant it would only give one-tenth of a contribution point. Since Yuyue had to turn in 10 each day she would need over 100 Fog Weeds to be able to meet her quota.
Despite the fact it was one of the most common plants, it took her an hour to find her first plant. Fog weed looked very similar to nettle and the leaves emitted a wispy fog.
Even though Yuyue was elated at finding the first plant she realized that taking over an hour to find a single fog weed would mean she would never meet her quota for the day.
Yuyue began to think the sect requirements were absolutely ridiculous, it was impossible for a disciple to collect that many plants in a day.
She decided to sit down and reassess her options, it was pointless to keep collecting medicinal plants like this if she knew she would never meet the quota.
As she was sitting in the forest she was struck with a sense of uneasiness. She instantly looked behind her to see a snarling animal looking at her.