Shu He had spent another hour or so with Na Xue chatting about things to do with the sect or the division in general, in all honestly Shu He wanted to end the discussion sooner than it did because he wasn't used to being teased this much but he was kept there against his will by her enthusiasm for talking.
She had spoken quite a bit about how there were far too few members in their division because not many people held interest in beast taming, they would rather find a way to strengthen themselves and their own power than relying on something external like a tamed spirit beast, that said it wasn't as if there weren't any – It was just that the few members that were part of the division rarely visited the sanctuary, they would learn the division's technique and then go on their way unless they needed something, it was mostly just Na Xue, Jian He and Elder Bai left alone to run things which is why she was even happier to have Shu He join as he wasn't averse to regularly visiting.
While Shu He had only helped out here and there so far that was more than enough, she had mentioned that it would be great if he put even more time into the division but then Shu He had simply replied that he would if she stopped going around without clothes on earning him an upset glare.
She then told him a bit more about the tournament that was coming up –
It was taking place just under a month from now, the entry requirements are disciples between Meridian Awakening and Balance Attainment which surprised him, he had thought it would be just for the newer disciples and became worried that older disciples at the 4th stage would dominate, however Na Xue just giggled and explained –
"You don't need to worry about that, with the large gap between disciple recruitments those still at the 4th stage are either the untalented ones or people that have wasted their time without cultivating, it's a perfect chance for the geniuses among the new disciples to show off."
'So we're to use the low hanging fruits of the last batch as stepping-stones to show off…' Shu He realised at her explanation, apparently this was the modus operandi of the sect, if you didn't put enough effort in to cultivation or if you couldn't make the cut you'd serve as cutting stones for the newer generation.
Well, that's if they entered that is, many of the disciples that meet the requirements after being in the sect for a long time knew they had no chance and didn't even attempt to join.
He learned that the tournament was a classic knock out style tournament, lots were drawn to decide who matched who with one catch – New disciples were separated with their own lot box, and they wouldn't match their fellow new disciples until later on, they would instead be matched against old disciples of the same level and then of a higher level before matching other newer disciples.
He was still worried due to the gap in cultivation level so she explained further, the different between the 3rd level Meridian Awakening and 4th level Balance Attainment wasn't great and was similar to the difference between the 1st level Qi Ignition and 2nd level Blood Enhancement, there is an increase in Qi quantity, control and quality between the two levels yet it wasn't an uncrossable chasm, there was nothing one stage could do that the other couldn't – it was still largely reliant on the cultivators skill.
1st place won 800 points and the ability to pick 1 technique from the pavilion, 2nd place won 600 points, 3rd place won 400 points and 4th place won 200 points; Shu He had just spent a lot of points on the Crystallised Yin Amulet so the point rewards from the tournament would be very welcome, he wasn't sure if he could win 1st place but he decided it would be fine to give it a go.
She had mentioned before that there would be posters around the sect and his living quarters so it would be worth trying to find one for the more miscellaneous details, after that she had quickly written out the recipe for her 'tea' and passed it to Shu He, surprising him as to how desperate she was to have it improved.
The list of ingredients contained some stuff he was familiar with and some he was not so he only promised her he would have a try after he joined the Alchemy Division which would take a while since he had to put some things in order before he did so, she happily said it was fine since she wasn't rushed.
Finally, Shu He managed to get away causing him to sigh with relief, he actually wanted to get things done today since he had finally reached Meridian Awakening, a lot of things had opened up for him; The first thing he wanted to do though was the most important one for him right now.
Visit the Mesmerised Tortoise's Pavillion!
…
The pavilion was situated in a large city like area, in fact It wasn't too far from the Covetous Dragon Pagoda which made sense to Shu He, it wouldn't be unusual for disciples to go between the two to buy and sell items and techniques.
As opposed to the pagoda that towered above the skyline however, the pavilion instead took up a large amount of the sect's surface area, it wasn't at all similar to a classic pavilion that resembled gazebos, instead it wasn't wrong to say it resembled some of the great dome structures of his past life, the roof was a large dome that was a deep blue colour that seemed to ripple in the light creating an illusion of water, it was like looking in to a dark ocean; There was a pattern that was filled with pentagons, hexagons, octagons and all the like that all joined together in perfect harmony resembling the shell of a tortoise, in fact based on the shape Shu He couldn't help but think it was really a shell of a turtle and not just a building.
'But that'd be way too big' he thought to himself, dismissing his thoughts.
There were no walls to the pavilion, only pillars supporting the patterned roof, Shu He made his way to what he assumed was the entrance, a flight of stairs at the front of the shell-like roof and walked up while taking in the sights, he reached the top and looked around.
There were a lot of miniature gardens inside the building with seating and the occasional disciple here and there, as to what they were doing- they were reading quietly, a serene look on their faces as they did so.
He took a step inside and then paused, he felt like he had been hit with something, his head feeling light yet not disturbed, rather it felt pleasant like he had just had a peaceful sleep and the clouds hiding his mind had been swept away.
'What is this?' He looked around confused as he began walking towards the centre area that had a reception desk area, he happily relished in the feeling while being a bit lost as to what to think, in fact he realised he found it harder to form thoughts like his mind was now filled with an empty nothing forcing them out.
He would be worried, but even those worried thoughts were suppressed.
All of a sudden he truly felt his mind going blank as he just kept walking, he had no worries or fears, just an empty satisfaction.
And then he felt a hand on his shoulder and a foreign qi entering his body causing him in subconsciously react, his own qi quickly circulating and filling every inch of his body to expel the intruder.
And not soon after Shu He snapped out of his daze causing all the worried thoughts to pile on him as sweat filled his forehead as jumped in fright.
"What the hell?!" He yelled as his eyes darted around before landing on something stood in front of him.
"Shh! You need to be quiet here!" The man said with his index finger up to his mouth.
"!---…. What just happened?" Shu He supressed all the panicked thoughts in his head before taking a deep breath and asking.
"Come over here, make sure to keep circulating your Qi" The man said, walking towards the desk that was Shu He's original goal, Shu He looked around seeing a couple of disciples looking his way with a knowing smile before they turned back to their books.
He made his way to the desk where the man was now sitting peacefully, he was quite short for a man, but he clearly wasn't young as there were signs of aging in his face that were adorned with a pair of glasses, he had short brown hair but other than that he had no notable adorning features.
'Huh, first time I've seen glasses in this world' Shu He thought to himself.
He looked at the man, waiting for an explanation.
"New disciple, I assume?" The man asked, Shu He nodded.
The man sighed "…Why don't they just explain it to you?"
"What?" Shu He asked, managing to overhear the whisper.
"Never mind, what just happened was the Everlasting Tortoise's blessing" He explained, which just confused Shu He even more.
"Blessing? What's that?" This was the first time he had heard the term used in this world.
The man sighed, seemingly annoyed he had to explain even more as he pointed upwards "This pavilion was constructed using parts of an Everlasting Tortoise, the effect of the parts causes those inside the pavilion to experience super clarity, their mind becomes clear to such a degree that it can be dangerous to those that can't control their resistance to the effect".
"Why would you use such a thing?" Shu He said as he remembered the feeling of nothingness with great fright.
"…I said dangerous but that's not really true, at most the effect would leave someone spacing out until someone helped them out of it just like I did for you now, it's not really a problem as we have people stationed here 24/7"
'Oh, that's not too bad then' Shu He thought and was about to say, however the man wasn't finished talking'.
"…Well there have been a few incidents where disciples wander somewhere unnoticed and end up nearly dying of starvation but those were isolated ones" he murmured as if it wasn't anything to take note of.
'Fricking scary!' Shu He gulped imagining himself in such a situation.
"Anyway it's easily circumvented by circulating your Qi as you now know, I honestly wish they'd teach all new disciples about this to save me work but they said it's some stupid initiation… Oh yeah, the reason we have this blessing in the first place is because the super clarity is great for thinking about things, reading in peace and helping with comprehension, we even have rentable rooms for disciples to cultivate here" He mentioned as he pointed towards a sign near him that showed prices for rentable rooms.
Shu He furrowed his brows as he looked around, this place was quite different from what he thought it would be.
"Those books the other disciples are reading, are they techniques?" Shu He asked out of curiosity, he had come here to get his two techniques, so he assumed the others were doing something similar.
"No, they're normal books" the man replied with a calm smile on his face.
"Eh? You have normal books here? I thought this was a technique pavilion?" Shu He said with an expression filled with surprise.
He had wanted to find a library for ages, there wasn't even one in Orefine, so he was lost on his search.
"Are you interested?" The man's face brightened seeing Shu He's interest "Yes this place isn't merely a technique pavilion, that is below, but above is a large library filled with books you can borrow or read here, with the blessing it makes for a great area to read as its incredibly peaceful and you'll barely ever be disturbed!" He said filled with enthusiasm.
'This guy's a bookworm then' Shu He thought with a smile plastered on his face.
"Yeah I wanted to find a library to look a lot of things up, so I'm happy to have one here, I wish I knew sooner." He explained.
"Great! My name is Wen Hao." The man cheerfully said while holding his hand out.
'He sure changed his tune quick…' Shu He thought as he held his hand out for a handshake "I'm Shu He" he introduced himself and they shook hands.
"If you want to borrow a book you merely need to bring it here to the desk and place it here alone with your token, but if you want to just read here you can-" He began talking at the speed of a machine gun causing Shu He to panic and hold his hand up as if to say 'STOP'.
"Hang on one minute- I will come here for books another day but I just reached Meridian Awakening, so I came for my two techniques today" He hurriedly explained.
Wen Hao seemingly stopped mid-sentence with his mouth hung open and his expression betraying his immediate disappointment before he laid back in his seat and coughed.
"Of course, sorry I lost myself there".
'Yeah, I can tell' Shu He sighed to himself, why does he keep meeting people with such strong… personalities.
"If you want to go to the Techniques floor, just head down this passage here and the elder inside will explain it to you" He held his hand out towards a staircase that spiralled downwards into the floor.
"Thanks, I'll come back another day for the library so we can talk more then" Shu He said, bowing as he passed by.
"I'll see you later then!" Wen Hao spoke loud enough for him to hear but not enough to disturb others.
Shu He began walking down the spiral staircase to the floor below.