Orefine was as bustling as ever, the sounds of blacksmith hammers striking the anvil and sizzling furnaces could be heard at nearly ever corner of the central district, busy people ran about left and right dragging about crates and bundles while sweating heavily.
"Then, I'll be taking my leave here" Shu He stepped off the carriage before he turned around, looking at the three still inside "Are you sure you don't want to come with me? You might get inside easier" he offered them, but Tao Yan shook his head.
"We were told to find the legacy entrance; I don't think they'd like it if we tried to circumvent that" he explained. "Do you have an idea of where it is?" Shu He asked curiously, he didn't know of such an entrance to the sect.
"We were told that it rested under they eyes of the founder" Tao Yan said, Shu He's eyes opened slightly wider before returning to normal as he smiled "Then, it shouldn't be too hard, I wish you luck" he adjusted his hold on his backpack until it was comfortable "Once you're inside, try to send me a message and I'll visit".
"Got it" Tao Yan nodded as Gong Jie butted in "You better not take too long to reply, being stuck isolated in another sect sounds like hell" she said to which Wang Kang replied, "We're supposed to be cultivating there, not sightseeing Gong Jie… though I do really want to try some of those dishes you spoke about."
"In the end, you just care about food!" Gong Jie retorted as Shu He chuckled lightly.
"Come on you two, we should get going; We need to find a place to stay before nightfall, Brother Shu was kind enough to tell us where to find the rest inns so we shouldn't waste his generosity."
After that the three sat back in the cabin with Tao Yan at the drivers seat as they set off in to the city, leaving Shu He waving at the city gates as he watched them go; It had been just over a month since they had set out from Pure-Pond setting his total journey to just over 3 months by a few days, in all honestly he had overestimated the travel time, though the twists and turns had made him move faster than he ever intended.
It was his first time travelling since he came to this world, and it was certainly eventful for better or for worse; Yet it wouldn't be his last time either, no, it was just his first.
'Time to return to the sect' He glanced up at the large mountain range that dwarfed the circular city, he wouldn't mind spending some time down here for nostalgias sake, but he was itching to get working on all the things flying about in his mind.
Plus… he wasn't the only one that needed to return, Little Xue was still in his backpack, unmoving since that day just under a month ago, that isn't to say nothing happened to her at all, on the contrary Shu He discovered something rather interesting.
After a few days the chrysalis began steadily absorbing the surrounding Gold Qi in waves, like it was making up for an insufficiency, unfortunately the environment was lacking so he once again supplied it with Qi multiple times a day, it was a slight wear on his mental state, but the amount wasn't as much as when she first crystalised.
And because of him doing this, he felt an even stronger connection to her, it reminded him of the feeling of when he bound the looking glass he had found before, but more intimate and closer, he felt like he started to understand her status, how far along she was in her ascension.
And that was not even half-way yet, it was like a cup that was continually filled with river water before filtering out everything else until gold remained, at this rate he estimated it may take a year or more.
And so he wanted to find a place for her to rest safely, so he needed to return.
Without wasting another moment he leapt away, heading to the mountain range, it was still quite a trek up to the sects main entrance and the light was beginning to dim, so he hurried along.
…
From the outside the mountain path he was on looked like a complete dead end, and if he was a normal mortal he was experience an unexpected but compelling thought to turn around, yet as he treaded forward the token in his robes flashed lightly and suddenly before him was the grand sect gate adorned with a giant holding a hammer, exactly as it was when it left, almost eerily so.
'I'm not expecting it to change in three months, but the fact that it seems identical just feels weird…' he thought as he walked closer, he had removed his cloak in order to prevent any misunderstandings, though he doubted the two Sect Protectors standing guard either side were incompetent enough to cause them.
He couldn't help just being cautious though.
Of course, he had no problems as he entered the small door next to the gate, they hadn't even paid him a single glance and stood like statues without so much as blinking, so much so he questioned if they were even alive.
He passed through the formation, feeling the odd buzz as he was scanned and the token was authenticated, he noticed that the token he had recovered belonging to Luo Hu was scanned as well, but he could tell the formation reacted differently to it.
Then, he entered the large hall where all the disciples would take out missions and looked around, it was late in the day so there weren't as many people here yet all of the mission desks were completely full still, in the end this was still one of the 5 great sects after all.
Like before he waited in line until he reached the front, this time it was a man tending to him as he placed his identification token on the desk "I'm returning from my mission" he said out of formality, they would be able to tell that because he had an identification token after all.
"Welcome back" The man said as he picked up the token and placed it on the plate next to him, text appeared that read the details of his mission and the period that he left the sect. "It must have been quite a journey for your first mission, do you have proof of subjugation?".
Shu He nodded and took out a fang and ear, placing them on the desk causing the man's eyes to split wide open as his hands paused "These don't seem like they're from a Greyback Mountain Wolf…?" the man expressed his doubts.
Shu He smiled wryly as he explained "The briefing mentioned it had been growing, right? During the period I was travelling it went through ascension" he then looked at the briefing on the screen oddly "I was informed by Elder Su mid travel… was the briefing not updated?".
"You met with Elder Su?" The man looked at him oddly before looking at the briefing and frowning "No it wasn't… it went through ascension really quickly then…" he murmured.
At his comment Shu He paused as his mind almost froze.
'How didn't I see that oddity?!' He had known about it for so long, but the fact that it underwent ascension within those three months meant its chrysalis period had been even shorter than that!
How?!
'Was it those droppings? The Qi inside of them felt filtered, almost refined, did they speed up the process somehow? Or was it just the sheer quantity it consumed prior to ascending?' Shu He was cursing in his mind now, wishing he was able to study the wolf before he had to hunt it now.
'But… this means that Little Xue might not take as long as I thought after all… she was the source of the droppings in the end' He pondered.
"Disciple Shu?" The man called out to him; he had suddenly spaced out after all.
"Oh- sorry, what were you saying?".
"The reward shall be increased to 800 points, also if you have any parts, do you want to sell them here? It will be faster than going to the pagoda later".
"No it's fine, I wish to keep them for now" Shu He shook his head, he had given most of it away anyway; He then pulled out the identification token belonging to Luo Hu "I retrieved this on my mission as well".
The man picked it up with a sombre look on his face as he scanned it, confirming the Qi signature and authenticity as well as its status "May I ask the circumstances of retrieval?".
"I took it from someone disguising as one of our sect members, he had the uniform as well as the token" he said, his words containing a hint of anger as he recalled that man. "And what did you do with that person?" The man behind the desk stared in to Shu He's eyes, the lights in his eyes questioning Shu He deeply.
"I dealt with him accordingly" Shu He replied without missing a beat, his eyes filled with honestly as he returned the stare, the man closed his eyes and nodded "Good, well done Disciple Shu, your efforts in quelling an enemy of the sect deserve a reward, you will be credited 500 points".
Shu He's expression flashed with surprise, he wasn't expecting to be 'rewarded' for such a thing.
The man laughed seeing his expression "We can't expect our disciples to work for nothing, even when it comes to dealing with such things, but… we do not appreciate those who only do it for the reward".
A clear warning. Shu He nodded.
The man walked away as he stored the tokens before he came back with another token in hand and placed it on the desk. "Here's your sect token, the points have been applied to it, you may check".
Shu He did just as he said, he held the familiar stick like token as a number flashed up on the side –
[ 1669 points ]
"Thanks" Shu He bowed, preparing to take off and return to his dwelling before he was caught by another voice.
"Disciple Shu" it came from beside him all of a sudden almost frightening the life out of him, he turned and found out it was one of the Sect Protectors, stone faced as ever.
"Y-yes? What can I do for you Senior?" He calmed his pacing heart as he spoke with a slightly croaky voice.
"The Vice Sect-Master requests your presence, go to his office immediately" the stone man said before walking off with a speed akin to running.
'Those sect protectors are all weird in the own way…' Shu He thought as he watched the man skedaddle away.
'Senior Wu? I wonder if this will be about my promotion…' He span on his heels as he changed direction, he hadn't expected to be visiting as soon as he returned but it was time to see the Vice Sect-Master!