Near Kaiqi City
Yu Ming slowly feels the back of the crane, still unable to believe that it is not real.
Satisfied with his touching for now, Yu Ming takes in the surroundings as they fly by mountains and rivers in a flash as beasts hide upon seeing the bird.
Yu Ming truly starts to understand why cultivating is the right path.
These moments—the joy of breaking through to the next realm, watching as mountains and rivers pass, and flying through the sky—make Yu Ming feel like he has found his answer.
Just as Yu Ming starts to think more about the matter, he is rudely awakened from his thoughts by a jolt as the crane changes directions.
Once balanced again, Yu Ming feels the wind blowing as he waits for his new home for life.
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Crane Mountain Dao Sect
As the group arrives in front of a truly enormous range of mountains, covered with lush green, numbering in the thousands, and covered in mist, Peak Master Yun just circles in front of them.
"Peak Master Yun Cheng reports from Kaiqi City!"
If Yu Ming had been impressed by the mountain range earlier, then he simply stares in incomprehension now.
A shocking number of mountains seem to have temples, abodes, pavillions, and palaces on top of them, with many having houses and abodes covering the entire mountain.
A shocking number of people seem to walk around between peaks freely.
The crane dives down towards one of the peaks and disappears once they land, making many people smash into the ground.
Yu Ming stands up hurriedly as he reads the hall name out loud in his mind: Outer Sect Hall. A thin elderly man in white robes adorned with cranes appears outside the hall, along with Peak Master Yun.
"I am Peak Master Jiang. I am in charge of the outer sect disciples.
Those in the 11th Layer of [Qi Gathering] and above, will go along with Peak Master Yun to Inner Sect Hall to get situated.
Whether you need to take some tests or it is decided by Qi Root, I do not remember. Ask it in Inner Sect Hall."
Peak Master Yun bows politely toward Peak Master Jiang as he takes away those above the 11th Layer, leaving Yu Ming and Zhang Xin behind.
Peak Master Jiang spans his gaze across the group before continuing, "Those who do not know about basic rules, listen carefully now. The Sect works on Dao Tokens. Food, spirit stones, cultivation manuals, even legacies, and magic treasures! Everything needs Dao Tokens. And you must do missions to get Dao Tokens."
Looking at the pale faces of some disciples, Peak Master Jiang continues, "You will get a one-time reward based on your score from the Trials to get you situated. Remember, it is up to you how you spend those tokens; gambling, manuals, spirit stones, or whatever else you desire. You will be assigned a Peak once you get called inside. Wait till your names are out."
Looking at the spot where Peak Master Jiang was standing a moment ago, Yu Ming tries to make sense of what's going on.
"Did you understand anything, Sister Xin?"
"Just that we need to enter when our names get called. "
Nodding along, Yu Ming sat down and waited for his name to be called.
"Zhang Xin!" Zhang Xin quickly enters the hall and returns in 5 minutes with a pamphlet in her hands.
Sitting down with a pleased expression, Zhang Xin explains.
"We get tokens based on our score in the three trials. And this pamphlet as a guide. I got 900 Dao Tokens for the Qi Root test alone! That's equal to 900 spirit stones! "
"How do you know?"
"I leafed through the pamphlet. If only prices for other things were lower... Anyway, where was I?"
"Tokens?" " Yes! I got 900 for the Qi Root and another 300 for the Constitution Test, whereas I got 400 for the Heart Test. "
"Yu Ming!" "I will be back in a minute!"
Yu Ming runs into the hall while asking Zhang Xin to remain in the same place.
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Outer Sect Hall
A bored-looking young man speaks in a monotone voice.
"Yu Ming. Earth Element Qi Root. 3000 tokens. Constitution Test, 1st Stage. 100 tokens. Heart Test, 5th Stage. 1600 tokens. Three Incense Mountain.Leave."
The man throws a badge and a pamphlet at Yu Ming and shoos him away without batting an eye.
Outside
Yu Ming and Zhang descend the mountain as they discuss their scores and the wide disparity.
"So where did you get assigned to? I was assigned to Three Incense Mountain. "
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"I got Thousand Blossom Mountain. It is at the outer edge in the west. Yours is in the northern area. Let's settle down and go through the pamphlet, and we can discuss what to do tomorrow."
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Three Incense Mountain
Yu Ming looks at the mountain covered in gray mist, which might be incense smoke. Hoping he has arrived at the wrong location, Yu Ming looks through the pamphlet to compare it to the picture.
No such luck; Yu Ming has arrived at the correct location. Upon reaching the base of Three Incense Mountain, he is told that he can choose a house on the lower half of the mountain, as that's where Outer Sect disciples usually live.
Walking around, Yu Ming chooses a standard house in a secluded corner after making sure the house is in good repair. Not in the mood for exploration, Yu Ming does not bother checking the house before sleeping, forgoing his cultivation practice just for the day.
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Next morning, Yu Ming's House
Yu Ming wakes up refreshed as he checks out his new home.
The house has a bedroom, one study room, a storage room, and other necessities. There is a medium-sized courtyard attached, most likely for training purposes.
Satisfied with the house, Yu Ming goes back to his room to go through his pamphlet; he has to buy essentials and work out how to use his tokens.
Going through the pamphlet, Yu Ming gets an idea of how the Sect works.
Disciples need to earn tokens by completing missions, which are issued by Sect and can be accepted from the Sect Mission Hall.
There are all sorts of Halls for various services like forging treasures, and pill refining, among others.
The most important Hall in Yu Ming's eyes is Treasury Hall.
From there, he can get Cultivation Manuals, Secret Techniques, and Daoist Magics.
There is no mention of any Legacy in the pamphlet.
There are some benefits to being an Outer Sect disciple, like receiving three spirit stones per month and gaining access to some training grounds.
For better resources, one has to prove themselves in their cultivation realm during the Outer Sect Biannual Competition, complete some very difficult missions, or gain the approval of a Peak Master.
Hearing the door being knocked on, Yu Ming snaps out of his contemplation and walks over to the door.
Yu Ming takes a moment to recognize Zhang Xin, as she is wearing her Outer Sect robes, a white robe with a soaring crane on the back.
"Sister Xin! I thought we would meet at your house ...?"
Zhang Xin waves off his concerns, "It doesn't matter. I am too excited to wait. Let's leave for the Treasury Hall right now!!"
Looking awkwardly at Zhang Xin, Yu Ming just nods, changes into a clean set of Outer Sect robes, and departs with Zhang Xin.
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Treasury Hall
The Treasury Hall is located on the base of a mountain, with two seniors sitting around the gates checking everyone's badges with their divine sense, and many more seniors standing guard inside the Hall premises, keeping an eye on everyone.
Yu Ming and Zhang Xin enter the Hall easily, as the guards never open their eyes.
The counter is manned by an extremely old man who looks to be on the verge of death.
However, not a single person dares to be disrespectful of the old man, bowing politely before going inside the library on the 1st floor.
One of the seniors informs them that those in [Qi Gathering] may only enter the 1st-floor library.
As the two enter the library, Zhang Xin informs Yu Ming, "I will check the water and wood element manuals before coming back to the earth ones."
"I will just look at the Earth Element manuals."
Yu Ming looks over at the different elements: Water, Metal, metal-earth dual element, Metal-Earth Dual Element, Water-Wood Dual Element, and so on.
'According to what Big Sister Jin informed me, the best way to utilize a Single Element Qi Root is to choose a pure element cultivation manual.'
Reaching the Earth Element Manuals, Yu Ming is completely overwhelmed by the number of manuals available.
Going through all the descriptions and names of all the manuals, it took Yu Ming nearly four hours of hard work to single out some manuals that he was particularly interested in:
[Geomatic Earth Records]— focused on teaching the intricate control of Earth Qi.
[Stoneforge Art]—a series that allowed him to use Earth Qi to reinforce his body and fight at a closer distance.
[Earthbound Codex]— Codex for binding and restraining everything to the Great Earth.
[Heartstone Hymn Sutra]— A sutra for connecting oneself to the Grand Earth, it has Buddhist influence.
Each had their strengths, and he could gain some spectacular abilities from any of them. Yu Ming sighs as he finds out he has no idea which to choose.