Although Li Tan claimed not to care much about others’ opinions of him, enduring strange looks for twenty-four hours a day was indeed annoying. However, he currently had no better solution; after all, he couldn’t just beat everyone up, could he?
Xiao Pangdun, whether genuinely naive or pretending to be, asked in confusion, “Why are all those people staring at you?”
Li Tan merely curled his lips without answering and continued walking forward.
A delicate and petite girl slightly quickened her pace to catch up beside Li Tan and asked, “Sir, what is your name?”
Xiao Pangdun was startled and scratched his head, saying, “Right, I still don’t know your name either.”
Li Tan told them his name, and the two also introduced themselves to Li Tan.
Xiao Pangdun surnamed Qiu, was named Qiu Jue. The girl had a rare surname, Xue, and was called Xue Ying.
The three quickly arrived at the East Square, where other disciples were gradually gathering. The elder who replaced Zhou Zhi had already stood at the most prominent position.
He was a middle-aged man with an ordinary face.
“Li Ge, this person seems quite amiable; he should be easier to get along with than Zhou Zhi.”
Qiu Jue whispered softly.
Xue Ying glanced at the man and pouted, saying, “Anyone would be easier to deal with than Zhou Zhi.” This was indeed the truth, since someone like Zhou Zhi, who showed a grim face upon first meeting and even tried to expel people from the mountain, was quite rare—probably mentally problematic.
“Has everyone gathered?”
The middle-aged man swept his gaze around, standing as straight as a pine tree. “Hello, everyone. My name is Su Zhengyi; you can call me Elder Su. From now on, I will be responsible for teaching you. If you have any questions now, please ask immediately. If not, I will proceed to other matters.”
The new disciples chattered for a while, probably fearing saying something wrong, and no one asked a question.
“Since there are no questions, I will continue.”
Su Zhengyi continued, “The purpose of gathering everyone here today is simple: to explain the tasks and cultivation matters for the future.”
Su Zhengyi slowly walked around. “Let’s start with the tasks. In the future, tasks will be assigned to everyone through a lottery system. They must be completed every day; otherwise, it will affect the monthly allowance. The tasks are mostly daily chores, such as sweeping the floor and moving things. You will naturally understand after the lottery. I won’t elaborate further here.”
“Then comes cultivation. This is mainly divided into two methods: self-cultivation and lessons taught by us. For self-cultivation, you can do as you please. As for the lessons, there are no fixed times; the day’s courses will be posted on the notice board, so please pay attention. However, considering that you need to complete tasks, lessons usually start in the evening.”
“By the way, let me mention that a martial arts assessment competition will be held every month. The higher your ranking, the more rewards you will receive. After a year, the top five performers will be eligible to become outer disciples.”
“That’s mainly it. Any questions?”
A noisy discussion arose.
A female disciple timidly asked, “Elder Su, um, will our tasks be too many?”
Su Zhengyi answered, “It depends on what you get assigned. Some tasks can be completed in an hour or two, while others might take half a day.”
Another male disciple curiously asked, “Elder, what exactly are the lessons about?”
Su Zhengyi replied, “The lessons mainly focus on martial arts techniques, with occasional courses on herbal medicine and related subjects.”
A male disciple nervously asked, “Then, after the five people become outer disciples, what about the others?”
“Continue being novice disciples. The next year will have another assessment. If you haven’t entered the outer sect by the age of thirty, you can pack up and go home. Alternatively, if you break through to the peak of the Later Heaven stage before the age of twenty-five, you can directly skip the assessment and become an outer disciple.”
With question and answer, soon everyone had a rough idea of their future life. It was a harsh environment without any distinction between new and old disciples; everyone would compete together. This meant that the newly initiated disciples, for quite a long time, could hardly expect to rank in the top five and enter the outer sect. Rather than hoping for that, it would be more practical to work hard and cultivate diligently to break through as soon as possible.
Qiu Jue sighed, feeling somewhat disheartened, and said, “Looks like the outer sect and I have no fate together. Miss Xue, what are your plans?”
Xue Ying’s expression was also not very pleasant as she murmured softly, “I must enter the outer sect…” Qiu Jue shook his head gloomily, “How can we compete with those veteran disciples for the top five?”
Xue Ying said, “If we can’t fight for the top five, we should work hard on our cultivation. As long as we break through to the peak of the Later Heaven stage before the age of twenty-five, we can make it.”
“It’s easy to say, but hard to do—like climbing to the heavens. My father is a mercenary, and he cultivated his whole life, only reaching the peak of the Later Heaven stage.” Thinking of his father, Qiu Jue became even more disheartened. He turned to Li Tan and asked, “What about you, Li Ge?”
Li Tan replied indifferently, “I’m not interested in the outer sect.”
Qiu Jue asked in confusion, “Why aren’t you interested?”
“My father said you are very capable; I believe you can definitely break through to the peak of the Later Heaven stage before the age of twenty-five, maybe even sooner.”
“I have other plans,” Li Tan said somewhat dismissively.
Qiu Jue, with decent emotional intelligence, did not ask further.
But Xue Ying tugged at Li Tan’s sleeve and asked, “Benefactor”—before she could finish her question, she was interrupted by Li Tan, who looked quite uncomfortable—”Just call me Li Tan, not ‘Benefactor’; it sounds too awkward.”
Xue Ying nodded nervously, “Okay, I’ll listen to Benefactor—Li Ge.” Li Tan looked at Xue Ying, who seemed a bit scared of him, and deliberately lowered his voice, saying, “Just say what you want to say; no need to hold back.”
“Okay… I just wanted to ask, what level of cultivation are you at now, Li Ge?”
Xue Ying asked curiously.
Why would she ask such a question?
Li Tan found it a bit difficult to answer this question.
The reason Xue Ying asked this was probably because she guessed that Li Tan was no longer at the initial stage of the Later Heaven. How should he respond appropriately?
The answer was that no matter how he answered, it would not be suitable. For example, if he answered that he was at the middle stage of the Later Heaven, he couldn’t explain why he was here.
At his age, reaching the middle stage of the Later Heaven and entering the outer sect would be as easy as picking something up. Li Tan was in a dilemma, but fortunately, the people around him seemed to have finished asking their questions. The newly arrived Elder Su loudly announced a break before starting the lottery.
Li Tan took this opportunity to leave early, claiming he had something to take care of.
Xue Ying probably also realized that her question was inappropriate. After Li Tan returned, she did not press further.
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