Wearing his outer sect robe, Ning stood before the mirror, gazing at his reflection. It wasn't a matter of vanity or self-admiration, though he couldn't deny that he appeared quite pleasing to the eye but he wanted to do a small experiment.

Looking in front of the mirror, Ning muttered internally, "Status."

A blue panel appeared in front of him, but he paid no heed to it. Instead, his focus was on the mirror itself.

In the mirror was an unassuming, good-looking dude with warm blue eyes and pale skin. Looking at this, Ning heaved a sigh of relief.

The panel was not reflected in the mirror.

While one might assume it was a given that others couldn't perceive the panel, as it was 'his' cheat, Ning was not one to leave things to chance. There were too many uncertainties about this whole thing, so it was a given that he would be extra careful.

"Merely contemplating the disastrous consequences that could unfold if others were able to witness the panel I so nonchalantly opened sends a chill down my spine. It would be a calamity brought upon by my own arrogance," Ning mused to himself.

With this doubt put to rest, he straightened his posture and made his way toward the exit of the cave. It was a momentous occasion, a defining step in his journey.

"From this day forward, I am a cultivator."

...

Ning briefly covered his eyes, feeling the warm sunlight irritating his eyes. From his memory, he knew that it had been a week since he had holed up inside. Of course, that was not by his own choice.

After being brought to this sect, the elder briefly explained about the sect and then forced the new disciples into their respective caves to cultivate. He warned that one must not leave the cave until they reach the first stage of Qi cultivation.

For this, the elder had given them both the cultivation technique "Pure Qi Sutra" and a pill called the Fasting pill.

This pill was a magical pill that could provide enough nutrients and energy for the body to last a month. Something like this would have been dubbed a godly medicine in his previous world, but in this world, it was only an extremely ordinary pill.

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After walking for a while, Ning suddenly stumbled upon his first real issue in this world.

He was lost.

It could not be blamed on him since no one gave him a tour after entering the sect. Ning looked around, finally spotting a person with grey clothing.

"According to what the elder had said, black robe means inner sect disciple, white means outer sect disciple, and grey means servants," Ning mumbled as he walked towards the servant.

"Hey, excuse me, you with the grey robe," Ning called out to the servant, who suddenly jumped at the call.

Trembling, the servant looked at the caller, then asked with a shaky voice, "H-how can this servant help Lord Cultivator?"

Ning couldn't help but raise a brow, seeing how scared the servant was. The servants were mortals who were taken in by the sect. Their job was to clean, wash clothes, etc. for those overly prideful outer sect disciples who did not want to do it themselves. Servants had no future and were only there to serve the disciples of the sect.

It may seem harsh, but it was the norm in this world. The weak served the strong, but it was also not entirely without respite. If those servants could learn some techniques, then they could pass them down to their families.

But it seemed bullying was still a problem. With a single glance, Ning could infer that a young guy like him probably got beaten by the outer sect disciples with bad tempers.

Ning calmed down the young lad before asking the way to the Martial Arts Pavilion. Seeing this, the servant finally seemed relieved and pointed towards the center of the outer sect.

"Thanks." Patting the young lad gently, Ning thanked him with a smile. It seemed to surprise the poor servant.

"I-it's my honor." Though surprised, the poor servant quickly replied and ran off, thanking his lucky stars for not running into those bullies.

Seeing this, Ning smiled.

It may seem unnecessary to be polite to the servant, but he did not mind. Ning always made a habit of being polite. It was because, in the future, if he had an altercation with someone with poor conduct, then people would be more likely to support him rather than the others.

Of course, this was based on them having the same status, so Ning didn't mind laying some safety layers in place.

Everyone liked a polite guy, especially one that had been consistent with their behavior. So, Ning didn't mind playing the part, especially since it cost him nothing for his lip service.

Thinking like this, Ning walked toward the pavilion leisurely but stopped in front of the pavilion because he saw something interesting.

There was a small crowd in front of him, which Ning slowly approached.

"Xiao Fan, why didn't you pay us your protection fee? Are you disrespecting brother, Xiao Hong, huh?" A tall figure shouted at the top of his lungs, accusing a young man.

"Being the lackey of Xiao Hong must be fun for you? I don't want to pay your protection fee," the young man said defiantly.

Feeling angry, the tall man shouted, "It seems that you have forgotten the previous beating." Saying that the tall man jumped forward and kicked the young man.

Clutching his stomach, the young man seemed in pain, yet he still seemed determined.

Then finally, he shouted, "You may be stronger than me now, but remember this: Don't bully the young and poor. I will come for you eventually."

Seeing the scene in front of him, Ning's eyes brightened as an arc formed on his lips.

Things seemed to have gotten even more interesting.