Bing Rong didn’t stop walking as she replied, “She is one of the Inner Sect elders here, her cultivation is a lot higher than mine since she became an Inner Sect Elder a long time ago, while I only became an Inner Sect elder in recent years.”
Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow, “Oh? But she seemed to be treating you quite nicely despite being much higher in rank. Any special reason for that?”
Bing Rong nodded her head slowly, “Yes, it’s because of Master. She is one of the strongest members of the sect. So, as her disciples, me and Huo Rong get special treatment wherever we go.”
She paused slightly as she thought back to Lan Rui, “But she is like a friend to me, since we have spent quite a significant time together when I was a disciple and she used to teach us in the Outer Sect sometimes.”
Shen Yuan nodded his head in understanding, “So, is she a mentor-like figure to you?”
Bing Rong shook her head, “She is more like our Big Sister than a mentor.”
They soon reached the Spatial Portals while chatting with each other.
Shen Yuan looked at the portal and could feel the spatial intent much more clearly than before, his perception seemed to have been improved drastically.
‘Hmm? Is it due to my experience in the Mystique Realm?’ He mulled over it as Bing Rong took out her identity token, which made the disciples’ eyes widen as they hurriedly bowed.
“Greetings, Elder!” all the disciples there greeted her respectfully.
Bing Rong nodded her head in contentment when she saw how they all greeted her. She stole a glance at Shen Yuan, but only to end up being disappointed as Shen Yuan seemed to be lost in thought.
She got rid of useless thoughts and moved towards the portal leading deeper inside the Sect.
Shen Yuan continued to feel the Spatial element in the portal, and he felt himself so close to mastering the Intent as soon as he stepped in the portal.
He closed his eyes to feel it with his body, but the next instant, he opened his eyes to see that he had already teleported to another location, the feeling of comprehending faded away from him as well.
‘It seems as if I’m missing something, and the Space Intent is being restricted here as well. I will need a space-related cultivation manual if I want to comprehend that anytime soon,’ he thought while glancing back at the portal, where the disciples were bowing towards Bing Rong out of respect.
But Bing Rong didn’t care about it this time as she started walking towards a different portal after leaving it.
Shen Yuan followed after her as Yue Lan’s voice echoed in his mind.
[You should first practice the new cultivation technique that you acquired in the Mystique Realm. You should be able to learn the Fire Intent with the help of that technique at least.]
Shen Yuan replied to her in agreement, ‘You are right, but I can’t miss out on Space Intent. Space is one of the strongest elements in all of the novels that I have read up until now, can’t miss out on such top-tier stuff.’
[Sometimes I forget that you used to live on Earth, there were those novels as well. Well, if nothing else, you mortals had quite the vivid imagination, but I feel like the Great Dao had some effect there; otherwise, no way you mortals can come up with so many different and interesting ideas.]
Shen Yuan smiled to himself as he responded, ‘That’s the charm of being a mortal; they might only live for an instant but they shine the brightest in that single instant.’
Yue Lan became silent as she also agreed with his words, the more time someone has in one’s hand, the lazier they become.
Bing Rong remained silent throughout the conversation as she knew he might be talking with Yue Lan, she silently guided him through one portal to another.
And Shen Yuan continued to feel the wonders of Space Intent, yet he remained unable to master it.
He finally came out of his trance-like state to see Bing Rong staring at him; she gently asked in her usual cold voice, “Are you alright?”
Shen Yuan stood up straight as he responded with a smile, “Yes, you don’t need to worry about me, I was just trying to learn something new, but it seems like that will have to wait until I can get my hands on something.”
“Oh?” Bing Rong raised an eyebrow in curiosity as she inquired, “What is it that you are looking for? Maybe I can find it for you.”
Shen Yuan shook his head as he already had a place in mind to find a Space-Related Cultivation Manual, so he instead responded, “Let’s hurry up, Sect Leader must be waiting for us. It is not good for us to make her wait when an Inner Sect Elder came to invite me over some time ago.”
Bing Rong nodded her head as she looked at the final Spatial Gate, which connects to the Radiant Heart Peak directly.
They both started walking again as they passed through the portal to come in front of that huge hall again.
“Looks like we are on time,” Shen Yuan said as he glanced around but found no one to be standing guard there like usual.
“They might be inside, let’s go,” Bing Rong said as she came in front of the hall and took out her badge to communicate with Sect Leader Mei Hua.
Shen Yuan waited for a few seconds for Bing Rong to get a response as the gate soon opened.
Bing Rong looked back at Shen Yuan before motioning at him to follow her inside the Sect Leader Hall.
Shen Yuan nodded his head and followed her inside as they both soon came in front of a lake.
The familiar view reminded Shen Yuan of the first time he came here.
He took a deep breath as he felt the peaceful aura of the surroundings engulf him as well, calming his nerves as he felt like sleeping on the green grass.
“Welcome back, Shen Yuan.” A voice echoed from the shore of the lake as Shen Yuan turned his face to see Mei Hua soaking her feet in the lake while gazing in his direction.
“Oh, Little Bing, you are back as well. Good, Little Huo already told me about you coming back soon, so it’s a nice surprise that you both came together.” Mei Hua looked at Bing Rong for a second, finding something weird about her, “You seem to have… changed?”
Her voice filled with confusion as she couldn’t pinpoint what changes she felt from her, but she was sure that something seemed to have changed within Bing Rong.
Bing Rong felt her heart skip a beat at the sharp eyes of the sect leader. She replied, trying to be calm about it, “I found an opportunity outside the sect to re-refine my cultivation foundation, so I have improved significantly over this period of time. Maybe that’s what you have found out.”
Shen Yuan stifled his laughter at her poor excuse.
