Chapter 12 : Chapter 12
Chapter 12: Special Adjustments
Just then, an elderly-looking elder said flatly, “That is normal too.”
“That is still normal?”
The elderly elder said in a deep voice, “That little beast’s evil is nothing much. If he were a bit more vicious, he could have refined the bandit into a Ten Thousand Souls Banner, driven the bandit’s soul, then imprisoned that woman for dual cultivation, or perhaps he could also have... forget it, I will not go on. In any case, that would be the kind of evil with long-term consequences. A short-sighted little beast like this is not very interesting.”
As soon as those words fell, everyone went silent.
The expressions in all the elders’ eyes turned strange...
Exactly who here was the abnormal one?
...
After the trial ended, the people at Kite Plaza all dispersed.
This year’s disciple trial had, unusually, not produced much spectacle. Quite a few inner sect disciples had originally thought that would be a pity, but then Ning Ri had appeared...
That gave them quite a bit of amusement to talk about after they returned.
As for Ning Ri himself, the person at the center of it all, he followed the other trial-takers who had passed the disciple trial to their lodgings—
Jingui Garden!
All of the trial-takers had been assigned to live in Jingui Garden.
In front of Jingui Garden stood a massive stone. Written across it in large red characters were the three words “Jingui Garden,” and the whole group stood in a row beside it.
At the same time, they also received their disciple tokens and disciple robes.
The disciple robes were entirely green.
Holding the clothes as he stood in line, Ning Ri felt as though he were attending military training.
The disciple robes were ordinary, but the disciple token was not.
The disciple token had a very distinctive design. As Ning Ri held it in his hand, he felt that the thing was about the size of a smartphone.
It was a light pink rectangular plaque with its corners rounded off, so it did not dig into the hand when held.
Ning Ri felt it looked even more like a phone.
On the back of the disciple token were the three slightly raised characters 【Defying Heaven Sect】. Touching them was strangely addictive, the sort of thing that made it hard to stop, and Ning Ri felt this object was extremely satisfying to fiddle with.
On the front, meanwhile, the two large characters of Ning Ri’s name were written, with runes engraved around them.
Now that Ning Ri had learned artifact refining, he knew that these runes could be activated by infusing them with spiritual power.
Looking at the disciple token, he wondered whether anyone made phone cases—no, token cases. He wanted to change its skin.
At the same time,
standing before the group was Elder Zhou Heng, the Subtitles Elder. He swept his gaze across them and said in a deep voice,
“Next, what you are to do is cultivate in the Outer Sect. There are cultivation methods in the Technique Pavilion that can be exchanged for, and the Heavenly Heart Pavilion also has cultivation pills and cultivation resources that can be exchanged for, but the prerequisite is that you must have contribution points!”
At that point, Zhou Heng lifted the token in his hand and said, “The disciple token has many functions. One of them is helping you accept sect missions. Aside from Lotus Mountain, the place to accept sect missions is your disciple token.”
“And only by completing sect missions can you obtain contribution points.”
“In addition, the Outer Sect offers one free class every three days. These include cultivation, pill refining, artifact refining, formations... and so on. The classes are all repeated, and all of them are basic introductory material. If you did not understand something the first time, you can attend again. As for more advanced content, you will need to go to the Technique Pavilion and look for it yourselves.”
“Also, if there is anything about cultivation that you do not understand, you may come to the Technique Pavilion to find me. You may speak with me, or with the other elders. Every disciple gets three free hours of Dao discussion time. Once those three hours are used up, if you still want to speak privately with me or another elder, then you will have to pay contribution points.”
“As for the rest, if there is anything you do not understand, just ask your disciple token!”
“Once you step into the Foundation Establishment realm, you will be able to receive the Inner Sect trial. If you pass it, you may join the Inner Sect.”
After briefly explaining 【The Daily Life of an Outer Sect Disciple】, Zhou Heng asked, “Do you have any questions?”
Everyone answered, “No!”
Zhou Heng nodded, then said, “Ning Ri stays. The rest of you may go back first.”
At those words, everyone’s gaze drifted toward Ning Ri, but each of them quickly drew it back and turned to enter Jingui Garden.
They all understood that a “peerless genius” like Ning Ri would definitely receive the most attention.
Once only Ning Ri and Zhou Heng remained before the gates of Jingui Garden, Zhou Heng stepped forward and said, “Other people can become Foundation Establishment through normal cultivation and enter the Inner Sect, but your situation is a little special.”
“So the sect has made special adjustments specifically for your case.”
Hearing that, Ning Ri could not help asking curiously, “May I ask Elder Zhou what these special adjustments are?”
Zhou Heng said, “The sect knows... ah, forget it, I will stop pretending. It was actually me.”
Ning Ri: “Uh...”
Zhou Heng continued, “I know your aptitude is too poor. The fact that you were able to advance to the third-level Qi Refining cultivator realm is already a matter of ‘luck.’”
“For that reason, I told the others that asking you to cultivate step by step in the Outer Sect until Foundation Establishment would be asking too much of you.”
Ning Ri said nothing and merely nodded silently.
That was indeed true!
Without cheating, in this lifetime he would only have been able to practice blade arts. Foundation Establishment? What Foundation Establishment?
Being able to live out his life normally would already have been good enough.
Zhou Heng said, “So we discussed it and came up with two choices.”
“The first choice is to make an exception and let you enter the Inner Sect in advance.”
“The second choice is for us to search for pills that can change your aptitude, help you repair it, and then let you break through to Foundation Establishment through your own efforts before entering the Inner Sect.”
After hearing Zhou Heng’s words, Ning Ri did not rush to choose. Instead, he first expressed his thanks. “Many thanks to Elder Zhou and the other elders for troubling yourselves over this disciple. I will never forget the elders’ care and concern.”
Seeing this, several elders who were secretly observing revealed a trace of satisfaction in their eyes.
An ordinary person might have immediately started choosing between option one and option two.
The fact that Ning Ri first expressed gratitude showed, first, good upbringing, and second, cleverness. His mind turned quickly enough to immediately grasp the essence of the matter.
Zhou Heng, meanwhile, smiled and said, “There is no need to thank us. We sit in the position of elder, so it is only right that we consider such matters for the disciples under us.”
“Then which one would you like to choose?”
Ning Ri asked, “This disciple dares to ask—if I choose one of these two options, what will I need to pay?”
Zhou Heng said, “Contribution points.”
“Given that you currently do not have a single contribution point, the only thing you can do is owe them.”
“You would owe less with the former option, and more with the latter.”
“You must pay them off within three hundred years from the day you break through to Foundation Establishment.”
“However, there is no interest on these contribution points. If other elders advance contribution points, interest must be paid, but you do not need to.”
Ning Ri understood.
No interest = no interest.
This was a specially approved, three-hundred-year, interest-free student loan from the Defying Heaven Sect!
To Ning Ri, that already felt incredibly warm!
Other sects had not even planned to take him, but the Defying Heaven Sect had not only given him a chance, it had even approved an interest-free loan for him...
Zhou Heng said, “And in fact, no Outer Sect disciple in the Defying Heaven Sect is allowed to advance contribution points, but you can.”
“This is preferential treatment that we are giving you!”