Zhou Xueqin became startled as he tried to sense Ling Xu's aura and realized that he couldn't feel his blood qi.
"Yes, senior brother. This is what elder Wen gave me once he approved me of becoming an official disciple." he showed the item that looked like an identity token with the word pass in it.
"So you actually managed to advance so fast…" he looked at the new disciple who had barely been in the sect for a month and then continued, "Then I would like to congratulate you in advance for entering the outer sect, fellow brother Xu."
Taking out a book with the latest registered disciples from the outer sect, Zhou Xueqin wrote Ling Xu's name and then asked for his identity token which was needed to assign the only way to differentiate between disciples as there could be more than one who had the same name.
He used the identity token to leave an imprint next to Ling Xu's name in the book to truly register him as he became the newest outer disciple at the Formless Sword Sect.
"This is your new identity token, fellow brother. With it you will be able to use the different facilities in the sect including your room which has the ability to isolate the sound so you have your own privacy."
"Many thanks senior brother!"
"It's just part of my work so you don't need to worry." he moved his hand to express that it was nothing and then continued, "Remember, you will have to wait until tomorrow for you to have your room prepared."
"Thanks again, senior…" Ling Xu suddenly realized that he didn't know the worker's name.
"My name is Zhou Xueqin, you can call me brother Xue."
"Then, see you again brother Xue."
He returned back to his residence as he exited the Affairs Hall.
But before he did so, a pair of eyes seemed to be glaring at his back without his knowledge.
Zhou Xueqin continued with his work when someone else approached and asked, "Brother Xue, who was the person that made you so surprised just now?"
"Brother Tie, why are you so curious?" Zhou Xueqin responded with another question.
"It's nothing, I just saw you had quite the reaction when you attended him and was interested in the reason." Tie Yun had a smile form eye to eye, giving the impression of someone who was very cheerful.
Looking at his bright smile, Zhou Xueqin didn't know how to say no and told him.
"I will tell you only if you don't tell this to anyone else." he looked him in the eyes with a serious look.
After all, Zhou Xueqin was very professional and he didn't want to get on the bad side of someone talented like Ling Xu.
He had previously considered going to him when he entered the outer sect to ask to return the favor but seeing him surpass any of his expectations he changed of idea.
Having to work in the Affairs Hall for quite the time already, he had already met many people like Ling Xu who were extremely talented. When meeting these talented disciples, he realized that they all had one thing in common, they were very excentric.
Because of this, he knew that if he wanted to have a possibility of getting his favor back, he should never mention it directly as it would only give a back impression to them. It was much safer to wait and see if his help would pay off.
"You don't have to worry, this is a matter between you and him so I won't interfere or tell anyone about it."
Seeing once again the trustful expression from Tie Yun, Zhou Xueqin gave in and told him about this new disciple that advanced form the seventh stage of Blood Qi all the way to the completion of the ninth in just one month.
"I didn't know it was possible to advance so fast through the Blood Qi Realm, after all the bone refinement stages are the hardest and they take a lot longer than just a month. Your previous guess was already very good as that was the average time it takes any disciple in the sect to go from the seventh stage to the ninth." he said full of interest as his face had the same smile.
"It's unfortunate that you had to enter the outer sect a few months after I started working here. If only you had become a disciple last year…" the previous smile didn't look as cheerful as before anymore.
Zhou Xueqin only thought that it was his normal expression as he had become accustomed to him for the last few months since he started working here.
…
Late at night, Ling Xu was meditating in his room, collecting his thoughts about everything that had happened since he entered the sect.
Thinking about the relationships he had made, which weren't many as he had been very busy and had little time to actually talk with anyone.
By now, Ling Xu had made two brothers who he had become quite accustomed to sharing his day with.
Those two were Xiao Lao, who shared the same residence and he had briefly talked with when they were accepted as disciples of the sect at Lesser Crimson Town, and He Xiaosheng who was his partner in patrolling the forest.
Apart from them, he had also had a conflict with Ma Dongpil, which he resolved after the sparring as he wasn't bothered by him anymore.
And he remembered every practice he had in the Three Purities Sword from morning to night and the time he was patrolling through the border of the sect's array.
"Now that I have become an official disciple of the sect I will have several more benefits that will help me in my cultivation path." he thought, fully expecting to use everything he had at his disposal to increase his strength and discover the secrets about the system and his extraordinary cultivation technique.
The night was extremely silent as there was no movement from any disciple in these late hours.
All of a sudden, Ling Xu felt something as he looked at the door, having heard the slight sound from something landing in the entrance to his room.
Being curious, he stood up as he was going to open the door and look for himself but he couldn't even take a step forward when he saw the door open by itself.
"Who are you?" he asked with a serious face, watching through the small light from the candle in his room the smiling face of someone who wore a black robe instead of the sect's uniform.
"You don't need to know that." the smiling man said as he unsheathed his sword slowly, showing the reflection of the light with the blade.
"This is dangerous!" he felt danger as he proceeded to take out from his spatial ring his refined short sword, surprising the unknown man.
"You have a spatial ring while being a mere menial worker, you are very special indeed." a smile appeared in his face as he eyed the spatial ring, full of greed.
"This is my chance!" he charged forward as his blood qi which was deadly silent kept circulating at its maximum speed, stimulating his whole body to a terrifying level compared to any person in the Blood Qi Realm.
"If you think that you will be able to survive you are very wrong. Although I can't feel your aura, I know that you are still in the ninth stage of Blood Qi." he blocked Ling Xu's attack as he felt the impact, being pushed back a few steps until he was outside of his room.
"How is it possible? I'm already in the second stage of Qi Refining, I shouldn't be pushed back by someone who has even entered the same realm." he was shocked by this disciples strength as it surpassed any expectation he previously had.
"I have even more reason to eliminate you now. I can't allow you to have the room to grow as a talented disciple who will become a pillar of the sect."
"What do you mean by that?" he was startled as he didn't expect for this black robed man to actually say something like this.
"Humph! You don't need to know." the smiling man's face became distorted as he started being serious.
His figure moved extremely fast and a residue image of himself appeared next to him, transforming his one attack man into a two man attack.
"So fast!" Ling Xu received the attack from the man on the right first and then the one from the left as he managed to deflect the first one with perfect precision and then block the other one as he retreated.
This didn't stop as the black robed man's sword became faster, turning the previous attack into several at the same time.
The scene that the fight had suddenly turned into was quite unfavorable for Ling Xu, as he was currently dodging and redirecting the continuous onslaught from the two black robed man that originated from one.
One of the attacks landed as Ling Xu's extremely tough skin couldn't resist the mysterious person's sword and was cut in the abdomen.
…
After a minute of clashing their swords, Ling Xu had gotten another cut but this time in his left wrist, which fortunately wasn't the hand he used to swing the sword.
"Kugh!" but he wasn't on the losing end as he had also managed to make quite the injury in the opponent's chest, making several drops of blood come out and stain his black robe.
"How is this possible? How are you able to fight against someone who is several stages higher than you?" the man's voice had become erratic as he was feeling nervous at the sudden change in the fight, seeing that he was now in risk of dying.
Ling Xu observed the man look to the side as if he was deciding whether to risk his life or run away.
"I can't let him run away! This man is probably serving someone, if he returns and reports what happened I will be killed without a doubt. After all, the person who dares to order someone to kill the disciples inside the sect must be extremely powerful."
After several more exchanges, the black robed man saw Ling Xu getting tired as he had managed to land his sword twice on him, cutting his chest each time.
Observing his current state once he landed the second cut, he saw Ling Xu's momentum decrease a little more as he became thought that now was the time to end the fight.
In the other's side, Ling Xu was hurting but apart from that his body was still in peak condition, having half of his reserves of blood qi remaining as they constantly stimulated his body.
Seeing both figures of the same man come at him decidedly, they both thrusted forward to the same place, pointing towards the heart.
"Now!" Ling Xu didn't avoid his attack as he had decided to surrender all defenses to land a decisive blow.
He activated his shadow golden energy, which had never been used up until now, and then pushed forward.
"Uh?" the image from both swords arrived at his chest making resistance as the black robed man didn't understand what was going on, seeing his sword frozen an inch away before reaching his chest.
The sword continued pressing forward as it broke the layer of energy, but it didn't manage to cut more than that as it had lost half its strength and the rest of the impact barely left a mark in the superficial skin.
While he was doing his attack Ling Xu was doing the same as his sword moved freely, making a tricky angle which was done naturally thanks to his mastery over his sword technique.
After he swung his sword he continued forward and stopped when he could, turning around to see the night assailant's state.