"Ah, young fella! Coming here for your outer disciple's robes already, you must be quite talented!" The old lady praised.

Van smiled. The old lady shattered his jade tag and gave him a circular piece of jade with spiralling leaves around the edges. His name and the words 'outer disciple,' were engraved on it.

"With this jade name tag you can access exclusive areas such as the Martial Field and the Missions Hall. It is your unique identifier, and the only key to your personal room. When you come to collect your monthly allowance of half a spirit stone, you must present it. This tag must not be given to any body else. If lost, you must come and get it replaced immediately. Do you understand?"

Van nodded. He tied his new name tag securely to his waist and took the parcel full of new robes.

Van went to find his new living quarters.

With a map in his hand, Van arrived in an area of the sect that was neither in the centre nor on the outskirts like the servant's quarters had been.

Flas.h.i.+ng his tag, Van was led inside a large building and to his room. Inside was a simple bed, table and stool.

The person who let him in was a fat middle-aged uncle who had been an outer disciple for forty years now. This uncle explained that the rooms provided for outer disciples were designed for closed-door cultivation.

"The material in the walls minimize the leakage of qi to the outside your room, so you can cultivate all night without worrying about your neighbours. The concentration of spiritual power is also better here than in the outskirts of the sect."

"Thank you," Van said before tipping the fat man three silvers. Though it was not a huge amount of money to the fat uncle, he still felt happy. Seeing that the young man was a servant who had become an outer disciple through hard work, and seeing that he was so considerate, the fat uncle leaned forwards and gestured for Van to come closer.

"Boy, if you want to earn money and recognition quickly in this sect you should check out the Missions Hall. It is also a good way to gain fighting experience!"

With that, the fat man left him to his devices.

Van entered the small bedroom. Despite its tiny size, he felt immensely proud. He had earned the privilege to be here.

Van put on his new robes. They were deep green and made of soft but qi-resistant material. On the back, a large silhouette of a cedar tree was st.i.tched. With it on, he felt as if his back grew straighter.

After settling into his room, Van excitedly began to practice his three new skills.

________

[One hour later]

A copper glow emanated from Van's skin before dulling and fading away. The young man exhaled slowly and jumped up. His experiment had been a success! He could emulate Copper Knight Wall's appearance and effects to 95% similarity with his Copper Buddha state.

Van then began to practice Dark Seas Palm.

Immediately he could feel that the power exited him much more sluggishly compared to when he practiced 'Fists of Devouring Flame.' He had to repeat one move dozens of times before an effect would appear.

Despite this, Van's progress was not slow. Within two hours he had learned the first move, 'River Splitting the Rocks.'

Hah!

Van thrust his palm forwards. A whip-like surge of dark, chilly water gushed into the air and attacked the table.

It cracked into two halves.

Van inspected the damage with a satisfied smile. Despite holding the majority of his power back, Dark Seas Palm had still been able to do a lot of damage.

As Van was unable to practice Scattering Smoke Steps before the 4th level of Qi Distillation, he simply read the skill manual and tried to understand it. Though his understanding was foggy, Van thought he was able to grasp the essence of the skill.

Whether he was correct or not he could only find out once he reached the 4th level.

One day later, Van was still practising Dark Seas Palm. His proficiency in using the skill increased at a rapid pace. But no matter how hard he practised his room, he knew he lacked practical experience.

Plus, he had to keep withholding power from the move to prevent serious damage to his room. Van was worried that doing this would later affect the performance of Dark Seas Palm.

Van packed his things and headed straight for the Missions Hall.

___________

The Missions Hall was not a tall building, but it was very long. Hundreds of posters decorated its walls and many disciples milled about inside. They were mostly discussing the pros and cons of various missions. Some advertised their experience in order to attract others to their team and undertake riskier missions with better rewards.

When Van walked in, a few outer disciples turned and saw that there was an unfamiliar face. Two disciples in the corner murmured quietly to each other.

"This must be one of the six servants that reached the 3rd level of Qi Distillation this month…"

"…I heard four of them were from the latest batch. They only entered a month ago…"

"Seriously…? Their cultivation speed makes us outer disciples look bad…"

Though they did not recognise him, they had an inkling of who Van was.

Fact was - although the Cedar Sect elevated servants who reached the 3rd level of Qi Distillation to outer disciples – only 10% of outer disciples had previously been servants and almost no inner disciples.

Van could feel the stares on him as he walked but he thoroughly ignored their existences. With his arms clasped behind his back, he inspected the posters on the wall. After perusing for half an hour, he decided which mission he would take.

"This disciple would like to take the mission at Threadspinner Town."

The clerk at the back of the hall looked up at him.

"No problem. Please give me your personal token to record this."

Van handed his name token over.

"As you would be aware of by now, there is a demon pest control mission for Threadspinner Town. Although killing pests does not sound attractive, you will be rewarded based on the number of beasts killed – not level. Any materials from the beasts that you find are yours to keep."

Van nodded. The open-endedness of this mission was precisely why he picked it. The mission did not say that he had to eliminate the root cause of the infestation. All he needed to do was rack up the kills and collect the rewards.

"If I were you, I would go there quickly," the clerk advised, "The later you leave it, the more likely that other disciples from the Cedar Sect, or even other sects, will hunt the pests to extinction!"

Van nodded.

Five days from now was the day of the Lantern Festival. Recalling the exciting words on the flyer, Van was highly antic.i.p.ating the Mystery Object Sale.

That meant he had four days to wrap up this little mission to Threadspinner Town!

________

As soon as Van left Dragon City, he stood near the forest and whistled. A giant wolf tumbled out and tackled him to the ground. Blackie s...o...b..red all over him enthusiastically while wagging his tail, showing his usual brown-nosing ways. Van rolled his eyes and leapt onto his back. The giant wolf's speed was much better than most normal horses.

Four hours later, Van arrived at his destination – Threadspinner Town. The town was small compared to Dragon City but still many times larger than the miniscule Mountain Village.

Threadspinner Town was well-known for the fabric it produced. The fabric was of good quality and made from the fur of tame, woolly demon beasts.

To the despair of the people of the town predatory demon beasts began to take up in the woods near the farmland two years ago. These pests multiplied quickly and would prey on their woolly demon beasts, who were domesticated and unable to fight back.

In the midst of their despair, the Mayor of Threadspinner Town had pleaded for help from the biggest sects in Dragon City. Luckily for him, this type of mission was accepted easily as the sects felt it would be a good training ground for disciples.

Van was an eye-catching sight as he rode into town. He quickly put down his name at the mission register. Next to his name was a blank s.p.a.ce that would record the number of pests he had put down once he emerged.

"Excuse me."

Van turned to see a group of three standing behind him. They wore the robes of Zephyr Sect outer disciples. From their aura, Van guessed that they were all also of the 3rd level of Qi Distillation.

"We saw your wolf pet and couldn't help but admire it. Would you consider joining us?"

Van was thoroughly uninterested. Plus, don't think he hadn't heard the hidden barb in those words. These people didn't think he would be of any help – they just admired Blackie!

Indeed, the three of disciples of the Zephyr Sect saw the giant wolf and thought it would be a convenient method of transportation in the woods…

"Not interested," Van said coldly.

In a flash, both wolf and human disappeared into the forest.

The faces of the three Zephyr disciples left behind were unsightly.

"What a b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" One of them cursed, "I hope he gets killed by a demon beast!"

__________

Van entered the woods with no sign of pressure in his expression. In front of him, the giant wolf scented the air and then darted off in one direction.

Van followed. His eyes sharpened and his heart slowed as entered hunting mode.

There!

An angry screech filled the air.