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While it wasn't far, it would still take half a day to get there. Most of the young disciples began to chat together and introduce themselves. They were socializing. The elders were having a similar comportment as they discussed amongst each other.

After less than five minutes, Owl got annoyed by the many voices that created too much noise for his rest. He left for a secluded room. They were supposed to be allocated to the elders. He found the one that belonged to Toh Yon or rather, the room that was given to him for the travel. He entered it without a care and closed the door behind him. He went to lay down on the big bed that was inside and sent a message to Jung-Su. He ordered him to tell Toh Yon not to come disturb him.

Jung-Su had a hard time delivering the message. Not only was it very impolite but they weren't alone…He was unable to find a good timing and just went straight to the elder and whispered it in his ear. Of course, the other elders heard him. They were cultivators within the 20th stages after all. Their sense of hearing was sharp.

Toh Yon coughed a few times and patted the kid's head as he said: "Thank you for reporting, Jung-Su"

Then, he sent him away and feigned as if nothing happened. As long as no one dared mock him, there weren't any reasons to be ashamed. And everyone here knew that the status of both kids wasn't low, they were quite famous for being that man's disciples… As for the spiritual beast invading the private quarters of elder Toh Yon, they dared mention it or joke about it. Who knew what could happen if they did? The Senior Elder backing up Toh Yon was known for being fierce!

As for Owl, after sending his order to Jung-Su, he didn't bother any longer about the outside. Instead, he decided to focus on bettering himself. Half a day of cultivation wasn't much but it wasn't something to frown upon. A peddle amounted to nothing but as more peddles were gathered, castles were built.

He entered his soul sea after eating a small pellet that he scammed from Sun Yong-Hik. As his consciousness awoke there, he could see the glowing orb of light representing the pellet he just ate. It was filled with energy he would be able to absorb to consolidate his core. It leaked little by little and his job was to direct the leaked particles to build his core.

As he turned to look at his core, he sighed in amazement. Just like he had done the first time he noticed it after breaking through and every single time after it. That was because his round core now sported a symbol ethereally moving within as if the physical state of it didn't impact it. It was a mystical scene.

The symbol was that of a four-leafed clover with every leaf of a different color much like the symbol on his own forehead. The difference was that this one kept on moving and fluctuating as if alive within his core. It was the proof of him harnessing the Season element. And it was also the proof of him surpassing his previous life's achievements.

True, he was still weaker than he had been but that was not the point here. The worth of a young cultivator was linked to the elements he fused his core with. A disciple with a flame attribute wouldn't be treated the same as one with the space attribute. That was due to the rarity of it. The rarer the element, the tougher it was to harness it (in most cases) and the greater the benefits it would give (in most cases). As for the Season element, it was one of the best ones!

Just by having such an element, he could consider himself an elite cultivator amongst those of similar stages. If he joined willingly a sect, he would be given a good position for a disciple and be nurtured closely. He might even be able to secure himself a Senior Elder or a Grand Elder as a teacher… Of course, that was if he had been human. As an owl, there wasn't so much to it. Rather, it would be detrimental as cultivators would hunt him to tame him. He would be looked at with greedy eyes and become a juicy prey… But that also showed how good the element he fused his core with was.

He left his meditative state a long while later. He noticed how elder Toh Yon was sitting not far at the desk while reading a book. Seeing that the owl woke up, elder Toh Yon turned his attention to it and stated: "Everyone left hours ago, Owl. Let's go"

Owl got up as the elder did and they both left the house on top of the bird. As Owl exited, he noticed that they were indeed in a very foreign place. There were hundreds of houses made of red clay seemingly randomly erected all over the area.

As they disembarked, the elder told him: "This is the outer border of the Flowing Sand through Wind Bastion. Our quarters are at the core area. Please follow me and don't wander off, the disciples of the bastion might hunt you otherwise"

Owl nodded though he wasn't sure the elder noticed. He was an owl after all and didn't have a neck, or rather, it was hard to distinguish between it and his head. Where started one? Where ended the other? Who knew!

At least, the elder did not seem to care as he walked forward and Owl followed soon after. He had no reasons to move alone here or go explore. First, there weren't many benefits to get and second, he did not want to be hunted. As they moved, he could sense that all the disciples around had not even reached the 10th stage. He could slaughter them like ants. But even ants could be dangerous if there were enough of them. This was such a case. If he dared attack or counter-attack any of them, he might end up being killed from being attacked by too many!

Of course, he was not a fool that would randomly attack a sect member within said sect. He cherished his second life greatly. So, he followed in silence and without deviating from the path.

The houses on the side all looked similar. There were a few pictures, sculptures and other such decorations but they were quite rare. All the disciples he saw were rather young and wore what was likely the battle robe of the bastion. It was white with dark lines emulating the movements of the wind and punctuated with golden glows representing sand grains. It was fairly good-looking and reminded him that he was still moving around naked. He blushed slightly, as much as an owl could. He would need to figure out something about keeping his modesty now that his safety was attained and secured. Maybe he could commission for a owl-sized battle robe? He would have to inquire about it later with Jung-Su.

After walking for half-an-hour, they entered a different area. The houses were designed in similar ways but much bigger and more spaced from one another. Owl guessed that this was the inner area. There were fewer disciples but they were stronger though most were older, at least in their twenties.

To be in your twenties and still within the first two dozen stages… You couldn't hope for much on the path to cultivation with such lackluster talent. Owl pitied them as he knew exactly how it felt since he suffered from it himself. That was back then though. He was now in a very different situation as he could consider himself an elite. He was being nurtured as such.

Even if he was a spiritual beast, it remained a fact that he wasn't even ten years old and reached the 17th stage of spiritual accumulation. Heck, it was even more glorious and praiseworthy because of it. At least, he believed so. He was no expert on the subject and had not bothered learning more about it in this second life. Even now that he could if he wanted to, he didn't feel the need to. He had no reasons to care about the speed of others, he only needed to focus on making himself faster and continue to grow.