Morning arrived swiftly as Yuan cultivated the Flame Poison Cleansing Demonic Beast Technique throughout the night. However, a sudden knock on his door disrupted his focus, forcing him to open his eyes and halt his cultivation.
Letting out a quiet breath, Yuan stood up, adjusted his bright green sect robe, and made his way toward the door.
As he pulled it open, he was met with the sight of a tall young man, possibly around 1.90 meters in height, with long black hair and sharp black eyes. He, too, wore the same bright green robe, marking him as a fellow outer disciple.
The young man's expression remained indifferent as he regarded Yuan.
"Hello, junior. I'm here to show you the sect and what tasks you'll be assigned to." His tone was direct and emotionless.
Yuan, as always, wore his warm and polite smile as he greeted his senior.
"Yes, thank you, Senior!"
However, the tall disciple didn't bother responding. Instead, he simply turned around and began walking away.
"Come. I will show you where to take missions and how to earn merit points."
Without hesitation, Yuan followed behind him, keeping pace.
After walking about three kilometers, they finally left the outer disciple area, stepping onto a vast, open field where a lone pavilion stood at the center of the flat ground.
"We are now at the Mission Hall. This is where you will take on missions," the tall disciple explained in his usual indifferent tone as he led Yuan into the pavilion.
"There are three types of missions: Hunting Missions, Governing Missions, and Special Missions.Hunting Missions usually involve killing demonic beasts or killing bandits .Governing Missions are focused on managing the sect's cities, overseeing trade, or solving problems in a given region. Unlike Hunting Missions, these often take several years to complete.And then, there are Special Missions. These vary widely in nature, ranging from guiding new disciples,like what I'm doing right now,to cleaning the sect grounds, assisting with construction, or other internal sect tasks. The length of these missions differs, but the duration is always stated on the mission board.Once you complete a mission, you must report to the Outer Reward Hall, located in the center of the outer disciple area. There, you will present your identification slate, and after verifying your mission and providing evidence of completion, you will receive your merit points."
Yuan nodded silently, absorbing all the information.
Seeing that Yuan had no immediate questions, the tall disciple turned and resumed walking, leading him further into the sect.
After traveling a few more kilometers, another pavilion came into view.
The tall disciple gestured toward it and continued his explanation.
"This is the School Pavilion. For the next three months, you will come here daily to study.You will learn about common cultivation rules, sect regulations, the territorial borders of our lands, the history of our sect, and gain insight into the other six major sects.Starting tomorrow, at sunrise, you are expected to be here on time. Do not be late."
Yuan simply nodded in understanding.
After that, the tall young man continued to repeat much of what Empty Lake had already explained,the four pavilions, the main and sub halls, the elders,but there was something missing.
What exactly do inner sect disciples do?
That was something neither of them had mentioned.
A few hours passed, and they simply walked around the outer disciple area.
The tall disciple casually mentioned that every three months, an Outer Disciple Auction takes place.
At the same time as the auction, there is an Outer Disciple Exchange, where disciples trade all kinds of items.
And then, once a year, the Inner Sect Recruitment is held.
This event happens on the last day of the year, where outer disciples are given the opportunity to take on advancement missions to earn the right to become inner sect disciples.
However, it was also the most dangerous time of the year.
Most of the sect's deaths occurred during this period.
Overconfident outer disciples, believing they were ready for the challenge, would accept missions beyond their abilities. They would either complete them and advance… or die trying.
Because of this, older outer disciples rarely attempted the advancement missions.
They had seen too many failures.
But at the same time, those who did succeed were always far stronger than the average outer disciple.
It was a brutal but effective form of natural selection.
That was Yuan's immediate thought about the inner sect advancement missions.
Of course…
Such missions could also be manipulated.
An ambitious outer disciple could be sent on an impossible mission, ensuring their death.
But thoughts like these were better left unsaid.
And so, the day passed slowly, with Yuan now having traveled through the entire outer sect region.
The tall young man had shown him the regular cultivation spots for outer disciples, explaining how they fought daily just to secure a location to cultivate.
The outer sect region was vast, filled with countless small mountains, lakes, rivers, and waterfalls.
However, there were three most desired locations that every disciple fought for:
Fang of the Wolf,a fang shaped mountain with a denser concentration of spiritual essence than other areas. Cultivating here was highly sought after.
Pressure of Gravity,a waterfall that increased body endurance through its sheer weight. Many disciples broke through their limits here, making it a prime spot for refining the body.
The Small Pond,unlike the others, this pond didn't enhance spiritual essence or body refinement. However, it was extremely valuable for stabilizing one's cultivation after a breakthrough. Even inner sect disciples used it to stabilize themselves when advancing to the Meridian Awakening Stage. But for cultivators at the Bone Forging Stage or higher, it became completely useless.
Beyond these key locations, the tall young man mentioned other matters, such as
The Yearly Outer Sect Tournament, where disciples tested their strength.The required number of missions each disciple had to complete.The Four Seasons Festival, an event held within the sect.
But none of these were important to Yuan right now.
His priority was cultivate his Azure Basilisk flame with the Flame Poison Cleansing Demonic Beast Technique.
And so, as the tour ended, Yuan once again sat on his bed and began to cultivate his azure basilisk flame through the entire night, without taking any breaks.
After hours of cultivation, Yuan eventually broke out of his meditation, sensing that it was almost time to leave for the School Pavilion.
Standing up, he took one of the Mortal Food Pills,a common food substitute that every new disciple received upon entering the sect.
These pills had been given to him by the tall young man during his tour.
For disciples who had just joined the sect and were still studying in the School Pavilion, the sect provided enough pills to last the three month learning period.
But after that?
They would have to buy them with merit points.
Yuan popped the pill into his mouth and then left his room, heading toward the School Pavilion.
Every day, the same routine repeated itself.
Cultivate. School. Repeat.
Yuan didn't sleep at all during these three months.
It was unnatural,a Mortal Awakening Stage cultivator should need sleep.
But thanks to the Azure Basilisk Flame, he could maintain this sleepless state for at least half a year if he only used it to nurture his body.
However, since he was also refining the Azure Basilisk Flame, his body could only endure three months without rest.
But in those three months, Yuan learned many things about the Howling Wind Sect.
One of the most interesting discoveries was that the sect's history only spanned about 4,500 years.
Not only that, the Howling Wind Sect was founded in the Seven Peak Mist Mountain.
And so, a thought emerged in his mind.
Basilisk was imprisoned about 5,000 years ago… Could this sect have something to do with him?
The coincidences were too strange to ignore.
Furthermore, records stated that the Founder and Ancestor of the Howling Wind Sect had only been able to establish the sect thanks to a powerful spiritual sword that he had discovered one day.
A powerful spiritual sword…?
Yuan narrowed his eyes.
If he had to guess, there was a possibility that the Founder of the Howling Wind Sect had obtained the Chaotic Devouring Sword,the very weapon Basilisk once wielded in the past.
But Yuan didn't only learn about the sect's ancestor and founder,he also gained a deeper understanding of common cultivation knowledge.
For example, he memorized the names of all the cultivation stages:
Mortal Awakening Stage
Blood Purification Stage
Meridian Awakening Stage
Bone Forging Stage
Marrow Essence Stage
Body Reconstruction Stage
They had told him that only after reaching the Marrow Essence Stage would he be allowed to learn more about the higher cultivation realms.
But Yuan already knew them.
Above the Body Reconstruction Stage was the Body Ascension Stage.
And after that, came the Spirit Forming Stage.
The Body Ascension Stage was also known by another name
The Peak of the First Part of Cultivation.
This was because cultivation itself was divided into three great parts
The Body part
The Spirit part
The Soul part
Everything beyond that?
Even Basilisk, with his high level Soul Fusion cultivation, didn't fully understand the mysteries of cultivation after the Soul Realm.
But not everything taught in the sect was entirely correct.
For example, they claimed that Spiritual Essence was the essence of man, but that is false, it is the essence of all living beings.
And Qi was the true essence of man.
Aside from cultivation knowledge, he also studied the political borders of the sect and the other six sects' territories.
The Howling Wind Branch Sect, located within the Seven Peak Mist Mountains, controlled around 20% of the entire mountain range.
The Howling Wind branch Sect stretched for about 50 kilometers, yet the sect only occupied around 10 kilometers of land.
The rest of the land belonged to mortal kingdoms, towns, and villages, with only two cultivation cities directly owned by the Howling Wind Sect.
The other six sects were known as
Thousand Paths Sect,Treating Will Sect,Friendly Alliance Sect,Martial Iron Sect,Gray Mist Sect and Overseer Branch Sect
Together with the Howling Wind Branch Sect, these seven sects controlled over 70% of the Seven Peak Mist Mountain.
The remaining 30% belonged to the families and clans that had lived in the region for generations.
However, since these families were weaker than the seven sects, their territory was far smaller.
Most of these cultivator families were affiliated with one of the seven sects, so most didn't care much about how the 30% of land was divided among them.
But among these families, there were five that stood above all others,powerful enough to be called Emperors in their own right.
These were
The Wu Family,The Li Family,The River Family,The Prayer Family and The Ruby Family
Each of them was strong enough to rival the sects in terms of power.
Unfortunately, nothing more specific was mentioned in the teachings.
And just like that, three months passed.
And today was a special day.
Because today, Yuan would finally advance to the Blood Purification Stage.
Yuan already approached his instructor and informed him that he would archive a breakthough soon.
Naturally, the teacher was delighted.
After all, Yuan was the only one student and he was about to reach the Blood Purification Stage!Yuan could see the greed in the teachers eyes shinning.
And without hesitation, he quickly made the necessary arrangements for Yuan's seclusion period.
And now, Yuan sat on his bed, his eyes closed, his breathing calm.
He steadied himself.
He focused inward.
And he began his breakthrough.