Pushing open the courtyard gate and stepping inside, she found the furnishings simple but clean. A freshly cut peach blossom branch was even placed in a vase on the table.
“Your quarters.” Qi Yan stood at the courtyard gate, not stepping inside. He pointed toward the bookshelf in the room. “I had someone deliver a copy of the cultivation technique jade slip and place it on the desk. Familiarize yourself with the rules of Tiance Palace first. If there is anything you do not understand, ask the administrative disciples. The formal apprenticeship ceremony will take place in three days.”
He turned to leave, but Lin Zhiyue called out to him, “Master.”
Qi Yan turned back.
“Is there anything I should keep in mind once my three senior brothers and sister emerge from seclusion?” she asked humbly.
Qi Yan thought for a moment and gave an extremely brief three-word reply: “Don't cause trouble.”
With that, he departed, his red and black figure disappearing around the corner of the stone steps. Lin Zhiyue stood at the gate watching him go. She let out a soft laugh, then turned and went back inside the courtyard.
She first browsed through the jade slips on the desk. Aside from the cultivation method for the 《Wind and Frost Void-Returning Formula》, they also contained the disciple code of conduct for Tiance Palace, the sect's history, and a map of the peaks.
Curled up in her chair, she studied the map carefully twice, memorizing the locations of the main hall, the library, the martial arena, and the medicine hall, while also marking the side peak where she was staying.
Tiance Palace was massive, boasting over a thousand disciples, with elders of various ranks and administrative disciples all performing their respective duties.
By the time she finished reading the jade slips at her desk, the sky had already darkened. From outside the window came the distant sound of the evening bell—deep and steady, echoing between the three peaks shrouded in twilight.
She stood up, stretched, and walked out into the courtyard to look up at the sky.
The night sky of the cultivation world was indeed far clearer than the one she had seen in Juxian City. A river of stars stretched across the heavens, casting cold, white starlight onto the half-withered old pine tree, making the edges of its needles shimmer with a faint glow.
Lin Zhiyue touched the Mist-shrouded Verdure and Ode to the Frozen Frost outfits stored in her earrings. Thinking of the Heaven Grade cultivation technique on her desk, she suddenly felt that although this start was rather absurd, it did not seem too bad.
She pulled out the 《Overview of Tiance Palace Introductory Cultivation Techniques》 from her sleeve and flipped to the last page.
It displayed a complete map of Tiance Palace, with the suspended stone bridges between the three peaks connecting them like threads. Next to the dot labeled “Inner Hall” at the summit of the main peak, a line of notes was written in extremely small, faint characters: “Venerable Yanchen, Qi Yan. Mid stage of the Soul Transformation Stage. Flame Heavenly Spiritual Root. Profound mastery of the Dao of the blade. Disciples under his lineage: Chu Zhixun, Cen Xi'er, Xiao Yuan. (To be updated: one newly recruited disciple.)”
The words “one newly recruited disciple” had been added later with a fine brush, the ink slightly different from the older writing beside it. Lin Zhiyue stared at the line for a moment, her lips curving upward, before closing the book and putting it back on the shelf.
One newly recruited disciple. That was her.
She blew out the lamp on her desk and lay down in the darkness. Outside, the wind rustled through the branches of the old pine tree, and the distant, long-drawn cries of spirit beasts echoed faintly from afar.
She rolled over and fell asleep.
Before dawn the next morning, Lin Zhiyue was awakened by a crisp knocking at her courtyard gate.
She threw on an outer robe and went to open the door. Standing outside was a girl dressed in the black disciple uniform with silver trim. She had a round face, apricot eyes, and a curved, cheerful smile. A light blue spiritual pendant hung from her waist, giving her an overall pleasant and uplifting presence.
“Junior Sister Lin!” The girl familiarly grabbed her wrist. “I am Liu Fengyao, the second disciple under the Palace Master. Martial Uncle Yanchen asked me to take you to morning class. Let's go quickly, or we won't get good seats!”
Lin Zhiyue was dragged forward a couple of steps, her mind not yet fully awake. “Morning class? Tiance Palace actually has morning classes?”
“Of course! Newly admitted disciples have to attend morning classes for the first three months to learn general knowledge of the cultivation world and the basics of fundamental techniques.” Liu Fengyao smiled back at her as they walked. “Don't worry, it's not hard. It's just listening to the elders lecture. But today's first class is with Elder Wan. He's the most boring lecturer; I fall asleep every single time.”
Lin Zhiyue was pulled and dragged across the suspended stone bridge, all the way from the side peak to a spacious lecture hall on the eastern side of the main peak.
Inside, about twenty newly admitted disciples were already seated, all of whom had been selected during this joint disciple selection. When Lin Zhiyue walked in, many eyes swept toward her simultaneously—some whispered among themselves, while others stole subtle glances at her.
Liu Fengyao pulled her to sit in the second row by the window, taking the seat next to her, and pushed a thin booklet over. “Here are the lecture notes, you can borrow them. I wrote some notes in mine, so you'll have to make do with it.”
Lin Zhiyue took it and opened it. The margins were packed with neat, rounded handwriting, and there were even a few small flowers drawn along the edges. She could not help but chuckle. Liu Fengyao leaned in and whispered, “The drawings are just to pass the time. Elder Wan's lectures are incredibly sleep-inducing—”
Before she could finish, a white-bearded old man walked in with his hands behind his back. He sat down behind the podium, opened his scroll, and began to read aloud.
His voice was flat and monotonous, completely devoid of inflection, like an old monk chanting scriptures in a temple. Only fifteen minutes in, Lin Zhiyue saw out of the corner of her eye that Liu Fengyao's head was already beginning to nod off.
Right at that moment, the system screen popped up silently.
【Daily Quest Issued: Make a friend in Tiance Palace (at least one). Current Progress: (0/1). Quest Reward: Normal Draw Ticket ×2.】
Lin Zhiyue glanced at the nearly asleep Liu Fengyao beside her, then at the “(0/1)” on the screen, thinking that this was practically handed to her on a silver platter. She reached out and gently nudged Liu Fengyao's elbow.
Liu Fengyao jerked her head up, her eyes not fully open yet, and asked sleepily, “Where are we?”
“We're on the classification of spiritual veins,” Lin Zhiyue whispered. “You drifted off just now.”
Liu Fengyao rubbed her face and smiled sheepishly. “Ah, I knew I couldn't survive Elder Wan's class. You're amazing, Junior Sister, still so full of energy after listening for so long.”
She leaned closer and lowered her voice even further. “By the way, when Martial Uncle Yanchen brought you back yesterday, a lot of senior brothers and sisters were asking about you. A dual ice and wind Heavenly Spiritual Root, a Grade A-Plus in the Heart's Inquiry, and personally taken in by Martial Uncle Yanchen—you're quite famous in the sect now.”
As Lin Zhiyue listened, she saw the line on the screen update in her mind: 【Friendship Progress: (1/1). Quest completed! Reward: Normal Draw Ticket ×2 has been distributed.】
That easy? She was slightly surprised.
Liu Fengyao did not seem to think anything of it, chatting with her about the daily routine in Tiance Palace—which cafeteria had the best food, which peak had the most fragrant spiritual tea, and when the young spirit beasts would wander out from the back mountain for a stroll.
Lin Zhiyue made polite noises in response while taking the opportunity to use the two normal tickets. One was of grey quality, a “Bamboo Bookmark (Effect: Will not slip out when placed between pages),” and the other was of green quality, an “Ink-jade Brush Rest (Effect: Automatically absorbs ink when a writing brush is placed on it).”
Nothing useful. Her expression unchanged, she slipped the items into her earrings and continued to listen to Liu Fengyao's chatter.
The morning class lasted for three hours before finally ending. Elder Wan closed his scroll and slowly rose to leave, and the disciples in the hall rushed out like water through an open floodgate.
Liu Fengyao stretched and stood up, patting Lin Zhiyue's shoulder. “Let's go, I'll take you to the cafeteria. They have roasted spiritual rabbit meat today, and it'll be gone if we're late!”
Lin Zhiyue followed her out. Just as she turned around, the system popped up with another new notification.
【Daily Quest Issued: Complete a reflection on today's morning class (requires submitting a cultivation reflection of no less than one hundred words). Quest Reward: Advanced Draw Ticket ×1.】
Standing in the corridor, Lin Zhiyue read the quest twice, her lips twitching slightly.
Writing reflections. What a familiar feeling. She had spent seven years in her past life writing papers and reports, yet she still had to write reflections in another world. How was the education style of this cultivation world any different from a modern university?
During lunch, Liu Fengyao got her two portions of roasted spiritual rabbit meat, which they ate with spiritual rice until their lips glistened with grease.
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