During the evening, Wu Guang once more entered the cultivation room and saturated himself with qi. Then he took a bath, this time accompanied by an inner disciple that Elder Chen introduced to him called Xiao Feng. Xiao Feng was 16 years old and was of similar build and height as Wu Guang. He had pale skin, a somewhat crooked nose, sharp eyes, and bushy eyebrows. His hair was short and spiky, so if not for his refined manners and pale skin, one first expression of him would be that of a rascal.

Their mutual first impression was good, and after some small talk, their manner turned friendly. Xiao Feng was born into one of the oldest noble families in the territory. Although greatly weakened during the war, they ruled over Blue Tree City located a few miles from the Sect and were considered a local powerhouse.

His uncle was currently an elder in the sect, so when he reached 14 he, as most of the members of the family before him, took the entrance tests and entered the sect.

His talent was far better than the average, and he also had some previous cultivation thanks to the methods of his family, so he quickly reached the middle Spirit stage and became an inner circle disciple at 15. Currently, he was staying in the tower as part of a mission, while leaving the bath, he was speaking about the reason for his stay in the tower

"I accepted this mission because it was the easiest on the list and so did not require a team. I don't even understand why it was considered an inner circle mission. Just travel from the sect, meet a person from clan assembly, and pass him a letter. Then stay in the tower for some days while someone arrives and escort them to the Sect" While laughing Xiao Feng walked alongside Wu Guang

"Well, most probably it was because of the Clans tradition. They only speak equally with people that are near their strength" Wu Guang explained

"Oh, I see. No wonder then. When I met the guy, he was pretty brusque. But after a handshake that could shatter rock and my lack of reaction to it he was all smiles"

"Yes, it is a common thing for them" Nodded Wu Guang.

"But I really need to thank the Wisdom Palace Master for letting me stay and even cultivate in the normally closed Wisdom's floor" Changing the theme Xiao Feng brightened even more

"They say that most of the qi in this tower is located in the three floors allocated to the Palaces cultivation rooms after all"

"Three?"

"Oh, so you don't know?" After seeing Wu Guang shaking his head, Xiao Feng started to explain

"The tower has floors assigned to the three main Palaces of the sect. They are the Martial, Discipline, and Wisdom Palaces respectively. Although disciples from the Wisdom Palace rarely come to the Tower, people from the other two are often seen around here while on missions or during leave"

"Are you a member of any Palace, Brother Feng?"

"I am not, I wanted to join the Martial Palace, but they are very strict with the battle record. Mine isn't good enough for them, but during the examinations, I may have the chance to improve"

"Could you tell me a bit more about the examinations in the sect?" Wu Guang inwardly thought "The guy liked to talk, this way at least the talking would be useful" and continued to listen

"Oh well. Every year at the end of summer the Sect has the entrance tests that are called 'Three Hills Selection'. After a week, when all the new disciples are selected, the sect closes fully for a week. During this week, called 'Nascent Pride' all disciples except the new lower outer circle ones are tested in different matters like combat and knowledge. From the scores and some other factors, disciples are graduated, promoted, demoted, or expelled. These scores can also boost your chances to join a Palace or even to be chosen by a Palace as a prospective member. Then the sect reopens, missions are again issued, etc.

And this continues for half a year when the main examinations come. They are similar in nature, are called 'Three Hills Tournament', but take a full month and have a lot of different events added as well. With the only real change being that no new disciples can join. Do you want to ask something else?"

"Can I?" With a burst of laughter asked Wu Guang while opening the door leading into the Wisdom Floor common room. The door was left unsealed, so this didn't require any effort from him.

"Yes, yes, go ahead. But no more than two questions and then show me around"

"Ok, two questions. First, did you say that only the lower outer circle does not participate in the 'Nascent Pride'? And what are the circles?"

"Well, I will answer the second one first. The disciples are divided into the Personal disciples of the Elders, the Elite disciples of the Palaces, the Inner, and the Outer circle. The latter two have two divisions, which would be the high and low ones. Low outer disciples are the people who have no cultivation, also called half disciples. While the high outer disciples are the ones past the 6th level of the Body realm. Similar story with the inner circle low is for people who enter the Spirit realm while high is for people who reach the 6th level of it" He took a brief pause and continued

"As it would be unfair to put a person with previous cultivation alongside the ones that did not start yet, the people who have the 4th or higher level of the Body realm participate in the tests for the high outer circle. Basically, if they show a decent performance, they directly join it and so get access and the real chance to cultivate. While if they show a very good performance and have reached 7th level of the Body or have even a superior one, will join as inner disciples in-waiting, and so will be able to use the resources or attend the lessons intended for the lower Inner circle" After this long explanation Xiao Feng looked at Wu Guang and before the latter could ask something else

"We agreed to two questions, now show me around"

"Obviously" After Wu Guang answered, he quickly explained what lied behind the doors to Xiao Feng, and after the latter claimed one of the two free rooms they parted ways.

Wu Guang quickly unrobed and lied down on the bed, after sorting all the information he gained about the sect and guessing that Elder Chen along with Enforcer Zhen should have reached the location they decided to visit first, he fell asleep.

The next morning when Xiao Feng left his room, he saw that Wu Guang and an old man he saw the day before were discussing something near an enormous map of the city districts. When he came closer to them, they stopped their discussion and greeted him.

Wu Guang also introduced Old Rui as an expert in documents helping gather materials for the Palace Master, without explaining further.

Then, the three of them descended to the first floor, had breakfast, and returned to the Wisdom Floor. This was done almost in silence, with some occasional small talk about the Tower or the Sect between the two young men.

Old Rui did not speak much, but he did interject occasionally. These interjections started when the talks moved towards the Sect rules. Surprisingly he was very well informed on them and completed the explanation, especially on the laws that the Sect enforced on its territory, which was by far bigger than the one of Boundary Hill City. The laws were not really surprising as they were the same found in any civilized place. Still, the fact that the Sect actually enforced them on a territory so big and protected at least two dozens of villages surprised even Xiao Feng.

Wu Guang was by far less surprised as he simply thought that the food and other mortal resources for the sect come from somewhere, and so it was not surprising to have a few big villages under its wing for either the taxes, workforce, or for some other kind of payment.