Entering the Inner Sect

"The green Fate Rank—this is the first time I've ever seen one."

Looking at Lin Ziyou's green Fate Rank, Ye Lin sighed inwardly. In the past, he had only ever seen white Fate Ranks. Today, he had finally seen a green one.

"An Inner Sect disciple. Impressive, indeed."

Looking at Lin Ziyou's opportunity, Ye Lin was delighted. An Mysterious Grade High Tier Nirvana Fruit—this was the first time he had ever seen a Spirit Fruit of such a high grade.

"Senior Brother Ye, we should be going."

At that moment, Huang Xiong's words brought Ye Lin back to his senses.

"All right, let's go."

Ye Lin gave Lin Ziyou one last, deep look, then followed Huang Xiong toward the Inner Sect.

The Azure Cloud Sect was divided into the Inner Sect and the Outer Sect. The Outer Sect was where Outer Sect disciples and Chore Disciples went about their business, while the Inner Sect was where Inner Sect disciples, personal disciples, and the various elders and Sect Master were active.

The Inner Sect was the true heart of the Azure Cloud Sect.

After reaching a wooden gate and passing through all kinds of identity checks, Ye Lin finally followed Huang Xiong into the Inner Sect.

"What dense spiritual energy!"

The moment he stepped into the Inner Sect, Ye Lin stared in astonishment. The spiritual energy here was more than ten times denser than in the Outer Sect.

"Senior Brother Ye, let's first collect your resources for this month, then apply for a medicinal bath."

Huang Xiong turned to Ye Lin. When he saw Ye Lin nod, he led him toward the Inner Sect's administration office.

The administration office had been established specifically to handle miscellaneous matters.

"Senior Brother, this is the newly promoted Inner Sect disciple."

When they arrived at the administration office, Huang Xiong addressed the disciple before them with deep respect.

"So you're the one who defeated Lin Ziyou?"

The disciple looked up at Ye Lin. Ye Lin simply nodded calmly.

"Not bad. We're fellow disciples from now on. The Inner Sect is nothing like the Outer Sect."

"Competition is fierce in the Inner Sect. Don't ever slack off in your cultivation, or one day you'll go back the same way you came. Understand?"

"Thank you for the warning, Senior Brother."

Ye Lin bowed to the disciple before him.

At the same time, a transparent panel appeared.

Name: Zhao Li

Cultivation: Qi Refining Level 9

Fate Rank: White

Fate Traits: [Decent Comprehension] [Born with Divine Strength]

Destiny: Cultivates his entire life, eventually reaches the Golden Core Realm and becomes an unparalleled overlord within a radius of ten thousand miles. In the end, he dies of old age when his lifespan is nearly exhausted.

Recent Opportunity: Five days from now, enters the Inner Sect Secret Realm and discovers three Fire Spirit Stones in Blazing Valley. After absorbing and refining them, his Spirit Root gradually transforms into a Fire Spirit Root, greatly increasing his combat strength.

[Decent Comprehension]: Your comprehension surpasses that of ordinary people. You can always understand obscure and difficult cultivation techniques at astonishing speed.

[Born with Divine Strength]: You displayed strength beyond that of ordinary people from a young age. If you embark on the path of cultivation, this advantage will grow immensely.

"All right, I'm Zhao Li. If you have any questions in the future, you can come to me. These are your resources for this month. The secret realm opens in five days, so remember to prepare."

"Tomorrow, you'll undergo a special medicinal bath. Be sure to come. It'll benefit you greatly and lay a solid foundation for when you break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm."

"All right, you can go."

With that, Zhao Li handed Ye Lin twenty low-grade Spirit Stones, five Yellow Grade Mid Tier Spirit Nourishing Pills, and an Identity Token, then waved him away.

Whenever a new Inner Sect disciple arrived, he made a point of welcoming them warmly. He was a clever man—what if one of them turned out to be a prodigy? If they rose to prominence one day, at least he'd have made their acquaintance.

After all, saying a few kind words only took a little effort.

"Senior Brother, in that case, I'll take my leave."

Huang Xiong bowed respectfully to Ye Lin, then left the Inner Sect.

He was an Outer Sect disciple and wasn't allowed to linger in the Inner Sect. He could only regretfully give up the chance to enjoy the dense spiritual energy.

"No wonder everyone wants to enter the Inner Sect. Just the spiritual energy and resources alone are beyond anything the Outer Sect can offer."

Looking at the resources in his hands, Ye Lin sighed inwardly. The valuable part wasn't the Spirit Stones, but the Spirit Nourishing Pills, which were highly beneficial for nurturing the divine soul.

Although they were only Yellow Grade Mid Tier and had a negligible effect on the divine soul, any treasure with a connection to the divine soul was immensely valuable.

The divine soul was similar to the soul. A powerful divine soul not only improved comprehension but also protected one from mental attacks, such as illusions.

If the divine soul became powerful enough, one could survive even after the body was destroyed.

Holding the Identity Token, Ye Lin went to his assigned residence, which had been provided specifically for him.

Then Ye Lin looked up into the distance. Nine towering peaks stretched into the sky. Those were the Nine Great Elders' abodes, as well as the personal disciples' residences.

"Tomorrow is the medicinal bath, and the secret realm opens in five days. I'll go claim Huang Xiong's opportunity first. As for Lin Ziyou's, I'll put it aside for now."

Ye Lin thought it over. Today, he would claim Huang Xiong's opportunity. Tomorrow, he would take the medicinal bath, then spend the next three days preparing to enter the secret realm.

As for Lin Ziyou's opportunity, there was no need to rush. He could claim it after he came back from the secret realm.

Of course, he hadn't forgotten Zhao Li's opportunity either: Fire Spirit Stones, rich in fire elements. Once he absorbed them, they could nourish the Spirit Fire in his dantian.

The Spirit Fire was currently his greatest trump card. The stronger it became, the happier he would be.

"Once I enter the secret realm, my first destination will be Blazing Valley. I have to get there before Zhao Li."

"That settles it."

Having made up his mind, Ye Lin hurried out of the Inner Sect and headed beyond the sect.

Along the way, Outer Sect disciples and Chore Disciples alike looked at him with awe. As a hot-blooded young man, he enjoyed being looked at that way.

Huang Xiong's opportunity was in Purple Deep Spring, in the central region of the Hundred Thousand Mountains. Demon Beasts had occupied the spring for years, and ordinary cultivators wouldn't dare go there.

"This opportunity really won't be easy to obtain."

Ye Lin smacked his lips.

He made his way to Purple Deep Spring. Roars sounded from the surrounding area now and then. Fortunately, he had been extremely cautious along the way, and finally reached the place without incident.

Purple Deep Spring sounded lovely, but in truth, it was merely a spring of average size and depth.

"So many Demon Beasts."

Ye Lin lay low in the grass and watched the area ahead.

The area directly around the spring was crawling with Demon Beasts: tigers three meters long, crocodiles five meters long, and all sorts of other carnivorous beasts.

But these Demon Beasts weren't particularly strong. Most were around Qi Refining Level 5 or 6.

"For the Sword Talisman, I'm going all in."

Seeing no opportunity to sneak in, Ye Lin took a Long Sword from his Spatial Ring and leaped out.

"Roar!"

The moment Ye Lin appeared, the Demon Beasts in front of him locked onto him. They stared at him, growling deafeningly.

"Slash!"

Ye Lin gave a low cry. A streak of fiery-red sword light flashed, and the tiger demon that had roared the loudest was cleaved in two.

Green flames flickered over the tiger demon's corpse. In just a few seconds, it turned to ash and vanished from the world.

Seeing this, the other Demon Beasts turned and fled. In just a few minutes, the beast horde had disappeared completely.

These Demon Beasts were more intelligent than ordinary wild animals, but not by much. They only knew to run when they encountered danger; unlike ordinary wild animals, they wouldn't fight you to the death.

When the horde had fled, Ye Lin breathed a sigh of relief. The Demon Beasts here weren't very strong, but there were so many of them. He definitely wouldn't have been able to win in a head-on fight.