Independent Courtyard, Second Sister

Zhang Wan respectfully asked Vice Dean Huang to remove the illusion from the jade slip after selecting his cultivation technique.

Vice Dean Huang brushed his hand over the jade slip, and Zhang Wan's sharp eyes caught a glimpse of talismans flashing across it.

They were dense, making him dizzy for a moment.

"Alright, you can see the rest of the content now."

"But remember, you can take this jade slip with you, but its contents must not be leaked. Apart from your own cultivation, you absolutely must not pass on the Bronze Iron Body technique to anyone else."

"Otherwise, I won't punish you, but the sect's disciplinary hall will take your life!"

As for an oath, he didn't make Zhang Wan swear one.

This made Zhang Wan realize that the sect wasn't too concerned about the first six levels of the Postnatal Bronze Iron Body technique.

Otherwise, they would have definitely left behind some means of restraint, rather than just vaguely threatening him with the disciplinary hall.

"That makes sense. After all, it's just a Postnatal realm technique, and only the first six levels at that. They really don't need to pay too much attention to it."

"As long as they control the subsequent cultivation techniques from being leaked, there won't be any problems."

After registering his disciple identity and taking the cultivation technique, Vice Dean Huang reminded Zhang Wan to come back on February 1st of the following year to collect his Jade Bone Sect outer disciple token and cultivation resources, and then let him leave.

Instructor Liu, however, stayed behind and continued chatting with Vice Dean Huang.

"February 1st next year isn't too far away," Zhang Wan said, tucking the cultivation technique into his chest and thinking about the disciple token and cultivation resources.

He knew he wouldn't be able to get these things immediately; the academy had already explained this.

After all, the academy wasn't the sect's main mountain.

All the cultivation resources needed by the academy were provided by the sect twice a year.

These times were February 1st and August 1st each year.

During this period, if any student in the academy broke through to the Postnatal martial artist realm, the cultivation resources allocated to them by the sect would be temporarily held back and distributed all at once when the academy's cultivation resources were delivered.

While the meal at the exclusive canteen hadn't disappointed Zhang Wan, it had also made him feel the difficulty of cultivating in the Postnatal realm.

He guessed that even with the cultivation technique, absorbing external spiritual energy, and the food made from pseudo-spiritual items, his progress wouldn't be very fast.

To speed up his cultivation, he would have to rely on EXP and cultivation resources.

The more cultivation resources he obtained, the more EXP he could save. This would ensure he had enough EXP to splurge on in the future when he encountered cultivation bottlenecks he couldn't overcome.

"However, the amount of resources the sect provides is unknown."

"If it's not enough at that time, I can't be stingy with EXP. I should invest it when necessary."

Zhang Wan was still deliberately controlling his cultivation speed, but he didn't plan to drag it out for too long.

The Prenatal bottleneck was right there.

If he couldn't break through to Prenatal before the age of thirty, the difficulty of breaking through later would increase exponentially with age.

Although it wasn't unheard of for martial artists to break through to Prenatal after thirty, such martial artists were usually at the end of their martial path.

And what Zhang Wan wanted was to improve continuously without standing out too much.

Breaking through after thirty wouldn't meet his needs.

After all, if he was considered to have a martial path that was basically severed in the eyes of others, yet his cultivation still increased by leaps and bounds after a period of time, even a fool would see something was wrong.

Breaking through before thirty, as long as he wasn't among the very top few, would only attract some attention, which wasn't a big deal.

"I'm ten years old now, and I have twenty years until I'm thirty. Breaking through a minor realm every two years, this cultivation speed should be quite reasonable, right?" Zhang Wan muttered to himself.

"Perhaps, I don't need to be so rigid about improving a minor realm every two years."

"Being too fixed isn't good either."

"By using the methods of investing EXP and temporarily halting cultivation, making the time to break through each minor realm inconsistent would be more reasonable."

Lost in thought, Zhang Wan had already returned to the dormitory.

The other students in the dormitory were still attending their academic class, and the place was empty.

Zhang Wan simply packed his belongings and headed towards the independent courtyard where Instructor Liu and other Postnatal martial artists resided.

His treatment instantly changed upon advancing to the Postnatal realm.

He no longer had to sleep in the dormitory with the other students and could have his own residence.

And it wasn't just connected single rooms, but independent courtyards separated by a distance!

Those courtyards with names displayed on them were occupied.

Those without names were empty.

After advancing to the Postnatal martial artist realm, he could choose any of the empty courtyards to live in.

Zhang Wan found one he liked and moved in.

The courtyard had all the furniture, but no bedding or anything similar.

Although Zhang Wan had brought all his belongings from the dormitory, they were barely enough to fill one room in this courtyard.

"I can get some blankets, bowls, chopsticks, and other things from the academy's logistics later."

"Even if I don't use the other rooms, I should at least get a mattress and a quilt. Besides, I do intend to use them."

This courtyard wasn't exclusively for students who had advanced to the Postnatal realm.

Postnatal martial artists living here could also invite other students from the academy to stay if they wished.

Instructors like Instructor Liu could even bring their families.

Zhang Wan had this in mind.

However, he wasn't planning to invite his friends from the dormitory, but his younger sister, Zhang Lingshu.

He wasn't an instructor like Instructor Liu and couldn't bring family members, but Zhang Lingshu was also cultivating the martial path at the academy, so she could live in the small courtyard.

He had left home and entered the Beginner Martial Arts Academy when he was just over four years old, returning home only in January and June each year. His second sister, Zhang Lingshu, who was three years younger than him, had also entered the Beginner Martial Arts Academy around the same age.

Although the atmosphere at the academy was good and the instructors managed them strictly, prohibiting private fights, bullying and exclusion were still common.

With him checking on her from time to time, Zhang Lingshu had not been bullied.

But no matter how good the dormitory was, it couldn't compare to a private courtyard.

Not to mention the vast difference in living space, the denser spiritual energy in a private courtyard was even more conducive to martial path cultivation.

Even ordinary people would become healthier by staying in such an environment and would find it easier to temper their Blood Essence to its limit.

With such conditions, Zhang Wan naturally wanted to bring his second sister over.

After tidying up his belongings a bit, he went to the academy's miscellaneous affairs office to have a wooden plaque made with his name on it, which he hung outside the courtyard. He also asked the office to send some quilts, bowls, chopsticks, and other necessities to the courtyard.

Then, he went to find his sister, Zhang Lingshu, in Class C of the third level.

After a flurry of activity, it was already close to noon.

When Zhang Wan arrived, it was exactly the time when the morning academic class ended and students were heading for lunch.

The instructor who taught the martial path knowledge for Class C of the third level happened to run into Zhang Wan.

The instructor had met Zhang Wan before, as he had come looking for his second sister multiple times.

However, this time, the instructor noticed something different about Zhang Wan; he could sense the aura of a Postnatal martial artist on him, and his expression immediately changed.

He wasn't overly shocked.

Instead, a hint of complexity and envy mixed in, and his attitude became respectful.

Zhang Wan exchanged a few words with the instructor as usual before taking his leave.

He could see the complexity in the instructor's eyes and knew why.

Unlike the instructors who guided martial arts, the instructors who taught martial path knowledge were not all Postnatal martial artists. Most of them were ordinary people at the Mortal Limit.

In the Jade Bone Sect, these people were considered mere handyman disciples.

Zhang Wan, on the other hand, had broken through to the Postnatal realm and become an outer disciple, placing him above them in status.