Leaving the great hall under Elder Zhao’s lead, Aotian, Rihai, and the Red Tiger stopped when the doors closed behind them.

Elder Zhao turned around, stroked his large black beard, and smiled.

“Welcome to the Infinite Dao Sect,” he said, smiling as he congratulated the three.

“Thank you, Elder Zhao!” Aotian and Rihai replied, while the tiger simply nodded.

“You, tiger, may lie down and wait here. Later, the elders from the Beast Hall will come to guide you,” he said, scratching his beard. After receiving another nod from the tiger, he turned to the couple. “Well then, you two, follow me.”

Without waiting for a response, he began walking.

Before following, Aotian turned to glance at the Red Tiger, who looked slightly dazed. He couldn’t help but feel like a cruel owner abandoning a helpless puppy.

And technically, he was — except the “puppy” was the size of a house and had easily shredded an army of thousands.

Casting a helpless look at the tiger and planning to visit him later, Aotian turned and walked on with Rihai.

When they caught up to the elder, he showed no reaction and immediately began speaking.

“My name is Zhao Linghai. You may simply call me Elder Zhao, and I am currently responsible for outer disciples like yourselves,” he introduced.

“Rihai/Aotian greets Elder Zhao!” the two said, cupping their fists and bowing.

Elder Zhao, who had paused to receive the greeting, casually waved his hand and resumed walking as he continued explaining.

“Our sect, being in an itinerant state, still lacks many facilities. With time, they will be added. However, the basic cultivation environment and resources won’t be an issue for any disciple, so don’t worry. But the sect operates on contribution points, so if you want certain things, you’ll have to work hard.”

He explained calmly, though inwardly Aotian couldn’t help but be amused. Of course he didn’t plan to run around doing sect missions when he was the one who owned the place.

Rihai, however, didn’t seem to share the same thought.

‘Missions and contribution points are common in a sect… but that’s good. Aotian and I can use them to train and accumulate resources without raising suspicion.’

She cast a sidelong glance at Aotian, who walked casually beside the elder.

‘I bet Aotian’s thinking about receiving all the benefits without lifting a finger, just because of his status in the sect…’

Her prediction would’ve certainly shocked Aotian, who might start wondering if Rihai could read minds.

‘…He might use that status for some resources, but more obvious things like higher realm techniques, spells, and equipment — which require lots of contribution points — should be earned by us. It would be too suspicious for someone who’s never done a mission to suddenly ascend realms or use the sect’s rare spells.’

Rihai’s mind buzzed with considerations, though she knew that thinking was one thing; convincing Aotian was a whole other matter.

They hadn’t walked far when they saw a large stone aviary up ahead.

Following the elder and nearing the aviary, they came across about ten large and beautiful white cranes, with blue-tipped wings, waiting there.

The beasts emitted late-stage first-level auras, standing about 11 feet (~3 meters) tall, with an average wingspan of 26 feet (~8 meters). Though nearly as tall as the Red Tiger due to their long legs, they were clearly outmatched in overall size, weight, and strength.

“These are Misty Plume Cranes. They serve as individual transportation within the sect. Just hand over 10 low-grade spirit stones, and they’ll take you to the nearest aviary to your desired destination,” he explained while pulling ten stones from his storage pouch and tossing them to one of the birds, which opened its beak, sucked them in, and stored them within its stomach, protected by spiritual energy.

The crane flapped its wings lightly, turned to show its back, and crouched slightly on its long legs.

Without hesitation, Zhao gave a light leap and landed gently on the crane’s back, which had enough space for one person to ride comfortably. Then, he looked at the couple.

Aotian and Rihai exchanged glances before each choosing a crane, repeating the process with the stones, and mounting them.

When Aotian first arrived at the Bamboo Sword Sect with his avatars, he hadn’t seen any spiritual cranes in the skies and thought the sect wasn’t as impressive as those he had read about in books. But in truth, the birds had simply hidden due to the threat of his attack.

“Take us to the nearest aviary by the cave-mansions of the Infinite Dao Sect’s outer disciples,” Elder Zhao commanded the crane through spiritual energy, allowing it to understand his destination.

“Kraawk!” The crane beneath him cried humbly, slightly bent its legs, and spread its powerful wings, soaring gracefully into the air.

Rihai’s and Aotian’s cranes followed suit. Soon, the three of them were flying through the sky, gliding smoothly among the clouds.

‘I finally feel like I’m in a real xianxia world, like it’s supposed to be…’ Aotian couldn’t help but think as a light smile spread across his face.

The sensation of the crane’s downy feathers beneath him.

His body passing through damp clouds, unharmed thanks to the spiritual energy barrier shielding him.

At his side, the beautiful Rihai looked ahead, glowing under the sun, her intense blue eyes and golden hair fluttering in the wind, riding another white crane with graceful wingbeats.

Up ahead, on another crane, the stern Elder Zhao — with his long beard and black hair — was also surrounded by rushing air currents.

Mystical clouds surrounded them, and the vast sect stretched out below.

It might not have been the grandest xianxia scene Aotian had experienced since reincarnating, but it was certainly the most emblematic.

While still in the air, Elder Zhao — or rather, Aotian through his avatar — continued transmitting instructions, this time through spiritual transmission, as it was difficult to speak aloud during flight.

“…The outer elders of some pavilions will soon begin public lectures on the various auxiliary cultivation arts, such as alchemy, forging, formations, and others. You may attend if you’re interested. However, these classes will only cover the Refinement-Tier arts. For higher levels, the requirements are stricter, such as becoming an inner disciple and affiliating with one of the peaks,” the elder explained.

This caught Rihai’s attention. She had been very young when certain things happened in her life that led her to end up in one of the deserts. At the time, being so young, she simply focused on cultivation and, as a hobby, loved burying herself in the library, using jade slips to learn about the world. However, she had never learned auxiliary arts from a teacher, since it wasn’t necessary back then. She had only learned the basics.

Later, when she fled to the desert, out of necessity, she tried to study a bit more using the low-level arts she found there, but the quality was so poor that they were even worse than the basics she already knew and didn’t help much.

She had given up on learning auxiliary arts in life, but who would’ve thought fate would change and she’d get another chance? For that reason, she was very interested in learning from the mysterious Infinite Dao Sect what she couldn’t before.

As she reflected, the voice transmission instructions continued.

“…You two probably haven’t received weapons from the sect yet. Every outer disciple may choose one type of weapon. You can tell me your choices, and I’ll have someone deliver them later,” he explained.

“Yes, Elder Zhao!” both responded respectfully via transmission, nodding their heads atop their respective cranes — even though Aotian had already received a weapon from Bao Wuji earlier when he fought the red tiger. But he was too lazy to pretend to explain that to his own avatar, so it was easier to send himself another weapon. After all, it was all his anyway.

The elder continued:

“Cultivation techniques will also need to be arranged for you. Later, I’ll come to bring you both to receive them from the sect artifact,” he explained, and Rihai grew curious about this so-called artifact of the mysterious sect.

While he explained other things, several minutes passed, and the cranes began to descend toward an aviary. As they landed, Zhao’s instructions were also coming to a close.

“…As for becoming inner disciples, you can be recommended by a sect elder upon demonstrating talent and promise, or simply through the combat competition held during new recruitments. As for the rest, you can learn by interacting with your fellow disciples or exploring on your own…”

He finished speaking and jumped down from the crane, which had landed gently in the aviary.

“Any questions?” he asked, this time without using voice transmission, as he turned to them.

Aotian and Rihai, who had also dismounted their cranes, shook their heads.

“Good.” Zhao smiled. “That’s fortunate, because I’ve just found a good guide for you.” He turned toward a nearby stone.

Aotian and Rihai looked at the stone curiously, though there was a hint of amusement in Aotian’s eyes.

“Cang Song, what are you doing hiding behind that rock?” Elder Zhao asked with a smile.

After a few seconds of silence, a white-haired head slowly popped up from behind the rock and looked at them with an odd expression.

“Ahem!” He coughed into his fist, clearly embarrassed, stepped to the side and emerged from behind the rock. Cupping his fists, he bowed slightly.

“Cang Song greets Elder Zhao and fellow disciples,” he said seriously.

“So, what were you doing over there?” Elder Zhao grinned and pressed the question.

“Well… um… I was, err, counting ants?” he said uncertainly, sweating a little and looking ashamed.

The truth was, when he was about to grab a crane, he spotted Elder Zhao coming from afar and panicked, hiding behind the rock to avoid trouble.

But now he regretted it and didn’t have a good excuse to give. He could already feel trouble looming — for some reason, Elder Zhao always seemed to target him with troublesome tasks.

“Heeh…” Elder Zhao chuckled mischievously. “Cang Song, you arrived just in time. Help these newly arrived outer disciples find a cave dwelling,” he ordered without hesitation, then turned to Aotian and Rihai. “You two, practice diligently,” he advised them, and, without waiting for a response, simply pulled out a flying sword, leapt onto it, and departed elegantly with his hands behind his back.

Cang Song was left behind, abandoned to the wind, his face bitter.

‘If I’d known, I would’ve never come this way to grab a crane. I should’ve gone to a farther aviary…’ he thought bitterly.

But the truth was, there was a closer aviary near the cave mansions of the inner disciples like him. However, afraid of bad luck and trouble there, he had chosen this farther one instead. Now, he was already planning to go even farther next time.

Sighing bitterly and forcing a smile, he looked helplessly at the two disciples, though there was also a bit of curiosity in his gaze.

‘Strange, I’ve never seen them before. They weren’t among the disciples recruited earlier… Must be an addition made during the months we were away.’ He pondered, but chose not to ask.

Curiosity killed the cat, and his life was far too precious to be a cat.

“Well, junior brother and sister, I’ve just returned to the sect myself, so I’m not too familiar yet, but I know where the outer disciples’ cave mansions are. Please, follow me,” he said gently. Now that trouble had come knocking, fleeing would only cause more contradictions — and more problems. All that was left was to bite the bullet.

“Thank you, senior brother!” Aotian and Rihai smiled, cupped their hands, and thanked him.

‘Well, I don’t mind calling this seventy-year-old disciple senior brother. He even deserves to be called grandpa,’ Aotian thought, amused.

And so, under the guidance of the unfortunate Cang Song, they quickly headed toward the cave mansions of the outer disciples.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep