Eldest Senior Sister

"Haha, you're talking about the Senior Sister? She's a legendary figure here in the Lingxiao Sect!"

Upon hearing Chen Changming bring up the Senior Sister, Yu Hailong immediately grew animated, his face flushing with excitement.

A legendary figure?

Chen Changming blinked, staring at Yu Hailong with wide eyes, waiting for the rest of the story.

"You saw her earlier, didn't you? The Senior Sister is Elder Luo's granddaughter. By all rights, given her family background and aptitude, she could have been an inner disciple with ease. Yet, she chose to do something unconventional and became an outer disciple instead. Care to guess why?"

Yu Hailong asked, feigning mystery.

"I truly have no idea, nor could I guess."

Chen Changming gave a wry smile and shook his head.

This Senior Sister certainly seems to march to the beat of her own drum. But to be able to enter the inner sect and choose the outer sect instead—what could be the reason for that?

"The Senior Sister said: 'Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix.' She didn't want to suffer indignities among the inner disciples, so she became an outer disciple. Now, her cultivation is the highest among all outer disciples. During the war between the two nations, she saved quite a few of us... myself included."

As the emotional Yu Hailong reached this point, his eyes reddened, and tears began to stream down his face.

"I see. This Senior Sister is truly a legendary figure."

After understanding the sequence of events, Chen Changming felt a surge of respect for her.

From then on, Yu Hailong opened the floodgates, chattering away about the Senior Sister's glorious deeds. Chen Changming listened with great interest, and before they knew it, they had arrived at their living quarters.

Every outer disciple of the Lingxiao Sect had their own cultivation cave dwelling, built into the mountainside and arranged in an orderly fashion.

Standing outside the rows of dwellings, Yu Hailong pointed in a certain direction and smiled, "Chen Changming, since you've just become an outer disciple, if you don't understand any of the rules, feel free to come find me. My dwelling isn't far from yours..."

"Understood."

Chen Changming thanked him and then walked into his own dwelling.

The cave was not large, roughly the same size as the room Chen Changming had occupied in the spirit rice cultivation area. Inside, there was a wooden bed, a wooden table, a stool, and some cooking utensils.

Even as an outer disciple, one had to take care of their own meals.

The sect provided a monthly ration of spirit rice, so no disciple would go hungry.

Chen Changming opened his Storage Bag, first taking out his outer disciple robes to put on, then pulling out the Evergreen Art to examine it, a smile appearing on his face.

This copy of the Evergreen Art was quite complete; it would allow him to cultivate all the way past the Foundation Establishment stage.

Chen Changming took out the outer disciple manual and read through it carefully, quickly familiarizing himself with the many rules of the outer sect.

"So, this outer disciple identity token also serves to record Contribution Tokens..."

Picking up the silver token, Chen Changming smiled.

Back when he was a servant disciple, he hadn't even possessed an identity token, only a Contribution Token.

He still had over a hundred points on his old Contribution Token, which he could have Elder Luo transfer over to his new identity token.

From now on, he would have no further use for the old Contribution Token.

The new outer disciple identity token already contained 100 contribution points, which left Chen Changming feeling deeply moved. A servant disciple had to toil for an entire year just to earn 100 points, yet an outer disciple received 100 points just for existing.

The difference in treatment was truly immense.

Finally, seeing the ten Spirit Gathering Pills and ten spirit stones, Chen Changming had nothing left to say.

He could only conclude that being an outer disciple was truly wonderful.

The cave was a bit dusty, so Chen Changming spent half an incense stick's time cleaning it before heading back out.

If I had the Dust Removal Art, cleaning the cave and clearing the dust off my clothes wouldn't be such a hassle.

Chen Changming thought to himself as he walked.

He had seen the Dust Removal Art in the manual; it was one of the techniques he intended to master in the future.

Half an hour later, Chen Changming arrived in front of the Scripture Library. The elder who had been there before was gone—presumably having fallen in the recent battles—and had been replaced by an old woman in black robes at the Foundation Establishment stage.

The old woman had a fierce appearance and a cold expression; she did not look like someone easy to deal with.

"Senior, I am here to choose a cultivation technique."

Chen Changming said softly, handing over his identity token.

Before coming to the Scripture Library, he had found Elder Luo and had the points from his old Contribution Token transferred over.

The old woman checked the token, confirmed it was correct, and gave a faint nod.

"Go straight ahead. The first floor is for outer disciples..."

"Thank you, Senior."

Chen Changming pushed open the door and stepped into the first floor of the Scripture Library.

The space inside was vast, at least ten times larger than the small room he had been in before.

Rows of bookshelves held volume after volume of manuals; at a rough estimate, there were at least a hundred different kinds.

Chen Changming was dazzled, feeling completely overwhelmed with excitement.

After all, he had never been exposed to so many cultivation techniques before; this time, his eyes were truly opened.

Most outer sect disciples were in the Qi Refining Realm, so the contribution points required for any spell or technique were not high, starting at 100 points, with the most expensive costing no more than 200.

Among these techniques, Chen Changming saw the Dust Removal Art. He flipped through it a few times before putting it back down. He did not have many contribution points right now, and he did not care much about trivial matters like cleaning. What was most urgent for him now was to find a more sophisticated movement technique.

He currently had the Five Tigers Soul-Severing Blade for close combat, the powerful Spirit Finger Flick for long-range, and the Spirit Armor Art for protection. As for the Heavenly Furnace Body Refining Art, he had also put it on his schedule, preparing to start practicing it at a later date.

With both offense and defense covered, he was still missing a movement technique.

If he mastered a movement technique and continuously strengthened it, his ability to preserve his life would be greatly increased.

Chen Changming had a very clear understanding of his own position. He was a piece of trash with a Five Elements Mixed Spirit Root and poor comprehension. He could not be greedy and bite off more than he could chew; he had to be selective, and once he made a choice, he should not change it lightly.

Arriving at the movement technique section, Chen Changming made some comparisons and chose a movement technique called the Dragon Glide Step.

Once this movement technique was cultivated to a certain level, one could travel a thousand miles in a single day. Whether for combat or fleeing, it was extremely useful.

"This is the one."

Chen Changming smiled with excitement, took the Dragon Glide Step, and walked toward the entrance.

"Yo, isn't this the former servant disciple who exchanged for the Detoxification Art? Now he's upgraded his gear and become an outer sect disciple! What damn good luck he's had!"

At the entrance, three outer sect disciples happened to walk in.

One of them saw Chen Changming, blinked, and could not help but sneer.

The other two also burst into laughter.

Chen Changming sized up the youth before him and smiled indifferently, "What, are you dissatisfied?"

This youth was only at the third level of the Qi Refining Realm, just a bit higher than him. If the two of them were to truly clash in a life-or-death struggle, Chen Changming's Spirit Finger Flick could absolutely kill the opponent in an instant.

Now that he had become an outer sect disciple, his status was different, and he was also close to breaking through to the third level of the Qi Refining Realm, so Chen Changming did not have many reservations when facing ordinary outer sect disciples.

The youth was stunned.

He had not expected that a former servant disciple would dare to provoke him.

"Are you looking for death!"

The youth was furious and actually lunged toward Chen Changming.

"Shao Pu, don't be impulsive."

The person beside him quickly held him back; fighting inside the Scripture Library would result in severe punishment.

"Do you dare to face me in the Life-Death Arena?"

Shao Pu calmed down and looked at Chen Changming, saying fiercely.

"I don't want to fight with trash like you..."

Chen Changming smiled faintly, turned around, and walked out the door.

If they went to the Life-Death Arena, it would be too easy for him to kill the other party, but Chen Changming did not want to do that.

He did not want to expose his trump card, the Spirit Finger Flick, in front of a crowd.

He had finally become an outer sect disciple and had just exchanged for a decent movement technique; he should focus his time on cultivation instead of fighting to the death with the other party.

Seeing that Chen Changming refused to accept the challenge, Shao Pu stomped his feet in anger, completely helpless.

An outer sect disciple advised, "Forget it, Shao Pu. You are a realm higher than him; it would be strange if he dared to accept the challenge."

"That's right. If you go to the Life-Death Arena with him, the Senior Sister probably won't spare you either; she'll scold you for bullying the weak!"

Another outer sect disciple added.

Upon hearing the Senior Sister's name, Shao Pu became afraid. His arrogance vanished instantly, and he wilted completely.