"Eh…"
For a moment, Tyler was speechless.
He opened and closed his mouth, having no idea what to say.
"Haha... Of Course you are not... You already 40+ right?" He patted his shoulder, "Now let's start the registration."
Fondil Mabols stopped up and walked towards the main seat.
"I am Outer Hall Elder Fondil Mabols. Outer Elders are usually responsible for overseeing the day-to-day affairs of the outer hall, such as managing outer disciples, administering resources, and handling internal conflicts."
Tyler and the other three are surprised. That guy was the outer hall elder?
"Haha... I am just bored and playing a prank... are you shocked?..."
"..."
" Now let's get to the business." Fondil clapped his hands with an awkward cough.
Tyler just blinked. Not really a big twist or something.
"Today we are gonna talk about the Cultivation world and cultivators. Let's start with the basics." Fondil Mabols continued.
"Us Cultivators have other names. Immortal practitioners, Qi Stealers, Heaven and Earth power Harvesters." Fondil said as he swept a glance at them. He also made a pose by widening his hand. There was also a little light effect behind him. Then began to talk about the basics.
Tyler felt a little asleep. Those who read cultivation novels know these things. As a guy who wants to cultivate, he has read many novels in that genre. Most of the cultivation novels are similar in that they have almost the same type of stories, same type of characters and same type of world building. The difference starts when the author moves the story.
"They say 100 days to master a spear, 1,000 days to master a blade, and 10,000 days to master a sword right? Everyone needs training. Even if a three year old can play an instrument, that means he has undergone a good training. So never skip your training." Fondil Mabols' explanation continued in the background.
Even though Fandil Mabols started talking. His mind was on something else.
---
After the explanation and stuffs,
Fondil grabbed and threw that storage pouch into their hands and introduced it very enthusiastically, "You only have to put a mark of your spiritual awareness into it, then you can use it."
Tyler and others showed a surprised expression when receiving the storage bag, and in accordance with Fondil's instructions other than Tyler, they used their spiritual awareness to brand it. Soon after they felt some kind of difference and began to browse the inside.
Fondil did not trouble them this time. When he had received his own storage pouch for the first time, he was also like this and unable to contain his joy, so he absolutely understood the disciples' mood right now. After waiting until they had fiddled enough with the pouch, Fondil handed them five qi refining pills and a token that engraved their names in it.
"You have to earn merit points by doing missions and chores. Only by using that you can trade in the sect. Remember that merit points are money here."
Fondil looked at the one guy who didn't do anything. Of course because he is none other than Tyler White.
"You wait till you get cultivation arts from the library and you can start practising spiritual energy and spiritual awareness." Fondil Mabols nodded at him.
The minimum requirement to start using Cultivation tools is the First stage of Qi refining Realm.
"I don't know how far you can go, I don't know what you can do in the end. The differing ability levels dictate the different things you can do. When you are still a child, your parents won't let you work to earn money. When you are a man, no one will request to use you as a surrogate mother. Therefore, what you can do doesn't depend on anyone else. It only has to do with your abilities," Fondil Mabols said
'What's with philosophy talk?' Tyler thought.
---
With the token and newly acquired spatial bag, Tyler walked towards the cave he was allocated.
"The strong can conceal the heavens with a flick of their fingers, shattering the void. Ordinary individuals temper their bodies, possessing the strength of thousands of kilograms, capable of splitting mountains."
Tyler heard a voice while he was walking on a path made of fancy stones that have the shape of crystal that looks like ice.
He looked at a martial training ground which is named as No. 404.
Inside the martial arts training ground which is covered with snow, hundreds of warriors are engaged in combat training and spell casting. Their fists and feet clash, unleashing surging energy and causing gusts of wind that tear through the air. The most attractive thing is that most of them are cute young girls or hot middle-aged women.
Even though they were loud, a man who was standing in the corner wearing a blue uniform, spoke in a low voice. But everyone can hear it.
"If a person doesn't make mistakes, he will never know what's right. If a person doesn't have actual combat experience, that person will never do well in actual combat."
After glancing at him Tyler left, he doesn't know why, but he felt that the man just looked at him.
Tyler reached the outer disciple area. It contains a row of huts which is covered by snow. He looked at his slip in his hand and found the hut that he was allocated.
He walked past two ice phoenix statues and entered a pavement then reached the hut. After entering the hut, all the cold disappeared. Even though the disciple Token let him avoid the cold, he just felt like wearing a sweater in winter. But entering the hut vanished all the cold, only warmth welcomed him.
He looked around and found out that he has two more roommates.
"This is gonna be difficult." He murmured.
One of the guys who is topless and meditating heard his murmur just glanced at him and closed his eyes.
Another one who is sleeping at the corner, just said without even opening his eyes, "If you don't like this hut, you can make more contribution or money by completing the missions and renting a courtyard at the living area."
"Money?"
"Spirit stones."
Tyler's eyes lit up for a second and returned normal.
---
That evening Tyler headed to the Outer Hall, procuring essential books on pill alchemy, herbs, artefacts, formation and arrays.
"These are the basic things you have to study. They are all just for the beginners." The Outer Hall elder said.
He also discreetly inquired about the process of acquiring a private home within the sect. It's best to buy a private Home so that his secret will stay.
But suddenly revealing his wealth might not be a bright move. As the saying goes, The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it. If someone finds out his secret, there is nothing he can do except for regret in misery. So revealing money should be planned, which might make people think that he has a source to get all the money.
To buy those, he first needed lots of spirit stones. The sect gave him 5 Low-grade spirit stones. These are the lowest level of spirit stones and are typically used for low-level cultivation and basic magical artefact power. They are the most common type of spirit stone and can be easily acquired in large quantities.
"No one will care about the source of income but what if someone notices that I have a lot of spirit stones?" Tyler couldn't help but ponder.
---
Tyler slept in the hut, and the next day he walked towards the Canteen. He got his free meals but for premium meals one has to use spirit stones. Tyler still doesn't want to show his wealth so he decided to eat the free meals. It doesn't taste bad and not so good either. The thing is Premium meals are made with spiritual materials. It means even ingredients like wheat and rice have spiritual energy in it. Which is best for cultivation too.
Tyler ate his breakfast and ran to his classes. Everything was pretty basic introduction on the first day so he felt bored a little. He was alone because the teacher taught him the basics because he is new.
Finally he got a method for cultivating. He happily went to cultivate. Sitting crossed leg, he decided to meditate. He was able to sense the wisp of spiritual energy in a week.
This speed was too slow. After all, Tyler was not young anymore. The older he was, the harder it was for his cultivation to increase in the future.
Another week passed,
"One must be honest, have the capacity to endure, and avoid unnecessary conflicts with others" One teacher said.
Tyler has no idea why there is a lesson on philosophy. As if the teacher could read Tyler's thoughts he said, "Cultivating the character is very important. Just because you become powerful doesn't mean you can look down on everyone. One must set rules to themselves. The world is vast, there are mountains beyond mountains and ocean beyond oceans. There is always someone better than you and also someone better than that someone."
Just like that Tyler's life as a cultivator started.
Six months passed, Tyler already formed a plan to create fake revenue to hide his actual source.