Yuan Zhi was a handyman disciple who had joined the sect in the same year as Gu Ningyun.
The entrance examinations for Xiaoyao's handyman disciples and official disciples were quite similar; both required entering the Cloud Mirror to pass the assessments of the inner demon illusion and the Path to Immortality.
The only thing that distinguished their identities was their spirit roots.
After having their spirit roots tested at the recruitment site, disciples with three spirit roots or fewer would receive a yellow jade sliver.
Once they passed the subsequent two trials, the guide would snap their jade sliver into a jade token, granting them their yellow disciple identity jade token.
The jade token contained their identity information and Cloud Residence arrangements.
For example, the front of Yuan Zhi's identity jade token read: Xiaoyao Immortal Sect | External Sect | Xitai Abode | Yuan Zhi.
The back read: Cloud Residence: Tingzhao | No. 67. Tingzhao was the residential area for female disciples in Xitai Abode.
The External Sect of Xiaoyao consisted of endless rolling mountains, with countless abodes established for the handyman disciples to live and cultivate.
Before every recruitment cycle, the External Sect would specifically clear out dozens of abodes to accommodate the newly joined handyman disciples.
The new handyman disciples were grouped in sets of two hundred and assigned to an abode, with each abode managed by two guides.
With mid-grade three spirit roots like Yuan Zhi's, there would have been no problem at all entering the outer sect of other sects directly; she wouldn't have been classified as a handyman.
However, there was a saying in the cultivation world: "Better to be a Xiaoyao handyman than an outer disciple of another sect."
The reason for this lay in Xiaoyao's cultivation and promotion systems for handyman disciples.
For disciples like Yuan Zhi, one of the most attractive points was that as long as they swore a heart-demon oath never to betray the Xiaoyao Immortal Sect, they could go to the heart-method section of the Book Peak and choose a cultivation technique suited for them, just like outer sect disciples.
The technique light orbs in the heart-method section were all copies made from the original manuals, specifically provided for new disciples to choose from.
As long as a technique acknowledged them, they could choose a celestial-rank or even a divine-rank cultivation technique.
The second factor was the promotion system.
Because handyman disciples possessed three, four, or five spirit roots, their cultivation was significantly slower than that of disciples with single or dual spirit roots.
The New Disciple Training Department and the guides had only two requirements for them: first, to meditate and cultivate to increase their cultivation level; and second, to take on missions to earn promotion points.
After new handyman disciples joined, Xiaoyao would first assign them mandatory daily tasks based on their interests, such as raising spirit beasts, tending to spirit fields, or caring for spirit herbs.
Firstly, this allowed them to gradually understand the cultivation world through practice.
Secondly, it trained them in the application of their spells.
Thirdly, Xiaoyao did not provide a monthly stipend to any disciple, and handyman disciples had to pay spirit stones for their meals in the dining hall and for purchasing pills.
These simple mandatory tasks allowed them to earn spirit stones even at a low cultivation level while slowly accumulating promotion points.
Fourthly, it was naturally because Xiaoyao was too large; the daily operations required a vast number of handyman disciples to maintain.
Unless they had taken a corresponding mission or there were special circumstances, handyman disciples usually did not have permission to enter the floating peaks.
Therefore, Xiaoyao opened a separate peak in the External Sect and established a Mission Hall for the handyman disciples' use.
This Mission Hall was also connected to the handyman disciples' identity jade tokens, functioning much like the relationship between Gu Ningyun's identity jade token and the Governing Peak's Mission Hall.
Once their cultivation reached Qi Refining level three, they could independently accept missions from the Mission Hall to earn pills, spirit stones, sect points, promotion points, and more.
Each mission, depending on its difficulty, could grant as little as one promotion point or as many as several dozen.
As long as they accumulated ten thousand promotion points, reached Qi Refining level nine, and were under a hundred years old, they could participate in the outer sect disciple promotion assessment held every three years.
If they passed, they would become outer sect disciples of Xiaoyao. Just like Gu Ningyun and the others when they first joined, they would be entered into the Disciple Jade Register, move to the outer sect floating peaks, and be assigned a supervisor for formal training.
From that moment on, they would be true official disciples of Xiaoyao, with identity and permissions no different from those who had entered the outer sect from the start.
To Xiaoyao, they were all disciples who had passed the inner demon illusion and the Path to Immortality before joining. As long as they cultivated diligently, met the requirements, and passed the promotion assessment, they would advance.
Even for those with the worst low-grade five spirit roots, Xiaoyao provided its disciples with an opportunity to climb upward.
Under a hundred years old. With nearly a century of time to simply break through to Qi Refining level nine, even someone with five spirit roots could afford to give it their all.
Yuan Zhi was considered a relatively fast cultivator among her batch of handyman disciples. After reaching Qi Refining level three, she had taken on many missions.
She had come to this dense forest today for a sect mission to collect Purple Sun Flower dew.
Purple Sun Flowers could be used for alchemy, and their dew could be used in refining pills, preparing spirit liquids, or brewing tea.
There happened to be an area in this forest with a unique geographical structure—plenty of moisture and bright sunlight—making it suitable for Purple Sun Flowers to grow.
The forest was not far from Tingyang City, and because of the Purple Sun Flowers, Xiaoyao disciples frequently came and went, so it was usually not very dangerous.
Yuan Zhi had run to this forest many times, but for some reason, these strange wooden sheep had suddenly appeared this time.
She rubbed the spot where she had been hit earlier, feeling a bit lucky.
Fortunately, she had run into this Senior Sister; otherwise, she would have lost her life.
The identity jade tokens of handyman disciples did not have a protective shield that lasted for one incense stick like those of official disciples.
"I wonder how I should address you, Senior Sister? You saved Yuan Zhi's life. If there is anything I can help with in the future, I will definitely do my best."
"My name is Gu Ningyun," Gu Ningyun said with a slight smile, granting Yuan Zhi's wish by adding her as a friend.
This Junior Sister Yuan Zhi seemed to be about the same age as her and had likely joined in the same year.
To be able to cultivate to Qi Refining level three in just over two years with the talent of a handyman disciple meant she was surely someone dedicated to her practice.
Furthermore, seeing her clear gaze and sincere, neither servile nor overbearing manner, Gu Ningyun figured she was someone with a clean mind and a bottom line.
Having another friend meant having another path; there was no harm in adding her.
Seeing Yuan Zhi staring at her without blinking, looking somewhat excited and relieved, Gu Ningyun gave a light laugh and comforted her, "It was just a small matter, no need to worry about it."
To be honest, it really had been just a matter of a single casual sword strike.
"Mm-hmm! Senior Sister doesn't need to worry, as long as Yuan Zhi knows it in her heart!" Yuan Zhi chuckled, her watery eyes fixed on Gu Ningyun.
That was how she interpreted it? Gu Ningyun opened her mouth but said nothing more.
Her divine sense swept over Yuan Zhi's neck and collarbone. Seeing they were only slightly red, she stopped worrying about it and turned to pick up the wooden sheep.
The material of this wooden sheep looked like arbor wood, but it contained a trace of extremely pure, pale green spirit energy.
A certain passage from the 《Almanac of Heavenly Wonders》 naturally surfaced in her mind. As Gu Ningyun made the comparison, her eyes suddenly lit up.
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