Chương 11: The Scenery of the Charging Bull Sect

Days passed in the Valley of Immortal Seedlings as the first month came to an end. Disciples mingled with one another, went to Senior Disciples or Elders for advice, and most often cultivated the immortal dao. After Elder Bai had gathered the disciples who already entered the cultivation path, the benefits and boons of those disciples quickly spread to the others. Thus, a small cultivation frenzy began.

Everyone cultivated harder than ever before to take their first step onto the immortal path and claim these newly public benefits. Unfortunately, be it because of their greed for quick success and unsteady minds, or other reasons beyond reason, no one succeeded. As the first month ended, only those eighteen disciples were one after another summoned by their chosen divisions and taken to their branch grounds. The other disciples could only wait patiently till they broke through the first level of Qi Condensation.

Lin Yi was part of the former group. He was cultivating in his room of the shared courtyard as he received a message through his sect plate. The sect informed them that they were moving to another location today, so Lin Yi did not dive deep into meditation. Otherwise, his spiritual connection with the magic tool might not have awakened him. A few days ago, he decided to form the foundation for all 12 Standard Meridians' Qi circulation pathways first, rather than complete them individually.

Naturally, he did not slack off and cultivated steadily. The second chosen meridian was the Heart Meridian. While his Qi circulation foundation did not yet include the new meridian, his spiritual intuition told him it wouldn't be long before the Heart Meridian's pathway properly manifested. Lin Yi extended his spirituality into his sect plate and read the new message. He nodded to himself and stood up. According to the message, a senior brother of the Scripture Pavilion was on the way to pick him up.

It didn't specify how long he would take, and Lin Yi didn't want to be late. On his desk lay a cloth bundle, in which his sect-issued clothing and a bottle of Essence Pills were sorted. He didn't have any more things on his person or even in general. The only other object he possessed was the necklace pendant around his neck. Standing at the door, Lin Yi looked melancholic one last time around his room.

While he had only lived here for one month, it was his first step onto the supernatural, and it would always have a small place in his memories. He stepped out of his former room and further out into the courtyard. In the courtyard garden, he saw some disciples in a small gathering. Lin Yi and the group noticed each other, but they only exchanged greetings with nods. Neither side really knew the other well. However, some of them had a jealous look on their faces.

Lin Yi ignored these expressions and walked towards the entrance of their building complex. He did not have to wait long when a flying ship, similar to Elder Dou's but smaller, came from the distance. In no time, it stopped before Lin Yi and landed. Steering the ship was a young man who looked to be in his twenties. He descended from the magic tool and stepped in front of Lin Yi. Lin Yi looked at his clothes. He wore a black-silver outfit with a small symbol on his chest and shoulders.

It depicted a pavilion with a scroll in the middle. This must be my new senior brother. Lin Yi's thoughts were confirmed as the newcomer introduced himself.

"Greetings, junior brother. You must be Lin Yi, the new disciple of our Scripture Pavilion." He looked at Lin Yi's height and apparent age with confidence. According to his knowledge, there weren't any other small children at this building complex, so the senior disciple was relatively sure he had the right person. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Lin Yi nodded and bowed slightly.

While bowing to a senior disciple was technically not required, it was mostly a show of respect for the other and was not seen as flattering or something similar. He wanted to make a good first impression on the brothers and sister he would work with in the next decades.

"Yes, senior brother. My name is Lin Yi, I am currently four years old and at the first level of the Qi Condensation Realm." The older disciple, apparently easygoing, waved his hand and laughed, like an older brother or parent, at the display.

"Hahaha, I didn't expect you to have any higher cultivation realm, junior brother. Or you wouldn't be here in the Outer Court."

"Well, let me introduce myself too. My name is Zu Guo, thirty-one years old and at the fourth level of Qi Condensation. I am a scripture envoy of the Scripture Pavilion." Senior Brother Zu Guo nodded, returned to the boat, and signaled him to come aboard.

"Let's go. Once we arrive at our division ground, Elder Yu will be responsible for you, as she is for all other disciples of the Scripture Pavilion. She will likely become the next Vice-Pavilion Master." He looked at Lin Yi as he climbed up the flying ship.

"This is your first time out of the starting valley, right?" Lin Yi looked somewhat confused at his senior brother, and after steadying his position, he answered.

"Yes, I was in the Valley of Immortal Seedlings for the whole month. You call it the starting valley?" In his entire month living in the sect, he never heard anyone call it this name. Zu Guo laughed slightly.

"Haha, most of our sect brothers and sisters call locations by their proper name, and the elders especially. The immortal world is relatively big on propriety, but in private and with some disciples we can talk a little bit more loosely." Lin Yi understood. Though he certainly liked this kind of decorum to some degree. He felt it helped keep his mind sharp, and with so many terms in the cultivation world, correctness was an important factor. Sometimes even deciding between life and death.

Ughh, I sound like some of my old teachers. Many of his past-life teachers wanted to hear the exact technical terms, not the colloquial ones. His new senior brother continued.

"As this is your first time roaming the sect, I will show you some places along our road." Lin Yi nodded, and they took off into the distance. After some time, Lin Yi looked back towards the Valley of Immortal Seedlings and was astonished by its size. When his batch of disciples were transported to the sect, they didn't see anything from above as the formation fog had hidden everything. And while walking through the Valley of Immortal Seedlings, he could roughly estimate its size.

Seeing it in all of its glory was quite a sight. Dozens of building complexes were built in the valley, and there was some distance between each. The sect could likely build a hundred more complexes and house tens of thousands of people here. Zu Guo looked at Lin Yi with a smile and said.

"It's always a nice view for new disciples. But the valley has nothing to show for when compared against the other sect grounds. Some truly look like otherworldly immortal grounds." Lin Yi looked at Zu Guo with astonishment and slight expectations.

"Hahaha, you will see soon, junior brother." They flew between different mountains and mountain peaks of the East River Mountain Range, the territory of the Dang Prefecture's Charging Bull Sect's Outer Court branch. Few upper regions of mountains and their peaks had fog and mist concealing them, while most of them were completely visible. On many peaks, cave abodes could be seen, or open pavilions where disciples gathered, discussed the dao, or sparred against each other.

Especially on these few mountains whose upper parts were hidden. There, steady streams of people could be seen either flying through the sky on small flying ships, riding swords, tamed spirit beasts, or even clouds and the wind. Boundless colorful waterfalls could be seen everywhere. In some places, dense Spiritual Qi congregated into mist-like forms, and exotic animals flew freely. Between the mountains, grand valleys were used as farming fields, and on some mountain peaks thick smoke rose high into the sky.

Lin Yi could only stare at these wondrous images in astonishment. These scenes only hardened his resolve for the immortal dao. Zu Guo waved his hand, showcasing the scenery of the sect.

"See, Junior Brother Lin. These are wonders of the immortal cultivation world, hahaha." Lin Yi nodded and asked a question he had in mind for some time already.

"Senior brother, why are the upper regions of some peaks hidden?"

"Ah, these? They belong either to the various sect divisions, powerful elders, and division masters of our Outer Court or even Dao Masters from the Inner Court that are stationed here." Senior Brother Zu Guo continued.

"Sect disciples have two options for living quarters. One is to live at the sect grounds of their division, but then they are not guaranteed to have a courtyard or cave for themself. Or they can use Sect Points to rent independent abodes on different mountains."

"The division grounds public area and the private area for disciples are strictly divided. For example, our Scripture Pavilion division has its living quarters and other buildings in the upper parts veiled by a formation. The public buildings like the Scripture Pavilion itself are not hidden, and everyone can visit."

"Independent abodes don't have such advantages and are forbidden by the sect to have formations that hide their position. Of course, they can still have protective formations, but they need to build their caves or courtyards and everything else with their own resources."

"Powerful elders can even rent whole mountain peaks. Then, they are allowed to veil their abodes." Lin Yi nodded as Zu Guo continued speaking.

"But we are a lucky, junior brother. Our division has few members so that everyone can get their own courtyard, hahaha." Lin Yi sighed in relief. While he expected this already, he wasn't one hundred percent sure. Soon they slowed down and descended onto a mountain.

"Here we are, the Scripture Pavilion!" At Zu Guo's words, Lin Yi looked expectant at the mountain. Here is my future home!