From the noises he was hearing, Song Yang could make out that two girls were talking.
He suddenly recalled reading in the sect rulebook that outer disciples had to share their house with two other disciples. The sect's dormitories were separated into two areas: the boys' area and the girls' area. As he transmigrated into the body of a girl, Song Yang was obviously residing in the girls' area.
'That's right, I have two roommates and they are girls. It's my first time sharing a house with a girl!' He thought.
Song Yang never really had much interaction with girls in his 'previous life'. He was a virgin and never had a girlfriend so he was a little nervous at the idea of sharing a house with two other girls.
'I should go greet them and see what kind of people they are.' He thought.
He put the two pouches containing the Spirit Stones and the Cultivation Pills in his pockets, stood up from his bed, and walked over to the door.
Once he left his bedroom, which led directly to the dining room, he saw two young girls of about fourteen sitting around a table chatting.
The dining room was small but enough for three people to stay in without feeling cramped. Besides the table, there were only two medium-sized wooden cupboards placed at the back of the room.
"Sister Yu Qi, you're awake! Good, come and join us, we have something important to discuss." Said one of the girls.
Being called 'Sister Yu Qi' made Song Yang want to throw up but he still nodded and joined them. He had already decided that in order to avoid attracting attention, he would try his best to act as if nothing had happened to him.
After he sat next to the girl who talked to him, he examined them attentively. He noticed that they were both wearing the same grey Taoist robe as him so he assumed that it was the uniform of the outer disciples of the sect.
They were both very cute. The girl next to him had a small nose, beautiful almond eyes, and thin lips. She also had some silver accessories attached to her mid-long black hair. The other girl in front of him had a baby face with small almond eyes. Her long black hair was loose behind her back.
What he could tell for sure was that they both looked and acted like real humans and not some kind of NPC from a game. It confirmed his assumption that he was in a real world and not in a 'game world'.
"With Sister Zilin, we were discussing what we should do today." Said the girl next to him. Song Yang would later learn that her name was Tan Yanyan.
"Yes, since we all joined the sect yesterday, the house is empty. We need to buy food and other products." Said the one called Sister Zilin whose full name was Xia Zilin.
"I understand." Said Song Yang, nodding. He found these two girls rather mature despite their young age.
"But it's really unfair. My big brother who is an inner disciple told me that they have the right to have working disciples to take care of all their needs. Us, outer disciples have to do everything ourselves!" Said Tan Yanyan, pouting.
Maybe this one was not as mature as Song Yang imagined...
"Don't worry Sister Yanyan, with hard work we will be able to become inner disciples in just a few years!" Said Xia Zilin.
"I know, I know! So, my big brother already told me what we should do before I joined the sect. I suggest that each of us use one Spirit Stone. Then, with these three Spirit Stones, we can buy enough spiritual rice, spiritual vegetables, firewoods, and other necessary goods for the month." Suggested Tan Yanyan.
"Sounds good, I agree." Nodded Xia Zilin.
"But won't the vegetables rot if we keep them for a month?" Asked Song Yang. He didn't think that in this world there were fridges and freezers.
"What are you talking about? Everyone knows that spiritual vegetables can be kept for more than a year before rotting." Answered Xia Zilin.
"Ha, right! Then, I also agree with your proposition." Said Song Yang, embarrassed. He then mentally sighed because he realized that everything that was considered common sense in the modern world didn't apply in this world.
"Alright, then we should go to the Central Area right now or there will be too many disciples." Said Tan Yanyan.
The three of them stood up and left their small wooden house...
"Wow!" Was Song Yang's first reaction after seeing what was outside the house.
The outer disciple area was located on the gigantic peak of a mountain. All around him, he could see hundreds or maybe thousands of wooden houses. The lush green grass on the ground and the tall trees created a painting-like landscape and released a fresh scent into the air.
In the distance, he could see huge mountains that seemed to pierce the sky and even some people flying on big swords!
Before now, Song Yang would have never imagined that he would one day see this kind of scenery for real.
"Sister Yu Qi, what are you doing? Let's go." Said Tan Yanyan.
"Yes, I'm coming." Said Song Yang, snapping out of his reverie.
It took them a little more than fifteen minutes of walking to finally reach the Central Area. It was a very large square area with three huge pagodas at its center.
The pagoda on the left was a two-story pagoda and was a marketplace that sold everything outer disciples could need: cultivation resources, weapons, food, and even decoration and furniture for their home.
The pagoda in the middle was the place where outer disciples needed to go to take sect missions and exchange their Contribution Points.
Finally, the one on the right was a two-story pagoda called Martial Hall where outer disciples could borrow Martial Arts.
Song Yang could more or less guess what was the purpose of each pagoda since each of them had a sign with an inscription indicating their name: Market Hall, Mission Hall, and Martial Hall.
"Damn, there are so many disciples that there is a line up outside!" Exclaimed Tan Yanyan.
Around forty disciples were lining up in front of the Market Hall waiting for their turn to enter it.
"Well, a lot of new outer disciples joined the sect yesterday so it was to be expected. We'll probably have to wait about an hour before it's our turn to enter." Said Xia Zilin, trying to calm her down.
"Girls, why not play a game to pass the time?" Suggested Song Yang with a small smirk. It was a good opportunity for him to learn more about this world.
"A game? What kind of game?" Asked Tan Yanyan.
"A quiz game. We take turns asking questions and whoever answers the most questions correctly wins." He explained.
They both hesitated for a second before nodding in agreement.
"Good! First question: what are the different cultivation realms?" Asked Song Yang.
"Easy! Eight Meridians Opening, Qi Condensation, Houtian, Xiantian, Golden Core Transformation, Nine Dao Palaces, Nascent Soul, and Transcendence." Answered Tan Yanyan.
"Huh? Are there not twelve meridians and not eight? Why is it Golden Core and not Diamond Core? Are you sure it's not Ten Dao Palaces instead of nine?" Asked Song Yang.
He was very confused. The knowledge he had gained after mastering the Heavenly Ice Scripture didn't match the name of the cultivation realms mentioned by Tan Yanyan. Was it because he had a Divine-grade Cultivation Manual so the cultivation realms were different for him? Or was it because the knowledge of the people of this world was limited?
"Sister Yu Qi, I have absolutely no idea of what you're talking about." Said Tan Yanyan, looking strangely at Song Yang.
"Oh, never mind then. Alright, since you have answered correctly, it's your turn to ask a question." Said Song Yang.
"Hehe, then I will ask a hard question. What are the four Crafting Halls of the sect?" Asked Tan Yanyan.
"I know! The Alchemist Hall, the Blacksmith Hall, the Formation Hall, and the Inscription Hall." Immediately answered Xia Zilin.
"How do you know? I only heard about them thanks to my big brother!" Asked Tan Yanyan, puzzled.
"My father is an Alchemist and I want to become one as well, that's why I joined the sect in the first place so of course I know about the Crafting Halls." Said Xia Zilin.
"Can anyone join the Crafting Halls?" Asked Song Yang, curious.
"No, only inner disciples can learn from them. Us, outer disciples can only do servant jobs for them..." Answered Tan Yanyan.
"I see..." Song Yang realized how advantageous it was to be an inner disciple and couldn't wait to become one.
"Well, it's my turn to ask a question now. What is the main ingredient required to make a Cultivation Pill?" Asked Xia Zilin.
"Sister Zilin, you're the only one here who knows about alchemy..." Complained Tan Yanyan.
"Alright, alright. Then, I will ask another question. Hum... Who is this handsome guy over there?" She asked, pointing at a boy not far from them.
"No idea, probably a new disciple. But I think the boy over there is more handsome!" Said Tan Yanyan.
"What? You're kidding right?"
"No, you just have bad taste!"
"You..."
Hearing their little dispute, Song Yang wanted to facepalm... Obviously he was not interested in boys since he was one himself... Ah right, he was not a boy anymore. Well, in his mind he was and would always be a boy.
Looking around him, he saw all kinds of beautiful girls. But, unfortunately, most of them seemed to be only fourteen years old, far too young for his twenty-four years old mind...
Since his two roommates were now mad at each other, they all stopped playing the quiz game and waited in silence until it was finally their turn to enter the Market Hall.