Wu Guang passed most of the time before dinner in meditation. He planned his initial steps in the sect, remembered everyone he had seen and met during this time, and spent a bit of time checking his body.

Right now he was near the peak of the 7th level, with only the leg muscles yet to temper fully while his pathways were at least twice the size of a normal cultivator, thanks to both his extremely high-level circulation technique and the wood essence that was slowly moving in them.

Leaving the room right as he heard that dinner arrived, Wu Guang saw the other people from his group as well Elder Di, who was holding an ornate jade box in his hands.

It turned out that this box contained their sect badges and right as everyone gathered the Elder asked them to retrieve them. The badges were made of copper and had several rune sets on them. Right as Wu Guang took the one that had a small note with his applicant number the front part illuminated and his name appeared brightly. The backside of the badge had nothing but runes inscribed. Before anyone asked, Elder Di explained that the points were registered by one of the rune sets. Spirit realm disciples could directly access their badges, but with the current cultivation they had, they could only check their balance on one of the rune plates meant for that. These plates were located in every place that they could use points, so there would be no problem with keeping track of their balance.

The Elder also announced their points while they retrieved the badges, and unsurprisingly Yuan Taotu had the lowest amount of points, with only 40 of them, while Wu Guang had the highest with 1325. With no reaction from both of them, Elder Di did not continue with the speech he had prepared to encourage one and remind the other to be careful and simply said that as their lodgings and food were covered by their status, they should concentrate on simply gaining enough points for the resources, techniques, and lessons that they would need.

A small reminder of rules followed, but this time he added that they would need to separate in pairs for the tests and as later they would be required to select a mentor from the inner disciples, so they should meet, get to know, and ask one during the week. The latter was pretty much expected, after all, the in-waiting disciples had to ascend quickly. Still, the former baffled everyone, so Wu Guang took the initiative to ask about the reason.

The answer was extremely easy, that most missions for the inner circle would require the disciples to work in a team. And as the smallest team would be a pair, most Sect-wide tests were intended for such.

Hearing this, Lang Juan and Duqi instantly looked at Wu Guang intending to invite him to pair with them, but he did not give them a chance with the words he spoke

"Lang Juan and Duqi, you both are from the Clans, so it will be easier for you to work together. Yuan Taotu, do you agree that we pair?"

"Yes" The answer from the dark-skinned and bald Yuan Taotu was short and unemotional, but a small movement of his lips indicated a smile, at least by what Wu Guang could understand from his expressions until now.

The expressions of the other two turned sour but after a brief moment of sulkiness, they nodded. Wu Guang was right and both of them understood it.

"Elder Di, can we choose any disciple as our mentor? Or there are any requirements?" Wu Guang asked

"By the rules, any inner circle disciple will do, but I would recommend you to choose someone from the Palaces or if you are lucky to make one from the rankings agree, then the latter. When a disciple agrees, he will be put in charge of you and tasked with helping you during your ascension to the Inner circle. They will receive a reward depending on your performance, but as they would need to spend a lot of time with you, not much of the advanced or top disciples will want to"

"The deadline is a week?"

"Yes, as soon as the 'Nascent Pride' ends, you will be required to have one. You will also stay in their personal residences if they have one"

"Thank you for the explanation"

"Well, if there are no more questions, I will take my leave. Tomorrow one of the inner disciples responsible for the tests for the outer circle will come to fetch you and explain the contents" Elder Di while maintaining his perpetual smile nodded and turned around, but before leaving he added

"Although you are not permitted to leave, for now, I can make a small exception if you want and let you escort me outside. After all, you could not have seen the real sect without having your badge"

Wu Guang and Yuan Taotu refused, with the formed explaining that they will have the time while Lang Juan and Duqi decided to accompany the Elder. The former had actually seen everything already after noticing an obscuration rune near him and activating his consciousness to check. While Yuan Taotu simply was not interested.

After the Elder left accompanied by the Clansmen, Yuan Taotu surprisingly spoke to Wu Guang

"Why did you decide to pair with me?"

"Curiosity in someone who managed to convince the sect to accept him without the trials and that two people of similar strength will get better results"

"I see" With this said and no explanation on the matter Wu Guang mentioned he simply made a farewell motion with the hand and entered his room.

"Haaah" Sighting Wu Guang thought that he will definitively find more about his secretive partner, after all, his real interest was not really in the teen himself, but more about the fact that it was someone from outside the island. The latter confirmed that the sect has contacts with another power or someone outside the island, and Wu Guang's future plans about leaving would be made easier if he could make use of them.

He washed from a basin and then returned to the room. After carefully checking, cleaning, and storing all the weapons he had on himself, Wu Guang laid down on the simple bed that was provided. He did hear that the pair from the Clans had returned, but he was already slowly descending into sleep so he decided to not go meet them.

***

The next morning he got up fully rested and in peak condition. After stretching, Wu Guang exited his room.

Breakfast was already served, but no one else was present so Wu Guang started eating alone. The rest of the group appeared fairly quickly and after some greetings, they quickly ate everything that was provided. Lang Juan cheerfully shared some of what they saw while accompanying Elder Di and Wu Guang absent-mindedly listened while nodding.

Thankfully an inner disciple entered the room before his lack of interest was noticed. Surprisingly it was Cui Li, who was known to everyone except Yuan Taotu so they greeted him without much ceremony and far more openly than someone unknown.

"Hello everyone. I was assigned by the Palace to assist during the first test" Cui Li said with a smile on his face and then made a quick explanation about the test they would face.

The first test was one made by the Martial Palace and it would take four full days. It was something between survival and scouting and would be undertaken in pairs. A ranking system was present for each test but the reward of contribution points would be assigned depending on their total results during the week, so for the best reward, one would need to score at the top during all the tests. Cui Li also shared some information on the other tests, which would be a knowledge one by the Wisdom Palace and a comprehension one from the Outer circle instructors.

Cui Li also took the chance to explain that albeit the 'Nascent Pride' was considered a set-wide important event, in truth it wasn't really so. The Sect remained closed and it was announced as important, but the only real events were intended for the upper inner circle, or basically people with real combat prowess. Palaces would have their own events as well. Still, he added that albeit this was not meant to discourage them, they should not expect very hard challenges or bountiful rewards.

Before he was even asked Cui Li also mentioned that he would like to become a mentor for them, but as he and his brother would be taking part in a long escort and exploration mission, it would be not possible.

With all this explained and said, Cui Li asked them to follow him towards the testing grounds.

The image that they saw after exiting the tower was indeed different from the one they had seen before. In place of a grass plain and blue sky coupled with a pair of distant buildings on the horizon now the real image of the sect territory was seen.

Starting from the grounds that were used for the test indeed there was a bit of grassland, but they extended not more than for a quarter of a mile when they ended leaving place for hundreds of buildings, courtyards, and a pair of small palaces. Cui Li explained that these were the outer circle grounds. After walking more towards the center by following the now visible road extending from the gates, one would reach the inner circle. Crossing the latter, one would arrive in front of the main Palace. This palace was where the elders met and could be called the main building in the sect.

Wu Guang asked about the other Palaces and also about the Halls. In response, he was told that all of them had their own grounds. Those grounds were located in different directions, but all could be reached by following the signs. When they passed one of these, Cui Li explained that signs like such would be seen at every crossroad inside the sect.

The place they were currently walking towards was a forest. A part of it was inside the sect, while another was outside the walls. Still, it was considered part of the Sect's territory, and the entire forest acted as a testing and training ground for all disciples below the 6th level of the Spirit realm.