Regret

Shen's figure seemed to appear out of nowhere on a rocky cliff near a huge water body. 

There was a massive grin on Shen's face as he skimmed through his loot present inside his inventory. 

He didn't exactly need to take something out of the dark space to have a look at it, all he needed to do was think about that dark space and his mind could browse through whatever was inside. 

He had made huge gains, Shen's situation was similar to a snail suddenly gaining wings and becoming a dragon.

" As mush as I want to simply leave this sect unnoticed, I'm afraid that I need to visit the Body Tempering Peak for a while," During his first day when Shen was exploring the sect, he had felt a strong attachment towards Body Tempering Peak. 

A glimpse into the memories of the former Shen revealed frequent visits to this peak, where strenuous workouts had forged his well-developed physique.

Typically, cultivators achieved bodily strength passively as they advanced through the realms, their bodies harmonizing with the flow of qi.

However there were many who tempered their bodies as well, although it took time and effort, it helped them temper their will as well. 

Building up strong muscles was a slow process, one needed proper nutrition, proper exercise and time to re-build the muscles. 

In the realm of cultivation, nourishment was readily available in the form of spiritual herbs, and injuries healed swiftly due to robust vitality.

Thus all that remained was proper techniques to train the body, this is exactly what the Body Tempering Peak was meant for. 

Anyone who wished to temper the body had to climb the mountain with fixed amounts of weights on their body, this was a form to trial to test who had enough talent or will to temper their bodies. 

Just like every other hot-blooded youngster the previous Shen also wanted to have a robust and toned physique. 

Thus he would go and attempt at climbing the peak with weights on, he had been going at this for a year and a half. 

He would cultivate almost all the time and would spend the remaining time to either sleep or at the Body Tempering Peak. 

" No wonder this body is so strong, this guy had been pushing himself beyond the limits in a foreign environment ," As Shen thought about this, a form of respect for his predecessor started to shine within him. 

Coupled with the fact that this could potentially reduce the gap between his mind and his body, he was determined to spend time at the Body Tempering Peak. 

With this in mind, Shen started to head towards the Outer Sect Management Pavilion. 

The Outer Sect Management Pavilion expanded over a huge area, there were disciples everywhere. 

The pavilion's massive silhouette, carved from stone of the purest jade, rose proudly above the surrounding landscape.

Spiraling dragon motifs stood tall above the imposing gates, their scales embedded with gold and emerald. 

Flowing like river from the top of these gates were banners showing off the imbedded logo of the Lake Lotus Sect, the sect was represented by nine rosy petals of a lotus. 

These gates were guarded by at least 4 cultivators at the Late-stages of Qi Condensation realms, with the protection getting only stronger on the inside. 

The Management Pavilion oversaw the entire outer sect's workings, it allotted missions to the disciples and paid them merit on completion. 

It would also check a disciple's identity lest some imposter invaded the divine soil of the Lake Lotus Sect. 

The Management Pavilion was situated right behind the only entrance of the Lake Lotus Sect, thus whoever wanted to leave or enter the sect needed to pass through these gates. 

This was enough reason for the sect to assign a Golden Core Elder to oversee it's workings. 

Although Shen didn't know much about a cultivator at the Golden Core, he knew enough that they were not someone he could mess around with. 

However the assuring thing was that death would only come to you if you went seeking for it.

Thus Shen silently walked to a nearby receptionist, as he walked on the inside he was baffled by the show of extravagance. 

The entire roof of this place was made with tiles, however the most surprising thing was that these tiles were carved out of spiritual stones. 

These spiritual stones emitted a fragrance which cleared Shen's mind and put him in a daze of epiphany, this place's qi density was several times higher than the outside.

However sadly it was against the rules to cultivate here, otherwise they would get fined heavily and would get banned from entering the management pavilion for at least 2 years. 

The receptionist was a lady who wore snow white robes, her hair fluttered down live a dark river and she had a professional smile across her face.

" Welcome to the Management Pavilion, how can we help you ?" 

" Please help me assign my house according to this token," As Shen spoke, he pulled out a wooden token out of his bag and handed it to the receptionist. 

" Oh my, fellow Daoist are you sure you want 'that' house and not a normal accommodation?" The receptionist's face curled up in surprise as she saw Shen's token. 

" Um, can fellow Daoist please enlighten me about what's special about 'that' house? " Shen who was oblivious to anything related to this wooden token could only politely ask. 

" Well it's just that it's completely isolated, although it is located near a lake and has great scenery, but it's isolation is because there's a breeding ground of pigs nearby so people try avoid that place," the receptionist explained without much emotion on her face. 

" If I occupy that place, can I kill the pigs?"

" Well that depends on your ability, some of the pigs there are at the early stages of foundation establishment, the elders don't eliminate them as those pigs just enjoy their environment without harming anyone and the disciples don't have the ability nor any reason to eliminate them," 

" However there's no such rule that actually prevents you from killing the pigs there, it's just that no one bothers to," hearing the receptionist's words Shen pondered for a while before he agreed to live near the pigs.

After giving away the token and exchanging a greeting with the receptionist, Shen went to explore his new residence. 

By this time, the sun had already began to set and crimson light rays of the dusk illuminated the landscape, giving off a profound look to it.

After walking for a few hours Shen arrived in front of another huge lake. 

" Just how many lakes are there in this place," Shen muttered to himself as he gazed around for a bit before a small hut came into his vision, as he went upto the house, he felt some force blocking him from entering the hut. 

Shen already knew about it, this was basically a formation which acted as a sort of lock on the house. 

As soon as Shen pulled out a talisman and threw it in front of him, both the talisman and the barrier vanished. 

This was given to him back at the Management Pavilion by the receptionist, which acted as the key to open this lock. 

As Shen opened the door he was greeted by a small table with a little box kept on it, there was a piece of paper under the box. 

This situation piqued Shen's curiosity as to who would place something like this in this sealed house. 

Shen wondered as the took the piece of paper, he saw words scrambled upon it. 

Thankfully the previous Shen knew how to read and write, thus giving Shen the ability to do so as well. 

The paper didn't have many words on it except for a single line 

' You won't have to wait 3 years brat, also don't forget to come to my place after a month to get your share of reward ' 

As soon as he read the letter, he knew it was from Elder Huang. 

Shen reached his hand out and opened the lid of the little box, and sure enough a bright spherical pill awaited him. 

He knew what this was as he had already seen a similar one in the pill vault. 

The Meridian Repairing pill! 

Shen's eyes widened in surprise as he felt guilty about thinking that the elder was a selfish old bone, furthermore he felt even worse for robbing the entire vault. 

He didn't need to do that, he could've just taken this pill and started cultivating without any guilty concise.

Although he knew that he shouldn't feel bad about this, he was from Earth after all. 

A place where children were pretty much brainwashed with righteousness, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty for what he'd done. 

He wanted to go back to Elder Huang and apologies for what he did, but he was afraid of the repercussions of stealing from the pill vault. 

After a while of self conflict, Shen simply decided to go and thank Elder Huang for the pill he gave him. 

Without wasting any time Shen changed to spectator mode as he willed himself to fly towards Elder Huang's residence. 

In about 20 minutes, he was back to the small cottage where the elder lived. 

He was still in spectator mode, so nobody could see him right now.

As Shen closed upon the house, he could hear few sounds. 

" Brother Huang are you really willing to do that, do you not fear death? " 

" Yes brother Huang, do you really need to go so far for that brat, wasn't giving him the meridian repairing pill enough?" 

" Brother Huang, you've been a hardworking man your entire life. You don't even interact much with others but why do you place so much importance on that bastard? " 

It seemed that a few people had gathered here, from their tones they sounded like elders as well, Shen was quite curious. 

After all who wouldn't want to know what others were discussing about them. 

As Shen moved close to the door, he heard a quiet voice, But when Shen tried to enter Elder Huang's room to see what was going on, he realized that he couldn't enter it, as if some force was blocking him from entering it. 

After realizing that there were walls that could stop him, Shen didn't try anything reckless. However he carefully focused on the voices coming from the inside. 

" You guys don't know anything, As a cultivator I have my own secrets you just need to tell me whether I can exchange for 'that' or not," Elder Huang's voice seeped out, although he spoke the words quietly there was a heavy pressure in his words. 

However this didn't make the other elders back down at all, until an even more imposing voice spoke. 

" Good! Good! Good! Since Elder Huang is agreeing despite our worries, who are we to disagree. You are free to do whatever you want. Whether you end up alive or not would be of no concern to us after this,"  You will go to 'that' place and send us information, if you're caught then the Lake Lotus Sect will have nothing to do with you anymore. If you're successful, you may come back and continue with your daily life. " 

" I know, you don't need to repeat this again and again, just make sure that the pill reaches that kid at the end of the month. I don't care about anything else, but if you try something funny you'll regret it! " 

Elder Huang's words were accompanied with a surge of nomological powers, pressurizing the entire place. 

" Good! Good! Good! you're already at the Nascent Soul realm, you've hidden yourself well brother Huang, very well we'll make sure that he isn't bullied in the sect until you return or die. We'll do at least that much for that devilspawn" 

In the next moment, all of the elders also exploded with nomological powers as a terrifying amount of spiritual qi gathered around them. 

In the blink of an eye, the entire cottage was destroyed and became dust as everything got levelled under the pressure of these cultivator as they disappeared soon after and the night became silent. 

Shen stood there in spectator mode, his mind was frozen as he recalled the conversation and the terrifying pressure he had just experienced. 

But right after the fright faded, came doubt and regret. 

He felt touched about what the elder had done for him, and he felt saddened about slandering Elder Huang in the morning. 

He thought that he knew that the Elder was just selfish and wanted to use him for his aptitude and trashed him after learning that it dropped. 

However he never expected there to exist deeper reasons, but no matter how much he searched Shen's memories he couldn't find anything which hinted something special. 

From what he could observe from the conversation, he had the backing of Elder Huang, and it was evident as well.

Just the fact that Elder Huang had already prepared a meridian repairing pill for him touched Shen, he hadn't done anything for the Elder yet he was given the pill.

As someone from Earth, he wasn't emotionless. He only felt gratitude and respect towards the old man.

" I really didn't need to steal those pills, this feels shit...."

At this moment, a feeling of regret was born in Shen's heart.