As a newly promoted Inner Sect Disciple, Chen Jiuge had three months to solidify his Cultivation and familiarize himself with Hundred Herbs Peak.
「The next day,」
Lin En took Chen Jiuge to the Scripture Pavilion early in the morning.
Like a pagoda, the seven-story Scripture Pavilion was unguarded—well, not exactly unguarded, as it was an Immortal Artifact with an Artifact Spirit within.
"Little fellow, as a newcomer, you may choose three Secret Manuals for free, except from the Seventh Level," said the Artifact Spirit, the size of a baby, as it knowingly stroked its incongruous white beard.
"Senior Brother," Chen Jiuge glanced at Lin En. He indeed wished to choose Cultivation Techniques first, as his newly contracted four Spiritual Beasts had yet to acquire any.
"Junior Brother, do you want to choose? Then, I'll wait for you downstairs," Lin En said casually with a wave of his hand.
Bao Nu and Li Fire were both fire-attribute Dragon Species, so Chen Jiuge chose a copy of "Fire Dragon Transformation" for them. The Phantom Beast, An Guang, was characterized by its speed but also possessed Dark Attributes, so Chen Jiuge selected "Dark Night Stealth" for it. As for the Violent Rabbit, Ju Ling, Chen Jiuge directly chose the same "Giant Spirit Body Refining Technique" as himself. Naturally, these were all Spiritual Beast versions.
After all, the differences between humans and Spiritual Beasts before Transformation were quite significant. Fortunately, the Cultivation Techniques from Myriad Beasts Sect had corresponding versions for Spiritual Beasts, allowing them to adapt and begin more easily.
After visiting the Scripture Pavilion, Lin En then led Chen Jiuge to the Medicine Gardens. These were privately owned and generally taken care of by the disciples, so the two could only look from the outside without trespassing.
To say they were looking was actually a stretch. Like Chen Jiuge's own cave mansion, nearly every Medicine Garden had a standard Mist Illusion Array around it. One could say that the Myriad Beasts Sect was lavish, and so was Hundred Herbs Peak.
"Forget it, these people make their Medicine Gardens so tightly secured every day, it's unclear who they're guarding against. Junior Brother, come look at my Medicine Garden instead," Lin En stated with some dissatisfaction.
"Senior Brother, there's no need. I don't know how to cultivate Spirit Plants anyway. A general understanding of the paths would suffice; there's no need to know too much," Chen Jiuge pulled Lin En aside and explained.
"Alright, then I'll take you to see the Secret Realm for cultivation behind the mountain—that's truly a great place," Lin En suggested, changing the subject without insisting.
"Then I must trouble Senior Brother," Chen Jiuge expressed his gratitude.
An hour later, Chen Jiuge seemed not yet fully satisfied. "Senior Brother, is it over already?"
"Yes, it's over," replied Lin En, savoring the moment as he licked his lips.
"Thanks to you, Junior Brother, this Myriad Food Secret Realm is the most relaxing and effective place for cultivation, but it's also the most expensive. To cultivate there for an hour costs one hundred Merit Points, amounting to twelve hundred for a day. The price is outrageous," Lin En said with an expression as if Chen Jiuge had struck it rich.
The two had spent the day touring the more important places of Hundred Herbs Peak, eventually returning to Chen Jiuge's Yunlan Courtyard.
Chen Jiuge brewed a cup of Spiritual Tea and said, "Senior Brother, I wonder what my first mission will be?"
Sipping his tea, Lin En replied somewhat lazily, "The first one is usually something like Spiritual Medicine transportation or recent guarding duties in an Immortal City. Anyway, the first mission is about accumulating experience, and they are all very safe tasks. Junior Brother, you don't need to worry."
"Since I joined Hundred Herbs Peak five hundred years ago, I've never seen an Inner Sect Disciple have an accident. Of course, those who venture out alone don't count. Missions are very safe, although they yield fewer Merit Points," Lin En shook his head as he spoke.
"Then, is there any way to earn Merit Points?" Chen Jiuge asked eagerly.
Unlike the Outer Sect, for the Inner Sect, Merit Points are managed by the peak you belong to. This means tasks like feeding at Hundred Dragon Pond are not available to Inner Sect Disciples. They can only take on tasks from Hundred Herbs Peak's mission hall.
"Well, generally there are three methods," Lin En explained. "The first is cultivating Spirit Plants, but that's not suitable for you, Junior Brother. The second is long-term guarding. However, with your current low Cultivation, you could only guard in the mortal realms. The Merit Points are decent, but it will slow down your cultivation pace. The last method is trade: exchanging rare spiritual materials, Spiritual Beasts, ores, and various other things."
"Senior Brother, none of those three methods seem very suitable for me," Chen Jiuge said, somewhat disappointed.
"Don't be so despondent. You've just arrived; don't rush things. Once your Cultivation improves, earning Merit Points will be easy. The Sect and the peak accept Fifth Rank or higher spiritual materials, and achieving Divinity Transformation is not difficult. Just endure a few hundred years, and you'll be fine," Lin En said with a reassuring smile to Chen Jiuge.
"Alright, I should head back now. Junior Brother, your Cultivation is already quite stable. Spend the next few months organizing your cave mansion and taking care of your Spiritual Beasts. Take some rest, and soon you'll get a mission."
Watching Lin En leave, Chen Jiuge felt somewhat helpless and sighed to himself, Had I known, I wouldn't have been so quick to leave. I could have stayed in the Outer Sect and done a few more tasks. Oh well, since I'm here now, I should secure my Cultivation a bit more and start initiating the newly contracted four beasts into their Cultivation Techniques.
Initiation into the Cultivation Techniques for a Spiritual Beast is actually quite simple, but the precondition is that the Spiritual Beast must have a high degree of Spiritual Wisdom, at least equivalent to an average person. Thus, Chen Jiuge was somewhat reluctantly looking at Bao Nu. It had been a month, and while the other three Spiritual Beasts had already been initiated, Bao Nu just couldn't get it. This prompted Chen Jiuge to feed it another Wisdom Opening Pill, which didn't seem to make any difference either.
Watching Bao Nu continuously twist its body, its large nostrils shooting out sparks, Chen Jiuge felt truly helpless. This Fire Flood Dragon, evolved from a Spiritual Chicken, had too bad a temperament. Even now, with Spiritual Wisdom as high as a normal person's, it was still very dull-witted.
"Forget it, you can spend a little time each day cultivating the 'Fire Dragon Transformation' on your own; I won't force you anymore," Chen Jiuge eventually decided to let it be. After all, Bao Nu was very strong. Even if the other three Spiritual Beasts mastered their Cultivation Techniques, they would be no match for it. At least in the Nascent Soul Stage, Bao Nu was comparable to an average mid-Nascent Soul Stage Disciple from the Inner Sect—that is, an ordinary Disciple without special techniques, not counting their Lifebound Spirit Beasts.
Three months flew by. In addition to teaching his Spiritual Beasts cultivation, Chen Jiuge also had to rearrange the breeding areas for them and even hosted a few Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters whom Lin En had introduced.
These Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters came to buy Spiritual Beasts. The Senior Sisters generally preferred the good-looking ones, while the Senior Brothers looked for the fiercer ones. They also liked to use Spirit Plants to offset the cost of Spirit Stones, offering prices that were quite low, which allowed Chen Jiuge to earn a substantial amount of Spirit Stones.
"Junior Chen, your Sect mission has arrived," Lin En's voice entered the small courtyard.
Chen Jiuge deactivated the Array and looked at Lin En. "Senior Lin, has the mission arrived?"
"Mhm, it's an escort mission—quite simple, with a good payout of four hundred Merit Points. I don't know the specifics; you should check them for yourself," Lin En said, handing a Jade Scroll to Chen Jiuge before departing.
With his Divine Sense probing, the Jade Scroll crumbled, and the details of the mission entered Chen Jiuge's mind. The rough details were as follows: "Escort a batch of Spiritual Medicines to Hundred Herbs Pavilion in White Burning Immortal City. The departure is scheduled for the morning of July 15th, with a deadline of fifteen days to arrive before July 30th. This is a three-person mission."