Shen Yuan smiled but didn’t elaborate further.
Lan Rui also didn’t press the matter further as she turned around and started walking towards one of the rooms inside the Hall.
“Anyways, come with me. Let me handle your promotion to the Inner Sect.” Her voice came soon after as both Shen Yuan and Chen Yue followed after her.
“I didn’t know that you knew Elder Lan Rui as well,” Chen Yue softly whispered to him while walking some distance away from Lan Rui.
Shen Yuan looked at Lan Rui first before whispering back to Chen Yue, “She seems like a good friend of my Big Sisters. So she can be considered as your Martial Aunt as well.”
Chen Yue seriously considered his words as they soon came before Lan Rui’s personal room.
“Here we are, let’s head inside and finish your promotion.” Lan Rui turned around and spoke with a smile.
Shen Yuan turned his head to see the door of the inner hall of Lan Rui.
It was a simple door without any decorations; Shen Yuan followed after Lan Rui as she stepped inside after unlocking the gate.
Once inside, Shen Yuan saw that the room was modestly furnished, with a few scrolls and artifacts neatly arranged on the shelves, and a large table set up in the middle of the room.
Lan Rui moved towards the shelves and took out a dark jade medallion with the engraving of Inner Sect Disciple. It released a faint glow, indicating the presence of some intricate formations engraved upon it.
“Here, Shen Yuan. This is the Inner Sect Disciple Identity token,” she said as she utilized her Light Intent to engrave Shen Yuan’s name upon the token.
“It’s imbued with a basic communication formation and a map of the inner sect, so be sure to keep it on you at all times. It’ll grant you access to most of the places inside the sect. You will also be able to look at your contribution points through the token and your ranking on the Battle Rank,” Lan Rui explained, holding out the token with a small smile.
Shen Yuan looked at her for a second before taking the token while thinking to himself, ‘Couldn’t she have explained it properly? Why the rush.’
“Thanks for the Identity Medallion, Elder Lan Rui,” Shen Yuan thanked her with a smile.
Lan Rui smiled sweetly, “Then, let Chen Yue see you around the Inner Sect, I have some more work to do.”
Shen Yuan nodded his head and turned around to leave together with Chen Yue who was silently standing in the back the entire time.
“Let’s go and see the accommodations now,” Shen Yuan lightly said after coming outside of the registration hall.
Chen Yue nodded her head, “So, do you know where the accommodations are?”
Shen Yuan shook his head as he knew next to nothing about the Inner Sect.
“Well, they are quite far from here. Let’s go through the spatial portals, we can reach the place faster,” Chen Yue softly said as she looked at Shen Yuan.
Shen Yuan nodded his head and began walking while commenting, “Let’s go then, I need to see how better the accommodations of Inner Sect Disciples are compared to Outer Sect.”
“Oh, you would be surprised to see that. We have mansions of our own here; we can also take servants from the Sacred Lotus City to do our daily tasks for us. The Mansions all have formations to isolate sound and gather the Qi for cultivation…” Chen Yue continued talking, telling him about the various benefits the Mansions give to the disciples.
“Hmm, I see. Then what about the Battle Rank that Elder Lan Rui was talking about?” he asked lightly while continuing to walk.
Chen Yue walked side by side with him, her eyes lit up at the mention of the Battle Rank, “Ah, that, it’s the ranking of the strongest Inner Sect Disciples. A disciple can challenge someone of a higher level than himself on the rank for a higher position; the higher your rank on the list, the better rewards you will get monthly.”
Shen Yuan nodded his head while Chen Yue continued, “You will begin at the bottom rank and will have to fight your way up, and only the top 100 Inner Sect disciples can join the list; otherwise, it will be too crowded.”
“I understand,” Shen Yuan rubbed his chin while thinking about it, “What do you think the reaction of the disciples would be if I defeated the first-ranked disciple and occupied that rank tomorrow?”
Chen Yue’s eyes widened as she turned her head and looked at Shen Yuan in disbelief, “Se-Senior Brother, are you truly that powe—”
“Hypothetically, let’s say I can,” Shen Yuan interrupted her and added to his words.
Chen Yue calmed down as she realized he was just randomly asking that question; she thought for some time before answering, “If you truly did that, then I guess most disciples won’t be able to stomach that news since they see the top-ranking disciples as their idols. And a lot of Inner Sect disciples still consider you an outsider.”
Shen Yuan’s mind spun as he also came to that conclusion; he wanted to spread his influence, but doing it too quickly would have the opposite effect to what he wanted.
“Looks like that competition will be crucial for my standing inside the sect,” he softly muttered to himself.
“Hmm? Did you say something, Senior Brother?” Chen Yue asked him curiously.
“Nothing, let’s go see my accommodation for now.” Shen Yuan shook his head and continued walking.
Chen Yue followed after him as they entered one portal after another.
…
“This place looks like a painting,” Shen Yuan commented as he looked at the wonderful scenery in front of him.
“Of course, this is the place where most of the Inner Disciples spend their time cultivating in seclusion if they aren’t outside the sect doing missions,” Chen Yue proudly commented as if the entire place was her own.
“The density of Qi here is even higher than the administration hall,” Shen Yuan felt the Qi density in the air and commented lightly.
“We have a lot of formations engraved all over the place to gather Qi. Disciples also buy them in the marketplace to set up inside their own mansions for cultivation,” Chen Yue told him.
“Hmm, but those formations are inferior to the ones which are made by Formation Masters themselves. Where you can cultivate with a higher quality Qi which is much more refined and purified by the formations than the ones you can find in the market.” Shen Yuan commented.
“But they are expensive as well, most of the disciples can’t afford that while sustaining their cultivation.” Chen Yue shook her head.
“Being born into poverty is not a choice, but staying there is,” Shen Yuan sighed and said while staring at the lines of mountains and mansions spanning as far as his vision could see.
It was a picturesque landscape, with each mountain having a few mansions, while there were countless such mountains.
Rivers were flowing between the mountains as disciples could be seen training or going to do missions among them.
Shen Yuan silently took in the scenery as he felt the serene atmosphere quite to his liking.
