Fang Hao wanted to fly to the Task Assignment Hall, but it was against the rules as he wasn't a core disciple yet. He greeted the bored looking middle aged who was munching on something which looked very similar to peanuts. Fang Hao waited until the latest mouthful of peanuts was munched as he addressed the Assignment Hall manager respectfully.

“Greetings Senior, I would like to become a Junior Core Disciple.”

“And I would like to be an Immortal with heaven defying treasures. But little fatty, we don't always get what we want.” replied the peanut munching Assignment Hall Manager dryly.

“What I meant senior is that I have successfully established my Foundation.” replied Fang Hao getting half amused and half irritated at the Manager's reply.

“Oh, is that so? Demonstrate your cultivation base then.” replied the manager munching a few more peanuts.

Fang Hao stimulated his cultivation base. The two crystalline pillars pulsed and rotated in his dantian. The calm Qi lake started churning as huge amounts of gaseous Qi was generated and it permeated his body. With a thought, his spiritual sense suffused his body, and he willed himself to rise. He then zipped around a bit in the Hall as the nearby inner disciples noticed him. Immediately there were whispered murmurs.

It wasn't everyday they witnessed an inner disciple with a cultivation at the Foundation Establishment stage. Due to his sharpened senses, Fang Hao could make out snippets of conversation, but he didn't pay heed to him as it wasn't anything of interest. The Assignment Hall Manager finally stopped munching peanuts as he addressed Fang Hao.

“You seem to have stabilized your cultivation base very thoroughly. Usual with new breakthroughs in cultivation base, the cultivator tends to broadcast his cultivation base. Without you flying, or me probing you with my spiritual sense, I couldn't sense the level of your cultivation. Follow me.”

Fang Hao followed the manager to what looked like a large office with a desk and chairs with a large circular formation like design in the back half of the room. There was a porcelain jar nearby along with a large pile of jade slips. The middle aged man gestured the little fatty to take a seat.

'Its been a since forever since I saw a chair in this world. Now I see one here with cushions and stuff. Might as well take a seat.' thought Fang Hao as he slumped down on the comfortable looking chair.

Expecting to rest his fat ass on the comfy looking cushioned chair, Fang Hao just heard a faint crack sound before the chair collapsed. Before his ass landed on the wreckage on the floor, Fang Hao regained his balance and stood upright, as if the chair collapsing had nothing to do with him.

“Damn Fatty, that chair you just smashed with your rear is made of Grade 3 materials. Even if it is on the cheaper side, it is supposed to be able to withstand a couple of full force blows from initial foundation establishment cultivators. You just had to smash and break it.” ranted the manager in a grumbling manner.

“This junior apologizes senior, I didn't expected myself to be so heavy. Although I am almost out of contribution points and have no spirit stones, maybe the magic tools I used in the Qi condensation stage can compensate for a part of senior's loss?” Fang Hao suggested in an embarrassed manner. Before he 'sat' down, he had did a little jump out of anticipation.

The middle aged manager, with a grumpy look on his face now, just sighed and continued, “Forget it fatty, looks like your cultivation base isn't as restrained as I thought. Just keep on standing and pay attention; maybe it will help you loose some weight.”

“We have a total of thirteen Palaces which you can join as a core disciple. Each palace has its own specialties and legacies; although many cultivation methods and spells are commonly shared. They also have qualification tests, so it isn't just enough to simply choose a Palace; You should also be capable enough to qualify for it.” He then tossed a palm sized jade slip to the fatty, who deftly caught it and scanned it with his spiritual sense.

The Jade slip listed the thirteen palaces with a brief description and aptitude desirable in a disciple attempting to join a palace. There was the Palace of the Five Elements, which had the highest number of disciples and was the largest.

As long as one had any one of the five elements as a dominant spirit root or practiced a cultivation method related to the five elements could join. Even practicing neutral cultivation methods would qualify one to join the Palace of the five elements. Of course access to core mysteries would be dependent on the disciples aptitude and circumstances. It was one of the most heterogeneous and diverse palaces.

The two other elemental palaces were (a) the Palace of Thunder and Wind, and (b) the Palace of Light and Darkness. These palaces had similar requirements to the five elemental palaces, but as these four elements were rarer than the five primary elements; the combined disciples of the two palaces barely exceeded the number of disciples of the Palace of Five elements.

However, the single largest palace; in terms of battle power was the Palace of Swords. Their core mystery was very powerful and they enjoyed high prestige in the sect. Anyone, regardless of cultivation technique or spirit root could attempt to join; but it's acceptance test had one of the most stringent requirements for determination and strength of heart.

Then there were the production related palaces namely: (a) Palace of Alchemy, (b) Palace of Spirit Craft and © Palace of Formations and Restrictions and (d) Palace of Spirit Cultivation. Palace of Alchemy focused on alchemical pills and poisons; Palace of Spirit Craft dealt with creation of magic tools, puppets, talismans and spirit refining and palace of Formations and restrictions dealt with Arrays and Formations which had supportive, offensive and defensive applications. Lastly, though Palace of Spirit Cultivation had a grand sounding name, it was basically farming, breeding spirit beasts and insects. Only those with connections and backing could succeed in these production focused sects as they were extremely resource intensive. But similarly, success guaranteed good standing and wealth.

Then there were the less popular Palaces. The Palace of Exalted Physique focused on body refining. The Palace of Charm and Illusion dealt with befuddlement and illusions. This Palace was unique as all female cultivators had to join this palace, and no male could join it. This didn't mean that female cultivators primarily focused on the illusory arts and Fang Hao assumed it was just to keep them segregated.

The Palace of Divination along with The Palace of Space and Time had the least number of disciples. The Palace of Divination would themselves scout prospective disciples and one couldn't simply join it. As for the Palace of Space and Time, only those with space/time related bloodlines, innate constitutions or spirit roots were allowed to join. These two were perhaps the toughest palaces to join. However, every disciple of these two palaces could be considered a talented prodigy.

The most mysterious palace of them all was the Palace of Devils, Demons and Beasts. Almost all its members were non-humans. In fact, it barely had any disciples. Most of the members of the Palace were Non-human rogue cultivators who had joined the sect. The human cultivators of the palace were extremely rare and had exotic methods without exception.

While the outermost mysteries of each palace was open to all disciples in exchange for contribution points, the higher level mysterious were naturally restricted among members of the palace. Each Disciple could belong to only one palace, which would theoretically allow him to compete for the highest mystery of that palace. However, a Disciple could also choose another Palace as a secondary focus after reaching the late stages of Foundation Establishment; which would qualify him to compete for mid-level mysteries of that palace at a higher cost.