Disciple Plaza

After being introduced to the elders within the Court Palace, Yaan explored the remaining Elder Court region, then returned to his Black Peak, before heading out again the following day.

On this day, Yaan did not return to the Elder Court, but instead, was led by Keasal towards the Disciple Plaza.

The Disciple Plaza was actually slightly larger than the Elder Court, because it was the main gathering region for the core sect disciples. There were only around two hundred elders in the Fragment Sect, but the number of core disciples numbered in the thousands. As such, the Disciple Plaza was more like a small town.

The Disciple Plaza was largely ran by the various core disciple divisions, smaller groups within the sect formed by core sect disciples amongst themselves. This practice was encouraged by the sect, as it promoted friendly competition amongst the disciples and instilled them with further motivation to work hard as they competed against one another.

Unlike the Elder Court, the Disciple Plaza was not limited to pristine and perfect architectural designs where each building served a very clear cut purpose. Because much of the plaza was ran by the core disciples themselves, there were many smaller buildings and businesses, from restaurants, to stores, to entertainment venues. There were even some less common endeavours set up in certain places, such as rock gambling, where the disciples bought random fossils, hoping to find some sort of rare resources hidden within.

There were also street vendors, though these were less common. This was not a mortal town, even the weakest of the core disciples were still at the Qi Temple realm, though the strongest were limited to Spirit Core realm Qi masters. Still, with this sort of strength, nobody really needed to drag a wooden wagon around and sell their wares from within…Yaan was certain that the person he saw doing just this, must have some sort of weird personality trait that made him enjoy acting like a beggar.

As they walked through the streets, the disciples regularly greeted Keasal respectfully, calling him 'Elder Keasal' or sometimes 'Lord Keasal'. It seemed that he was fairly well known and well liked amongst the disciples.

They saw three other elders during their tour of the plaza. Whilst this was a region frequented mostly by disciples, it was also because of the high disciple population that elders often visited this place. There were many buildings and grounds laid out which were specially designated as teaching areas. Yaan took note of these places, since it seemed that he was being forced to take on one of these roles too…

There was also an elder permanently stationed within the plaza, charged with overseeing the various matters here. Such a position was not esteemed enough to be worthy of the title 'head elder', but it was still quite prestigious.

"Prestigious, huh…" Yaan muttered as he listened carefully to Keasal's explanation of the various matters here. From Yaan's perspective, being a head elder, or an elder in charge of various responsibilities, was a tiresome thing that he had no desire for. Wouldn't it be better if others left him alone, so that he could cultivate in peace?

"Junior brother, you really aren't familiar with the workings of righteous organisations, haha." Keasal laughed as he smiled at Yaan. Yaan raised an eyebrow in response, waiting for him to expand…

It was true though. Yaan's only experience of a 'righteous' organisation was limited to his time spent in the Heavenly Path Sect. However, he had only been a child back then, he had little understanding of the workings of the upper level elders. Not only that, but a superpower like the Fragment Sect was simply incomparable to a minor group like the Heavenly Path Sect. Even Yaan's current private home, Black Peak, was similar in size to the entire Heavenly Path Mountain!

"For lone cultivators such as yourself, reputation is almost meaningless. For those within organisations however, it is of utmost importance. Building yourself a good reputation is essential to develop connections and to influence others within the organisation, but also, to secure more of the allocated resources for yourself." Keasal explained patiently, causing Yaan's expression to change slightly.

He completed lacked resources. Again.

Unlike the time in the 4th trial realm when he lost his resources due to missing a challenge whilst he was in the true-false illusion world, this time, Yaan did not have any decent means to re-accumulate a vast sum of wealth. For his cultivation to progress, it was essential that he gained a massive supply of body tempering resources.

That said, it wasn't quite as bad a situation as it might seem on the surface. After Old Thief stole Yaan's spatial rings, he also forced Yaan to consume an unknown golden object. After studying his internal condition these past few days, Yaan was able to confirm that he had been given some sort of elixir!

This elixir was an unknown, but it certainly must be special. Most elixirs would not be picked from the plants that they grew on, since the elixir would gradually lose its power after being picked. Unless that old man was somehow growing a tree within his spatial ring, then the elixir must have been picked some time ago, meaning that its vitality was incredible!

This confused Yaan slightly though, as according to his current understanding, any incredible elixir should be too dangerous for him to ingest. This elixir was clearly nothing ordinary, but he still didn't know its actual effect. Unfortunately, he had not yet been given enough time to properly analyse the effect this elixir had on his body.

Regardless, he couldn't rely on this elixir alone, he needed resources. Even if it was an incredible elixir, the effect would be reduced due to his current environment. The spiritual pressure and gravity were not powerful in the outside world, so likewise, the elixir would not be able to showcase its full potential compared to the upper levels in the inheritance's 4th trial realm.

"Senior brother, you're saying that the sect will allocate more resources based upon our reputation? Surely it's easy enough for Senior Brother Brase to estimate my level of strength roughly, what use is some public reputation when the sect master can directly judge me for himself?" Yaan asked curiously.

Keasal looked startled for a moment, then chuckled wryly.

"Junior brother, your understanding of 'reputation' seems to be that it's merely the public's perception of your strength and cultivation base…"

"Is that not the case?" Yaan blinked.

"That is certainly a large factor. However, a person's moral character is equally important to the righteous faction! Aside from this, us sect elders need to possess some ability in dealing with sect affairs."

"I see." Yaan nodded, then asked:

"And just to be sure, it's better to be known for having a good moral character, right?"

"Uh…yes…" Keasal looked startled, now causing Yaan to laugh wryly as he explained his reason for asking this.

"In the North, the only useful reputation I have seen is that which can intimidate others. Developing a reputation for being ruthless is how many survive and deter others from targeting them. Of course, that's also dependent on possessing sufficient strength."

He didn't mind speaking to Keasal about matters involving the demonic path and the Demonic North, since Keasal already knew about Yaan's background and his racial identity. As for the matter of Yaan himself being a demonic path cultivator…this was never said out loud, but it was implied by Yaan's very race. Supposedly, only those with innate demonic nature could even succeed in the demonic transformations to begin with, though Yaan was uncertain about the validity of this 'common knowledge'.

In the end, Keasal did not care about Yaan's nature or about what he might have done in the past, so long as he properly integrated himself into the Fragment Sect. It was quite unusual for a righteous cultivator in the South to be so open minded, but then again, Keasal was also a disciple of the sect's Immortal Ancestor, it made sense that he had some extraordinary qualities.

"Ah, so it was like that…haha, the North really is as the rumours say…" Keasal chuckled oddly, once again feeling that he was quite lucky to have been born in the South.

Yaan sighed and nodded. The difference between the North and South was too large, it was like two entirely different worlds.

In the North, killing and suppressing others with strength was the norm. In the South, such a thing was not only frowned upon, it was actually illegal!

There were laws that existed throughout the entire Southern Continent, set by the Xuqi Dynasty and enforced by the Xuqi Sect. One of the core and most strictly enforced rules, was actually the absolute banning of killing!

No killing at all! That is, no killing of other humans at least, people still hunted beasts and consumed meat here.

In fact, it was actually forbidden for an Origin Soul realm powerhouse to kill a mortal! When Yaan first learned of this, he was completely shocked. In the Ghu Province, nobody would bat an eye even if a cultivator massacred an entire mortal kingdom just because they felt like it. The idea that an Origin Soul realm powerhouse could be investigated and punished for killing a single mortal…

Well, it was different compared to what Yaan knew and had experienced of the cultivation world.

He couldn't help but recall the first time he met a Qi master, that Elder Sun from the Heavenly Path Sect…

If he had been born in the Southern Continent…if his family had been born in this righteous land…

Such a thing would have never happened. In fact, the mortals were even protected by the Qi masters in the South, so perhaps even his home village could have survived the assault from that beast tide…if only they were from this land…

'But they were not. I am not. I am from the North. I was not born and raised by the righteous…and I am not righteous.'

As Yaan looked around at the peaceful and vibrant surroundings, where the powerful elders and younger core disciples mingled freely and without a care in the world, he recalled his own life, causing him to feel a sense of dissonance.

This atmosphere did not wear off on Yaan. When he remembered his present circumstances, how he was being forced to stay here by an immortal with an unknown connection to himself, and an unknown plan for his future, the light in Yaan's eyes seemed to become freezing cold.

He knew that regardless of how others treated him, he did not belong here. He was a disciple of that immortal and a member of this sect only in name. The moment he found a chance to leave, he would do so without hesitating for a single instant.