Both of them continued walking on the path toward the mansions as Chen Yue silently contemplated Shen Yuan’s words.
‘Hmm, it’s been quite some time since I met up with Qingyu. I will look for her later now that I’m inside the Inner Sect,’ he thought while looking for his own mansion.
Chen Yue raised her head; she saw both of them aimlessly walking around. “Oh, by the way, you can look into your Inner Sect identity medallion. There should be a map of the inner sect as well as the location of your mansion.”
Shen Yuan took out his identity medallion from his storage ring and sent his Qi inside to project the map of the sect above his hand.
“I see, so it works like a hologram,” Shen Yuan said to himself as he looked at the infrastructure of the sect.
“Hmm? Hologram? What is that?” Chen Yue curiously asked as it was the first time she had heard this word.
Shen Yuan shook his head. “It’s nothing. Let’s go and check out my mansion.”
Chen Yue nodded her head and followed after him.
They crossed a few bridges as they moved through the rivers and mountains.
The other Inner Disciples looked at Shen Yuan as they discussed his presence here, but no one went to question him as they could see the Inner Sect Medallion on him.
And they had heard about him as well. His reputation had soared recently due to his excellent achievements in the Mystique Realm.
Shen Yuan didn’t stop anywhere as he soon reached the mansion that was assigned to him by the sect.
Chen Yue looked at it as she commented in astonishment, “The entire Inner Sect has nearly identical mansions, but disciples can change them to their preference after getting them. But yours…”
Shen Yuan looked at the mansion before him. It was a spacious structure made of smooth white stone and wood, enhanced with intricate carvings of lotus flowers and flowing patterns that symbolized the sect.
A wide path led up to the main building, which was flanked by two smaller buildings that could serve as guest quarters or additional training spaces.
But what truly captured his attention was the expansive garden surrounding the mansion. Lush greenery and carefully arranged flowers bloomed all over the place.
There were stone pathways laid down throughout the garden, leading to various serene spots perfect for meditation or just spending some relaxing time.
“This tree…” Shen Yuan began as his gaze rested at the heart of the garden, where a majestic plum blossom tree stood. Its branches stretched wide, adorned with delicate pink and white blossoms that fluttered gently with the wind.
“It’s similar to the tree in your previous courtyard, right?” Chen Yue stepped forward and spoke lightly with a smile as she looked at the surprised look on Shen Yuan’s face.
“Yes, it’s just dozens of times bigger than the last one,” Shen Yuan agreed as he walked through the entrance.
“It’s really quite a good mansion, suitable to cultivate the gentle cultivation method of the sect.” Shen Yuan appreciated the atmosphere of the mansion while walking towards the tree.
“Yes, it’s quite nice here. All of the disciples have such trees. We have a wide range of species of trees, but you get a plum blossom tree both times. Looks like you have quite the fate with them,” Chen Yue joked as she followed after him.
Shen Yuan chuckled softly, “This is quite a nice place for me to drink.”
“That’s the first thing you think of after looking at the plum blossom tree?” Chen Yue shook her head.
“Anyways, let’s take a look at the mansion,” Shen Yuan said as he began walking to the main building.
…
“It’s quite a neat place. I will have others decorate it later,” Shen Yuan said as he sat in the main hall after looking through the entire mansion.
Chen Yue stood up from her seat. “Then I will take my leave now, Senior Brother.”
Shen Yuan smiled in amusement as he said, “I didn’t mean that I would have you decorate this place.”
“Ah no, you misunderstand. I’m not leaving due to that,” Chen Yue hurriedly explained. “I need to enter seclusion to break through to the Origin Core Creation Realm now.”
Shen Yuan shook his head. “I was just kidding. Go ahead and enter seclusion. I need to sort a few things as well.”
Chen Yue bowed slightly before taking her leave.
“Now, what should I do?” Shen Yuan sat on his chair as he thought about his next course of action.
“I have a month until the competition, but…” His mind focused as he thought about one issue. “Information… I’m sorely lacking in information.”
He raised his hand and a small projection of the Ancestral Pagoda appeared in his hand.
“I still can’t control it properly. I might have to break through to the Extreme Origin Core Realm to be able to manifest this pagoda.”
He shook his hand and dispelled the projection of the pagoda.
“Alright, now how do I gather information?” He thought aloud. “For that plan, I need this pagoda, but… hmm, I can still make the basic infrastructure of it.”
Shen Yuan continued thinking about the plan he had before for the pagoda as his eyes shined brightly.
“Good, I will do that for now,” he thought with an excited smile on his face. Standing up, he looked towards the direction of the Mission Hall.
He exited his mansion and walked towards the spatial portal.
“Let’s go and choose a mission first.” He stretched his hand while walking.
…
“Hmm, this place is quite crowded,” Shen Yuan said, looking at the busy Mission Hall, where disciples were coming and going in droves while collecting their rewards as well as accepting missions.
Shen Yuan went up behind a counter and stood in line.
The surrounding disciples gave him weird gazes as they were not used to the presence of a male in the mission hall.
“Hey, is that the disciple who only took a month to go from an Outer Sect Disciple to an Inner Sect Disciple?”
“Yes, that’s the only male cultivator we have after all. It’s hard to miss news about him.”
“What he did inside the Mystique Realm was legendary. He alone dominated the entire competition and helped his junior sisters to gain various opportunities.”
“How lucky.”
…
Shen Yuan smiled lightly at their discussion but didn’t respond. The disciples in front of the line also glanced back from time to time to see him.
The line continued moving forward despite the disturbance that Shen Yuan created.
Soon, his turn came as the disciple giving out missions looked at him with a smile and asked, “What type of mission would you like to take, Disciple Shen Yuan?”
“It’s my first time at the Mission Hall. Can you introduce me to how to take missions and what types of missions there are?” Shen Yuan politely asked as he didn’t know the first thing about the mission hall or how things work here.
The disciple answered with the same professional smile, “Then let’s talk about the types of missions. There are mainly two types of missions: long-term missions and short-term missions.”
