Less than an Outer Disciple

"Thanks for your help back there, Joshua," a woman said to Joshua after all of them had their talents tested by the stone. She was the girl from Twin Rivers City.

"It was nothing. Your name is Marie, right?" Joshua smiled. He was happy that he wasn't going to be the only one from his city to be part of the Green Cauldron Sect.

"Yes! And this is my brother Niels," she pointed towards Niels.

"What's up," Niels said.

"Wait. So you two are siblings? That explained why you two were always together," Joshua's mouth opened wide.

"We are. We were afraid that only one of us would pass the test, so we stick together so that we would either pass or fail together," Niels said. It seemed that they were siblings who watched out for each other, and that was admirable in a world so cruel.

Joshua thought that they would go back to the city to say proper goodbyes, but the cultivators didn't let that. They said that it was dangerous to leave the sect at that moment, and they would provide letters to everyone's parents. Joshua asked if they would be able to see them, and they answered that maybe in 5 years, maybe less.

"What exactly is happening that they don't let anyone leave the sect?" Joshua thought. Elder Ji scouted him personally to the very base of the mountain, where he would be staying. 6 of the newcomers would go there. Only one of them had a really excellent talent that went straight as an Outer Disciple. The rest of them would have to survive in the slums.

The slums were the place where people with good and bad talents went. If one had extraordinary talent, they would be put as an Outer Disciple, not having to survive in the slums.

Joshua was there, in the slums. He had good talent, but nothing that extraordinary. He didn't mind though. Joshua knew that with the help of Miranda, he would reach the apex of the cultivation world.

"You'll be staying here. This is the tenth block. As your cultivation progresses, you'll be able to fight against those in the stronger blocks. Winning will make you a part of that said block. The tenth block is the worst, followed by the ninth, and so on. Each block will have better houses and better cultivation resources. When you finally reach the first block, you'll be able to fight for a chance at becoming an Outer Disciple of the sect," Elder Ji said nonstop, explaining the basics of the slums.

They all listened carefully and found that the reality was fierce. If they didn't improve at a good pace, they would be left behind, living in poor conditions. Elder Ji threw two books for each one of them. One had information about the sect, and also about the cultivation realms. The other book contained a primary cultivation technique. Joshua knew that if he wanted to get better techniques, he needed to become at least an Outer Disciple.

"Train hard, especially you, Joshua," Elder Ji smiled, and then vanished.

The only people present in the tenth block were the 7 newcomers. It was a desolated area, only having 10 crude wooden cabins. Joshua picked one, as did the others.

"Well, at least the inside isn't as bad as the outside," Joshua thought as soon as he entered his cabin. It contained a bed at the corner of the room, a table, and a chair. Joshua wondered where would he poop without a bathroom…

He grabbed the first book that had some information about the cultivation realms. Joshua read the novel so he knew some of that stuff. At least the first three realms.

The first was the Qi Condensation. It was the first step towards immortality. The cultivator would have basic usage of the Qi, being able to perform some minor techniques, but these were still mountains apart from the common mortals. One's body would also improve in this stage, but nothing too spectacular.

Dantian Improvement was the second stage. It consisted of the creation of 12 pillars of power inside the Dantian. The difference between the power of the Qi Condensation realm to the Dantian Improvement was huge. 100 Qi Condensation cultivators couldn't win against one Dantian Improvement cultivator.

The next stage was the Core Formation realm. The cultivator would use the 12 pillars of power, merging them and creating a Core. This was the last realm of cultivation contained inside the book. Joshua knew that the Sect Leader wasn't in the Core Formation yet.

Joshua wasn't even in the first layer of the Qi Condensation realm. It had 10 in total, and improving would become harder and harder as one progresses.

He grabbed the book containing the elementary cultivation technique and was surprised. Miranda, his system, helped him memorize the entire technique in about 2 minutes. That was something that neither the real MC of the story could accomplish.

"Glimmering Spirits cultivation art completely memorized. Uploading to users mind starting in three seconds."

All of the information regarding the Glimmering Spirits technique was bestowed to Joshua. The crazy part was that Miranda had also come with some methods to improve one's cultivation using that skill. The Glimmering Spirits was a cultivation art that was passed down through shamans of the tribes who used to live in that mountains. Cultivating the technique near some types of herbs would improve the cultivation speed, which was exactly what Joshua needed.

"This technique isn't that bad. They gave this to the newcomers because it is a hard technique to cultivate. But I'm certain that with Miranda's help, I'll master this." Joshua thought.

The Glimmering Spirits technique was an art from the antique cultivation world. Joshua didn't know that it was a skill better than this so-called heaven-defying skill from the cultivators of today. It was a pity that the Glimmering Spirits technique that Joshua had was incomplete, but maybe Miranda could help him in that regard.

Joshua sat cross-legged and began to chant the first part of the art. He could feel a strange force entering his body. That was the Qi.

"Joshua. I scanned your body and based on my analyzes, you have a strange type of Dantian," Miranda's voice ranged inside Joshua's head.

"What do you mean, Miranda?" Joshua was confused. He was also wondering what was that black color when he touched the stone back in the test, but he hadn't read anything like that in the novel.

"I... I'm not sure. Your Dantian is strangely compatible with any element, which is something unheard of,"

"My Dantian can cultivate all elements? That's… Overpowered," Joshua who was afraid of not being able to become the sect leader before the Mcs arrival was now relaxed. Maybe because he reincarnated, or was it because of Miranda, either way, something had changed his Dantian, and now he could cultivate all of the elements of the world. That was something huge. None technique would be difficult for him to learn, being compatible with all of the elements.

Joshua smiled and went back to his cultivation. He couldn't lose time. The surrounding Qi entered his body slowly, and after some unknown time had passed, Joshuas eyes abruptly opened.