30 Sect Points and Missions

Waking up that morning, Lien Hua was calmer than usual. Even with everything that had happened yesterday and that she was anticipating in the coming days, she felt particularly calm today.

Lien Hua looked in the mirror as she was getting dressed in her usual uniform and thought, 'Maybe it's because of yesterday's news? Probably, but it might also be because I now have a clear and sure path of what might happen to me in the future, no longer a blurred light... I don't know...' Fixing the last hair inside the ornament on the back of her head, Lien Hua turned toward her door and walked over to it.

Arriving in front of the door, in the movement of bringing her hand closer to the handle, she paused. '*Sigh*... I have to go talk to Lin Yue today if I'm able. I have to try to calm her down as soon as possible. I already know what she's thinking. Even if she's grown up for her age, they're still children, and things are written all over her face... more or less.' With a resolute mind, Lien Hua opened the door and stepped outside.

As soon as she walked out of her house, besides all the people who were walking towards their classes, she noticed how Chen Huang was walking off way ahead and Lin Yue was far back from him, no longer together. '*Sigh*... This is going to be a tough day. I have to make them reconcile. Lin Yue will no longer be here with us in a few weeks and I definitely don't want to let them part with bad memories,' Observing her two friends, Lien Hua set a goal in her mind: she didn't want to make these two friends part with bad blood between them.

Seeing that neither of them seemed to give the other any slack, it didn't bother Lien Hua that much; she could understand where both of them were coming from. So without much more thought on the matter, Lien Hua began to walk towards the classroom where her future master was about to explain new information about their world. She couldn't wait to learn more about this world and unconsciously increased her pace.

Arriving at the front of the classroom in a few minutes, Lien Hua did not notice how she had arrived before everyone else and walked into the classroom alone.

As soon as she entered, she saw Shi Yueh standing at the podium. Lien Hua was excited that this Inner Sect Elder of their Sect would soon be her future teacher.

Looking at him carefully Lien Hua still couldn't believe it, 'It seems I've been quite lucky, however I won't be partying or anything, it's just now the part where I have to work harder starts here.'

Shi Yueh, noticing that Lien Hua was looking towards him, gave her a small smile that if it had been night would have illuminated the entire area by the beauty radiated by this man.

Lien Hua, a little surprised, had a small bead of sweat run down her forehead. 'What is this smile, a weapon of mass destruction? I almost fainted... Ahah...'

Not giving it much thought, and seeing that more disciples like her were slowly coming in, she moved to her desk and sat down in a sharp motion, looking towards her two friends who were still not looking at each other.

"Hi guys, how are you doing?"

""Good, and you Lien Hua?""

Lien Hua, noticing how after they spoke together they looked at each other for a millisecond, but after that they turned around to go to separate sides, Lien Hua was bewildered. She was about to burst out laughing there in front. 'Ahahaha come on, are they serious? It looks like when two kids fight over a toy and don't want to talk to each other anymore. Ahhh and I was worrying too much, it's no big deal... But they didn't let me talk...'

Watching them go to their seats, Lien Hua was a little amused by this situation, but she thought no more of it, noticing how Shi Yueh was about to start today's lesson.

Shi Yueh, looking at his disciples who were all seated except Ling Tianni who was still absent from the class, began his lesson with a small reminder:

"Good morning everyone. First of all I would like to let you know that from now on, public lessons will be over. If you want to have private lessons with a Sect Elder or even with your elder sect brothers and sisters, you will have to use sect points, but we will talk about this later. The public lessons will resume only when one of you reaches level 10 of the rank Spirit Scholar, so work hard over the next few months!"

Everyone was a bit shocked. They were prepared for the fact that sooner or later these lessons would end, but they didn't know it would be today, and above all they were curious about these sect points.

Lien Hua already knew where this lesson was going and was more excited than ever. This finally meant something for her: missions and freedom to roam around the Sect! Lien Hua was an adventurous woman and definitely didn't want to be segregated in her home forever, so this turn of events was definitely making her curious in no small part.

"Picking up on the earlier topic of sect points, today's lesson will be based on these.

Sect Points are a sect currency, used only within the confines of our domain, to buy, sell, and trade anything. Sect points are earned through quests."

Pausing for a moment to take something from his side, Shi Yueh placed before him a kind of brass medallion in the shape of an octagon with numbers on it.

"This locket that I have here in my hand is where all one's sect points are deposited, so even for the smartest of us, the points are directly seen by the locket and even if they are changed externally, the sect always knows your exact points, so don't be smart."

Attaching the locket to his side where it was dangling, Shi Yueh resumed his lesson by looking around his class.

"Well, after this short interruption, we will now talk about the missions. Quests are released from the building next to the one where you picked up your spirit stones yesterday. Missions can be on behalf of the sect or also on behalf of private individuals, the latter can pay you either in sect points or in actual items."

Pausing for a moment to see if everyone was on the ball and following along, Shi Yueh resumed his speech.

"The missions are separated in grades from the easiest to the most difficult: F is a trivial mission and doesn't give many points, but they are perfect for you. After F comes E. Already these missions are more interesting, and will mainly be missions to collect some resources or even small hunting missions. Then there are the D missions. At this level there will be hunting missions where you have to bring a recognition that you have performed these missions, an ear or a horn, it depends, or collection of important resources. After D you'll begin the real difficult missions, the grade B already requires you to be strong enough as an Inner Sect Disciple or in a group. From grade A onwards, these are quests that require you to be an Inner Sect Disciple or even a Sect Elder, so you don't need to know them for now."

Noting how much leeway she could get with even the simplest mission, Lien Hua couldn't wait to start accepting them, and surely she also wanted to see what could be bought with these Sect Points besides private lessons.

Shi Yueh, resumed the lesson after noticing that no one had any questions.

"You may only accept one mission at a time, and you must provide proof that you have completed the mission, otherwise you will not be able to accept another mission and the points will not be credited to your medallion."

Remembering that he had forgotten something, Shi Yueh changed the subject:

"Before I forget, the medallion will be provided to you as soon as you go to accept your first mission. It won't cost you anything, so don't worry and you can pick it up whenever you want."

Shi Yueh, looking at the excited faces of all his disciples, even Lien Hua's who was usually a little uninterested, was satisfied and so finished the lesson.

"Today's lesson ends here, I hope I've been helpful this week, and I'll see you when one of you luckily reaches level 10 in your rank. With that, goodbye and good luck."

Noting that the lesson was over, and it was their last lesson with this Sect Elder, all the disciples were very grateful to Shi Yueh because he had imparted very important information to them to start their cultivation lives, so they bowed to him with great respect in their voices.

""Thank you so much esteemed Sect Elder; we thank you for your teachings!""

After this, all the students except Lien Hua got up, and some slowly, as well as a little curiously, looked towards her as they left.

Lien Hua as soon as she saw Lin Yue, who was lost in thought, had passed by her, she immediately stopped her in a stern voice.

"Lin Yue, you and I need to talk a little later at your place, okay?"

"Eh-h o-okay?"

Lin Yue was a little taken aback by Lien Hua's stern voice. She had sounded just like her mother and Lin Yue couldn't refuse properly before she could collect her thoughts.

Lien Hua saw that she had accepted, was calmer and therefore smiled at her.

"OK then, see you later!"

"OK... see you later?"

Still a little confused by their talk, Lin Yue said goodbye to Lien Hua and left.

Lien Hua stood there alone with Shi Yueh and started walking toward his podium with much more confidence than she had exhibited the last time.