After double-checking the bag of holding and making sure that there wasn’t a mistake, the third elder raised his head and gave Tianlan an odd look.

Tianlan was standing opposite him with a subtle smile on his face. Of course, he had the knowledge to get many more cores than this, but he decided to be low-key this time. Hopefully, he would be able to fly under the radar as an average disciple.

The third elder could detect his intent and when he thought about it, he couldn’t see it working out.

It seemed Tianlan had failed to realise that he had already performed spectacularly. He had somehow slain the second-layer minute realm spirit beast. He had survived after consuming its beast core. And he had even managed to pseudo-tame two snow wolves. There was no way he was going to get by as a regular disciple after that.

But with only 50 points to his name, perhaps his fame would only extend to the group present. After all, word of mouth was fairly unreliable. Who’s to say the story wouldn’t be embellished? And the truth was, no one was there to see what had actually taken place. It was unclear as to how the minute realm beast was killed. It was also evident that the snow wolves hadn’t signed any kind of contract, so they couldn’t truly be called tamed beasts.

In truth, the verified feats weren’t that impressive, especially in the Shimmering Sword Sect.

With things seemingly sorted, Tianlan nodded his head and turned to walk back to his group.

What he couldn’t see was that, behind him, the third elder had turned to a young man and raised a query. After which, he adjusted the scoreboard and triggered a reaction from the participants.

“Look! There’s a change to the first place position!”

“Shao Tianlan! With 2050 points!”

“What? Didn’t the elder just say that he only had 50?”

“He must have been surprised himself and whispered the beginning.”

“2050 points from just three beast cores? Goodness!”

“And he ate the one that was worth 2000.”

Tianlan was stunned to hear this and turned to check the scoreboard for himself.

1st | Shao Tianlan | 2050 points

Before he could say anything, he heard a shout from a female participant.

“There must have been some kind of mistake! According to the information jades, those beast cores should only be worth 50 points!”

When the third elder turned to face her, the audience became silent, and Tang Zen realised that she had spoken out of term. But this involved her rewards, so she wasn’t about to let it go.

She clasped her fist and bowed to the third elder.

“With all due respect, I believe there’s been a miscalculation.”

“There’s been no miscalculation,” he replied.

He had expected someone to raise a complaint. After all, the information jades the participants had been given contained details on the general appearances of different beast cores and how much they were worth in points.

“These cores are indeed worth 50 points, but the snow wolves are both in the first layer of the minute realm, and are thus worth 1000 points each, adding up to a total of 2050 points.”

“But he didn’t kill them and take their cores. It’s not impossible that he bribed them to come here. That doesn’t show one’s ability,” she countered.

She knew that this was unlikely to change anything but she wanted to take a chance anyway. If she could gain access to an additional sword technique, then she would have a higher chance of impressing the potential masters in a week’s time, improving her chances at being able to choose a preferable one.

Unfortunately, her words weren’t effective.

“Even if he did bribe them, that isn’t against the rules. The only requirement was to bring in as many beast cores as possible. No one said you couldn’t bring the beasts themselves along with their cores. The only way to refute this allocation of points is to show that these two snow wolves weren’t brought here by Shao Tianlan. Do you have evidence of this?”

Tang Zen could only remain silent. It was clear to anyone that the snow wolves were with Tianlan. They even went so far as to threaten Elder Qian when he turned aggressive.

Tianlan ended up swallowing his words. It seemed his intention of being low-key didn’t go quite as planned.

***

“I now declare that the third trial is over. Congratulations to those of you who have successfully become outer sect disciples.”

The elders and disciples clapped for the new crop of outer sect disciples before another elder stepped forward.

“We will now take you all to the main sect where you will receive your identity jades and keys to your residences as well as general information about the sect. You will have a week to familiarise yourself with your new environment. This week is also an opportunity for you to display your talents, as, after the first week, you will be initiated into the sect, and for those who show significant progress in mastering their chosen techniques, you may well be chosen by an elder to become their disciple. And if you perform truly well, you may just be able to take your pick. For the top three, report to the treasure hall by mid-day tomorrow to choose your rewards.”

Tang Zen was already aware of most of this information after having come to the sect for a few public lectures. She was already planning to forgo the cultivation technique offered and maximise her chances to impress the elders by pouring all of her efforts into practising the sword techniques.

She glanced at the other two who were in the top three with her and could see their lax attitudes. One was walking around being rejected by girl after girl, and the other was basking in the praises of his groupies.

‘Humph. There’s no way I’ll lose to people like them.’

Her thoughts were interrupted when second-place Ming Hong shamelessly approached her after being rejected once again.

***

“Shao Tianlan, is it? Just a moment.”

Tianlan watched as the receptionist went over to a contraption and inputted his information. It glowed and with the sound of something hitting metal, his identity jade was produced.

“First place in the trial. Impressive.”

The receptionist handed Tianlan his identity jade as well as a jade which acted as a key to his abode and some information on where he could find it along with general knowledge about the sect.

“Don’t get complacent though,” she warned. “This abode that you’ve been given is usually taken up by the top outer disciple. He’s going to be clamouring to get it back as soon as possible.”

“Oh? Is someone a mainstay here? Wouldn’t most people be moving up to the inner sect after having the best abode for a while?”

The receptionist chuckled and rested her head on her hand.

“That’s usually the case, but this guy has been stuck in the outer sect for years now. He only just managed to solidify his place as the top dog a few months ago, and he doesn’t want to go back to being a small fish in a big pond if you know what I mean. Without any ambition, his future isn’t looking all that bright.”

“I see. It’s kind of sad in a way.”

“Sure is. Oh, but you didn’t hear it from me. I’m just a worker, after all. I don’t need those problems.”

“No problem.”

The two continued making small talk until someone complained from behind Tianlan.

“Could you hurry this up? Some of us have other things to do.”

When he turned around, he saw that it was the girl who didn’t like the fact that he had taken first place. Second place, Tang Zen.

“Ah. Sorry.”

It was true. Perhaps now wasn’t the best time to have a conversation. Tang Zen wasn’t the only one in line either.

“Humph!”

She turned her head, avoiding his gaze.

Tianlan turned back to the receptionist.

“Is there anything else?”

“Yeah… Do you have any need for a personal assistant? I’m sing- I’m available.”

“I’m afraid I wouldn’t be a good employer. I don’t have any merit points to pay you. And I don’t know anything about the sword either, so I couldn’t help you there either.”

“That’s a shame.”

“Ahem!”

“… I’ll be going now.”

“If you ever need a personal assistant, you let me know, okay?”

“Sure.”

The receptionist waved her fingers at Tianlan as he left, and after he had gone, her smile faded away and she glared at the girl who had interrupted them.

“Next.”

***

“Wow.”

Tianlan couldn’t help exclaiming when he saw the abode that he had been assigned. He almost couldn’t believe it was the right place, but when he looked next door and saw Ming Hong and Tang Zen arguing, he knew it was.

He put the hexagonal jade that acted as the key into a slot that was made for it and the large gates in front of him opened.

When he, Shiva and Rhava walked past the gates, they entered a large front garden equipped with statues and night pearls which lit up the way to the large white building. The gates closed on their own behind them and the three began to walk towards the front door.

“This is a nice place you’ve got here. The qi flows thick,” said Rhava.

Though it lacked the yin nature that Rhava and Shiva had grown accustomed to, it wasn’t bad. It was neutral and the ratios of the elements were in balance, making it suitable for everyone.

Everyone, that is, except Tianlan.

“Now I understand what Hei was talking about. It’s like there’s no air here.”

“Hm?”

“Ah. Nothing. I was just talking to myself. This place is packed full of qi, isn’t it?”

“Mm,” replied Shiva. “It’s not all that useful to us, but for you, you should be able to get twice the results with half the effort.”

“More like half the results with twice the effort,” Tianlan whispered. “Why won’t it be useful to you?”

“You don’t know this?” Asked Rhava. “We spirit beasts don’t cultivate natural qi like you humans do. We mostly rely on natural treasures and our bloodlines.”

“Hm? But Mei can cultivate just fine.”

Tianlan was confused for a moment as he opened the front door to his abode.

“Sister Mei must be able to assume human form then.”

“Ah. That’s it. Spirit beasts are only able to use human cultivation techniques when they’re in human form. I forget because Mei has always been… Wait. Even in her beast form, Mei is still able to cultivate…”

Tianlan placed his hand on his chin as he walked into the abode. Behind him, Rhava and Shiva could only awkwardly stand outside.

When Tianlan turned around to continue the discussion, he noticed the problem.

The wolf siblings were too big to get past the door…

“…”

There was an awkward silence before Rhava spoke.

“To be honest, I prefer being outside.”

“Right,” Shiva mirrored. “I like to be able to see the stars at night.”

“There are probably some wider doors in the back, why don’t we take a look?”

Tianlan was about to head out to join them, but Rhava stopped him.

“Don’t bother. We’d take up too much space in there. Plus, we really do prefer being outside.”

“Okay then, but if you change your minds, or if you find a way to shrink yourselves, you’re welcome inside.”

“Mm.”

After bidding each other good night, Tianlan went inside while his siblings explored the outside of the abode.

“Ugh.”

Tianlan was really feeling the suffocating ‘richness’ of the qi in the abode. To heal his injuries, he needed an environment rich in qi, yes, but he needed it to be rich in null-element qi. While he could use temporary spirit roots to absorb the elemental qi, it would ultimately create conflict within his body and would place an extra burden on his mental energy, of which he was currently lacking.

Temporary spirit roots were best left as a tool to use in battle and not everyday cultivation and recuperation.

Stifled by the dense elemental qi, Tianlan decided to check under the floors for the movement of qi. He was hoping that the qi gathering formation worked by extracting null-element qi as opposed to pumping in elemental qi.

Fortunately, that was the case, and with his eyes, he was able to see the movement of the qi through the formation’s circulation paths.

Tracing the flow, he walked out of the abode to the front gate where he was spotted by Shiva.

“Where are you going, Tianlan?”

He turned back to her with an awkward smile as he pushed the gate open.

“To find a cultivation wasteland…”

“Oh… Okay then…”