Acquiring Knowledge

Upon entering the grand sect hall, the disciples inside turned their gazes toward the unfamiliar faces.

"Who is that handsome man over there? I've never seen him before. Do you think he's taken?"

"If he isn't, I'll be the first to win his heart!"

"Isn't that Li Xin?"

"Li Xin, as in the prodigy of the Li family?!"

As the disciples chatted about the new arrivals, Chang An led everyone to the front desk where an outer court disciple was stationed.

"Hello, Brother Chang! Are these the new disciples chosen by Head Elder Ren?" he asked, examining the new faces.

"Yes, they are. I'm here to register them as outer court disciples," Chang An replied.

The outer court disciple wasted no time and headed to the back, where he retrieved three new Outer Court uniforms.

The uniforms were silver with crescent moons scattered throughout. Positioned on the top right shoulder was a white crescent moon, distinguishing it as an Outer Court uniform. Red denoted an Inner Court status, while black signified status in the Core.

"Can I have your names?" he asked, and the three of them provided their names.

He then handed them each a golden medallion. "This is the sect medallion. Every disciple has one, and now you will too. Once you infuse it with Qi, its contents—your name, sect status, and accumulated sect points—will resonate in your mind space. Sect points are earned by completing missions and can be used to acquire treasures from the sect."

After familiarizing themselves with key locations within the sect, they departed from the sect hall, accompanied only by Yin Peng, as Chang An had duties to attend to for Elder Ren.

Yin Peng led them to their quarters located in the outer area. "You three will live here during your time as outer court disciples. Upon reaching the True Qi Realm, you'll be promoted to Inner Court disciples and move to the inner area. To advance to Core disciple status, you must reach the Earth Qi Realm," he explained.

All of that sounded like gibberish to Tang Zhi. "You two can do whatever you want now that you're official disciples of the sect. However, I'll be borrowing Tang Zhi for a moment," Yin Peng said, leading Tang Zhi away with him.

Before they left, Tang Zhi adorned the sect uniform, which further enhanced his appearance. After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at a building with a sign that read 'Moon Library'. Tang Zhi began to grasp the reason for being brought here.

Yin Peng escorted Tang Zhi into a secluded room furnished only with a small wooden table and instructed him to wait there.

A couple of minutes later, Yin Peng returned, and suddenly hundreds of books materialized out of thin air, astonishing Tang Zhi.

Seeing Tang Zhi's shocked expression, Yin Peng explained, "Those appeared out of thin air because they were stored within my spatial ring, which houses items within a vast space. Once you accumulate enough sect points and advance as a cultivator, you'll be able to use one too."

Tang Zhi became even more curious about the various types of treasures that existed in the vast Cultivation World.

"Now, to prepare you for your journey as a cultivator, you must understand the cultivation world. I don't want you to leave this place until you've read all these books," Yin Peng said.

"All of them?" Tang Zhi asked, eyeing some of the books that contained hundreds of pages.

Yin Peng nodded. "It may seem unreasonable, but you're very easy to take advantage of without knowledge of the cultivation world. As your senior brother, I wouldn't want your journey to... well... end prematurely," Yin Peng said earnestly.

Yin Peng left him with numerous food pills. Each pill was the size of a marble but contained all the nutrients and health benefits of a full-course meal.

Tang Zhi sighed. He was accustomed to reading copious amounts of books during his scholarly studies, but never had he been required to read this much without a break.

But sighing wouldn't help him finish these books any faster. Tang Zhi sucked it up and began reading diligently.

Three weeks later, Tang Zhi emerged from the library with an exhausted expression. He had absorbed a wealth of knowledge about the cultivation world, encompassing realms of cultivation, alchemy pills, techniques, weapons, and numerous other subjects.

As he walked, Tang Zhi became disoriented and forgot the way back to his room. Spotting a group of three female disciples chatting as they walked, he approached them.

"Excuse me, could you please direct me to the rooms?" Tang Zhi asked politely.

"What idio-!" The group of girls instantly fell silent upon noticing Tang Zhi's presence.

"Oh! You must be the new disciple Tang Zhi!" one of the girls exclaimed.

Tang Zhi raised an eyebrow. "You know me?" he said, surprised.

"Of course we know you! Everyone in the outer area knows you! Your name has been in every conversation for the past few weeks!"

Tang Zhi was taken aback by this revelation. He had always been aware that his appearance was above average, drawing attention from girls back in his village. However, he hadn't expected the same response among cultivators in the sect, assuming his looks were average among them.

"Umm, Brother Tang? Would you like to have a meal with me?" one of them asked, earning glares from the other two.

They hadn't expected the youngest and shyest among them to be so bold.

"You can call me Zhi, and I would love to have a meal with you," Tang Zhi said, causing the girl to smile brightly.

"Would you like to join us for a meal as well?" the other two asked eagerly, hoping he would accept.

"How about we all have a meal together?" Tang Zhi suggested.

The two disciples instantly agreed, while the youngest remained silent at first but eventually agreed reluctantly. Deep down, she wanted Tang Zhi all to herself.

Tang Zhi explained that he couldn't join them today because he was extremely tired, suggesting they meet in two days instead. They agreed to his proposal.

They showed him the directions to the rooms, and eventually, after three weeks of studying, he finally made it back to his room.

He bid them farewell and entered the room, finding neither Gu Yufeng nor Li Xin inside. He promptly jumped into the unoccupied bed, as the other two were already taken by Gu Yufeng and Li Xin.

Just as he was about to sleep, he heard a knock at the door. Groaning in disbelief, he went to open it and found Elder Ren standing there.

Tang Zhi bowed respectfully. "This disciple greets Head Elder Ren!" he said.

"No need to be so formal. I came here to give you this," Elder Ren said, handing Tang Zhi a cultivation technique called 'Moonlight Supreme'.

He couldn't discern the grade of the cultivation technique since he couldn't yet use Qi.

"This is the cultivation technique that every new member of the sect learns. I'll take you to my quarters where you can comprehend the technique in peace," Elder Ren said.

Tang Zhi nodded and followed Elder Ren outside, where Elder Ren retrieved his flying treasure—a sword that Tang Zhi recognized as the one he had used to arrive at the village.

Tang Zhi, filled with excitement rather than fear, jumped aboard and flew away with Elder Ren at incredible speed. Within seconds, they arrived at Elder Ren's personal living quarters.

His home boasted numerous rooms and a vast training area filled with hundreds of practice dummies.

He ushered Tang Zhi into a spacious room. "You can study the technique here. Yin Peng mentioned you've been studying the cultivation world in the library, so I assume you understand how this works," Elder Ren said.

"I'll need to read the cultivation technique first. Once I've memorized it, I'll meditate while reciting the words in my head," Tang Zhi explained the process.

Elder Ren nodded. "Then it seems I have nothing else to do here. Once you finish, come and find me. If I'm not available, look for my disciple Mao Jia. She should be around," he said before leaving Tang Zhi to his studies.

Once Elder Ren left, Tang Zhi began reading the Moonlight Supreme technique.