The Master and His Wealthy Fiancée

Chen Dong stepped forward and received two sets of Magic Robes, two booklets, and a jade Body Technique Token. One booklet contained the Sect Rules and the cultivation schedule, while the other was a basic Cultivation Technique called the Cyan Sky Sword Technique.

After everyone had received their items, an Inner Sect manager led them to a large courtyard.

Inside the courtyard were a few dozen scattered people. According to the manager, they were all members of the previous two Exploration Teams from the modern world. Chen Dong noticed their cultivation wasn't very high; all of them were in the Early-stage of Qi Refining.

The manager gave a few brief instructions, emphasizing that a Peak Master would be personally lecturing them at the Qi Cultivation Hall tomorrow and that attendance was mandatory. He added that there were plenty of spare rooms in the courtyard for everyone and that they were free to choose whichever they wanted. Then, he left.

With no outsiders around, the personnel selected by the Military Suppression Department were very excited.

The rooms could be shared or occupied alone, and since no one was supervising, many people came forward to invite Chen Dong.

"Mr. Chen, I don't know your position in the Military Suppression Department, but we were all there when you fought that day. It was so awesome! Could I be your roommate? I really admire you!"

"Yeah, yeah, pick me, Mr. Chen! Just leave all the chores like cleaning the room to me!"

"Mr. Chen, I used to be a chef. I can handle the cooking and laundry."

In everyone's eyes, Chen Dong was the strongest among them. Having a powerful expert looking out for them would surely make life in this Otherworld much easier, so they were all eager to build a connection with Chen Dong and become his roommate.

However, Chen Dong preferred quiet over crowds. After offering several apologies, he took Li Zhixuan and chose a small, more distant cabin.

The wooden cabin wasn't large. It looked like a typical dormitory with a common area, three bedrooms, and simple furniture. Someone had already cleaned it, so it was fairly tidy.

Chen Dong was a little surprised. 'Are these really the living conditions for the Inner Sect?'

Li Zhixuan, flipping through a booklet, chuckled. "Of course not. The Cyan Sky Sect is a top-tier sect in this world. No matter how poor they might be, they wouldn't be this poor. This is clearly the residence for preparatory Inner Sect disciples. It's equivalent to the Outer Sect, but we don't have to do their chores."

Chen Dong nodded, but he still found it strange to be assigned to a place like this. After all, they were personnel sent from another world and should have received better treatment.

Now that it was just him and Li Zhixuan, Chen Dong took out the crumpled piece of paper Changyi had given him and opened it.

Inside the crumpled paper was a jade slip.

Chen Dong was taken aback when he smoothed out the paper and saw the writing.

'Changyi really did investigate me; he knows a lot.' The paper contained just two simple lines: "Li Huiran has joined the Heart Slaying Hall. Murong Zhi's whereabouts are unknown, but she is confirmed to be in the Floating Shadow Realm. The jade slip is a backup of the two-realm alliance agreement. You are a man of great compassion."

The words on the paper ended abruptly, leaving Chen Dong puzzled. 'Great compassion?' He let out a helpless, self-deprecating laugh. 'Perhaps Changyi called it "great compassion" just because I saved a lot of people during the Lingxi outbreak.'

Even though he hadn't wanted to know anything about a two-realm agreement, Chen Dong decided he might as well take a look now that he had it.

Chen Dong pressed the jade slip to his forehead and absorbed its contents. Good heavens, there were over ten thousand articles and regulations. And this was just the result of the first formal negotiation. Although there had been a few previous expressions of intent to form an alliance, to negotiate so many concrete articles in one go… 'That Changyi really is a genius at this sort of thing.'

Chen Dong read through them article by article. Surprisingly, most of them were not about the Cultivation Realm, but about the lives of ordinary people.

The technology and social conditions of the modern world were far superior to those of the Floating Shadow Realm. The modern world would provide technology and personnel to the Floating Shadow Realm to improve the people's livelihood, in exchange for cultivation resources.

As for the Cultivators from the modern world coming to the Floating Shadow Realm, they were divided into two types. The first could choose to join one of the three major sects. They would be treated as the sect's own disciples, receive no benefits from the modern world, but could be taught more profound Cultivation Techniques.

The other option was more akin to a mercenary model. They received better benefits and compensation, but any discussion of advanced Cultivation Techniques or High-tier Spiritual Objects was off the table. Furthermore, they had to hand over more than half of the materials they obtained from the battlefield to the three major sects. The trade-off was more freedom and the ability to leave at any time.

Reading this, Chen Dong felt a twinge of regret. 'If I'd known, why would I have joined a sect? Wouldn't being a free "mercenary" for hire have been better? But I've already accepted the Sect Token. The Cyan Sky Sect probably wouldn't let me back out now, and it might even impact the alliance agreement. Maybe this is just fate. Besides, I can't stop worrying about Tian Sisi.'

He had no idea what Changyi was thinking by giving him a backup of the two-realm agreement. Even after finishing it, Chen Dong was clueless. He casually tossed the jade slip into his Storage Ring and started flipping through the basic Cultivation Technique and the Cyan Sky Sect's rules.

Li Zhixuan, on the other hand, had already finished reading and was casually practicing some moves.

"This Cyan Sky Sect really has something to them. This basic technique says a lot. I'm getting curious about their Cultivation Techniques now. I bet there's a lot we can learn from them."

Li Zhixuan looked every bit the martial arts fanatic. It was understandable, though; he was constantly thinking about going back to get revenge on Feng Fu. He wouldn't pass up any opportunity to increase his strength.

Chen Dong flipped through the manual casually. It was such basic stuff—nothing more than how to guide and refine Qi, along with some fundamental Sword Techniques—that he got the gist of it after one read-through. The Sect Rules Manual, however, he began to study with care.