A pair of hours later the trio gathered in the main room of the first floor and discussing their actions while sipping tea. Alcohol was prohibited on the sect grounds, so regretfully their celebration was limited, but anyway, Wu Guang and Yuan Taotu both entered the Spirit realm successfully, so the mood was great even without it.
"First thing tomorrow you will need to go to the Outer circle office and find both Elder Di who is in charge of you and Elder Ku that is in charge of the circle. They will test that you entered the Spirit realm and then after that, your badges will be exchanged in the Inner circle office. After it's official, you will receive the uniform, and bureaucracy matters like residence and such will start. For the latter, you can refuse to decide on the spot and ask to be allowed to live for some time with me, which I will accept citing that you need some guidance. But you will need to think about where to live as even if you are allowed to live with me, this will be limited to a pair of weeks, later you will be asked to either rent a residence or a small room in the main courtyard - the sect always wants you to earn and spend points after all"
"How much do you need to pay for a residence? And are there any with training grounds? We will need to learn techniques, and I doubt that the ones open for all the circles have spots all the time" Wu Guang asked deciding that the best way to be prepared is to know everything beforehand
"A residence like this one costs 100 contribution points for a month while a room would be about 20 or 25 points. Bigger residences indeed have training areas and some can be rented by a team, so if you are interested you two should form one and choose one of them. Their cost varies, but for a small team residence with training grounds it should be about 250 or 300 points each month"
"I see"
"Speaking of points, how many do you have left? Normally I would recommend you to first take classes and raise your combat strength, but the rooms may not be a good option for you two - so the best way would be to earn enough and pay for a residence before doing so"
"I have 750"
"250" Yuan Taotu followed
Before Xiao Feng spoke, Wu Guang asked the question that had arisen from the formed last phrases
"Why do you say that the rooms are not a good option for us?"
"Well don't think anything bad as rules are enforced and the residents are monitored. Still, exactly because of this the rooms are a bad option for you two. Basically, the rooms will limit the quantity of time you have, as they not only have a curfew but also require you to do some chores. A problem also arises with long missions, as they don't allow you to leave your room empty for more than 3 days without special permission from the overseer, and truth to be said the Elder in charge there does not have good fame. I haven't lived there, but some of the people I have worked with during missions shared stories, and let me say that I will not stay there after hearing them"
"I understand. Well, I think that the best would be to register as a team right away and choose a mission to earn some points. I have no interest in staying holed here, and I feel that experience is earned alongside danger. But before leaving, we should rent a residence and pay for a month, then take a week to prepare. Do you agree?" The last question was towards Yuan Taotu who simply nodded in response as they had already discussed working together after finding out that most of the missions required a team of at least two disciples.
"It's a good plan, but be advised that for a team residence, each of you will have to pay half"
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"Can't I pay for a month and then the following month is paid by the other team member?"
"Oh, if you intend to do so, it is indeed allowed. After all, not every disciple has the points at hand. But do take care with your spending, as Inner circle disciples are not only required to do a mission each month but also to spend at least 2000 points each year"
They did not discuss that the sect looked more like a business than a sect with rules like this, but inwardly after thinking about it Wu Guang understood the reason - after all, the normal disciples were more alike to students that will leave after graduating, so they should earn by doing missions and spend their earnings in the sect for it to function.
Dinner for today was made by and from his ingredients by Yuan Taotu, so it was enjoyed greatly. Regretfully it turned that Xiao Feng had a low tolerance for spicy food, although he did like the food in general, after trying some he had to ask about the spiciness before deciding what to eat. Wu Guang even joked that they did not have so much water to calm his burning innards each time and so asking was the best way.
***
The outer circle offices occupied several rooms of the Main Palace. These rooms were on the second floor which was accessed through a pair of staircases located to the sides of the entrance, so Wu Guang did not see much of the inner palace before being ushered into one of these rooms by a disciple that was assigned to lead them by the Discipline Palace guards on the entrance. The process thankfully did not take long as after the initial surprise of both elders and both Wu Guang and Yuan Taotu forming a ball of qi on their palms - showing that indeed they had formed their dantian and had full control of it the pair was led by Elder Di towards another set of rooms, which were the inner circle offices.
There an elder that introduced himself as Elder Xiao after taking their badges and confirming the fact that disciples-in-waiting had no need to be tested or wait to ascend between the circles simply asked them to wait for an hour.
As they had nothing to do, the pair decided to wait there and when the time ran out Elder Xiao appeared holding two small bundles. Each of the bundles contained an inner circle uniform, a rule book, and a copper badge. This new badge was equal in design to their old, but on the front, not only their name but also their status as inner disciples was engraved. After confirming they had no questions, he indicated them to one of the doors nearby and explained that it was the office responsible for residences and sent them on their way without any further delay.
Wu Guang and Yuan Taotu had already talked about the matter, and while hearing this they decided to get it right away.
With such a mindset, they entered the office and after briefly being explained about possible options by an inner disciple working there responded with the one that they would want
"We are looking to rent a team residence and our only requirement would be the existence of training grounds"
Hearing this, the disciple said that there were only two such residences available right now and proceeded to explain about them. The one that Wu Guang and Yuan Taotu choose at the end was a small four-room residence. It was not much bigger than Xiao Feng's one but not only had a training space but even a small arena. The price was also in the acceptable range, so after confirming all the details Wu Guang paid for a month of use. Afterward, both of their badges were activated in an enormous rune plate that served to register them as the owners of a determinate residence, and the pair left the palace.