Cao Yun woke up after the festivities. Even with his mind cultivation, he was a bit stumped. After all, they really did spend several days of eating, chatting and playing without any sleep. Any Mortal cultivator would be unable to function properly for a few days. However, Cao Yun merely slept for fifteen hours and he was good to go.
Speaking of mind cultivation, he decided to cultivate the next Five Echoes Pearl from his Five Agents. This time, he had decided to energize his Chamber of Ultimate Truth. This chamber was related to understanding, knowledge and memory. Even though he wasn't entirely sure of the actual effects of this chamber, he knew that it would increase his ability to study martial arts. As he was still somewhat at a bottleneck with his Heart Star, he had decided on this approach.
Maybe the effects wouldn't be as important as he could hope for. But after all the miracles from this 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks', he sure was expecting a lot from the second layer. Just like the first Five Echoes Pearl, Cao Yun focused all of his Five Agents on a singular purpose and tried to extract a single drop of pure liquid in the center of their rotation. This was even more taxing on his mind than the first time. Clearly the concentration of energy within the Five Agents had increased. And as it was more dense, it required more mental strength to extract it.
'Climb the Nine Peaks' would also train his Five Agents. Apparently, for each Five Echoes Pearl extracted, the characters would become denser in energy. Cao Yun had not yet noticed the difference, but it was obvious now that he was working on extracting the second drop. Each drop would probably take between two to three months, even more, to be extracted. The actual process to use the Five Echoes Pearl would only take an instant, but it was after months of hard work.
After several hours, Cao Yun decided to observe his five current stars. Right now, he was partially making out the shape of a dragon. The Heart Star that was literally a pulsating red dot really looked like it was the heart of the beast. With the subtle movements of the stars, Cao Yun was imagining the movements of the beast. Then, he tried to visualize them in his own movements. However, it was still too difficult to control the 'Dragon's Heart'.
This technique consisted in accelerating his own Qi. As a result, this Qi would increase all his physical abilities. But, as a side-effect, it was increasingly more difficult to control, to the point that Cao Yun could easily let it accelerate too much. Once he lost control over the actual speed, the Qi could become a lethal weapon in his own body. Right now, he was fairly sure that he could keep it under control if he only increased his physical abilities by threefold. If he went beyond, he wasn't sure of anything. Probably, he could still control it for an instant if he went to fourfold, but there was always a risk.
Finally, Cao Yun reviewed his knowledge of alchemy and array formations. During the year, he had read many books that he fully memorized on the subject. But memorizing a book, understanding it and applying it in real life were three separate things. Thanks to his Chamber of Jade, he had realized that he was more innovative and creative in his reading. It didn't really increase his ability to understand, but he was now able to imagine new approaches to old problems more easily.
Sadly, he was still inferior to both Mei Hua and Sun Liao in their respective occupations. But, after all, they had spent years to master their crafts. There was no way, even with his mind cultivation, for Cao Yun to surpass them so fast. And as they were now also using the same mind cultivation, their craft would evolve even more and faster. But this was good news.
Cao Yun trusted both of them and he didn't really care about being the greatest genius of all. Maybe, the both of them could create another miracle just like Xiao Xuefeng. Maybe, thanks to his help, they would push further what humanity could do and this would also benefit him as well as everyone else.
When he finally stopped, Cao Yun felt strange. Huang Cixi wasn't around. The young servant was not in her room and everything had been cleaned up. Cao Yun became more and more worried. There was no trace of her at all. Then, he remembered that Elder Tang had addressed them during the festivities.
As everyone was having fun, he had interrupted everything and asked for attention. Of course, no one was really paying great attention but Elder Tang himself didn't care that much either. The informations he gave were not that important.
In fact, Cao Yun was playing Go with Mei Hua at that point. And as he was thinking of several moves, his mind was distracted but he still remembered the words of Elder Tang.
"In a few days, your first year will officially be over. As such, you will be asked to vacate your current residence for another. Indeed, the second-years can leave the sect and most of them don't stay very long in the sect. It allows your servants to have more free time. As such, they can prepare to become full-fledged disciples sooner.
"For this purpose, your servants will clear your rooms and prepare to move everything. Some disciples choose to stay in their own faction. If that is something you wish, just warn us in advance. The rooms we allocate to you do cost some points each month. If you prefer to live in your own faction residence, you will save up on points, just by a little bit, but still...
"And as there will be more candidates and probably more new first-years in this year's entrance examination, we'll have to choose among you who will participate in the 'final test'. Some of you will fight several times, but we'll take care of the organization so as to not exhaust you. You'll also receive points depending on your performance. However, remember that the point of this final test is a sort of welcoming ceremony, do not bully your future juniors. I trust each and every one of you to stay fair and correct.
"You may go back to your little party. I'll send pamphlets into your rooms later. Dismissed!"
And indeed, Cao Yun did find a small pamphlet on his desk. There was nothing more in it, just some details about everything Elder Tang had already said.
Cao Yun should go ask the Heavenly Swallow Faction. He would probably spend most of his time outside during the upcoming year. As such, if he could optimize his points and give more free time to his servant, that was interesting. Since Zhi Yin and the other members would enter the Ancient Ruins, they wouldn't occupy the residence for a single day. Thus, Cao Yun could probably set up his room inside the residence despite its small size. But he would still ask the faction leader. Besides, apart from Mei Hua and himself, there was no other member. Cao Yun wasn't sure whether she would stay inside the sect or leave as frequently as he would.
Hence, Cao Yun went toward the Heavenly Swallow Faction.
-
When he reached the small residence, he saw that Zhao Fei and Zhao Lin were training in the courtyard. It was very rare to see them active within the sect. Most of the year, they stayed outside or only came back for a few days at a time.
"Brother Chen!" Zhao Fei got distracted when he saw Cao Yun and took a punch right in the mouth by his sister.
"Oh? Sorry..." Rubbing his bloody mouth, Zhao Fei caught the hand his sister extended to him. She helped him up and also welcomed Cao Yun.
"You're here about your lodging?"
"Indeed, is Faction Leader Zhi here?"
Still with a bloody mouth, Zhao Fei answered. "Of course, she's getting everything in order. There is always a lot of paperwork. Thankfully, the disciplinary pavilion is more flexible as of now. And the paperwork seems to be less of a hassle with Chief Elder Luoming. That's partly thanks to you, in fact."
"Your friends are also in there."
"Friends?" Apart from Mei Hua, there was no reason for his other friends to come by.
"Ren Chao and Sun Liao. You should go inside."
As the two siblings went back to their training, Cao Yun knocked on the front door. Just after his knock, Ling Hui opened the door. Apparently, their servants were also otherwise busy.
"Oh? It's you..." Since his fight during the end of the year, Ling Hui was a bit more reserved around him. Maybe she had finally acknowledged his talent. In her eyes, only Zhi Yin was the most talented of all, but Cao Yun had somehow disturbed this natural order. "Fairy Zhi was expecting you. Don't make her wait! Come in!"
Well, she was still commandeering when it came to her idol.
When he finally got inside, Cao Yun saw Ren Chao and Sun Liao sitting on one end of a table and Mei Hua and Zhi Yin on the other end. There was another seat ready for him besides Mei Hua, but no seat for Ling Hui.
"Fairy Zhi, Chen Guo is here."
"Good, take a seat, don't mind us. Sister Ling, you may go back to your training. It's important to be as prepared as possible for the Ancient Ruins."
"Yes, Faction Leader."
Just like that, the obedient Ling Hui went outside and closed the door behind her. In the same time, Cao Yun took a seat next to Mei Hua.
"Brother Chen." All three of his friends welcomed him and he gave them back their salute.
Sun Liao was the first one to explain his presence.
"You must be wondering what's going on. It's simple, we've both decided to join the Heavenly Swallow Faction. It turns out that I have nothing to gain from the Enshrouding Temple Faction. After discussing with Brother Ren, neither did he from his Lake Turtle Faction."
"Indeed. In the first place, you've helped me far more than my faction. When I was in a bad place, you've given me great advice. And now that Chief Elder Tingyu took me in as a direct disciple, I really won't need my faction's help, which I only received so little of to begin with."
"So we talked, and we decided to buy off our membership and join your sect. With your pills in the Wubei Merit Market and your ability to leave the sect, we'll make these points back in a matter of weeks."
Mei Hua intervened. "And it will be a great way to help each other as well. If we're all part of the same faction, it will be easier for us to work together outside of the sect. We won't have to debate about whose accomplishment each hunt is as we'll all share the rewards."
Cao Yun was not expecting this at all. "So, you're all decided to explore outside of the sect in the following year."
"Brother Sun and I have both reached the maximum of what we can learn in our craft before becoming Mortal Warriors. I, myself, thought it would be a good idea to leave the safety of the sect." Mei Hua paused a bit. "And my master got rid of the last hesitation I had."
Ren Chao also answered. "For one, I do have a lot to learn still. But getting first-hand experience in the field will be beneficial to my cultivation. I'll also be able to discover more ingredients. Observing demonic beasts can also be helpful as most of them have natural weapons built in their bodies. And I'm sure that traveling with you all and being close to your expertise will greatly improve my views."
Finally, Zhi Yin spoke.
"And this will be greatly beneficial to you, Brother Chen. Sun Liao comes from a great family and he's very good in terms of managing a business. He will be able to manage the faction in your stead. I'm sure you should be aware of this. But, after your fight, your fame has increased a lot within the disciples. The new disciples will obviously hear about you. It's also possible that some of the older disciples may want to join our faction as well, thanks to your reputation.
"Without Sun Liao's help, it would be very cumbersome to deal with all of this. But if you work with him and Mei Hua, all of this administrative aspect will be a breeze. Especially since all the changes within the disciplinary pavilion.
"As you should know, during the first week of the new year, the current second-years will be brought inside the Ancient Ruins at the same time as the third-years come out of it. We all decided that we won't assist at the final test and we'll focus on preparing our departure. No one knows much about the Ancient Ruins. This is one of the biggest taboo of the Wubei Sect.
"Even older disciple from the Wubei Sect never talk about it as it's the most guarded secret of our sect. Even the Imperial City would punish anyone who would spread rumors about those ruins. However, it is clear that many benefits can be obtained in that place. Some people have even been able to cross over two cultivation grades. With enough chance, I may even be able to reach Mortal Warrior.
"I have to admit I'm not that optimistic, but I do hope that I'll get as close to it as possible."
The group kept on talking for several hours as they were drinking their tea. There were many things to settle in order to reorganize the faction. And as Zhi Yin would not be available for a long time, it was important to take care of it quickly. Indeed, this was her faction, and even though she would be away for the entire year, she would still be in charge the last two years. She had built and kept this faction alive through many hardships.
Thus, Cao Yun would feel bad if he completely changed her faction into something she wouldn't like.
They spent a lot of time on the matter of new disciples. Cao Yun quite insisted on contingencies. Since there were many demonic cultivators around the sect, he was worried that some of them would invade their faction as well. Even if they got in without having practiced any demonic art, they could still be agent of the demonic cultivators.
In fact, they could also get turned, just like Luduo Bu or Lu Meihan. Xiao Xuefeng herself could not be completely sure whether someone was a demonic cultivator as long as they had not practiced demonic arts to a sufficient extent.