Hearing this, Ning Ri revealed a surprised expression, then sincerely thanked them. "Many thanks, Elders."
After hearing this, Zhou Hai fell silent and wrestled with himself for a moment before finally clearing his throat. "You should especially thank Elder Mo Cuidao. He was the one who proposed this."
Ning Ri was surprised again. So it had been the bandit elder.
He could not help but say gratefully, "Thank you, Elder Mo! And thank you, Elder Zhou!"
The conflicted Zhou Hai immediately smiled again. "All right. What choice do you wish to make?"
Ning Ri asked, "May this disciple boldly ask what benefits there are to entering the Inner Sect early?"
Zhou Hai said, "Within the Inner Sect, the most important thing is that the cultivation environment is better and mission rewards are more generous."
"Moreover, you have already learned artifact refinement. The place where you can make the fullest use of your skills is the Inner Sect."
"In the Inner Sect, Contribution Points are worth more, prices are lower than in the Outer Sect, and there are more choices."
"Additionally, once you accumulate a certain amount of Contribution Points in the Inner Sect, you may ask us to search for spirit herbs on your behalf."
"However, the downside is that if you enter the Inner Sect as an exception, the pressure you face will likely be no small matter."
"For example, you may suffer cold looks and contempt."
Ning Ri pondered. "To this disciple, cold looks and contempt are nothing, since I need only ignore them. It is simply that I feel this matter should be tremendously stressful for all of you, Elders..."
"So let us put the first choice aside for now."
Zhou Hai did not try to persuade or interfere with Ning Ri. He merely nodded slightly and allowed the other party to make his own choice.
In truth, among these options, what tempted Ning Ri most was directly changing his aptitude.
Now that he possessed the complete Qi Refining Art, reaching the peak of Qi Refining was practically within arm's reach.
As for reaching Foundation Establishment, he merely needed to find Foundation Establishment Cultivation Methods. That would be a matter of minutes.
As for cultivation methods, he could obtain them by doing missions in the Outer Sect and earning Contribution Points.
As for the timing of his breakthrough, he could choose a time when he left the Heaven Defying Sect and claim that he had encountered a fortunate opportunity outside, allowing him to luckily reach Foundation Establishment...
Though it sounded a little ridiculous, it was still barely plausible.
That way, he could also lay the groundwork early for the persona of "Lucky Brother," letting them know his breakthroughs were not cheats but luck. Then, even if he did something else heaven-defying in the future, it would all follow naturally.
No big problem!
Therefore, what he wanted more was pills!
Ning Ri asked, "Elder Zhou, regarding the second choice, this disciple wishes to know whether the Elders would need to bear any risks."
Zhou Hai said, "We would enter a 'strangeness' once. This 'strangeness' is not particularly dangerous, but we cannot guarantee that we will retrieve the pill, so it will likely take quite some time."
Hearing this, Ning Ri froze. "Elder Zhou, this 'strangeness' is...?"
"'Strangeness'..."
Zhou Hai pondered. "You can understand it as a space with specific rules. After entering it, you can only survive by fulfilling its rules. Only by exploring the rules of the strangeness can you obtain its rewards or leave alive."
"The rules of strangenesses come in every strange and bizarre form. Encountering an unfamiliar strangeness is even more dangerous, because without understanding its rules, it is easy to die a sudden and violent death."
"For that very reason, the Disciple Token also contains methods for avoiding strangenesses."
Ning Ri picked up the Disciple Token in surprise, turning it over and examining it before asking, "What method?"
Zhou Hai said solemnly, "Don't go out."
Ning Ri: "?"
His eager expression turned utterly speechless.
He first put away the Disciple Token, then smiled as though fate had dealt him a bitter hand. "Ahahaha, right, indeed..."
Zhou Hai was amused by his own sudden humor. "Hahaha, I was only joking. But in truth, that is indeed the case. Places where sects can be established do not have strangenesses."
Ning Ri asked curiously, "Could it be that the Elders have already swept away all the strangenesses?"
Zhou Hai waved a hand. "No. If there were strangenesses, we would all be dead. Since we are not dead, that proves there are no strangenesses."
After saying that, he was amused by himself again. "Hahaha, I made another joke. Sorry, sorry."
Ning Ri: "..."
I think you look quite like a strangeness yourself.
Ning Ri asked, "Since this matter will consume some of the Elders' time, may this disciple consider it first? Could I give you an answer tomorrow?"
Zhou Hai smiled faintly. "Naturally!"
"All right, let us set this matter aside for now. Is there anything you wish to ask?"
Ning Ri pondered. "Mm... I want to know, I am not still inside an illusion, am I?"
Zhou Hai: "..."
"Of course not. The disciple trial has ended, and you have already left the illusion... No, that is not right. The place you entered just now was not an illusion at all. It was actually a tamed 'strangeness.'"
Upon hearing this, Ning Ri revealed a shocked expression. "So the trial with the bandit and the woman was a strangeness?!"
"Yes."
Zhou Hai nodded. "That strangeness can magnify the desires in the hearts of those who enter it."
"For that reason, it is a good choice for testing one's character. As you saw, the only person eliminated exposed the true desires in his heart under those circumstances."
"It also counts as sweeping one evil person out of the sect in advance. We cannot allow such a person to enter the Heaven Defying Sect and ruin the environment."
"Of course, from this, we can also see that you truly are a cultivator thirsting for knowledge."
Hearing Zhou Hai's words, Ning Ri smiled awkwardly. "Elder Zhou overpraises me."
Although Ning Ri's methods were somewhat bizarre, all the Elders were quite satisfied with Ning Ri's "desires."
Both the woman and the bandit had been under his control.
What he wanted those two people to do was entirely a matter of Ning Ri's single thought.
Yet under such circumstances, this kid had only wanted to get his hands on a few spells and cultivation methods to study...
He had not even pocketed the artifact-refining techniques the bandit had given him...
Zhou Hai felt that his earlier assessment of Ning Ri had not been wrong at all.
This kid was an innate sacred body for cultivation!
Then, Zhou Hai glanced at his palm. No one knew what he saw there, but he pondered for a moment before saying, "I have something to attend to, so I cannot keep you company and chat for now. If you have any questions, just ask your Disciple Token. The Disciple Token... well, you could say it has an artifact spirit."
Ning Ri was startled. "An artifact spirit?!"
He looked in shock at the token in his hand...
The artifact-refining knowledge he had just learned told him how precious artifact spirits were.
This was high-end stuff!
Only truly top-tier magic treasures could possess one.
A magic treasure with an artifact spirit was equivalent to coming alive.
And yet, under such circumstances, the token that the Heaven Defying Sect casually handed out to Outer Sect disciples actually had an artifact spirit?
Was the Heaven Defying Sect really this heaven-defying?!
But Zhou Hai waved his hand. "There is no need to be so surprised. Strictly speaking, it is only 'sort of an artifact spirit.'"
"But it is not a real artifact spirit."
Only then did Ning Ri reveal a somewhat enlightened expression...
It seemed there was something fishy about this artifact spirit.
He simply did not know whether it was proper or not.
Before you continue