As the carriage passed through the city and up the mountain path, Jun Li noticed that despite the fact she could hear the carriage wheels rattling against the ground, she couldn’t feel it, the inside of the carriage felt completely still, the only proof they had begun to move being the light through the small windows, and the sounds of the city slowly becoming faint.

  Rising further up the mountain, the carriage passed far behind the Royal Palace at the western end of the city and continued its ascent to the Sect.

  Inside the carriage, Jun Li tried her best not to meet Ren Liwei’s gaze, who she could feel had been glaring at her the whole ride.

  After waiting for almost an hour, the wooden panel at the front of the carriage slid open, and the Elder’s voice came through. “We’ve arrived on Sect grounds; I’ll show you around for a moment and guide you to where you will be staying.” The carriage had been so stable that Jun Li hadn’t realized it had stopped until the Elder began speaking.

  The carriage door opened from the outside, and the Elder beckoned the new disciples out. Outside, Jun Li saw a massive stone plaza, as far as manmade constructions go, this was the largest open space she had ever seen.

  Cut stones were laid out as flooring far into the distance, with large, slightly elevated platforms evenly spread out in the area as stages of some sort.

  Jun Li, momentarily distracted, didn’t notice that the Elder and the rest of the disciples had already begun to walk away.

  Quickly catching up, Jun Li heard the Elder continuing to talk about something she hadn’t caught the beginning of. “-And these elevations here are used primarily for sparring, though some disciples have taken to settling disputes by holding duels on them.”

  Following the group to whatever destination the Elder had in mind for them, Jun Li noticed a number of onlookers in grey robes, who seemed to have taken an interest in the new disciples.

  She also noticed a man in a yellow robe, who had a small crowd flocking around him, all wearing grey robes, as most in the plaza were.

  Averting her eyes, Jun Li couldn’t help but feel like people were looking at her strangely due to her crude clothing. Pulling her hat over her eyes, Jun Li tried to shake off the feeling.

  “Here we are, the Repository.” Jun Li heard the Elder speak up from the front of the group and raised her head.

  In front, she saw a huge five-tiered pagoda with pale white walls and red wooden pillars. She would have been shocked by its stature if she hadn’t seen the Alchemist’s Association just a few hours earlier.

  “Let’s head inside.” The Elder continued walking and led the new disciples into the building.

  The inside of the building was surprisingly open, with plenty of empty space between small bookshelves sitting in rows across the room.

  At the center of the room, an older woman sat behind a large desk, seemingly having been reading a book before the group entered the building.

  “Elder Guo.” The older woman nodded her head in a simple greeting. “These are the new disciples, then?” After a moment, Elder Guo replied. “Elder Shao. Yes, indeed they are. I presume everything is ready for them?”

  Without closing her book, Elder Shao gestured to the two wooden boxes that rested at the front of her desk. “Right, feel free to take them whenever.”

  As Elder Shao turned her gaze back to her book, Elder Guo stepped over to the wooden boxes and opened the larger of the two.

  Taking the box in his hands, he turned back to the new disciples. “The bags inside this box should contain a few sets of clothing for all of you, most notably, the grey robe worn by disciples of the Outer Sect. You may have seen some disciples wearing it on the way.”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Elder Guo held the wooden box out to the disciples, gesturing for them to take a bag for themselves. Jun Li took the bag, thankful that she wouldn’t have to feel self-conscious about her ragged clothing making her stand out.

  After the disciples had all taken a bag, Elder Guo set the box back down on the desk and grabbed another, much smaller box.

  “Here we are, these are quite important.” Turning to the new disciples, Elder Guo opened the box. “Firstly, we have your Jade Slips; these will serve as a way to prove your identity outside of the Sect.”

  Rather than offering the box as before, Elder Guo individually handed each disciple a Jade Slip. Each slip was a pale, glossy white, half over the length of a finger and twice as thick.

  “Now then, I want you to focus and try to push your Qi into the slip.” Elder Guo instructed the disciples on its operation. “While you are doing so, think of your name and your position as a disciple of the Glass Cloud Sect.”

  Jun Li followed Elder Guo’s guidance and attempted to push her Qi into the Jade Slip, though it took a moment, as she wasn’t familiar with projecting her Qi outwards.

  When Jun Li had finished, she felt the thoughts she had directed into the Jade Slip echo back to her. When she ceased pushing Qi into the slip, the feeling stopped. Looking up, she saw Elder Guo take back each disciple’s Jade Slip and engrave something on them with a thin implement of bone before handing them back one by one.

  When Elder Guo reached Jun Li, she gave her Jade Slip to him. When Elder Guo handed it back, Jun Li saw that an engraving on its surface read ‘Jun Li, Glass Cloud Sect Disciple.’

  Without ever speaking her name aloud, it seemed the information Jun Li stored in the Jade Slip could be transferred simply by emitting a small amount of Qi.

  “And finally…” Elder Guo looked into the small box he held under his arm and pulled out a stack of books. “This is by far the most important item you will find in the sect. Take great care not to lose or damage it.”

  As he began handing out these books, one per disciple, he continued to emphasize its importance. “These are copies of the ‘Glass Cloud Manual’, the principal technique of our Sect.”

  “Inside you will find a Cultivation Method, Martial Art, Qinggong Basics, and a Movement Technique. With enough comprehensive skill, these four pillars will be everything you need to improve your Cultivation and surpass your peers.”

  Elder Guo paused a moment for emphasis. “Don’t lose it.”

  Now that all of the new disciples had their Sect clothing, identification, and martial manuals, Elder Guo returned the boxes he used to the Repository custodian.

  “Elder Shao, thank you for assisting with the preparations.” Elder Guo bowed slightly, in turn, Elder Shao slightly nodded her head, her gaze still fixed on her book.

  “Now then, everyone, I’ll show you to your new residences.” Elder Guo beckoned for the new disciples to follow him out of the building and into the plaza.

  As Jun Li followed along, she resisted the desire to start reading her new Manual right away and decided to wait until she had settled into her new home.

  Outside, Jun Li couldn’t help but notice that considerably more people had gathered in the plaza, including a few more individuals in yellow robes, and similar to what she had seen before, grey-robed disciples seemed to congregate around them.

  Jun Li walked alongside the group to the other end of the plaza, trying to bring as little attention to herself as possible.

  In following Elder Guo, Jun Li noticed that they were walking past where they had left the carriage and moving further up the mountain. The path they had begun to follow was quite wide and trailed up a forest of tall, thin trees.

  After walking the trail for a short time, the group quickly found themselves looking out at what appeared to be a village. “You will be living here for the time being, the Outer Sect.” Elder Guo spoke out, gesturing to the rather sprawling site. In this area, dozens of small houses could be seen, even just at the entrance where the group stood.

  Elder Guo continued to lead the new disciples further into the Outer Sect grounds. “When we reach the unoccupied housing, I’ll be leaving you to your own devices for the most part. So, on the way, I’ll give you two important pieces of advice for your time here.” Elder Guo raised his hand, holding out two fingers.

  “Firstly, you should try and make some connections here with your senior disciples, it will be your best way to get advice and understand the sect better.” Now holding up a finger, Elder Guo continued. “Furthermore, I highly recommend you train up and join in on the trials we hold once every two months for Outer Sect disciples in their first two years, the next is in one month!”

  Jun Li looked around, almost too distracted to hear the Elder. All around the area she could see small houses, a number of them seemingly weathered by time, bearing wooden name plaques on their doors.

  In front, she saw Elder Guo stop, before he gestured forward to a group of buildings, seemingly new, their stone unblemished, wooden beams freshly painted, and doors unadorned with any names.

  For the majority of disciples, these houses were small, dusty and austere. But for Jun Li, they were large enough that she couldn't imagine what to do with all the space.

  “Here we are, your new homes.”