Ying Huaixu did not care in the slightest about what worried the Divine Firmament Sword Sect's higher-ups.
All he cared about now was his plan for improving himself.
Ying Huaixu knew the Divine Firmament Sword Sect's grounds all too well.
After all, he had lost count of how many starter accounts and resource accounts he had made.
He remembered every step of every quest and all the materials they required, thanks to Ying Huaixu.
But despite knowing all that, Ying Huaixu still had to patiently uncover the map.
The Divine Firmament Sword Sect's map was still shrouded in fog.
And surely it was perfectly reasonable for a new disciple like him to get lost in the Divine Firmament Sword Sect?
Ying Huaixu spent nearly four hours uncovering the entire map.
Then he unlocked an achievement.
"Divine Firmament Sword Sect map fully revealed. Reward: 300 experience!"
After uncovering the map, Ying Huaixu ran toward the Divine Firmament Sword Sect's rear mountain again.
Then he picked three Spirit Herbs.
With the Spirit Herbs in hand, Ying Huaixu headed straight for the Divine Firmament Sword Sect's pill hall.
As soon as he arrived, he spotted a disciple looking rather distressed.
This was the daily quest.
Ying Huaixu walked straight over. "Senior brother, do you need help?"
When the disciple saw Ying Huaixu, his looks immediately caught his attention.
He was simply too handsome-so handsome that his face looked less like something he had been born with and more like something sculpted in a character creator.
Then the disciple came to his senses.
"Oh, yes, something has been troubling me. I'm short on a few Spirit Herbs. But judging by your appearance, junior brother, you must have just joined. Even if I told you, you wouldn't... huh?"
Ying Huaixu handed him the three Spirit Herbs.
"Ding! Daily quest completed. Reward: 1,000 experience!"
Seeing that the quest was complete, Ying Huaixu turned and left.
The disciple was still bewildered. By the time he thought to say thank you, Ying Huaixu was already far away.
A whole range of expressions crossed the disciple's face.
"What's with this guy? What kind of personality is that?"
Of course, he was happy enough with Ying Huaixu doing a good deed and asking for nothing in return.
After all, who did not like getting something for free?
Besides, it was not as though he had insisted on taking advantage of him. The fellow had left on his own.
Now that he had the Spirit Herbs, the disciple hurried back to the Pill Room to start refining pills.
Meanwhile, Ying Huaixu headed straight for the scripture pavilion.
Upon arriving at the scripture pavilion, Ying Huaixu handed his token directly to the steward.
The steward glanced at it, registered him, and began explaining the rules.
Ying Huaixu took back his token and walked away.
The steward: "..."
"What a rude brat! Leaving before I've even finished speaking. Just wait until you break the rules-then you'll see how I deal with you!"
The steward spoke indignantly.
Then he kept his eyes fixed on Ying Huaixu.
But the outcome disappointed him.
Ying Huaixu followed the rules perfectly. Even without hearing the full explanation, he knew how to select his cultivation arts.
Nor was he greedy in the slightest.
Unless an art was one he wanted, he did not even pick it up to read.
That let him avoid a pitfall.
Under sect rules, reading the contents of any cultivation art counted as choosing that art.
This was also intended to guard against abilities such as photographic memory.
Any new disciple who broke this rule faced severe punishment.
But Ying Huaixu followed the rules like a seasoned veteran.
Watching him made the steward's scalp prickle.
Such familiarity meant this fellow was either a spy or had connections.
He could not be a spy.
With Lü Qingyi in the sect, there could be no spies.
That meant he had connections.
But looking at the registration listing his low-grade spiritual root, the steward could not make sense of it.
"What connections could someone with a low-grade spiritual root possibly have?"
The steward did not understand, but he would not ask any more questions.
He could only swallow his anger...
Before long, Ying Huaixu finally finished choosing his cultivation arts.
One low-grade movement art, Frost Step, and one low-grade sword art, Heavenly Frost Sword!
Both were thoroughly unremarkable.
There was nothing special about them, though they were not terrible either.
This puzzled the steward even more.
With an ice spiritual root, anyone who truly had connections would surely choose Starfrost Sword, First Volume and Icebound Body!
Those were the best movement and sword arts available to beginners. Had his connections not told him?
In truth, Ying Huaixu naturally knew about both.
But for expert players, those two cultivation arts were traps they had fallen into before.
They were indeed powerful, but they cost a great deal of experience.
Spending too much experience on those two arts was a waste.
Once he reached meridian opening, he would have to switch to other sword and movement arts anyway.
Investing too much experience in them early on was simply wasteful.
Before it was time to replace them, there was no way he could raise either to full mastery.
Without full mastery, their stats would not even match those of the two arts in his hands.
So his early-game plan was to choose a sword art and a movement art that he could raise straight to full mastery.
That would be enough to sweep aside every obstacle before meridian opening and make it easier to save experience for what he needed to break through.
After all, once he reached meridian opening, there would be far too many things to spend experience on.
After completing the registration, Ying Huaixu did not linger. He returned straight to his cave abode.
After Ying Huaixu left, a disciple suddenly approached the steward with a question.
"Which two did he choose just now?"
Seeing that it was an inner disciple, the steward hurriedly bowed.
"Frost Step and Heavenly Frost Sword!"
The disciple froze, looking rather incredulous.
"Such ordinary choices?"
The disciple could not understand it.
He had thought Lü Qingyi was taking special care of Ying Huaixu and might even have given him some guidance beforehand.
But now, had his senior sister really just acted on a whim?
The disciple left with his doubts, saying nothing more.
The steward was utterly confused.
Now he truly could not figure Ying Huaixu out. Did he have someone backing him or not?
If he did not, why was an inner senior brother paying attention to him?
If he did, why had he chosen such unremarkable cultivation arts?
In the end, the steward shook his head.
"Forget it. None of this is my business!"
With that, the steward lay back down on his recliner and resumed his leisurely life.
After returning to his cave abode, Ying Huaixu activated the defensive formation.
It was time to start spending experience.
First came the Body Tempering cultivation art that every new disciple received.
"Heavenly Dipper Body Tempering Art."
"Now, pour in the experience!"
The moment Ying Huaixu finished speaking, the virtual screen before him lit up.
"Ding! Heavenly Dipper Body Tempering Art, beginner proficiency (500/14300)+" "Ding! Heavenly Dipper Body Tempering Art, minor mastery (1000/13800)+" "Ding! Heavenly Dipper Body Tempering Art, major mastery (1500/12800)+"
Ying Huaixu did not raise it any further.
Bringing this art to full mastery or perfection would not give him much of a return.
Proficiency in the art merely reduced the experience needed to advance his cultivation realm.
Major mastery was already enough for now.
"Next, raise my cultivation realm!"
"Ding! Current realm: Body Tempering First Layer (200/12800). Major mastery of Heavenly Dipper Body Tempering Art reduces the experience cost by 1,000+" "Ding! Current realm: body tempering, second level (400/12600). Major mastery of Heavenly Dipper Body Tempering Art reduces the experience cost by 1,000+" "Ding! Current realm: Body Tempering Third Layer (800/12200)...+"
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