Chapter 79: Inner Disciple Candidate

On the seventh day of her seclusion, Xiao Hong completely recovered! 

Brushing her hand over her forearm with closed eyes, she savoured the feeling of the unblemished skin. The dead, grey husk had long peeled away. A flawless, seemingly delicate skin flush with a healthy pink was revealed, giving nothing away about the monstrous vitality reminiscent of a Divine Beast concealed underneath.

"Phew…" A long, shuddering breath of relief escaped her lips.

She did not want to experience that ever again. 

That feeling of life slipping away like sand through the gaps between her fingers; that overwhelming weakness in her body, like she had boulders tied to her limbs; and that sluggishness pervading her thoughts like she was on a dozen sleeping pills. It was truly terrifying.

She reached up, fingertips brushing against her cheek, feeling the soft, youthful springy flesh yield slightly underneath her fingers. Her tightened heart finally seemed to relax.

Xiao Hong would not admit it, never out loud, but… she loved the fact that she was so stunningly beautiful. No matter how much she told herself that it was only natural that anyone would fear becoming old, she knew, deep down in the depths of her heart, that it was not just that. 

She was proud of her looks and her peerless charm. Very much so. She loved the attention and interest it brought. 

The lecherous stares and potential dangers she liked a little less, but all things have their drawbacks. It was far better than the reception she got in her previous life - people wanted to have as little to do with him as possible.

It was vain, perhaps. But that was how it was. Xiao Hong shook her head, pushing down such embarrassing thoughts. She refocused her attention on her body.

She stared at her clenched fist. Her powerful physique had regained and even transcended its previous strength. The sheer, overwhelming power that surged through her veins completely eclipsed her old self. There was simply no comparison. 

Her clenched fist relaxed. 

A stunning smile stretched across her face. She had become strong! Very strong! With the strength she wielded currently, Xiao Hong wholeheartedly believed that she could beat her pre-Star Forging self to tears with a few casual smacks of one hand! 

"Moreover…" she raised her hand and squinted in concentration. The newborn Red Star at the centre of her Heart Space suddenly sped up its revolution, sending a pulse of energy resonating through her body.

Slowly, a dim, shimmering reddish glow materialised around her raised hand. It was a mist of pure red, covering her hand like a glove. 

"It seems to increase my strength…? " Curling her fingers slowly, she wondered. "It increases the body's strength and resistance. Not too much, around-" 

She clenched and unclenched her fist, "5 to 10%?

"Though, there seems to be even more to it…"

Suddenly, she clenched her hand into a fist with all her strength!

Pop! 

A sound like bubble wrap popping.

"How interesting…" Xiao Hong muttered, staring at the fading reddish glow. "It's as if the air itself had congealed for a moment under the influence of this red… force field?"

Relaxing her clenched fist, she mused, "It's like the force field suppressed all movements under its area of influence, for that moment."

She paused, letting her hand drop to her side. "I wonder what this is? The system seems to entirely ignore its existence altogether, not even registering it."

She stroked her jaw thoughtfully, "Perhaps because it's too weak for the system to bother?" After all, this thing could only affect the air within a very small radius. Even an ordinary mortal would not be affected. Xiao Hong did not think much of this possibility, but she considered it nonetheless.

"Is it because of the ability itself being innate? Like the ability to wield Qi that an Essence Cultivator is innately capable of? Or does talent in the Immortal Path include that?" Xiao Hong muttered.

"Or, perhaps, it is the embryonic form of an ability? One that I will gain if I successfully transcend the following two Calamities and achieve Nirvana in Body Cultivation?" It wasn't unheard of. Cultivators often gained weaker versions of the special powers their Cultivation Methods granted at Nirvana before they even achieved it. 

"Well, we'll see if I manage to survive those Calamities," she shuddered, still somewhat traumatised by the new kind of near-death experience. This brush with the Goddess of Death was closer than anything she experienced before!

"Status: Cultivation Base, Battle Prowess."

With a pleasant 'Ding!', her status screen appeared.

[

Cultivation Base:

Essence: Mid-stage Divine Sea

Physique: 7-star Ancient Godling (7th Disaster equivalent in Battle Power)

Soul: 4th stage Red Soul (3rd Disaster Equivalent in Battle Power)

Battle Prowess:

Very High (beyond 7th-Disaster)

]

Her grin widened. For the first time, the System had evaluated her battle prowess as 'Very High'!

Her battle prowess had fully transcended the 7th Disaster! In other words, no ordinary 7th Disaster Cultivator could hope to match her under normal circumstances. This was the case despite her being a Body Cultivator and having just surpassed the Star Forging Calamity!

"It would have been even greater had my Essence Cultivation and Soul Cultivation matched my Physical Cultivation." Xiao Hong suppressed her excitement and analysed rationally. "The system calculates my battle prowess based on the entirety of my Cultivation - including Cultivation Base, Divine Abilities, Spell Arts and Battle Techniques.

"Meaning, without my Divine Ability, I'd only have the battle prowess of a very strong 7th Disaster Stage Cultivator.

"And without my Essence and Spirit Cultivation, I'd only gain a slight advantage against genius disciples of the Super Factions."

After another short while of analysing her strength, she turned towards the barrier.

"Well, it's about time I go out for a bit…" Her face flushed slightly. What an impolite guest she was! A whole week of holed-up training in a secluded training for a whole week without even bothering to properly inform her hosts - she just casually sent the maid!

Then, she looked around.

Her cheeks reddened even more!

What greeted her view was an absolute warzone. The grass had been ripped out of the ground along with the soil and flung against the edges of the barrier. More of the water in the small pond could be found outside it than inside… and it seemed that the ornamental fish were ready to be made into fish and chips!

Then she glanced at the bonsai trees… the bare bonsai trees that had now happily taken root in their new homes - the courtyard walls. Apparently, her barrier got clever and decided to let living beings out that were not her!

The corner of Xiao Hong's lips twitched. 

"Now, how do I explain this…?" What the hell was she supposed to tell Yun Meng? That was experimenting with explosives in his backyard? 

'Uhh… Should I just run away?' She thought seriously. It's not like they could catch her! 

***

"Ah, Young Lady Xiao?" The maidservant opened the door to her lodging attached to Xiao Hong's courtyard in confusion. Then, her eyes widened. Why had she come here by herself?! If the Family Head found out that his esteemed guest had to come over to her personally, she'd be done for!

Like a frightened bunny, she squeaked out, "Y-you needn't have to come to me yourself! You just have to ring the bell, and I would have rushed over!"

Xiao Hong's mouth twitched slightly, refraining from screaming out: That's exactly what I don't want!

Her mind raced, trying to come up with an excuse. 

"I-It's okay, I have been cooped up in the guest room for too long, I needed to come out for a bit. So, I thought I might as well come over to you." Even though she had tried to repair it as much as possible, it wasn't perfect. Apparently, the Immortals never came up with a convenient spell for fixing backyards! How useless! There were also those fish that couldn't come back to life.

Just as the maidservant was about to speak up, she stopped her, "It's okay. You don't need to worry about your Family Head finding out. Even if he does, just tell him it was my instruction."

She continued without stopping.

"But anyway, do inform Sir Yun that I am out of seclusion now and sincerely apologise for closing off so suddenly and without warning. " She fished out a bottle of pills she had recently cooked up and stuffed it into the maid's hands. "Give this to Sir Yun - this is a gift from me to apologise for my behaviour.

Saying so, she quickly shooed the confused maid away, "Off you go, then! Chop, chop!"

***

Back inside her room, Xiao Hong causally set up an Isolation Formation, blocking the sound both ways. She sighed in relief. "Phew…"

'Crisis averted!'

Then, she jumped onto the bed and took out her Sect Token. Not too long ago when she was fixing the courtyard, she had sensed a message on it.

She held the token firmly in her hand and pushed her Qi and Divine Sense into it. 

The Sect Token itself had a function similar to that of a Communication Jade, but it was only used for transmitting important official messages. The Sect Token had many functions like monitoring the vital status of the disciple, tracking their location, a debit card for contribution points, an identity card and so on. Xiao Hong was sure there were many functions she did not even know about.

Quickly, she found two messages on her Disciple Token. Selecting one of them, she clicked the metaphorical play button.

"Well done, Disciple Xiao Hong!" Suddenly, a pleasant male voice rang out in her mind, full of praise and admiration, "You have contributed tremendously to the Sect! 

"You protected the lives of your sect mates and fought valiantly against Demonic Cultivators despite having the chance to retreat. 

"Even facing an insurmountable foe far beyond your capabilities, not only did you not retreat, you even stood by your fellow disciples and fought with your life on the line. You showed valour and loyalty greater than most Immortal Cultivators to ever exist.

"The Purple Spirit Sect is extremely proud to have you as a disciple!"

Xiao Hong, who was slapped in the face with a deluge of unexpected praise, leaving her somewhat stunned. Oh my, even she did not know she was so awesome! Immediately, her chest puffed up and her nose was repositioned to pierce the Heavens! 

"In light of your great contributions, the Sect has decided to reward you," the voice continued, disregarding Xiao Hong's feelings entirely.

"They include 50,000 contribution points, five chances to freely select any Earth Grade Techniques, a tier 2 Merit and the Inner Disciple Candidate position.

"Reporter: Inner Elder Song Siying.

"You can check the details in your Disciple Token. Privileges unique to your position should have been unlocked..." The voice continued, however, Xiao Hong had already stopped paying attention. 

She blankly gazed at the wall for a few moments, before she threw up her arms and whooped out, "....I'm fucking rich~!"

Ignoring the obvious 50,000 contribution points and the five Earth Grade Techniques, the other two: a tier 2 Merit and the Inner Disciple Candidate position were incredibly generous!

A Merit was awarded only when the Cultivator made a critical contribution to the Sect - one that could affect the Sect in the long term. And the act of saving so many of the most promising disciples in the Outer Sect was one such contribution. As such, they gave her a tier 2 Merit as a reward. 

"The most obvious benefit from this Merit is the annual income of 300 contribution points." her eyes sparkled, "Even if I lay flat and do absolutely nothing, this amount would still be credited to my account - it's the ultimate dream for a salted fish!

"Moreover, this Merit is essentially a VIP card. I will have priority and get discounts for every service under the control of the Sect."

And, as long as she had this thing, she would gain a passive +10 favorability with everyone loyal to the Purple Spirit Sect.

Finally, there was the Inner Disciple Candidacy. In a nutshell, it meant she would become an Inner Disciple as long as she reached Nirvana before 30 - she was completely exempt from the tests and exams one needed to pass. It also gave her the resources and privileges of an Inner Disciple, minus the authority of one. 

Most importantly, it provided her with a very high status. In the outer sect at least few would dare to mess with her. 

"This one probably came from my display of talent." She muttered. A Grade 2 Alchemist and a Grade 3 Formation Master in less than 3 years. Add on to that her monstrous battle prowess and tremendous mastery of Techniques, anyone with half a brain would know this was a talent they needed to win over.

"Haha! I'm really fucking rich now!!" If it weren't for her being afraid of wrecking the house even more, she would have done a little victory dance on the bed! Oh, what an amazing day this was!

Unable to hold herself back, she immediately began checking out all the privileges of an Inner Disciple Candidate.

First, resources. She was entitled to a whopping one thousand Spirit Stones' worth of resources per month. She needn't do anything at all. It would be given to her even if she did not want it. 

Second, was access to the Sect's Scripture Repository. Everything below Earth Grade was completely free to her. And even some of the more common Earth Grade Techniques would be easily available to her. The best part? She could access it directly through her Disciple Token - just like browsing the internet.

Third, she would gain priority for the distribution of Special Resources. 

Fourth, was one of the greatest advantages of joining a Sect - experience of Elders. Every month, she would gain the opportunity to ask Elders to resolve her doubts regarding Cultivation. 

Fifth, she would get initial access to the Sect's secrets. Unique trademarked Pills, Arrays, Artefacts; their methods of manufacture and so on.

And even after that, there were many other small benefits.

In a nutshell, her status had leapt from a commoner to that of a powerful noble!

***

After rejoicing for a while, she turned her attention to the second message on her Disciple token and played it.

"Hello, Disciple Xiao," A sunny female voice resounded in her mind. "I am Elder Song - you've probably met my Clone a while back.

"First of all, congratulations on your Inner Disciple candidacy, you deserve it.

"Second, I have checked your current location. You're somewhere in the Brilliant Heavenly Light Sea. I cannot determine your exact location, since the Warding Formations set up by the local Factions keep interfering. Try your best to find out where you are. With your Inner Disciple Candidate Position, you can quickly browse through the Sect's Library and figure it out.

"Now, a piece of advice: if you're in the territory of the Flowing Cloud Sect, hide your status as a disciple of the Purple Spirit Sect. Our relationship with them is hostile.

"Do not interfere with anything in their territory, no matter what. As a Super Faction their control of their territory is very, very good," said Elder Song, her voice firm. 

"If you're in the territory of the Black Lotus Valley, try to get in touch with them. You can directly use their Teleportation Formation.

"And, finally try to avoid the members of Azure Sea Dragon Island. Our relationship with them is good. However," Elder Song paused, before continuing in a strange, slightly irritated tone, "their members tend to be a bit… romantic. So, unless you desire a very persistent headache, stay clear of them."

For a moment, Xiao Hong had the illusion that Elder Song was grinding her teeth when she was recording this part.

Elder Song cleared her throat, "Anyway, just try your best to stay out of trouble. If possible, try to get to the Nine Petal Lotus Islands, within the next few months. There's a nice opportunity waiting and we'll be sending your sect mates there, too. 

"It's fine if you don't, however, we'll retrieve you in at most a year.

"All the best, Disciple Xiao Hong, I look forward to meeting you in person."

The message ended with that.

"I knew this day was going too well…" Xiao Hong teared up as she stared at the ceiling. "I just had to be dropped in the one place hostile to my Sect!"

***