I proved immortality with thunder magic.

Early the next morning, Zhou Tai rode the black-feathered eagle to the location of the Yuying Hall.

Spirit Beast Mountain has many halls and institutions, and the Hall of Nurturing Talents, as the name suggests, is set up to select and nurture outstanding talents for the sect.

Generally, when a sect recruits disciples from outside, they must first submit their information to the Yuying Hall. After the hall master and deputy hall master review the information, their status and treatment will be determined based on the circumstances.

Of course, nominally, the Yuying Hall does not have the direct authority to determine who is an outer disciple; this authority belongs only to the sect leader.

However, in practice, the head of the Spirit Beast Mountain, who is a great cultivator in the Purple Mansion stage, doesn't pay much attention to such details. He usually approves the list submitted by the Yuying Hall directly.

In any case, if the Yuying Hall really dares to violate the sect rules and goes too far, then the Criminal Law Hall will supervise and report it, and then he can hold the Yuying Hall accountable.

After arriving at the Yuying Hall, Zhou Tai stated his name and purpose, and soon met the junior brother Chen mentioned by Zeng Qiming, who was also the current head of the Yuying Hall.

The Hall Master Chen personally verified his identity information, then engraved his name on the prepared outer disciple identity token and issued it to him along with a storage bag.

As for visiting the Ancestral Hall to pay homage and meeting the sect leader, since it is related to the initiation ceremony, it can only be done after the outer sect competition next year.

In short, once Zhou Tai came out of the Yuying Hall, he was already a proper outer disciple of the Spirit Beast Mountain.

After leaving the Hall of Education, his next stop was the Hall of Talismans.

The outer disciples of Spirit Beast Mountain do not have to undertake any miscellaneous tasks, but they all have a designated affiliation.

Zhou Tai's current affiliation is the Talisman Hall, and his future place of cultivation will be Yuanfu Peak, where the Talisman Hall is located.

After the Black Feathered Vulture landed on Yuanfu Peak, Zhou Tai stored his mount in the animal pen and went straight up the mountain to pay his respects to the Palace Master, Zeng Qiming.

When he arrived at Zeng Qiming's cave, the gatekeeper told him that Zeng Qiming had something urgent to attend to that day and had gone to another friend's cave, and asked him to come and visit again in a couple of days.

Fortunately, Zeng Qiming hadn't forgotten about him and specially arranged for someone to prepare accommodations for him.

Therefore, Zhou Tai could only follow a talisman master from the talisman hall to his new residence.

As the location of the Talisman Hall, Yuanfu Peak is naturally much larger than Leihe Peak, a private cave temple, and its spiritual energy is also much richer.

The accommodation arranged for Zhou Tai was a courtyard located in a valley. Since the valley was not large and his courtyard was the only one there, it was a very nice place.

What pleased Zhou Tai the most was that the courtyard also came with a simple protective formation called the "Three Talents Bewildering Formation". Once activated, it could cover the entire courtyard and could be kept open year-round for just six low-grade spirit stones.

"As expected, outer disciples are the true disciples of the sect. Their treatment is far inferior to that of menial disciples. No wonder there are only ten spots in the outer sect competition each time, yet it attracts so many menial disciples to fight desperately for them!"

In the courtyard, Zhou Tai looked at the huge courtyard that belonged only to him, his face filled with emotion.

Only after becoming an outer disciple today did he realize exactly how much better outer disciples were than menial disciples.

Just look at this courtyard. Not to mention the invaluable protective formation, the size of the courtyard is far beyond what my previous residence could compare to.

The entire courtyard was surrounded by a ten-foot-high wall, covering an area of ​​more than five acres. In addition to the main building, there were six or seven functional rooms, including a kitchen, woodshed, animal pen, outhouse, and storage room. There was also a well and a pond in the courtyard.

After surveying the layout of the courtyard, Zhou Tai took off his spirit beast pouch from his waist and released the Thunder-Patterned Frog inside.

quack!

After emerging, the Thunder Frog immediately emitted a series of protesting croaks, seemingly expressing its dissatisfaction.

Although the spirit beast pouch can allow demonic beasts to survive inside, the spiritual energy inside is weak and the space is cramped, so no demonic beast likes to stay there for long.

Zhou Tai hasn't let the Thunder Frog out for some fresh air since yesterday, so it's no wonder the frog is so unhappy.

Seeing this, Zhou Tai could only squat down and stroke the frog's head to comfort it, saying, "Alright, alright, I know what you mean. From now on, unless absolutely necessary, I won't put you in the spirit beast pouch anymore, okay?"

After saying that, he took out some homemade insect rice balls from his storage bag and scattered them on the ground for the Thunder Frog to eat.

These insect-rice balls are frog food he devised himself. He crushes the insects he feeds to frogs into a paste, adds some rice powder, kneads it into a ball the size of a peanut, and then dries it in the shade. The frogs love them.

The Thunder Frog stretched out its long tongue and quickly swept away all the insect rice balls on the ground. Then, without Zhou Tai's instructions, it jumped into the pond where lotus flowers were planted.

Zhou Tai trusted the clever frog completely, so he didn't pay much attention to it and went straight into the main building to visit his new home.

The main building has two floors. The lower floor has a living room and a dining room, while the upper floor has four rooms: a bedroom, a study, a meditation room, and a storage room.

After touring the place, Zhou Tai immediately decided to transform the study into his future talisman-drawing studio.

Then he sat in the study, opened the storage bag he had received from the Yuying Hall, and emptied out its contents.

The standard storage bag that was issued had the same internal space as the one Zhou Tai used before, but it could hold quite a lot of things.

Among the pile of items, there were large items like the standard robes worn by outer disciples on formal occasions, and small items like a communication talisman, all of which were prepared.

Furthermore, there are several books that detail the benefits, rights, and responsibilities of outer disciples, sect rules and laws, various organizations within the sect, the names of all cultivators above the Purple Mansion stage, and maps of the sect, etc.

Zhou Tai first looked at the benefits for outer disciples.

The annual benefits include fifteen low-grade spirit stones, one hundred catties of first-grade low-grade spirit rice, three first-grade low-grade practical magic talismans such as communication talismans or hemostatic talismans, and thirty catties of food for bird or beast spirit pets.

Everyone is entitled to these items, and they can collect them annually from the sect's Hall of Benevolent Wealth using their outer disciple identity token.

In other words, even if outer disciples do nothing, they can still earn thirty to forty low-grade spirit stones every year!

Zhou Tai calculated that if an outer disciple of the Spirit Beast Mountain started receiving benefits at the age of seven and knew how to save money, by the time he was twenty, he could save at least two hundred low-grade spirit stones.

This amount of spirit stones is more than enough to buy magical artifacts or learn skills.

In contrast, the other handyman disciples of the same age were lucky to have thirty to fifty low-grade spirit stones.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh, "The difference in treatment between outer gatekeepers and menial workers is truly much greater than the difference between permanent and temporary workers!"

Fortunately, he is now an outer disciple, so he can expect to have a government job from now on!

So he quickly put down the book and picked up the robe to examine it closely.

This robe should be considered a low-grade first-tier magic artifact. It feels like it's made of a blend of silk and hemp, and it's said to be washable, fireproof, insect-resistant, and exceptionally tough.

The bluish-brown robe had only one embroidered pattern: a giant golden eagle on the right breast.

It is said that the founder of Spirit Beast Mountain had three powerful spirit pets: the Purple Flame Lion, the Ice Dragon Python, and the Golden-Winged Eagle.

The giant golden eagle on the outer sect disciples' standard robes represents that golden-winged eagle.

In addition to the golden giant eagle, the inner disciples' standard robes also feature a white dragon and python pattern on the left chest.

However, despite its fine quality, this robe is rarely seen worn by outer disciples. It is said that this is because they are worried that if it gets damaged, they will have to spend money to get a replacement.

Zhou Tai also felt there was no need to show off by wearing something that everyone has, so after examining it for a while, he put it away.

He then began to carefully read those books.

Of course, Zhou Tai also sent a message to Aaron Kwok, informing him of the location of his new residence.

Now that he's become an outer disciple and moved to Yuanfu Peak, a public spiritual peak, Aaron Kwok can come to see him anytime without the hassle of before.

Aaron Kwok arrived quickly, coming to see him the very next day.

"Junior Brother Zhou, your courtyard is quite nice. The environment is quiet and peaceful, and the concentration of spiritual energy is not low. It seems that Uncle Zeng really values ​​you."

In the courtyard, after looking around at Zhou Tai's new home, Aaron Kwok nodded repeatedly in praise.

"My teacher Zeng treated me very well."

Zhou Tai nodded in agreement, then looked at Aaron Kwok and said, "Brother Kwok, I'm afraid you've come here today for more than just to congratulate me on moving to my new home!"

"Haha, I knew I couldn't hide it from you, Junior Brother Zhou."

Aaron Kwok laughed and stopped trying to hide it, saying immediately, "It's Uncle Sun urging you to go and meet him soon. He's been wanting to see you for a long time."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Tai nodded thoughtfully and said, "Alright, then let's do it today. I'll go with Senior Brother Guo to pay my respects to Uncle Sun."

"No problem, I happen to have time today."

Aaron Kwok readily agreed and immediately set off with Zhou Tai.

The two set off from Yuanfu Peak and flew for dozens of miles before arriving at Bishuitan.

The pool, though called a pool, was actually more like a small lake, with a water area of ​​over a hundred acres.

The water in this pool is emerald green, and many aquatic plants such as water hyacinth float in it.

The cave dwelling of that Uncle Sun was located on the cliff above the pool, and it was a cave dwelling truly built inside the mountain.

Because Aaron Kwok had given prior notice, when the two arrived at the edge of the Green Pool, their Uncle-Master Sun Jianghai also flew out of his cave and landed on the lake shore.

Zhou Tai looked up and saw that this Uncle Sun Jianghai looked to be about the same age as the deceased Uncle Yang Jinsheng, and his face looked quite kind.

He dared not look any longer and quickly bowed, saying, "Outer disciple Zhou Tai greets Martial Uncle Sun."

Upon seeing this, Sun Jianghai immediately smiled warmly and said, "Nephew Zhou, there's no need for such formalities. I've long known of your esteemed name, but unfortunately, I've never had the chance to meet you. Now that I've met you, you truly are a man of exceptional talent, unlike any ordinary person!"

This was the first time Zhou Tai had heard a Foundation Establishment cultivator praise him so highly, and he was somewhat flattered.

He quickly replied, "This disciple is terrified. It's not that I didn't want to come and pay my respects to Uncle-Master Sun sooner, but I was simply unable to do so due to other commitments!"

Upon hearing this, Sun Jianghai immediately smiled and waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "Nephew Zhou, there's no need to be so reserved. I am a close friend of the elders of Nephew Guo's family; otherwise, I wouldn't have obtained the Thunder Pattern Frog Egg. Please relax in front of me."

Aaron Kwok then added, "Yes, yes, Uncle Sun is always kind to people, and Junior Brother Zhou, you're here to help, so there's no need to be too reserved."

Seeing that he said the same thing, Zhou Tai felt a little relieved and immediately said, "It is my honor to be able to help Uncle Sun."

Sun Jianghai nodded with a smile, then looked at him and said, "Junior Nephew Zhou, you are an expert in raising frogs. I know that you need to focus on your cultivation and drawing talismans, so I will not force you to stay at the Jade Pool. I only ask that you come every few days to help cast spells and give me some pointers on the precautions for the people I arrange to feed the frogs."

"In return, I, Sun, will give you sixty low-grade spirit stones every year, and I promise you the right to purchase one Thunder-Patterned Frog Skin every three years. What do you think?"

This treatment was much better than what Zhang Yuanjing had received, so how could Zhou Tai be dissatisfied?

He quickly and solemnly replied, "Thank you for your trust, Uncle Sun. I will do my best to raise the frog troop well for you!"

"Very well, then it's settled."

Sun Jianghai was very satisfied with his attitude and immediately gave him sixty low-grade spirit stones as an advance payment for a year's wages.

The rest was no longer a concern for Sun Jianghai. He would arrange for his servant disciples, who were in charge of feeding the frogs, to take Zhou Tai to the frog colony's habitat and cast a spell.

It was only then that Zhou Tai learned that before his arrival, Sun Jianghai could only use the few lightning-attribute monsters he had found to lay traps for the Thunder-Patterned Frog.

However, those demonic beasts were reckless and killed several frogs before he even arrived. No wonder Sun Jianghai, a dignified Foundation Establishment cultivator, would lower himself and urge him to come and do the work.