At nightfall, Zhang Wan and the other Houtian students from Beginner Martial Arts Academy left through the sect's grand formation and arrived at the residential area for the sect's outer sect disciples.
The living conditions of the sect's outer sect disciples were much the same as those of the academy's Houtian students. They all lived in independent courtyards, each separated from the others by a certain distance.
Only the scale and spiritual energy density were both far beyond what the academy could compare with.
There were only a few hundred Houtian martial artists at the academy.
Here at the sect, they were counted in the tens of thousands.
Although the courtyards were separated from one another by a certain distance, it was still difficult to see the end of them at a glance.
Zhang Wan and the other students each found an unoccupied independent courtyard to settle in.
There were many outer sect disciples of Jade Bone Sect, but there were even more independent courtyards here. There were always some left vacant.
This happened because after becoming an outer sect disciple of Jade Bone Sect and graduating from the academy, one could come to the mountain gate and choose an independent courtyard to serve as their cultivation residence within the mountain gate.
If they were unwilling to choose a residence left behind after its previous owner passed away, they could also select an area farther away and build one themselves.
Jade Bone Sect had been established for three hundred years. Countless people had chosen to build their own residences, and there were also the house-like residences constructed by the sect in the beginning.
As a result, the number of detached houses in the outer sect disciple residential area now far exceeded the number of Jade Bone Sect's outer sect disciples.
Zhang Wan casually chose a house, hung a wooden plaque outside the door to indicate that someone was living inside, and moved in.
Inside the house, Zhang Wan ran a finger across the wooden table and picked up a thick layer of dust. Clearly, no one had cleaned it for quite some time.
Zhang Wan searched around and found a fixed small formation in the cultivation room at the back of the house.
He placed his disciple token inside. The disciple token resonated with the formation, allowing Zhang Wan to grasp control of the small formation in an instant.
The formation was extremely crude. It had only three functions in total: gathering spiritual energy, cleaning the house, and providing warnings and alerts.
It looked quite useful, but none of its effects were particularly strong. They could only be said to be better than nothing, and only by a little.
Zhang Wan activated the formation. A faint light shone across it, forming a small light barrier. It then expanded, covering the entire courtyard.
After flashing twice, the light barrier faded from sight.
But through the formation and his divine sense, Zhang Wan could still sense its presence.
It had hardly any defensive power, but if any person or object passed through the light barrier, the formation would immediately issue a warning.
At the same time, the dust and grime in the house and courtyard had just been swept away by the light barrier, restoring everything to cleanliness and order.
As the formation activated, spiritual energy was also drawn in and gathered.
After comparing the two, Zhang Wan found that once the formation was activated, the spiritual energy density inside the house had increased by nearly five percent. It was at least somewhat useful.
Without rushing to comprehend the Extreme Spirit Planter inheritance or doing anything else, Zhang Wan first cultivated in the cultivation room for half the night, savoring the ease of cultivating near the mountain gate. When dawn approached and he collected his experience points, he closed his eyes to rest and slept all the way until broad daylight.
The next day, when he met up with his classmates, some had yet to choose an inheritance, while others wanted to look around the outer sect disciple residential area. Zhang Wan, meanwhile, wanted to visit Spirit Planter Hall.
Since they had different opinions, they agreed to act freely that day and meet again on the morning of the third day at the place where the rune carriage had dropped them off when they arrived. They would return to the academy together then.
Zhang Wan wanted to visit Spirit Planter Hall for two reasons. First, he wanted to ask what conditions were required to enter Spirit Planter Hall so that he could prepare early and enter Spirit Planter Hall to cultivate without a break as soon as he graduated.
Second, he wanted to obtain some pseudo-spiritual plant and spiritual plant seeds.
He still had several years left to spend at the academy. With the Extreme Spirit Planter inheritance in hand and ample experience points available to master it, it would be a terrible waste not to plant something during that time.
However, after asking some fellow disciples in the residential area, he learned that there was no need to make a special trip to Spirit Planter Hall for these matters.
Spirit Planter Hall's headquarters was located within the mountain gate. Although it occupied a considerable area, compared with Jade Bone Sect's enormous number of Houtian martial artists, it was not particularly large.
Moreover, Spirit Planter Hall was primarily responsible for cultivating spiritual plants for the sect. It therefore had branches in almost every place within Jade Bone Sect where spiritual energy was abundant.
There were several branches of Spirit Planter Hall in the residential area as well.
These few branches near the mountain gate were responsible for several large spiritual plant gardens near the mountain gate, while also handling contact with the enormous number of outer sect disciples.
The sale of spiritual plants and spiritual plant seeds, as well as assessing the outer sect disciples' spiritual planting skills, was all handled by these branches.
Following the directions given by his fellow disciples, Zhang Wan found the nearest branch.
"Spirit Planter Hall's Dust Bone Branch?" Zhang Wan looked at the Spirit Planter Hall branch, which occupied several hundred square meters and had a plaque hanging above it. He was thoughtful.
The Dust Bone Branch. He was quite familiar with that name.
There was also a Dust Bone Branch over in Hemi Town. All the pseudo-spiritual plants and spiritual plants cultivated throughout Hemi Town were purchased by the Dust Bone Branch.
When he had first heard the name, he had wondered why such a perfectly good name had "branch" tacked onto the end. So that was what it meant—it was a branch of Spirit Planter Hall.
"There's one here at the mountain gate, and another in Hemi Town. There are probably others elsewhere too. This Dust Bone Branch really is rich and powerful!"
A single branch already had such a scale. The resources and influence controlled by Spirit Planter Hall as a whole were probably beyond imagination.
Zhang Wan's resolve to enter Spirit Planter Hall grew even firmer.
He liked any position related to logistics, but if he could lean against a great tree, then of course life would be more comfortable leaning against a great tree.
After entering the Dust Bone Branch, Zhang Wan saw some outer sect disciples buying pseudo-spiritual plants and spiritual plants. After watching for a few moments, he understood the process and automatically chose several queues that were already forming, taking his place at the back.
The lines moved slowly, but there were not many disciples waiting. Zhang Wan's turn came soon.
Zhang Wan explained his needs to the person from the Dust Bone Branch who received him, and the other person directly handed him a jade slip.
"This records the types and prices of the pseudo-spiritual plants and spiritual plants sold by our branch."
"Take a look first. Once you're done, just tell me how much you want."
Zhang Wan accepted the jade slip and began studying it slowly to one side, while the branch employee started receiving the next customer.
"So that's how it is. Outer sect disciples receive a certain quota of pseudo-spiritual plants as cultivation resources every year. As for us Houtian students from the academy, our quota is sent directly to the academy, which then distributes it to us as part of our three meals a day."
"Pseudo-spiritual plants and their seeds are both quite cheap. The seeds are so inexpensive that it's almost frightening."
"Spiritual plants and spiritual plant seeds, on the other hand, are somewhat more expensive."
Zhang Wan had only seven low-grade spirit stones left. They would not buy him many spiritual plants or medicines, but they could buy quite a lot of seeds.
After calculating his options, Zhang Wan chose three types of pseudo-spiritual plant seeds and bought a small bag of each. Each bag weighed twenty or thirty grams and contained nearly a thousand seeds.
He then chose five types of spiritual plant seeds and bought five seeds of each.
Zhang Wan planned to plant more pseudo-spiritual plants. As for spiritual plants, given his current cultivation and energy, he would not be able to cultivate too many. Five types, with five seeds each, would be enough.
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