After finishing the initiation, Ling Huang walked toward one of the shelves in the palace and said to Ning, "For the next month, your task is to read all of the books here."

Ning glanced at the shelf, and at a glance, there were at least a few dozen books present.

"All of them in a month?" Ning muttered slowly.

He must have misheard, right?

"En! All these are the basic knowledge required to be an alchemist. Normally, I would have only given you a week, but seeing that your cultivation base is quite low, you can read these books in the meantime," Elder Ling spoke as if dissatisfied with Ning's low cultivation.

Ning felt a sense of déjà vu. All this studying reminded him of his grad school.

"As you wish, master." He had no choice but to do so.

Ning was indeed overwhelmed, but he was not the type to pass up a chance to gain new knowledge easily.

Ning had not forgotten his roots. His one true advantage in this world was knowledge and information. He would have to get hit by a truck to miss out on a chance to learn more knowledge.

Moreover, this is already very humane compared to those protagonists. Thinking of those novels where the master of the protagonists trains them by chucking them directly into the forest, this was infinitely better.

You know, sometimes one could not help but pity those protagonists.

With such thoughts, Ning felt that this task was indeed not unacceptable.

Ling Huang nodded secretly as he quietly put down a stick, seeing Ning quickly accept the task. It seemed he didn't need to convince the fourth as he had to do with the other three of his disciples. He even wondered if he should have added a few more books.

Then, coughing once, Ling Huang attracted the attention of his fourth disciple, "I will test you by the end of this month. Depending on your result, I will give you a reward or... a punishment."

Ah! I see.

Ning understood at that moment that his new master may be a sadist.

So, to not be outdone, Ning also asked, "Master, then I have a request."

Ling Huang nodded, "Go on."

"I hope you allow me to access this peak freely."

As a place filled with various heaven and earth treasures, extremely close to the spiritual vein, this place was a practical heaven for cultivation. The spiritual energy density was 1.5 times more than that of the outer sect.

So, Ning was not one to pass off such a prime place for cultivation.

"Hm? Sure. You better cultivate quickly in that case." Ling Huang handed Ning a green token, which Ning accepted gratefully.

"Since you are done, your senior sister should be here at any mo-" Elder Ling was interrupted by the sudden opening of the door.

Ning glanced at the sudden intruder.

"MASTER! I have arrived." It was a girl with twin tails. She gave a youthful vibe, wearing a white robe.

Looking at the abrupt appearance of his third disciple, Ling Huang sighed helplessly, "Sisi, I have said so many times not to be so abrupt. You will leave a bad impression on the fourth."

Ling Huang turned towards Ning and said, "Let me introduce you! This is Liu Sisi, my third disciple. And this is Ji Ning; from now onwards, you are fellow disciples, so get along well."

"Hello. Sister?" Ning asked with a bit of hesitation.

'Ji Ning' was fourteen, and the girl before him seemed even younger than him. But he would be a fool to judge someone's age by their looks in this world. Who knew if Liu Sisi was a hundred-year-old loli?

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"Senior Sister." Liu Sisi emphasized at once.

"Since you are the master's fourth disciple, you have to call me senior sister." Liu Sisi quickly spoke, seemingly worried about missing an opportunity.

"Senior Sister Sisi. You can call me Ning. Please take care of me." Ning said with cupped fists.

"Agh!" Hearing the word senior sister, Liu Sisi seemed to become inflated in an instant. "Junior Brother, leave it to me. If anyone bullies you, you can call your senior sister, and I will teach them a lesson."

She emphasized the words junior brother with extreme joy. Ning could see that she was enjoying being called a senior sister very much. Hmm...

"Besides Liu Sisi, there are two other disciples, but both of them are busy. I will introduce you to them later on. For now, let Liu Sisi accompany you and show you around the inner sect. Liu Sisi, you stay behaved and teach your new brother."

"Umu. Leave it to me." Liu Sisi patted her chest with pride and then pulled Ning, "Let's go, Junior Brother; follow my lead."

Looking at the departing duo, Ling Huang also smiled.

...

"There are nine peaks in the inner sect; they are the residence of the Elders. The disciples aren't usually allowed to enter... This is the trading post, where you can buy and sell goods. But let me warn you, junior brother, there are a lot of scammers selling ordinary branches as branches of sun-growing trees..."

Liu Sisi spoke the last part with much bitterness. It seemed to be her own personal experience.

Ning quietly turned his head to the other side. As a part-time merchant himself, he could understand the reason why his fellow merchant took action.

Liu Sisi looked naive, and she seemed rich. Just looking at the fine silk of her clothes that was totally different from his, Ning could say he understood their way of thinking.

Naive yet rich. A perfect pig to be slaughtered.

Of course, Ning never really cheated anyone. He was upright and kind. A model merchant.

Anyone who says otherwise was lying. It's not his fault that other disciples had too many spirit stones and 'donated' money to him with some sweet talk and modern advertisement.

Ning's inner thoughts were rich, but he never showed anything on his face. Instead, he calmly proceeded to cheer up the crestfallen girl, "I see. Without the guidance of Senior Sister Sisi, I would have probably been bamboozled."

"That's right! I, your senior sister, am quite knowledgeable." Ning could see the ego-inflating at once.

Taking this opportunity, Ning asked a few questions that had been on his mind, "Senior sister, Master seemed quite dissatisfied with my cultivation. Can you tell me the reason?"

Liu Sisi nodded, "You are in the third stage of Qi condensation currently, right? For alchemy, you need to unlock your spiritual sense, which unlocks at the fourth stage, so the master wants you to progress quickly. You would not want to be only studying books like me."

Ning nodded, and he also noticed something weird. Liu Sisi seemed a year younger than him, and he also didn't notice any spiritual energy fluctuation. She seemed like a mortal. Well, it was considered rude to poke into others' cultivation status, so he kept his doubts to himself.

Still, Ning also took this chance to ask other questions.

"Ah? Why does your supervising elder seem scared of offending Master Ling? The answer to that is quite elementary, my dear junior brother. Master Ling is the only Tier Two alchemist in the sect. His status is very high. If any elders dare offend him, they can say goodbye to their monthly quota of pills."

"Importance of soul attributes? I can tell you junior brother that your soul attributes matter a lot. Especially for secondary professions like alchemy. Fire attributes help in the smooth control of the fire, and wood attributes catalyze and nurture the ingredients. You can learn alchemy despite the necessary attributes, but cases such as those are extremely rare."

"I see." Ning thanked his 'senior sister' as he digested the information. Overall, this small talk was very 'enlightening' for the rural area chump like Ning.

It took an hour before Ning and Liu Sisi visited every place in the inner sect. By the end, Ning had become familiar with the inner sect. At least, he had remembered all the major routes and spots, and he would probably not get lost anymore. Hopefully...

After that, he and Liu Sisi arrived at the 69th courtyard. The courtyard was not that big, but Ning was satisfied. He wanted to enter the courtyard but was suddenly blocked and couldn't move a step.

"Junior brother, use your identification jade." Liu Sisi gave advice from the side.

Ning took out the identification jade, which seemed to shine, and then nothing happened.

"?"

Seeing Ning surprised, Liu Sisi explained, wanting to establish the image of a knowledgeable senior, "Junior Brother, what you encountered is a formation."

"Formation," Ning muttered.

He was not unfamiliar with formations, but he had only ever used a single-use formation talisman. Even those talismans are not real formations in a sense; they were just talismans functioning similarly to the formation.

So, it could be said to be his first time seeing a real formation. Well, he would have time to pick it apart slowly later on. Ning's eyes shined brightly.

"Each courtyard is protected with a Basic repelling formation. It is not that strong, but it would alert those inside of the intruder."

"I see." Ning tried to enter the courtyard and was successful this time.

Seeing she had accomplished her mission, Liu Sisi also nodded, "Since all of my tasks are over. I would also like to retire. It's been a while since I have walked so much."

Ning took the hint and said his farewell, "Senior sister, thank you for accompanying me for a day."

"Well, it's my job as your Senior sister. So, don't mind me. If you have anything you don't understand, you can always ask your senior sister." Liu Sisi said, thumping her admittedly flat chest.

"Sure!" Ning said with a smile.

"I would come to play later on." With that, Ning watched the departing back of his new 'senior sister' before walking to his new home.