Chapter 199: Chapter 189: Inner Court
"So you’re Zhao Lin. A fine and talented young man indeed!"
Lu Chaohuan sized up Zhao Lin and praised him sincerely. Then, his expression grew serious as he said, "Since the Xingyun Sect was founded, those who can enter the Blood Realm by the age of eighteen are few and far between."
"I hope you continue to strive, shine brightly in the future Martial Arts Conclave, and bring honor to our sect! Bring honor to Great Yue!"
Zhao Lin replied solemnly, "I will do my utmost."
"Very good."
Lu Chaohuan offered a few more words of encouragement before turning to Elder Water Mirror with a smile. "My thanks to you as well, Brother Water Mirror, for cultivating such a young prodigy for the sect."
"To be honest, I was pained to part with that drop of Dragon Bone Tree Blood last time, but now I see it was truly worth it."
Elder Water Mirror chuckled. "Sect Leader, you flatter me. I dare not take the credit."
He said he dared not take the credit, but a smile crept onto his lips nonetheless.
After a few pleasantries, Lu Chaohuan summoned an attendant disciple and pointed at Zhao Lin. "This is Zhao Lin, a newly promoted disciple of the Inner Court. Please get him situated."
"Yes."
The attendant disciple agreed and said to Zhao Lin, "Junior Brother Zhao, please follow me."
Zhao Lin took his leave of the Sect Leader and the elder, then followed the attendant disciple out of the great hall to the nearby Registry.
The Registry was a stone building. Just inside the entrance, shelves lined the walls on both sides, filled with numerous records.
In both its external appearance and internal layout, it strongly resembled the records office of a county government.
"Junior Brother Zhao, please give me your jade token,"
the attendant disciple said politely.
Zhao Lin untied the jade token from his waist and handed it over.
The attendant disciple took the token, used a key to unlock a cabinet, and retrieved a rectangular piece of Yellow Jade about half the size of his palm.
He used a carving knife to engrave Zhao Lin’s name on the Yellow Jade before handing it to him. "This is your Inner Court waist token. Junior Brother Zhao, please keep it safe."
"We’ll get everything arranged in the next two days. You can report to the Inner Court the day after tomorrow."
Zhao Lin was taken aback. "That’s it? You don’t need information like my age, place of origin, or address?"
The attendant disciple smiled. "We can look up the relevant records right here."
’The administrative efficiency here is surprisingly high,’ Zhao Lin thought, slightly amazed. He then asked, "Do I not need to pay fees for medicinal materials and tuition to enter the Inner Court?"
The attendant disciple shook his head, still smiling. "Inner Court disciples are the sect’s elite; everything is provided free of charge. Besides, there are only a few dozen of them. I’m sure the sect can afford it."
"Good. So I can go to the Inner Court the day after tomorrow?"
"That’s right. First thing, the day after tomorrow."
...
Although Zhao Lin had no intention of showing off, word of his breakthrough to the Blood Realm and his acceptance into the Inner Court quickly spread throughout the Wuxiang Institute.
Whether he was coming and going from the training chambers or eating in the dining hall, disciples—both those he knew and those he didn’t—would often strike up a conversation with him.
In truth, for the disciples of the Wuxiang Institute, breaking through to the Blood Realm wasn’t the hard part. The challenge was doing it before the age of twenty-five.
Most of them were genuinely impressed. After all, Zhao Lin had managed to rescue a fellow disciple from the clutches of a Blood Realm warrior. With that kind of courage and martial skill, it was only right for the sect to reward him handsomely.
When Xiang Bao heard the news, he made a special trip from the Inner Court to congratulate Zhao Lin.
"My brother said you’d get into the Inner Court within a year, and I didn’t believe him. I can’t believe you’re here after just two months."
Zhao Lin noticed a few red, swollen marks on Xiang Bao’s neck. "How are you doing in the Inner Court? What’s with your neck?"
Xiang Bao pulled up his collar, hiding his neck. "I just got here, so how do you think? The Court Head is vicious. He drills us from dawn till dusk."
"Plus, there’s a combat assessment every month. All of us newcomers are stuck at the bottom of the rankings!"
He then gave Zhao Lin a general overview of the Inner Court.
Apparently, the Inner Court had a Head and a Deputy Head. The Head was Yang Lin and the Deputy was Pan Yue, both of whom had just been appointed last year.
The Inner Court currently had thirty-eight disciples, with ages ranging from twenty to twenty-eight...
Zhao Lin interrupted him. "Wait, you said the oldest disciple is twenty-eight? That can’t be right. I thought you could stay in the Inner Court until you’re thirty."
Xiang Bao waved his hand dismissively. "The Martial Arts Conclave is held every three years. The last one was last year, and the next one is the year after next. Do the math. If you’re twenty-nine this year, how old will you be the year after next?"
Realization dawned on Zhao Lin. ’I’ll be twenty the year after next,’ he mused. ’I wonder if I’ll be able to participate in the Martial Arts Conclave.’
...
「Two days later.」
Zhao Lin changed into the training uniform he had just been issued and arrived before the gates of the Inner Court.
The Inner Court was situated on the shoulder of the Xingyun Sect’s mountain. Higher up were the elders’ residences. Its location alone showed that its status was second only to the Sect Leader and the elders.
This also made clear how much importance the sect placed on the Inner Court.
The Inner Court itself wasn’t large, only about the size of a single division of the Wuxiang Institute.
A long, wooden plaque stood before the gate. Zhao Lin glanced over and saw names written on it: Xiao Jin, Miao Tianfeng, Lv Zhenglong... Xiang Bao, Zhong Yewu, Zhao Lin.
His own name was at the very end.
According to Xiang Bao, the Inner Court emphasized practical combat, holding monthly competitive assessments. The order of the names on the plaque represented the disciples’ power ranking.
Zhao Lin presented his waist token, and the disciple on duty immediately went inside to report. A moment later, a man in his thirties strode out.
The man’s eyes lit up when he saw Zhao Lin. "It’s Junior Brother Zhao! I didn’t expect you to get into the Inner Court so soon!"
Zhao Lin recognized him at once—it was Hu Xuancheng, the one who had guided them when they first joined the Wuxiang Institute.
However, Hu Xuancheng was no longer in a disciple’s uniform, but was dressed as a sect official, leaving Zhao Lin momentarily unsure of how to address him.
Seeing his hesitation, Hu Xuancheng smiled. "I’m past the age limit, so I can’t be a disciple in the Inner Court anymore. The Court Head thought my experience was valuable and made me a transmission instructor."
"Instructor Hu."
"No need for that. Just keep calling me Senior Brother Hu."
Hu Xuancheng was very easygoing and put on no airs. "Let me show you around the Inner Court first," he said warmly. "Then we’ll go see Court Head Yang."
With that, he began to lead Zhao Lin around the Inner Court, explaining some of its rules as they went.
The Inner Court’s layout was similar to the Wuxiang Institute’s, with training chambers, a Martial Arts Hall, training grounds, the Scripture Pavilion, meditation chambers...
After completing the tour, Zhao Lin noticed something odd.
He had only seen Xiang Bao, Zhong Yewu, and the other new disciples in the training chambers. He hadn’t seen a single one of the older disciples. He couldn’t help but ask, "Senior Brother Hu, aren’t there over thirty disciples in our Inner Court? Where is everyone?"
Hu Xuancheng lowered his voice. "Court Head Yang just arrived last year and established a new rule. Except for new disciples, who train here at headquarters, all the senior disciples have been sent to guard the mountains, where they cultivate alone."
"Guard the mountains?"
Zhao Lin knew "guarding the mountains" meant watching over the sect’s medicinal mountains, a duty usually assigned to Blood Realm warriors.
It served two purposes: preventing outsiders from stealing the Xingyun Sect’s rare medicinal herbs and clearing the mountains of dangerous beasts to protect the herb gatherers.
"Sending disciples to guard the mountains—doesn’t that interfere with their training?"
Hu Xuancheng gave a slight smile and explained, "Guarding the mountains is secondary. The true purpose is to cultivate a disciple’s mindset. To be like a tiger, claiming a mountain as its domain, rather than huddling together all day like a flock of sheep."
"Those were Court Head Yang’s words."
"You just toured the Inner Court. Did you see a dining hall?"
"No."
"It’s the same principle. Since when do tigers gather to eat together?"
Zhao Lin fell silent for a moment, recalling a saying he had heard in his past life: ’Cattle and sheep move in herds, but a beast of prey always walks alone.’
’It seems this Court Head Yang really has his own way of thinking,’ Zhao Lin thought.
"We’ve arrived at Hongrong Pavilion. Let’s go see Court Head Yang now," Hu Xuancheng said, pointing ahead.
