Agois looked in surprise at the direction of the voice. A plump youth approached them. He looked at Lu Nan dismissively. Lu Nan realized he wouldn't be able to swindle the newcomer today. He glared angrily at the accursed plump youth. However, since the plump youth was stronger, Lu Nan could only leave in frustration.
The plump youth merely looked at his retreating back dismissively. Then, his attention shifted to the newcomer Inner Sect disciple. He studied him, and his mood soured; this little junior brother was very handsome, and he would only get better looking as he grew older.
Agois was bewildered about whom to trust; he had barely started exploring the sect and already encountered something like this. This plump youth also seemed untrustworthy, but he had been somewhat authoritative and seemed like a good person while chasing off that Lu Nan fellow.
Immediately, he said, "Thank you, Senior Brother, for your help."
The plump youth immediately boasted, "It's nothing. There are scoundrels like him everywhere. Little Brother should be more careful with these people; they think you're easy to trick because you're young," he advised and immediately asked for his name. "What's your name, Little Brother?"
Agois quickly replied, "My name is Agois. How should I address you, Senior Brother?"
The plump youth answered, "You can call me Senior Brother Lou." He continued: "Little Brother Agois, where are you headed?"
"Actually, I was hungry and wanted to walk around the sect a bit first, and then I ran into you," he said.
Hearing that Agois was hungry, Senior Brother Lou's eyes lit up; he was hungry too.
Agois asked, "Senior Brother Lou, does the sect have a dining hall? Could you take me there? I don't know the way." He asked with a hint of embarrassment.
Senior Brother Lou excitedly said, "We do! Come on, let me take you, Little Brother!" Senior Brother Lou and Agois walked to the dining hall together, chatting about various topics along the way. Since the plump youth was a bit curious, he asked Agois where he came from, his family's influence, or his background. However, what he learned surprised him; Agois had no strong, influential background, coming only from an ordinary mortal family. He felt an even stronger connection to this little brother, as his own family wasn't that powerful either. Although not a commoner, he wasn't one of those arrogant youths from powerful backgrounds and didn't like them.
He immediately looked at Agois with a new light. As they talked, they arrived at the dining hall. The hall was a large, grand structure surrounded by lush green trees and flowing water. Agois was impressed; this sect area looked immense and magnificent.
Many disciples were going in and out. Just as Agois and Senior Brother Lou were about to enter, they heard a mocking voice: "Isn't that Plump Lou? Where else would he be but here?" A long-haired disciple with a foolish face and his friends mocked him, laughing. This disciple's name was Nord; he was from the same batch as Plump Lou. Although not as talented as Plump Lou, he came from a powerful family. This angered him that Plump Lou was more talented than him, so he always tried to mock him whenever he found an opportunity.
Plump Lou, upon seeing this idiot, ignored him completely and walked past him into the hall with Agois. Nord grew even angrier that the plump youth ignored him, but there was nothing he could do; he couldn't anger Plump Lou, who simply didn't take him seriously. Nord seethed inside and continued on his way.
Agois surveyed the dining hall. Tables and chairs were neatly arranged in large sections, and wonderful smells drifted from the kitchen in the corner. The interior was vast, capable of holding about 1,000 people, and this was just the ground floor; the building was three stories tall.
Senior Brother Lou recognized Agois's expression; he had been equally surprised, but mostly delighted, when he first saw the kitchen. But then something occurred to him, and he immediately asked Agois, "Little Brother, you just joined the sect, right? If you're new to the dining hall, you probably haven't paid the monthly fee yet."
Agois was surprised; he thought this facility was provided free of charge to the disciples here. He asked with disappointment, "How much do we pay?"
Senior Brother Lou explained, sensing Agois's disappointment: "Little Brother, everything in the sect costs money. Without wealth and power, you can't stand firm anywhere. So, these things are normal. The sect doesn't want to raise freeloaders, you could look at it that way. Don't worry, once you do a few missions in the sect, you won't starve, at least," he teased. He added, "It's 100 Contribution Points per month. Now come, let's pay at this spot." He led Agois to a magical device near the dining hall entrance and instructed Agois to touch his sect Token to the device.
Agois then looked at his token and saw that 400 Contribution Points remained out of 500, but he didn't mind too much; food was essential. Besides, 100 points a month wasn't too much. Thinking this, he and the plump youth took their food and sat by a window. As they ate, Agois found the food to be very delicious. Although not as good as his mother's, this food was good too. The meat was the best; even though there was energy in the meat, he didn't feel the same surge of energy as he did from the Stone Boar he had eaten before. But he understood; he was a common mortal back then, and now he was a Cultivator. The fact that he could still absorb energy from the meat meant it was far from ordinary.
After Agois and the plump youth satisfied their stomachs, they began to chat. Plump Lou was surprised that Agois ate so much at his age, but he started to genuinely like Agois; he felt he saw his own younger self in this junior brother.
Since he had met Plump Lou, Agois began to ask everything he didn't know but needed to know about the sect. Plump Lou calmly explained what he knew and what was necessary to know. He told Agois that as long as he didn't break the standard rules of the sect (such as betraying the sect, injuring/killing/robbing a sect brother within the sect, or spreading the sect's teachings without permission, which carried heavy penalties), he was safe. These were the basic rules of every sect, and Agois would learn the other minor rules over time anyway.
Agois and Plump Lou finished their meal and left the dining hall. Although a few people cast curious glances at Agois on the way, there were no other conversations or encounters. Plump Lou showed Agois the Skill Pavilion, explaining that new sect disciples could choose one skill from each category here. Agois had already taken the fundamental energy technique; now he would choose from the martial arts skills.
Agois and Plump Lou entered the Skill Pavilion. Plump Lou immediately bowed to Elder Huo, the 7th Elder of the Inner Sect, who was sitting in the corner. "Greetings to Elder Huo," he said with respect and fear; Elder Huo was the sternest Elder in the Inner Sect, and everyone was wary of him. Agois also immediately greeted him, "Greetings to Elder Huo."
Elder Huo waved his hand at the plump youth, then looked at Agois: "Are you the brat Old Ghost Fu brought back?" he said.
Agois respectfully replied, "Yes, Elder, and my name is Agois."
The Elder nodded and said, "Alright. You have the right to choose three skills, and you can only choose from the 1st Floor."
Agois immediately agreed and entered the First Floor alone. Long rows of shelves were lined up there, almost like a labyrinth. Agois excitedly began sifting through the shelves. Every skill here was Bronze-Tier; this was the lowest level for martial techniques. Higher-tier martial arts required too many Contribution Points. Therefore, every newcomer to the sect was allowed to choose three Bronze-Tier martial techniques; they could only obtain better techniques through their own efforts. Agois was examining a skill called Water Flow Movement Technique that he had found by chance; it was a skill that intrigued him. The Water Flow represented complete natural flow; that was the concept the skill wanted to convey. In this place with so many techniques, Agois chose this movement technique. Now he was looking for an offensive and a defensive technique. After searching for a while, he found a technique called Fire Arrow. The concept of this technique was excellent; it involved converting Nel Energy into fire, condensing it into an arrow shape, and launching it. Agois liked it; he didn't need equipment like a bow; just having his energy was enough. He could condense the fire into an arrow shape and launch it whenever he wished, as long as his energy held up.
Agois had also chosen his offensive technique: the Fire Arrow skill. Next, Agois began searching for a defensive technique and finally found one called Barricade. This technique converted energy into a hard, sturdy shield membrane encircling the body. Agois loved it.
Now he had chosen all three of his techniques and was very satisfied; all three were very practical and cool. But they were all critical techniques and were not chosen randomly; they complemented each other.
Agois came back to the 7th Elder with the techniques. Plump Lou had left because Agois had lost track of time, absorbed in the skills for 5 hours. He immediately showed his chosen skills to the 7th Elder. Elder Huo nodded when he saw the skills. This young man was smart; he had chosen practical and foundational yet powerful techniques. He immediately registered the skills and gave Agois the copies. Looking at Agois, he advised, "Well done, young man. You seem promising. Don't forget to cultivate diligently," and signaled that he could now leave.
Agois was impressed by the compliment; this stern man had praised him, which he liked. Taking the copies of the techniques, he bowed to Elder Huo: "Thank you for your attention, 7th Elder," he said.
The 7th Elder waved his hand, signaling him to leave.
Agois left there, feeling he had no more tasks for the day. He went to the dining hall to get food to take back to his courtyard. He had learned from the plump youth that the dining hall closed at night. If he got hungry at night, he wouldn't be able to go, so he needed to take food to his courtyard for the night.
Agois quickly took some nice, nutritious food from the dining hall into his Spatial Ring and rushed back to his courtyard. Agois first took a nice shower and came to his room. Finally, he could start cultivating. He immediately took his stance and took out the Nel Stones. He placed 10 Nel Stones in front of him and slowly entered meditation. Agois clearly felt the Nel Energy from nature flowing into his body and collecting in his meridian; it was a wonderful feeling. However, no matter how much energy he drew and collected, there was a barrier in front of the 2nd Meridian that he couldn't pass. He realized this was the bottleneck Elder Ren had mentioned. As he was thinking of stopping cultivation since he didn't know how to overcome it, the Star Void suddenly came to mind. He hadn't entered that void since becoming a Cultivator. So, he immediately calmed his mind and entered the void again, and then Agois was surprised. He had thought this place might change after becoming a Cultivator, but it was still the same.
Only the faint starlight had become brighter. Agois still couldn't figure out what this starlight was; had it offered him enlightenment to enter the Iron Body Realm or to raise his talent to 4-star? He didn't understand. It felt very mystical. The more he understood the importance of talent in this world, the better he understood how mystical and powerful this void was.
Agois tried to touch the starlight again but failed; he could only feel that he could touch it when it reached a certain brightness. This seemed like one of the rules of that space. He was not disappointed; he thought excitedly about the time he could touch it again. He wondered what would happen this time. Since there was nothing left to do there, Agois immediately exited the void; he could only enter it with his mind anyway.
When Agois opened his eyes, he saw that the Nel Stones in front of him had dimmed, crumbled, and cracked. Agois felt a pang of heartache. He first thought the Star Void had absorbed the energy, but he could feel that the star there needed time to be touched; it seemed like one of the rules of that area. He understood that this cultivation session had depleted these Nel Stones, and his heart immediately ached; 10 Nel Stones were gone in one session. Suddenly, the Nel Stones he possessed felt too few. Well, as he heard from Plump Lou, not everyone cultivated with Nel Stones. Nel Stones were mostly used as currency in trade and as a source of energy in magical arrays.