Slender willows sway in the breeze

Chapter 70 Hostility
The entrance to the cave was spacious and bright. Once inside, one could see a stone table for placing things, and against the wall was a bed covered with a sky-blue quilt.

Cheng Feng, still unwilling to give up, kicked it; it was made of stone.

The ground was clean, but it was uneven and full of potholes.

They really didn't expect it to be so rudimentary.

It was completely empty and devoid of any decorations. Anyone who knew they had come to the Valley Palace would think they had been exiled to a desolate and cold place.

Disciple Letian said, "Besides the three of you who are newly recruited disciples, there are two others who entered through the outer sect examination. Starting tomorrow, you will learn the sect rules together."

He was Ji He's attendant.

He has been following Ji He ever since he entered the mountain gate at the age of ten, and is now almost a hundred years old. However, he looks only about twenty-seven or twenty-eight.

My master has mentioned him.

Generally, after entering the Hidden Valley Palace and forming a Nascent Soul, one can choose to become an apprentice.

But even after Le Tian reached the age of fifty-three and achieved enlightenment, he still stayed by Ji He's side. Seventeen years have passed, and Le Tian is still here.

Cheng Feng: "There are two more? Where are they?"

“They arrived a few days ago and are staying opposite you. The peak master instructed that you should memorize the rules of Yougu Palace by tomorrow.” As Le Tian spoke, he took out three books with the words “Palace Rules” written on them from his bag and placed them on the stone table.

It's a book that's four fingers thick.

Cheng Feng, still unwilling to give up, confirmed again: "Finish it all in one day?"

"Yes, after reading it, I started refining pills just like the other disciples."

Even the usually composed Chu Yanjing couldn't help but ask, "You're starting to refine medicine on the second day, without identifying the medicinal herbs first?"

Refining medicine requires not only medicinal materials, but also the ability to control fire and the ability to perceive with divine sense. You don't even know how to apply these, yet you want to start refining pills?
That's too frivolous!
And shouldn't their master be the one to teach them the art of alchemy?

Lotte: "The peak master said that we should identify the medicinal herbs while refining the medicine. This way, we can identify them quickly and accurately without wasting time."

Cheng Feng: "What if we make a mistake?"

"Then punish him by making him copy the palace rules!"

Cheng Feng turned to look at the thick book that could knock someone unconscious, and said, "I understand!"

Having that thick book of palace rules to keep you alert and clear-headed is indeed a great help.

"There's no problem, everyone please get settled in as soon as possible."

Chu Yanjing lived in the middle room, Cheng Feng was on the left, Liu Sijun was on the right, and the room on the far right was for Li Qing. It was even smaller than their room and didn't even have a table to put things on.

Liu Sijun didn't care about these things. He returned to his room and began to read through the palace rules. He quickly skimmed through them first, then closed his eyes and began to scan them with his divine sense.

Before we knew it, it was midnight.

She yawned, turned over, and went to sleep. The next day at dawn, she changed into her sky-blue disciple robes and began to meditate, then familiarized herself with the palace rules once again.

At the end of the Chen hour (7-9 AM), the sound of bells rang out.

There are only fifteen minutes left before breakfast time.

Liu Sijun opened the door, and Li Qing was already standing at the door. Chu Yanjing also came out, but Cheng Feng was nowhere to be seen.

Chu Yanjing went to knock on the door.

Cheng Feng, still looking sleepy, asked, "I was studying palace rules yesterday and didn't sleep all night. I just slept for half an hour. What's wrong?"

Li Qing: "Let's eat."

"I'm not going to eat. I'll just take a fasting pill. I want to keep sleeping!"

"Didn't Senior Brother Feng read page 108 of the Palace Rules? It says that, except for disciples in seclusion or away from home, everyone must participate in group activities such as meals and morning prayers."

"what?"

How could he not remember!
Cheng Feng, half-awake, exclaimed, "There's such a rule?"

I have to go.

The palace rules state that new disciples can receive 300 high-grade crystals in their first month. After the second month, the amount of crystals will increase according to their cultivation level: 500 for Golden Core disciples and 1,000 for Nascent Soul disciples. The higher the cultivation level, the more the number of crystals will double.

Disobeying the palace rules is severely punished, with penalties ranging from five to ten people being penalized at once. Disciples who are new to the sect and unfamiliar with the rules are the most likely to have their crystals deducted.

Cheng Feng immediately went to change into his disciple's robes: "Let's go, let's go have breakfast."

Behind Jinxia Peak, there was a large open space with dozens of round wooden tables, where many disciples had already arrived.

Judging from this, it doesn't look like a cultivation sect.

But looking into the distance, shrouded in mist, and only when they could see the main hall atop the highest peak did they truly realize that they were in the Valley Palace.

The four people sat down, and there were four more people next to them.

They looked at each other, but didn't recognize each other.

Among them, Cheng Feng was considered lively. He took the initiative to introduce himself: "My name is Cheng Feng, and I am a new disciple. This is Chu Yanjing, and this is Liu Sijun. That is her younger brother."

The four people nodded.

Someone asked, "Why bring your family along? How could the Peak Master agree to this?"

"What's the use of whether the peak master agrees or not? As long as the people in the main hall agree, that's enough."

To cricket in front of them—should we say these disciples are upright gentlemen or simply disrespectful?

Liu Sijun glanced at the man.

He looked to be around twenty years old. His eyes were not large, but they were sharp. His skin was dark, his eyebrows were slightly thick and bushy, his nose bridge was flat, and his nose tip was slightly large. There was a black mole the size of a mung bean on his right chin. Judging from his cultivation level, he had not yet formed his core.

"What are you looking at?"

Liu Sijun put down her chopsticks and leaned back: "How do you know I'm looking at you if you're not looking at me?"

"Stop nitpicking with me."

A female disciple next to him nudged him with her elbow: "Mu Ze, say less. Eat!"

Mu Ze listened to his female disciple and lowered his eyes to eat.

It was as if nothing had happened.

Liu Sijun looked at the food in the bowl; it was not something she could usually eat. The white rice grains were distinct and translucent, containing a trace of spiritual energy, and the vegetables were also kinds rarely seen in the mortal world.

In short, eating here is also part of the spiritual practice.

It's no wonder that everyone is so eager to enter a sect; in the secular world, even a noble family is considered extremely fortunate to be able to afford one meal a month.

I eat here every day.

After the meal, servants specifically in charge of food and lodging immediately cleared away the bowls and chopsticks, and removed the tables and chairs.

The other disciples left in twos and threes.

Cheng Feng: "Shall we go back and continue?"

Li Qing: "Continue."

Liu Sijun nodded: "The first step for a newcomer is to thoroughly study the palace rules, so that you will know what you can and cannot do."

That day, I was so dizzy and disoriented from all the looking.

Most of the content is memorized through spiritual awareness; whether it is truly memorized can only be determined through practice.

The next day, after breakfast, they gathered outside the hall. There were two other people there who looked familiar; they were the same two who had eaten at the same table as them.

The man's name is Mu Ze, and the woman's name is...

Cheng Feng glanced at the disciple's token at her waist and transmitted his voice, "Her name is Yi Meng."

Recalling what Le Tian said yesterday, Liu Sijun guessed that the two of them must have entered the inner sect through strict examinations from the outer sect.

It's no wonder they are so hostile towards them.

To the two of them, Liu Sijun and his companions were like parachuted-in guests, bringing with them a servant and enjoying preferential treatment that they had never received, which naturally made them unhappy.

(End of this chapter)