Chapter 77

While eating lunch with Bai Jia, Qian Yu told her much of his adventure according to what he wrote down in the reports he sent out. Unfortunately, Qian Yu couldn’t spend all day in Bai Jia’s office like he wanted to and left after eating the meal.

‘I can tell her about Sun Hong and Zhen Yue when the time is more appropriate. Anyways, I should probably greet Chen Ya and Wu Jing before I move into the inner court. Then I should try to find Zhao Xieren. According to sister Bai, she only recently came as well,’ Qian Yu thought as he left the medical hall.

Moving through the outer court, he soon found his old area of residence and afterwards, saw his two friends from their village.

*Clang clang* Currently, the two were training as they exchanged blows. Watching them, Qian Yu observed their trades. The swing of the sword, how fast it moved, the strength behind it, Qian Yu paid attention to everything. Even though he didn’t use the sword, it gave him an understanding as to how they fought and was the only way he could actively engage himself currently.

Before long, the two finished as they put their weapons down taking a break. “Hey you two!” Qian Yu waved at them.

“Huh?” “Who?” the two turned their heads towards Qian Yu’s voice.

“Qian Yu? It’s Qian Yu! He’s back!” Wu Jing had his arms raised while Chen Ya smiled seeing her old friend.

By now, the two were no longer body refinement cultivators and were in the qi gathering realm.

“Hey, it’s been a long time but it’s good to see you guys still together,” Qian Yu laughed.

“We can say the same for you, how about you give us some tales of your adventure?” Wu Jing said.

“Ahh, of course. By the way, are you guys planning to enter the inner court?” Qian Yu asked, wondering if these two would join him.

“We don’t plan to,” Chen Ya said. Continuing, she explained, “While the inner court has more resources, it is a lot more tiring than the outer court. Classes, missions, and pressure from other inner court disciples. I know a few inner court disciples quit and go back to outer disciples just to relieve their stress."

"Take care of yourself.” She patted him on the shoulder.

“Thank you in advance then,” Qian Yu took her caution to heart, realizing his understanding of the inner court was shallow. Explaining what he had been up to in the last few months, Qian Yu bidded farewell before heading towards the inner court.

A disciple stood at the entrance of the inner court, his white robes having a black cincture instead of the white one like Qian Yu’s. As he got closer, the guy started to look more and more familiar.

The guy smiled from afar, “Hahaha lil bro is that you!” It was none other than Gu Zan.

“Gu Zan? Is that you?” Qian Yu waved back. By now, he had made it to the front of the inner court entrance.

“Yup, you're right, it’s been quite a while,” Gu Zan grinned.

“Yea, but what are you doing here?” Qian Yu asked.

“Well, I’m sort of an errand boy for Elder Zhao. You know, it’s good to have a job and earn some allowance haha,” Gu Zan laughed.

“Elder Zhao?” Qian Yu was confused. ‘Is he the one related to Zhao Xieren,’ Qian Yu thought.

“Yeah, the elder who is going to be in charge of you. He sent me for you,” Gu Zan started leading the way while the two started catching up once more.

Soon, the two reached the area where Elder Zhao was staying.

Gu Zan patted Qian Yu’s back, “Alright, I’ll see you around then.” Watching Qian Yu go in, Gu Zan turned around and left.

Elder Zhao’s personal pavilion was as large as the medical hall. The halls were empty with occasional paintings hung around and few candles making it lack the messy, but lively atmosphere of the medical hall.

Qian Yu bowed, “Disciple Qian Yu greets Elder Zhao. I apologize for my interruption.” In front of him, a man was reading a book.

Elder Zhao glanced at him and closed his book, “Disciple Qian Yu, I believe you were one of those our family picked?”

“Yes, elder is correct,” Qian Yu verified his statement.

Elder Zhao stood up and put down his book as he asked, “Please continue to get along well with them.”

“Of course,” Qian Yu didn’t even need to think of what to say.

“Alright, take these and give me your old identification card,” Elder Zhao handed Qian Yu a new robe, similar to the one Gu Zan was just wearing. Additionally, there was a new identification card along with a map showing where his new residence was.

Holding the map, Qian Yu headed towards his new home. The inner court was a lot more peaceful than the outer court. It was still a large amount of land but the number of disciples was many times smaller. Walking along the small pathways, Qian Yu noticed many mountains. He too would be living on one of these mountains.

About half an hour later, Qian Yu looked upwards as he found his new home. It was a small mountain with pavilions scattered throughout the mountain. As for his residence, it was somewhere in the middle.

A couple of minutes later, Qian Yu ascended the stone steps of the mountain and found out where his new home was. Other than his pavilion, there was only another pavilion in the nearby vicinity. The other pavilions were either higher or lower than his, or on the other side of the mountain.

'Let's look inside!' Qian Yu excitedly entered the pavilion with the help of the new wooden tablet.

A smile appeared with just a simple glance of the interior. It wasn’t an extremely large building. A little larger than the luxury room he had back in the Soba Capital, it was like a small cottage. One large bed laid to the side while delicately carved wooden furniture filled the room elsewhere. There weren’t any portraits or paintings, but the small and close proximity of everything contrasted the lonely feeling of Elder Zhao’s pavilion. Lastly, it was free.

*Plop* Qian Yu laid down, running his hands through the sheets while melting into the bed. It was of a higher quality than the one he had at the luxurious inn in the Soba Capital. The silky sheets and softness of the bed were perfect for relieving the exhaustion after a day of training and cultivating.

Glancing out the window, the sky was darkening yet a beautiful view from the inner court to the outer areas of the sect could be seen. Only in a sect with such a low number of cultivators could an inner court disciple receive such quality of treatment. For those with tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of cultivators, this was impossible.

“Grrr!” Qian Yu’s stomach started growling, interrupting his sightseeing.

‘Aiyah, the only problem is that it’s kind of far from everything,’ Qian Yu sighed. Compared to before in the outer court where everything was very compact, the inner court was a lot more spacious since the disciple to area ratio was a lot lower and it seemed like he had gotten the lower end of the stick, an area further away from the important areas.

‘Guess I’ll get some food and call it a night. I can look for Zhao Xieren tomorrow,’ Qian Yu stood up and left his residence.

*Click* At the same time he had just stepped outside, he heard the doors of the neighboring pavilion open as well.

Deciding to greet his neighbor, Qian Yu walked towards the other pavilion and saw a girl closing the pavilion doors with her back turned towards him.

“Hello there, nice to meet you-” Qian Yu was introducing himself yet he abruptly stopped as he saw the other person turn around.

“Qian Yu?”

“Zhao Xieren?”