The Hall of Deacons was built at the foot of Lord Lao Peak. Li Wuyi led Li Yan to land. After putting away the magical artifact, he beckoned Li Yan to follow him towards the main gate of the Hall of Deacons.
At this time, many people were coming and going in front of the Hall of Deacons. When some people saw Li Wuyi, they would either bow, or smile and nod in greeting. Some called him "Martial Uncle," while others called him "Senior Brother" or "Junior Brother," and then looked curiously at Li Yan behind him. Li Yan's appearance at this moment could be described as somewhat "miserable." Although his face had been washed with clean water and his leg injury was gone, his black robe, which was of good quality in the mortal world, was now tattered and stained with blood and dirt. He looked as if he had been rescued from somewhere by Li Wuyi.
Li Yan was very calm in his heart. He did not feel any shame and just followed behind Li Wuyi step by step.
After climbing more than ten steps, they arrived at the main gate. Two disciples in dark green robes were standing there. Li Yan could feel that the spiritual power of these two was much higher than his own. As for what realm they were in, that was not something a little rookie like him could judge.
"Greetings, Martial Uncle Li. How may this disciple be of service to you today?" The two had seen Li Wuyi coming from afar and clearly recognized him. One of them, a middle-aged man of about thirty, took a step forward and bowed, his eyes glancing at Li Yan.
"Oh, which senior brother is on duty here today?" Li Wuyi stopped and asked with a smile.
Every day, a Foundation Establishment stage master from one of the five peaks would be on duty in this Hall of Deacons. Of course, the Foundation Establishment cultivators who handled these affairs were basically those with not much lifespan left and no hope of condensing a Golden Core in their lifetime. They naturally did not need to cultivate so hard. Being on duty here could, one, pass the time; two, allow them to enjoy the fun of power like in the mortal world; and three, earn them rewards from the sect. Why not?
"Reporting to Martial Uncle Li, today it is Martial Uncle Lin from Four Symbols Peak who is on duty," the middle-aged cultivator of about thirty answered respectfully.
"Oh, so it's Senior Brother Lin. Is he in the hall right now?" Li Wuyi chuckled softly.
Although there were over a hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Malevolent Spirit Sect, only twenty or so were ever on duty. While there were some with the same surname, it was always the same group of people. Li Wuyi knew who it was as soon as he heard the name.
"Yes, yes, this disciple will go and inform Martial Uncle Lin right away." After speaking, his eyes glanced at Li Yan again. He had a guess in his heart but was not sure. After all, now was not the time for recruiting new disciples. Usually, the elite disciples from the various subordinate immortal sects were gathered and sent over every two or three years. It was not unheard of for someone to come alone, but it was rare.
"That won't be necessary. I can find him myself." With that, he stepped inside. Li Yan silently followed close behind.
The two guards naturally did not dare to stop Li Yan, seeing that he had come with Martial Uncle Li.
Upon entering, they found themselves in a bright and spacious hall. This hall was truly vast, at least several dozen zhang in size. There was nothing in the center of the room, but there were many small rooms around the perimeter, with some people coming and going.
Li Wuyi familiarly walked towards a room in the far left corner.
Inside the room, a slender, middle-aged man with a goatee was sitting behind a desk. He looked to be in his forties. His eyes were slightly closed, and he was leaning back in his chair, looking very much at ease.
Hearing someone enter, the man opened his eyes and saw Li Wuyi.
"Oh, it's Junior Brother Li. What brings you here?" the slender middle-aged man said faintly.
Li Wuyi did not mind his attitude and cupped his hands in a salute. "Greetings, Senior Brother Lin. I've brought this junior brother to collect his entry items." As he spoke, he pointed a hand at Li Yan behind him.
The slender man had of course already seen Li Yan standing there, but seeing Li Yan's dirty appearance, he had not understood what this person was doing here.
"Oh? Junior brother? Martial Uncle Wei has taken another disciple? Hmm, he's still in the Qi Condensation stage, right?" The slender man was stunned and asked several questions in a row in surprise.
In a sect as enormous as the Malevolent Spirit Sect, it was impossible for everyone to know about Li Yan's matter. Only a small number of people knew. His future with his aptitude was still up in the air; why would the higher-ups notify all the disciples now?
This Senior Brother Lin, firstly, did not know about this matter, and secondly, was surprised by Li Yan's cultivation. To be accepted as a disciple by a great Golden Core cultivator at this level of cultivation, he thought Li Yan must have an excellent spirit root. Otherwise, why would Martial Uncle Wei accept him, skipping two realms? Moreover, although this person was also a cultivator, his cultivation at the second layer of Qi Condensation was really too low. Even the disciples who entered the various peaks every few years were much higher than him.
Unless they had a rare Saint or Heaven Spirit Root, the disciples recruited by the Malevolent Spirit Sect were all elite disciples from the various subordinate immortal sects, brought over in batches every few years. These people were at least at the fifth or sixth layer of Qi Condensation.
Besides, now was not the time for the subordinate immortal sects to send disciples for entry. He naturally assumed that Li Yan must be a person of excellent aptitude.
Li Wuyi naturally understood what this Senior Brother Lin was thinking, but he did not want to be too explicit. "Senior Brother Lin is right. This is Li Yan, the Disciple-in-Name whom Master has just accepted. I'll have to trouble you, Senior Brother Lin. Junior Brother Li, come and greet Senior Brother Lin. You may need to trouble Senior Brother Lin a lot in the future."
Li Yan had been watching the two talk. From their conversation, he felt that his apprenticeship was somewhat unusual. Seeing his Eldest Senior Brother turn around and call him, he quickly stepped forward and bowed. "Greetings, Senior Brother Lin."
Senior Brother Lin glanced again at Li Yan, who was standing there looking a bit awkward after speaking, and his expression returned to normal. He knew there were some things he should not ask. This person must have a high-grade spirit root; otherwise, Little Bamboo Peak would not have accepted a disciple like this. In his memory, the last time Little Bamboo Peak had accepted a disciple was six years ago, and before that, they would only accept one or two disciples every few decades. Now was not the time for the subordinate immortal sects to send people over. It was normal that Li Wuyi did not want to say more. This boy must have some secrets.
Without another word, he reached out his hand and gestured into the void. The next moment, several items appeared in his hand. He placed them on the desk in front of him, then gestured into the air again, and a few more items appeared on the desk.
Li Yan was dumbfounded. He had never seen such an immortal art, retrieving objects from thin air. In just a short while, many things had appeared out of nowhere on the desk before him.
On the table were a long, dark green robe and other clothes, a small black token that was not quite iron and not quite gold, and a few stones, bottles, a pouch, and talisman papers.
"These are two sets of sect uniforms, two sets of undergarments, and a pair of Wind-Treading Boots. Hmm, this is the sect waist token. In a moment, you will drip your blood to claim ownership. In the future, you will rely on this waist token to enter and leave the sect, and the sect-protecting formation will not attack you. However, if any peak has set up its own formation, you will need to request a mark from that peak, which can then be imprinted into your waist token."
Senior Brother Lin responsibly pointed to the clothes and the black, not-quite-iron token on the table, explaining them one by one to Li Yan. Then he pointed to a three-inch small sword and a shuttle-shaped object behind them and continued.
"Here, this is the sect's standard-issue sword. The one next to it is a flying spirit tool, used for flying before the Foundation Establishment stage. There are also three low-grade spirit stones and a bottle of 'Qi-Returning Powder,' and three Li Fire Iron Wall Talismans. These are one-time items for entry; there will be no more in the future. However..."
But when he pointed to the last two items, he hesitated and looked at Li Wuyi.
"Junior Brother Li, this new junior brother is different from the past. In the past, those who came to collect their entry items were at least at the fifth layer of Qi Condensation and could already release their divine sense. This storage pouch and jade slip could naturally be used. But now..." He looked at Li Wuyi with difficulty.
Li Wuyi smiled slightly. He had already thought of this before coming. "That's not a problem. I'll help him put these things into the storage pouch for now. After we get back, I'll help him take them out. With my junior brother's cultivation, he'll be able to use it soon enough. As for the contents of the entry jade slip, I'll just tell him the contents directly when we get back. It's just the sect rules and various points of attention. My explanation should be even more detailed than what's in the jade slip."
Li Yan stood by, watching Senior Brother Lin point at the last two items and listening to their conversation, only vaguely understanding. A jade slip, and what was that pouch? But he was more familiar with the jade slip; it looked similar to the one Strategist Ji often held. He knew that it required divine sense to view. But what was the use of this pouch? It was so small, it could at most fit the small bottle and three stones from the table.
Right now, of all the things on the table, he only recognized the clothes, the sword, and the waist token that Senior Brother Lin had just introduced. The most he could guess about the rest was that the small bottle might contain medicinal pills for cultivation. The other things were a complete mystery.
Just as he was staring blankly at the pile of things like a goose, not knowing whether to pick them up or find something to carry them in, a slender hand reached out from his side and grabbed the pouch. He quickly turned his head and saw it was his Eldest Senior Brother.
He did not know what his Eldest Senior Brother was going to do with the pouch. When he turned his head back to look at the table, he was instantly stunned. The table was now empty. Only a single pouch was held in his Eldest Senior Brother's hand, being offered to him with a smile.
"This..." Li Yan did not know what to say, because he did not know what had happened. It had only been the time it took to turn his head and turn back, and now only this pouch was left. He was not a fool and had already thought of a possibility. 'Eldest Senior Brother put all those things into this pouch.' But that was just a thought; his heart still felt it was impossible. The next moment, Li Wuyi's words made him negate his own idea.
"Junior Brother, take the storage pouch for now. When we get back, I'll explain it to you in detail, hehe."
Hearing this, Li Yan said to himself in his heart, "Unbelievable. A storage pouch, a storage pouch. So small, yet it has such a big belly." Thinking this, he reached out to take it. When the storage pouch landed in his hand, his hand shot up violently. He was startled, because he had used too much force.
He had thought, "Even though Eldest Senior Brother used an immortal art to put those things into the pouch, the weight of the pouch should be the total weight of all those things." So when the storage pouch landed in his palm, he naturally used force to lift it up, but he did not expect the reality to be completely different from what he had imagined. The pouch was as light as a feather, with no weight at all, as if he had lifted nothing.
Li Yan immediately knew he had made a huge fool of himself again. His face turned red with embarrassment. He knew too little about the things of the cultivation world. He had so much to learn.
Senior Brother Lin was stunned when he saw this, then shook his head. "Where on earth did they find this person? He doesn't even seem to know what a storage pouch is. Even if you haven't eaten pork, haven't you seen a pig run? I wonder which godforsaken, remote subordinate immortal sect he came from." Seeing the man shake his head, Li Yan's face grew even more embarrassed.
Li Wuyi smiled slightly at the sight and patted Li Yan's shoulder lightly. "Junior Brother, let's go back. Master is probably getting impatient."