Difference in dwellings.

Yin Long pushed open the door to the room he had been assigned in Swan Queen Hall, a very simple room that only contained a bed, a wooden closet, and a round table with two chairs. There was a door on the right side of the room that led to a simple toilet where he could do his business and shower, but it was as bare as could be. He was the newest member of the dojo and thus had the lowest standing possible amongst disciples, the splendour of his room would improve as his standing and position did. Yin Long swept his slightly narrowed eyes around the room, using his law of space to check it out for a bit before he sat down on the surprisingly soft bed.

Xue Qiuling had done just as she said she would, she had introduced him to the instructors that he would be dealing with for the foreseeable future and she had shown him to his dwelling. The two instructors he met were both women, one focusing on rigid light weapons and the other on flexible light weapons, they were both the only instructors available for the newer disciples. The higher your standing, the more specialized the instructors you could receive teachings from. Of course, if one of the higher-ranked instructors took a liking to you and accepted you as a disciple, it didn't matter what your official standing within the dojo was.

The instructors also explained the base rules to Yin Long, but as they were a dojo trying to accommodate a lot of people of varying social status, the rules were extremely lax. You were forbidden from killing within the dojo, you were forbidden from stealing resources within the dojo, and you had to take on at least one mission every three months.

The two first rules seemed like they were trying to protect the disciples, but those who had a bit more experience would immediately notice that the rules only specified within the dojo. As long as you did your shady deeds outside of the dojo, they wouldn't say anything about it nor would they punish you. That was how the cultivation world was, the strong ate the weak and used their skulls as stepping stones to move forward. If you ended up being killed or robbed after leaving the dojo then it simply meant that you were among the weak, just another skull to line someone's path.

Yin Long fished out the wing-shaped talisman made from crimson jade, weighing it in his palm while tilting his head somewhat quizically. The talisman was quite simple to use, he just had to drip a drop of his blood on it, insert a bit of Qi, and then whisper his name into it. The talisman would melt into his body and connect with the mother piece that the dojo held, constantly tracking Yin Long's vital state so that the dojo could just search up his name to see whether or not he was still alive.

Yin Long knew how to use the talisman, but he didn't activate it right away, casually tossing it into the air a few times while waiting. He ended up having to wait a bit longer than he originally expected, the grape-sized wooden orb that Lan Yun had handed him before they split up only vibrating after he had already waited four hours. He stopped playing with the jade talisman and took out the small orb, Lan Yun's voice spilling forth as he inserted a bit of Qi.

"Hello hello, Young Master! These bores spent so long trying to impress me and show me around that I almost expected them to start introducing the story behind each and every scratch in the walls. Did you miss me? It's fine if you did, I can rush over right away and hold you nice and tight! If you really really missed me, then I'm sure I can even stay the night so that we can properly enjoy each other."

Yin Long looked at the orb with a slightly exasperated expression after Lan Yun's voice spilt forth, his only response to her energetic statement being silence. This orb was an item used for communication, they were connected through the small array covering them so the other orb-holder would know the moment the other party activated the array.

Once both arrays were activated, the two orb-holders could talk with each other through the items, their voices garbling and distorting based on the distance between the two orbs. Lan Yun was quite familiar with Yin Long's mannerism so she didn't even have to see him to understand what he looked like right now.

"Bleh, you could at least play along a little rather than just acting so exasperated, you're hurting my maidenly heart. I haven't found much, the space compressing arrays don't show signs of being altered and the rooms are perfectly isolated, you won't be spied on while training in your own dwelling. The membership jade is a bit more annoying as it contains a function to constantly track your location, but the array used in the jade is very similar to the one that the clan used to track certain targets so I know that it's fairly easy to get rid of if you know what you're doing."

A slightly soft smile unknowingly crept up on Yin Long's face as he listened to Lan Yun. She was clever and quick-witted, he hadn't needed to tell or ask her anything, she just knew what to look for and what to take care of. Yin Long followed her guidance to erase the location-tracking function within the jade and then activated it by dripping his blood on it, fully confident in Lan Yun's assessment and knowledge.

The two chatted a bit more after absorbing the jade, Lan Yun giving Yin Long a detailed report of the Eagle King Hall locations and members that she had been introduced to today. Yin Long had yet to be shown around so he could only tell her about the two instructors he had met as well as the places that Xue Qiuling was going to show him tomorrow. The two only spent about an hour talking before they cut contact again, Yin Long standing up from the bed while putting away the wooden orb.

"Alright, I'll cultivate a bit. You can just move around as you please, being stuck here must be really damn boring for you."

Yin Long ruffled the fur on Jin Wang's head and opened the door for him, but Jin Wang hopped onto the bed and laid down, resting his head on his paws to keep guard. Yin Long raised an eyebrow and gestured towards the door once, but closed it again when he saw that Jin Wang had no intentions of moving, shrugging his shoulders.

"Alright, you keep watch then, gives me a bit more peace of mind."

Yin Long walked away from the door and stopped in front of the bed, closing his eyes as his senses spread out to cover the entire room and a bit of the area around it. He didn't detect any other living beings or unfamiliar Qi but he was still a bit wary so he brought out a normal sword and grasped it with both hands.

He used his soul to form an ethereal sword within the normal sword, starting his usual cultivation process of swinging the sword. Each swing sucked in the surrounding Qi, his parasitic soul greedily swallowing it all and drawing it into his body.

The Qi here was stained by the countless weapons and weapon-based laws that were everywhere in the dojo. As someone who used the law of swords, absorbing this kind of Qi was many times smoother and easier for Yin Long than it was to absorb other kinds of Qi. His body, while it was able to produce its own Qi if he wanted to, was unable to contain the Qi within his dantian, which was what he had to do to take the next step.

So he followed the rudimentary cultivation technique he had made for himself, he moved the Qi through his body and then threw it into his soulsea. His soulsea was still composed of the three components he had gotten used to, a yellowish-silver ocean of Qi, a murky and black-tinted rainbow-coloured sword to represent his soul, and an apocalyptic sky of yellowish-black Netherworld energy.

His six yellowish-black orbs of Qi were hovering around his sword, constantly unleashing small amounts of energy that sank into the ocean and nurtured the seventh orb that was starting to appear. Once the ninth of these orbs had risen, Yin Long would have officially arrived at the peak of the Mortal Door realm, but he still wasn't quite sure how he should enter the realm of the 9 Immortal Doors so he wasn't in a rush.

Yin Long swung the sword in a mindless manner, these motions had already become ingrained into his very bones after repeating them for over 10 years, he could probably perform them in his sleep at this point. The night quietly passed while he cultivated, Jin Wang keeping a vigilant eye on the door, his ears and nose perked so that no one snuck up on them. His head raised an hour after dawn arrived, Yin Long's own eyes opening as he halted his swing and put away the sword. Someone knocked on his door a few seconds after he put away his sword, a male voice coming from the other side.

"Junior Brother Long, wake up! Senior Sister Qiuling is waiting for you so follow me!"

Yin Long glanced at the door and tilted his head slightly quizically, needing a second to remember the name of the man knocking on his door. Jin Wang stood up from his resting position on the bed and stretched his body, Yin Long giving a short reply without bothering to open the door.

"You can tell her that I want to take a shower first, or you can just wait the few minutes it'll take."

He heard some subdued grumbling from the other side of the door but couldnæt be bothered with it, entering the second room and taking a quick shower. He switched into a clean white robe and then slid off the interspatial ring he was wearing, switching it out with the interspatial ring his father had given him, the yellow interspatial ring featuring an amber dragon eye.

He then took out the sword he had picked out long ago, strapping the pure white Jian sword to his waist just as he had done so many times within the Lang clan. He was so far away from the Lang clan that there was no way they would get any news about him, now he could finally once again wear the gifts his parents had given him, the last things he had to remember them by. He tied up his waist-length silver hair into a neat ponytail and then left his room, Jin Wang following at his side with a sauntering gait.

"Alright, lead the way."

Yin Long casually gestured at the black-haired and blue-eyed Jun Shyu, who was the one that had come to bring him to Xue Qiuling. One of Jun Shyu's eyebrows raised slightly as he looked at Yin Long, who suddenly seemed to give off a different, more subdued yet elegant aura. But he didn't say anything, quietly gesturing for Yin Long to follow him with his chin.

Jun Shyu guided Yin Long through the hallway where the lowest-ranked dwellings were, leading him through a door and into the main hallway of Swan Queen Hall. The hallway was lined with doors, each one hiding a much larger area thanks to the space compressing arrays that the dojo utilized. The lowest-ranked dwelling was large enough to house a little over 100 disciples, but even that was just one of the rooms hidden behind the myriad of doors here.

They walked past quite a few disciples as they made their way down the hallway that was so large that it could be considered a massive hall, Jun Shyu politely and charmingly greeting the others while introducing Yin Long to those that asked. They reached their target before long, Jun Shyu stopping in front of a wooden door that was covered in ornate carvings of swans spreading their wings.

"She's waiting beyond her, don't keep her waiting much longer. You should be careful and make sure not to annoy her, otherwise, there are more than a few disciples willing to fight you just to maybe make her a bit happier."

Yin Long glanced sideways at Jun Shyu and gave a nod of his head while giving him a polite thanks. Jun Shyu didn't linger around and left after making sure that Yin Long reached his destination, allowing Yin Long to push open the door in front of him.

Rather than a room, the area behind the door was more suited to be called a small field. The ground was covered in grass and a few trees bearing various fruits were scattered around, a cosy cabin standing a few tens of metres away from the door. The difference between this and his own dwellings could only be considered drastic, especially when he considered the fact that Xue Qiuling was probably only amongst the mid-tier disciples of Swan Queen Hall. Xue Qiuling was sitting on the porch of the cabin and sipping some tea, her brown hair braided into a neat ponytail. Her yellow eyes landed on Yin Long the moment he stepped onto the grass, a faint flash of surprise flitting through her pupils before she stood up.

"Good morning, Junior Brother Long. You made the right choice in not wearing the robes of the dojo, that style there suits you far better, it elevates your aura and appearance, no wonder Junior Sister Yun calls you Young Master."

Yin Long flashed Xue Qiuling a smile and thanked her for the praise, Xue Qiuling waving him over and pointing at the chair located at the other side of the table.

"Come, have some tea with me, it would be a waste to not relax while you can."

Yin Long walked over and sat down on the fur-covered chair she had prepared, accepting the cup that she handed him. He stealthily inspected the liquid before drinking it, but it didn't seem like anything had been done to the tea. Jin Wang remained standing at his side, his black eyes remaining focused on Xue Qiuling, monitoring her movements. She waved her hand at Jin Wang, turning to Yin Long when Jin Wang refused to respond to her.

"He certainly isn't the most social fellow, is he? What race is he? And oh, how's the tea?"

Yin Long downed the tea in the cup in a single gulp, his tongue running over his teeth for a second as he looked into the cup. He put the cup down on the table in front of him, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

"I've got no idea, and neither does he so we're still trying to figure that out. And yeah, he's quite the arrogant fellow, I had to beat him down just to make him reach this state, and I think that's probably the best I can do. As for the drink, can't say that tea has ever really been my thing, I've always been more fond of wine, my sister was an expert brewer."

Xue Qiuling's eyebrows ticked up slightly when Yin Long spoke about his sister in the past tense, but she didn't think that they were close enough that she should question it further. She also didn't bother with his statement that he preferred wine, continuing to fill his cup up with tea whenever he emptied it. It was only when they emptied the porcelain kettle she had prepared that she stood up from her seated position, gesturing towards the distant exit with a smile.

"Well then, shall we go?"