Chapter 89

Chapter 89: Rules

After Elder Liu departed, the others also amiably turned and left, leaving only Zhou Luo and Lin Xin exchanging uncertain glances.

"Let’s go." Wang Yu Wei smiled at them.

They had no choice but to follow, stepping out of the pavilion.

The front yard presented quite a pleasing sight. Lush green trees swayed in the breeze, while blossoms on the ground displayed their most vibrant beauty. A small stream meandered across the yard, flowing toward some unknown destination.

Wang Yu Wei guided them to a residential building.

This single-story structure had exactly ten vacant rooms.

Seven were already claimed, leaving only three outermost rooms unoccupied.

"Choose one," Wang Yu Wei said, gesturing toward the three rooms.

Lin Xin remained silent and stepped forward first, pushing open the door of the middle room.

Wang Yu Wei turned her gaze to Zhou Luo beside her.

"I’ll take this one," he said, pointing to the outermost room.

"Good. Settle your things first. Come to my room half an hour later—I’ll help you understand this place."

"Thank you," Zhou Luo nodded.

"No need. I still remember our deal," Wang Yu Wei remarked with a light chuckle before heading toward the last remaining room.

Zhou Luo didn’t respond aloud but echoed silently in his heart: I remember it too.

He then walked toward his chosen room by the edge.

Pushing the door open, he found no extravagant furnishings inside—only essential furniture. A wooden bed occupied one corner, its neatly arranged bedding clean despite not being silk.

Though new occupants arrived every two years, the room was meticulously maintained.

As a spiritual symbol master, Zhou Luo also noticed several spiritual symbols pasted on the walls.

Moving closer, he recognized them as top-level first-level soundproof symbols. Laden with abundant spiritual energy, they could remain effective for several months.

Seeing such premium symbols carelessly affixed sparked an impulse to peel them off and take them away.

Yet reason warned him: doing so would end only in disaster.

What puzzled Zhou Luo was why the Qinyuan Sect didn’t simply set up an array here—like the one on the tenth floor of the Tian Xia Restaurant—to prevent disturbances for residents. That would save time, effort, and resources.

Much later, Zhou Luo once mentioned this question to Wang Yu Wei.

Her response:

These top-level soundproof symbols were practice works by the Immortal Sect’s spiritual symbol masters—deemed worthless yet too wasteful to discard. So they were pasted here.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Luo instinctively asked:

"If so, why not sell them for profit?"

Still, he’d underestimated the limits of his imagination.

It turned out the Immortal Sect never sold first-level spiritual symbols externally because the profit was too low.

Therefore, they were almost exclusively used internally.

Though the sect had many Qi Refinement cultivators, they rarely left the premises so most had little need for such symbols. As for Foundation Establishment strong persons? They disdained using first-level spiritual symbols altogether.

This resulted in an unknown quantity of soundproof symbols piling up within the sect, leading to the current situation.

Hearing this explanation, Zhou Luo finally understood a saying from his previous life.

“A farmer, knowing only how to till fields with a hoe, imagines the emperor must till fields too—just with a golden hoe."

Indeed, some perspectives remain too narrow.

Presently, Zhou Luo carefully arranged the items he had brought and released the Snow Mountain Spirit Cat that had been cooped up for a long time.

Honestly, when he first arrived at the Qinyuan Sect, Zhou Luo had felt uneasy, fearing someone might discover this Spirit Beast with Fourth Level potential.

Fortunately, no one paid it any attention during the journey.

Nevertheless, Zhou Luo resolved that Little White must never be seen by others.

If some powerful figure recognized its origins and simply took it away, he’d have absolutely no recourse for grievance.

After tidying up, seeing the time was right, Zhou Luo stepped out and headed for Wang Yu Wei’s room.

The door was open. Lin Xin was already seated inside.

Upon entering, Zhou Luo caught a light floral scent, reminiscent of gardenias.

Seizing the opportunity, Wang Yu Wei had changed attire, once again clad in a plain white dress.

“Sit down.”

Wang Yu Wei’s voice abruptly interrupted his thoughts.

Jolted back to the present, Zhou Luo sat in the chair crafted from golden-threaded nanmu. He straightened his posture, awaiting her explanation.

“Truthfully, the rules here aren’t extensive,” began Wang Yu Wei, passing a cup of spirit tea to Zhou Luo.

This manor was the Outer Sect Front Peak alchemy place of the Qinyuan Sect. Divided by the black pavilion into two regions—the front yard and the back yard.

Their status forbade them from entering the back yard. Each morning, the sect would inform everyone of the potions slated for refining that day—essentially the daily “homework.”

Failure to complete by evening meant punishment.

A first offense resulted only in withheld spirit food for three days. A second extended this to ten days plus physical chastisement, escalating similarly thereafter. By the fifth failure, anyone incapable of fulfilling the sect’s tasks faced expulsion.

Beyond the daily “homework,” the Immortal Sect also held monthly “examinations.”

These mirrored the Spiritual Pill Conference, comprising a written examination and a martial skills competition.

The top three performers received sect rewards and qualified to ascend to the pavilion’s third floor; the first place could even access the fourth floor.

That black pavilion was, in fact, a library.

Its four upper floors stored vast collections of ancient texts on alchemy skill, encompassing all aspects.

The higher the floor, the more profound the knowledge within the texts, touching on elevated cultivation realms.

Rumors claimed even texts concerning third level Pill Masters existed on the fourth floor.

Though such heights felt distant for these first-level Pill Masters,

seeing them was better than not. Exposure might even catalyze breakthroughs in their own realms.

Once, a middle first-level Pill Master achieved first place for twelve consecutive months.

Thus, during his year at the sect, he immersed himself almost entirely in studying the fourth-floor texts.

On his final day before departure, he miraculously advanced directly to a top-level first-level Pill Master.

Remember—others arriving in the same cohort, some with deeper potion comprehension, failed to break through. Yet he succeeded.

Reading a book a hundred times reveals new meanings.

The broadened vistas offered by high-level texts on the fourth floor could propel one forward by leaps and bounds.

“So, we essentially just self-study here?” Lin Xin frowned in question.

Wang Yu Wei nodded.

This “learning” meant the sect permitted reading alchemy skill texts on the second floor, supplemented by rewards and punishments to spur progress.

No wonder frequent attendees eventually felt reluctant to return.

Once the texts were fully absorbed, the value gained from subsequent visits waned significantly.