Early in the morning, after freshening up and dressing neatly, Xuan Yuan Haoyue went to the room next door to check on He Rui.
The compound where the disciples of Qingyun Peak lived consisted of 22 small courtyards, each containing six rooms.
Aside from Xuan Yuan Haoyue, the other four rooms were already showing signs of life—someone opened their door to fetch water from the deep pool in the yard, while others, having finished washing up, were preparing to head to the Cultivation Hall for class.
Only He Rui's room remained completely silent.
Xuan Yuan Haoyue knocked on the door twice, but there was no response.
Based on her experience with He Rui over the past few weeks, she knew there was no chance He Rui had gone out early; she must be sleeping in again!
Fully aware of He Rui's unshakable habit of sleeping through anything, Xuan Yuan Haoyue didn't bother knocking again and simply pushed the door open.
When these rooms were first built, the sect had installed basic restrictions allowing only the room's owner to control access.
Although Xuan Yuan Haoyue and He Rui came from different backgrounds and had different personalities, they unexpectedly became close friends after only a few days of knowing each other.
He Rui was also aware of her bad habit of oversleeping and had long since given Xuan Yuan Haoyue access to her room.
That's why Xuan Yuan Haoyue dared to enter so boldly. Under normal circumstances, she would never invade someone's privacy like this.
Sure enough, as soon as she entered, she saw He Rui wrapped in her blanket, sound asleep.
Xuan Yuan Haoyue sighed helplessly, walked over, and began gently waking her up.
Oddly enough, even though everyone's energy and vitality had greatly improved since they started cultivating, and they needed far less sleep, He Rui continued her routine of full nights of sleep, even indulging in naps.
After some gentle shaking, He Rui finally opened her sleepy eyes, rubbing them as she yawned widely.
"Morning, Xiaoyue. Thanks for waking me again," she greeted, still half-drowsy.
Xuan Yuan Haoyue handed her a comb and said, "It's not that early anymore, Sister Rui. If you don't hurry up, we'll be late."
He Rui was a year older than Xuan Yuan Haoyue, having turned seventeen, so they addressed each other accordingly.
Upon hearing this, He Rui snapped out of her sleepy daze. She blinked her eyes hard and began to comb her hair.
Seeing that she wouldn't fall back asleep, Xuan Yuan Haoyue stood up and said, "I still have a few things to prepare, so I'll head back to my room. Be quick, Sister Rui! Today is the Sect Master's lecture."
With that, she hurried back to her own room.
The mention of the Sect Master's class fully woke He Rui up.
Oh, right, it's the Sect Master's lecture today!
With that thought in mind, the sluggishness from just waking up vanished, and He Rui's movements suddenly became much faster.
Her fellow disciples in the courtyard witnessed her dash out, scoop up a basin of water in the blink of an eye, and rush back to her room.
A few moments later, He Rui reemerged, fully dressed and radiant, carrying a small backpack they had sewn together a few weeks ago. She stood at Xuan Yuan Haoyue's door and knocked, "Xiaoyue, I'm ready! Let's go to class!"
The two girls, backpacks slung over their shoulders and water cups in hand, made their way to the Cultivation Hall on Qingyun Peak.
When they arrived at the classroom, they saw that Lin Xiao was already there, leaning casually against the podium while answering questions from a group of disciples gathered around him.
Without wasting any time, the two girls hurried to their seats, put down their water cups and backpacks, and quickly joined the group of disciples with their notebooks full of questions.
Lin Xiao efficiently answered everyone's queries just before the bell rang for class to begin.
Since the instructors always set aside time after each lecture to answer any lingering questions, the disciples hadn't accumulated too many. Those asking questions now were mostly addressing new doubts that had arisen while reviewing the previous night's lessons.
The Cultivation Hall on Qingyun Peak had a bell made by the Refinement Hall, designed specifically to remind everyone of class times. It hung outside the main entrance and rang precisely at the start and end of each session, consuming no more than a single spirit stone in an entire year. It was incredibly useful.
Once the bell rang three times, signaling the start of class, every disciple was seated, their attention focused intently on Lin Xiao.
Although the group of over a hundred disciples had their own distinct personalities and habits, none of them had ever been late since the start of their training.
Every day, when the bell rang, the hall was always full.
This made things quite easy for Bai Shu, who was in charge of recording attendance.
However, today, Lin Xiao didn't start teaching as soon as the bell finished ringing, as he usually did.
"Before we begin today's lesson, I have something to show you all."
With a wave of his hand, several stacks of paper flew toward each disciple, one after the other.
The students were confused at first, assuming it must be some material related to their cultivation.
But when they took a closer look at the papers, they realized this wasn't quite what they had expected.
The first page of the stack in their hands had a prominent title printed on it: Lingxian Monthly Report.
Beneath the title were various subheadings:
"New Area of the Sect—Changming Mountain—Officially Completed and Open!", "New Creations From the Refinement Hall", "New Items Available in the Contribution Exchange Area!", "New Books in the Library This Month", "New Dishes at the Spirit Food Hall", and more.
Feeling curious about this novel document, the disciples carefully examined it.
Seeing that everyone had received a copy, Lin Xiao continued:
"This is our sect's monthly report. Going forward, any updates or non-urgent announcements within the sect, as well as news from the outside world, will be published here. Many of the things you might be curious about can be found in it. Of course, if there's anything you think should be included but isn't, you can provide feedback to the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall."
After speaking, Lin Xiao noticed that the disciples were still poring over the cover and its various headlines, so he added:
"Staying informed is an important part of life, especially now that you're cultivating. As a cultivator, you shouldn't just bury your head in training without understanding the world around you. So take some time to read through the report. The time spent will be made up later—no need to worry."
The disciples of Lingxian Sect were quite different from ordinary students. Each of them was eager to learn more about cultivation, even hungering for knowledge.