"Are you up?" Nasha walked into Mason's room to find him staring at his hideous face. "I promise it will heal up. Even if you can't cultivate further, you are still a stage 1 cultivator. Scaring shouldn't be a worry for you." Nasha tried to console Mason but she wasn't confident herself. Damages from heavenly tribulations weren't simple.

"Thank you." Mason smiled at the girl who stood by his side helping him recover. "Is it time to join the team?"

"Yes. Today's roster came in. We are alloted to sweeping duty. Looks like we get to clean the outer disciples' training grounds." Nasha was almost jumping from the thrill of watching the disciples train in the sect arts.

Seeing the unfaced eyes of Mason, she immediately piped down. "Sorry, it must be difficult for you."

Mason stared at his own hands.

"No, I look forward to it. I don't remember what it felt like. Maybe it will jog some memories. Then again I wasn't that talented if I only reached stage 1 after 10 years of training."

Mason took the identity token and the permission slip to enter the outer sect region and joined Nasha to find their team.

"You're late." An elderly man was waiting for the full team to arrive right outside the entrance to the outer sect.

"Sorry".

"Ok listen. No one should get in the way of the disciples. If you see anyone training, avoid the area and keep at least a few metres distance at all times. Mortal bodies cannot handle the energy pulses. If there is no one in a training space then sweep the ground and wipe it clean. The stench is pretty disgusting. Try not to vomit."

The old man looked at Nasha and Mason. "Try to stay alive and return in one piece. They like to tease the servants. Ignore it."

Saying a few more words of encouragement, the elder disappeared into the outer sect.

"Who's that?" Mason asked Nasha. Even though Mason didn't know who Nasha was specifically, he knew she was someone important seeing how everyone treated her with a degree of respect. She also knew most of the important people in the sect.

"That's elder Gervais from the inner court. He's responsible for the servant quarters this year. He's a Foundation stage cultivator."

"Shall we?" Mason grabbed a broom from the side. He felt a sudden shock as if something had jolted him awake.

"It's enchanted. It helps us to retain stamina and complete tasks faster." Nasha too grabbed a broom and a piece of cloth used for mopping the floor. "Ok, let's start."

Two cultivators where busy training with their wooden swords, practicing the moves that the elders taught them. Mason stood to the side and watched them perform. Both of them were on par with each other.

"The sect elders choose a training partner for each disciple and only they are allowed to spar with each other. It's to help them build up endurance." Nasha was wiping the bench beside him. "We should wait for it to dry."

"What about real swords?"

"Other sect disciples aren't allowed to use any. Unless it's for sect missions. Sect rewards them with a sword after they reach foundation stage and gets promoted to inner sect. I guess our sect is a bit strict compared to the other lower sects."

The Supreme sect was the overlord among the cultivation sects of Kalinga Kingdom. They were the protectors of the kingdom.

"Right. Let's go. The bench is dry." Nasha and Mason moved on to the next training space.

"Eh, he wasn't joking." As soon as they approached the training space, an unbearable smell assaulted their nose making their stomachs turn.

"Yeah, looks like someone ascended a stage. This is going to be a pain. I'll go get another mop. Don't let the broom touch the waste. It's corrosive." Nasha ran off to a corner and returned immediately with two special mops. There were two gloves as well as a new bucket.

"If it's corrosive maybe you should let me handle it." Being a mortal stage 1 cultivator, Mason's body was capable of handling corrosive substances to a certain limit.

"It's not all bad. Even if it's a waste, they contain some residual energy that still can be absorbed. It helps to prolong our life span a little." Nasha showed Mason how to use the new mop and the place was cleaned up pretty fast.

"Ok, let's go. We have the day off now."

"This early?"

"Yeah, anyone dealing with that stuff gets the rest of the day off. Maybe you should check out the notice board or walk around the sect a little. It's a good day to get some fresh air."

Nasha started to sweat profusely as she was walking back to her room without waiting for Mason to respond. The toxics within the cultivation waste wasn't that easy to repel. Mason possessing a cultivation body didn't feel the toxic effects but Nasha was just a mortal.

Mason looked at the girl who started sprinting without knowing what to do. He felt he was finally free but didn't know where to start. 'Maybe at the notice board.'

The area around the notice board was empty. It was still working hours and the servant quarters was empty except for the few who had days off.

'So these are sect missions.'

Most missions were mediocre. Unlike duties, sect missions were optional and rewarded heavily. That being said, most missions were dangerous and missions that were issued to the servant quarters mostly involved trading with the mortal world, pill testing, running sect errands, recruiting to become personal maids and such.

Most servants were past their growth spurt and still stuck in the mortal body stage. The rewards from the sect missions was a huge help to improve their cultivation.

Mason scanned through the list and decided to test out the pill testing job. It was only available to cultivators of the first stage. The pills were already tested on animals and were regarded as non fatal.

"Are you sure? Pill testing is not simple. If something goes wrong, your cultivation will be permanently crippled." The disciple at the counter reminded Mason as he approached him with the poster.

"Mine is already crippled. I don't see it improving in the future."

"Oh, fine then. The elders at the pill pavilion are a bit hard to appease. Be careful not to anger them." The disciple gave a token to him and pointed him in the right direction.

"Is there anything else?"

"Are you new to the sect?"

"Yes, I joined today."

"You know I'm an outer sect disciple, right?"

"So?"

"It makes me your senior. I don't care much but you should call others above you as senior brother. Speak with honorifics or some might take offence."

"Thank you senior brother for your guidance." Mason immediately replied remembering some words from the novels he had read before which brought a smile to the outer disciples face.

"Alright, I won't hold you here."