Once he was sure Autumn Peace was gone. He grabbed the beast cores and placed them back into the bag. He wasn’t going to steal for her. It wasn’t due to some moral resistance or anything. It was because of two simple reasons. 1) These had been meticulously catalogued and 2) From the limited information he had this sect did not smile upon stealing.

He rubbed his ribs, he didn’t have any healing arts. He needed to accumulate Evergreen wood and for that, he needed money. The one spirit stone he did have on him, he’d used up.

I literally have future knowledge, this shouldn’t be an issue for me. He flicked through the webnovel, he had a rough idea of where these mountains were located, he needed a map.

There had to be one available up in the sect mountains. It was a long winding road up the mountain. The outer disciples abode was located about one-fifth of the way up but this was asking too much of him anyway.

His entire robe was covered in sweat. This was too hard. He had a few questions for the inner disciple. “If I want to go out of the sect, do I need permission?”

“Of course. You need to train the Blue Tiger mantra up to its fifth stage and even then, without a good reason you might not be approved. Why are you so eager to go down there? Is it because of those girls earlier?”

“What girls?” To think someone would witness a grown man like him being beaten up. Well, he wasn’t grown or a man anymore but still, it was embarrassing. His face reddened up like a tomato.

“The ones beating you up. It’s good that you didn’t steal the cores. Otherwise, I would’ve reported you.”

“No, they’re not the reason.”

“Mind telling me why?”

“Yes.”

There was a pause. He should’ve just come up with a reason.

“What stage are you on?”

He furrowed his brow. He didn’t get a helpful flashback for that. Instead, he had to strain and pull for the information.

“Stage 1 of cultivation and Blue Tiger Mantra. Stage 2 of Green Dragon.”

“Haa…The examination is in a month. At this rate you’ll be demoted to a Rank Servant.”

Wait, what!? Alarm bells started ringing in his head. He knew what Rank Servants did and it wasn’t a good life, hell, it wasn’t even a life.

He rubbed his forehead. “What do you think I should do?”

“Stop focusing on just one aspect of training. Meditate and then, practice your Green Dragon Mantra. Once you’ve exhausted your essence. Train up the Blue Tiger Mantra. They’re complimentary practices. You need to move them in lockstep.”

“How do you think I should train the Green Dragon?” He started grilling her for information. She was a veritable gold mine and she didn’t mind.

Time flew by and the abode was in sight. She would have to keep on moving up but this was it for him. “...the fifth stage is the hardest and the most resource intensive. I would recommend that you train up some sort of other skill that can help you make some spirit stones.”

My thoughts exactly. He’d gained a lot of information from her. Maybe, everyone wasn’t as ruthless or as psychotic as he’d written. “What’s your name?” He’d been talking to her for all this time and he still didn’t know her name.

“Swallow Forest.” She brushed her hair back. “I’ll see you at the examination.” She gave him a quick hug. Her hair was straight and black, it reminded him of an honor student or something.

He was exhausted and needed some sleep. He hadn’t forgotten about Autumn Peace and her threat but for now, he needed to sleep. He would deal with it as it came up. He couldn’t hold a single thought in his mind, it was like a flickering TV, the signal too unstable.

His quarter was located on the outskirts. He opened the paper-thin door. It was a sliding door, he moved it forward and backwards a few times.

The room was bare, with no furnishings. Creature comforts would be earned based on merit and strength. He fell face first and before he knew it he was asleep.

…

..

.

Autumn Peace wasn’t feeling regret, it was just anger. Another fist was planted into her solar plexus and she started coughing.

Swallow Forest grabbed her hair and slapped her. It was a crisp thwack! “If I see you anywhere around Snow Gem, I’ll make your life hell.” The irony was lost on Autumn Peace.

Swallow Forest left, her long straight black hair trailing behind her. She had a smirk on her face.

Autumn Peace pulled herself up from the ground and grinded her teeth. She wanted to scream her lungs out. The exam was coming up, she needed to prepare.

…

..

.

He woke up with a groan. He was half-expecting the same popcorn-ceiling with the neon lights of his PC cascading over the roof. Instead, he was still here.

He got up and grabbed the webnovel right away. He needed money to buy the evergreen wood, for that he needed something to generate revenue.

He’d landed on a healing art. These were limited and very precious. Cultivator injuries were numerous and very hard to treat, any healer worth his salt would be well sought after.

This art was located in the Valley of Urns, inside an abandoned building. The MC would come back to collect it in chapter 50. He needed to get there before him. A map would be of great help to him.

He still needed to train up to Essence Condensation, level 5. He decided to walk down to the Notice Board. There were no lessons for the next week, it was in order to give the disciples time to recover and consolidate their gains.

This meant there wouldn’t be as many disciples accepting quests. He needed to go through as many quests as possible.