“Good, you’ve got guts. I’ll head to the challenge platform first, Junior Brother. Don’t you dare run, haha!”
Jian Renwang left, laughing heartily.
He wasn’t worried about Ling Xiao fleeing.
Backing out of an agreed spar was a loss. Unless Ling Xiao fled the Yuehua Sect entirely, he couldn’t escape becoming a slave.
After Jian Renwang left, Ling Xiao didn’t linger.
He had no intention of staying in the slaves’ quarters—a clear inner sect ploy to demean them. Since Jian Renwang had offered his cave dwelling, Ling Xiao would gladly take it.
“Zhao Zhi, Senior Sister Yuling, I’ll be counting on you to look out for me these days. If this outer disciple gets bullied, you can’t just stand by,” Ling Xiao joked on the way, easing the tension.
“Ling Xiao, stop kidding around. You haven’t joined the inner sect, but we both know you’re stronger than us,” Dai Yuling said with a wry smile. “Still, the inner sect is full of people stronger than you. Be cautious and avoid offending anyone, especially the top ten core disciples!”
“Senior Sister Lan is a core disciple, right?” Ling Xiao asked.
“Yes, she’s the second-ranked core disciple. To be precise, the core disciples—fully called core inner disciples—are the ten most outstanding inner disciples,” Zhao Zhi answered.
“Oh, I see. So, what’s going on in the inner sect lately? As a joint trainee, I can’t just be here to spar with you guys, right?” Ling Xiao asked curiously.
“There’s not much happening. Everyone’s preparing for the Moon Advent Festival’s tower-climbing ceremony in two months, so they’re avoiding external missions,” Zhao Zhi continued. “I checked, and joint-training outer disciples get outer sect stipends and keep their uniforms, but otherwise, they’re treated like low-tier inner disciples. That means you can take missions exclusive to inner disciples.”
“Wait, so we should also get our own cave dwellings?” Ling Xiao asked.
“Exactly, that’s the rule. But the inner sect hall is so overbearing, they don’t take outer disciples seriously. That rule’s basically ignored,” Zhao Zhi nodded.
“Heh, figures,” Ling Xiao said with a smile, then asked, “I’m more curious about the Moon Advent Festival’s tower-climbing ceremony. Who from the inner sect will participate? The ten core disciples?”
“Probably not,” Zhao Zhi shook his head. “From what I know, the ceremony happens annually, restricted to those under thirty, with a limit of three attempts per person. The core disciples have likely used their three chances, so they won’t join.”
“Oh, so it’s pretty straightforward,” Ling Xiao said, smiling.
“Straightforward?” Zhao Zhi gave a bitter laugh. “Based on past records, I concluded that to qualify for the ceremony, you need at least Mortal Realm fifth heaven cultivation—the so-called ‘Divine Strength Realm.’”
“That intense?”
Ling Xiao frowned. He’d thought the restrictions would make the ceremony less competitive.
He’d been naive.
His cultivation was still lacking—he needed to keep advancing!
He clenched his fist, though his expression stayed calm.
“Sigh, I’ve got no shot,” Zhao Zhi sighed, then rallied. “But since it’s for those under thirty, I’m still young. If I can’t join this time, there’s always next year.”
“Zhao Ci and I don’t qualify either,” Dai Yuling said with a wry smile.
If Zhao Zhi’s standard held, it explained why no outer disciple ever qualified for the ceremony.
Mortal Realm fifth heaven!
That was beyond any outer disciple’s reach.
Once outer disciples hit the Mortal Realm, they rushed to join the inner sect. No one lingered like Ling Xiao.
By that standard, even Ming Tian and Leng Hao likely couldn’t participate.
But cultivation wasn’t the same as strength.
Ling Xiao was certain that if Ming Tian and Leng Hao reached Mortal Realm fourth heaven in two months, they’d still qualify.
Geniuses excelled at surpassing their cultivation, making cross-level challenges routine.
“By the way, Junior Brother Ling, has anyone told you that joint-training outer disciples get a wooden token for the inner sect’s Yuehua Tower? Didn’t the deacon who brought you in give you one?” Zhao Zhi asked suddenly.
With an elder uncle, he knew far more about joint training than Ling Xiao’s group.
“A wooden token for the inner sect’s Yuehua Tower?”
Ling Xiao, Xiao Yan, and Lin Feng were stunned.
“Never heard of it!” Xiao Yan said bitterly. “I’ve done joint training two or three times, and no one ever mentioned this. Where’d you find that?”
“It’s in the joint training regulations—a sect mandate. I bet the inner sect deacon kept the tokens for their own people. The inner sect Yuehua Tower is hard to access, even for inner disciples, with limited entries and time,” Zhao Zhi explained. “I got a copy from my uncle. Take it and demand that chance from the deacon. It’s too valuable, especially for outer disciples.”
“Thanks, Senior Brother Zhao.”
Since Zhao Zhi had joined the inner sect, Ling Xiao reverted to calling him senior brother, per sect custom.
He’d long wanted to visit the inner sect’s Yuehua Tower. Even after joining the inner sect, you needed missions and sect points to enter—a hassle. The joint training offered a rare shortcut.
He had to seize it.
The inner sect Yuehua Tower housed precious-grade, high-tier, and top-tier gold-grade martial arts, divided into three sections by mysterious arrays.
Since his last visit, Ling Xiao had imprinted the arrays in his Mountains and Rivers Martial Soul for analysis.
Fused with his soul, the martial soul shared his array knowledge, making cracking the arrays easier.
