Ao Rong took Lou Mu Yan to a large, secluded, and serene garden with courtyards built around the garden.
“This is the yard with the most Spiritual Force in the Outer Sect. You can choose one for yourself.” Ao Rong reached out and pointed out five empty courtyards for her to choose from.
Lou Mu Yan swept around roughly, then pointed to the deepest courtyard and said: “I want that one.”
“That courtyard’s Spiritual Force isn’t as dense as the one on the left.” Ao Rong suggested.
“No need. I like quiet, and the innermost one is quite suitable.” She chose the courtyard that was the longest way from the large garden, and there were no buildings around. She just liked the secluded and quiet ones.
Ao Rong nodded indifferently: “Sure. I’ll ask the supervisor to bring the Array Flag for this courtyard over.
Each individual courtyard of the Eight Extremes Sect was equipped with an Array. Since it could prevent others from being disturbed when cultivating, it could also be used to gather Spiritual Force after it’s activated.
“Thank you, Senior!” Lou Mu Yan thought a little, then asked, “Senior, I see people living in the several other courtyards. Did they also come in specially?”
Ao Rong looked at her in amusement, “Where are all these people who come in with special treatment. They’re all your Senior Brothers and Sisters. Among the Core Pupils of the Outer Sect, because they made the most contributions to the Sect, so they’re awarded with a separate courtyard.”
“How do you obtain the Sect’s contribution points?” Lou Mu Yan asked.
“The missions set by the Sect, missions you accept, and the exchange of Spiritual Herbs, Spiritual Stones and other things can get you contribution points.” Ao Rong paused, then said: “The contribution points of the Sect are very useful and you best earn as much as you can when you have time.”
After speaking, he took out a prepared copy of a jade slip and handed it to Lou Mu Yan, “Here is a manual about exchanging contribution points in the Sect. You’ll understand after reading it once.”
“Thank you Senior, then this Junior won’t be polite.” Lou Mu Yan quickly put the jade slip away. This was something useful to her.
“Do you have any plans for the recent days?” Ao Rong then added: “The new pupils who have entered the Sect have half a year of free training time, then you’ll be divided into separate specialisation schools.”
“No plans, I’m going to spend this half a year to advance my cultivation base to Sword Sovereign.” Lou Mu Yan said helplessly.
The ten Sword Masters who had just been promoted to Core Pupils were so hostile and dissatisfied precisely because they saw how low her cultivation base was. It seemed that she had to quickly advance to Sword Sovereign to gain a foothold in the Sect.
It wasn’t that she was afraid of anyone—she was mainly afraid of trouble.
Ao Rong said with a smile: “You still have some self-knowledge on this point. The Core Pupils of the Outer Sect are at least Initial-Phase Sword Sovereign, and the top ten in the Outer Sect’s Controbution Points Ranking even has Initial-Phase Sword Venerables, so you indeed need to pick up the pace in cultivation.”
“There are even pupils at Sword Venerable in the Outer Sect? Then the Core Pupils of the Inner Sect must be Sword Saints?” Lou Mu Yan asked in surprise.
Ao Rong rolled his eyes at her, “You say Sword Saint as if they’re like cabbages. Even this old man is only a Peak-Phase Sword Saint. Do you think those little brats can be higher than me?”
“That’s not necessarily true, Senior, haven’t you heard that there are ‘mountains beyond a mountain’, and the ‘rear waves of the Yangtze River drive on the waves before1’?” Lou Mu Yan pursed her lips. As if she believed that none of the Inner Pupils became Sword Saints.
“Cough cough…” Ao Rong coughed lightly a few times, then laughed: “The Inner Pupils who have advanced to Sword Saint cultivation base have all entered the Sect’s Secret School or became Elders, how could they still stay in the Inner Sect as Core Pupils?”
“What’s the Sect’s Secret School?” Lou Mu Yan caught the key words.
Ao Rong hurriedly covered his mouth, then looked around and said in a whisper: “This is not something that you can inquire and know about with your current cultivation base. I misspoke just now, just pretend that you didn’t hear it.”
“I didn’t hear anything just now.” Lou Mu Yan rolled her eyes inwardly. This old thing definitely said it on purpose to arouse her interest. Humph!
Ao Rong gave her as look as if to say, ‘child, you are teachable’, “Little Lou girl is indeed really likeable.”
Such a clever and cunning girl really suited his appetite, but it was a pity that he knew he couldn’t teach her, otherwise he really wanted to take her as a disciple.
“Senior, is there anything else?” Lou Mu Yan looked at him with a half-smile and asked.
Ao Rong thought a bit, then said: “You should keep a low profile when you haven’t entered the Inner Sect to compete for a spot for the Land of Inheritance. When too many people notice you, I’m afraid they wouldn’t be reconciled.”
“If they’re unreconciled, then I’ll beat them till their reconciled.” Lou Mu Yan raised her fist, then smiled, “Besides, I’ve always been low-profile. If something happens, it’s always the situation sending itself to my door. I usually don’t take the initiative to start things, don’t worry.”
The corners of Ao Rong’s lips twitched. This girl seemed to have a lot of things going on wherever she went, did she think his eyes were getting old and blurry?
However, it was true that most of the time, others provoked first. This girl just had a troublemaker constitution.
“Alright, if you really can’t keep a low profile, you can fight back. Either way, you don’t have to endure your anger and swallow your voice.” Ao Rong also knew that her temperament wouldn’t allow her to tolerate things, and he also advocated the truth that a hard fist was the boss, “You are someone that I, Ao Rong, tried hard to recruit, so don’t lose my face.”
“Don’t worry Senior, I can lose anyone’s face but lose yours.” Lou Mu Yan responded with a smile.
Ao Rong looked at the time in the sky, then said: “Then go cultivate well, you can come to me if you need anything.”
“Alright, then Senior’s kindness is accepted by Junior.” Lou Mu Yan knew Ao Rong was offering friendliness, and she was also happy to accept it.
Ao Rong laughed a few times, then tossed a Communication Talisman to Lou Mu Yan and left the place as a stream of light.
After a bit, the supervisor in charge here sent the courtyard’s Array Flag to Lou Mu Yan, with a lukewarm attitude.
Lou Mu Yan used the Array Flag to open the courtyard and discovered that the Spiritual Force inside was indeed abundant and a satisfied expression rose on her face.
She first refined a few batches of pills she needed herself and those the few Demon Pets liked to eat, then arranged a small Spirit Gathering Array to deepen the density of Spiritual Force before she went into Seclusion.
This time, she didn’t only want to break through to Sword Sovereign cultivation base, but she also wanted to break through to the Core Formation Stage. Once her golden core was formed, even if she didn’t use her Spirit Flame, with her Elemental Energy Core Flame, she could also refine Grade 4 pills.
Of course, as soon as her Core Formation Stage was achieved, many talents and Secret Skills could also be used.
Time passed little by little, and Lou Mu Yan successfully broke through to the Sword Sovereign cultivation base within two months. Because of an isolation-type Array arranged, the unusual phenomena that appeared when advancing weren’t spread.
After advancing to Sword Sovereign, she took a Worldly Reduction Pill and began to break through to the Core Formation Stage.
Three months later, a glazed rainbow appeared in the yard, falling from the sky, then a serene fragrance filled a certain room in the courtyard.
Lou Mu Yan opened her eyes, and her pupils were ethereal and clear. A smile appeared on her lips, “Finally arrived at the Core Formation Stage.”
After reaching the Core Formation Stage, she found that the aura of a powerhouse gradually spread out automatically. Because of the Spiritual Thunder Body Tempering, she currently only felt that her whole body was filled with explosive power.
In the past half a year, the other pupils would often go out and wander around, and only Lou Mu Yan remained low profile as if she had evaporated from this world.
This also surprised some of the Sword Masters who had some to the Sect with her who were originally preparing to watch her and the older pupils clash. They wondered just what she was doing.
Inwardly, such a low-profile Lou Mu Yan was abnormal.
And because of her low profile, the Elders who paid attention to her at first gradually became less concerned.
One day after the half a year, Lou Mu Yan received a Communication Talisman from the Sect, and it was time for the new Core Pupils to choose their Schools.
1the new/rear waves (new generation) will replace old waves (old generation) and also has the meaning of the new being better than the old. Rear 后 (hou) also means ‘after’, so the ‘after (new) generation.