Chapter 762 - 229: [Guest? Prisoner?]
After reading it, the steward Elder understood the situation and had someone write a letter to notify the Gu Family and the nearby city jurisdiction. This process probably will take two days.
As for when the letter is sent out, when will the Gu Family respond or send someone...how would I know?"
Chen Yan couldn’t help but twitch at the corners of his eyes.
Damn it... so it’s all about process.
"You don’t need to worry, as we understand now, you’re indeed unrelated to this matter. You’re just an innocent person caught up in it—however, since you’re the only eyewitness, you’re like a living piece of evidence, both we and the Gu Family have to settle this before we can allow you to leave."
Zhao Wuji, still somewhat humane, walked over with a smile and patted Chen Yan’s shoulder: "Since you’re here, make yourself comfortable, you can stay at the Outer Sect courtyard and consider it a visit—do you know what a great opportunity this is!
Those loose cultivators in the mountains outside would beg to have a chance to visit a Saint’s sect."
"A visit? Isn’t it more like imprisonment?" Chen Yan sighed.
"Don’t worry, it’s a visit," Zhao Wuji said: "Elder Qian instructed me to arrange for you to stay in the outer courtyard, which means a visit. If there were any suspicions and you were forcibly detained, you’d be locked up in the holding room!"
Chen Yan could only accept, but suddenly a thought occurred to him: "As a guest... I’m not restricted in my movements, right? Or am I confined to my room, unable to step outside?"
"Since Elder Qian didn’t say you should be confined, naturally you won’t be forbidden to go out. Living in the outer courtyard, you can consider yourself an Outer Sect disciple and move around in the outer courtyard—but don’t wander into forbidden areas... even if you try, you won’t be able to get through."
Only then did Chen Yan nod, though he gradually grew interested internally.
·
Within the Celestial Demon Yin Yang Joyful Sect, the so-called outer courtyard where outer disciples reside—accurately speaking, they’re not outer disciples, but "prospective outer disciples."
According to the sect’s rules and procedures, those living here are newcomers who have just been initiated into the sect—not yet considered disciples, they undergo three months of selection and cultivation in the outer courtyard.
Those who qualify can formally be initiated into the sect as outer disciples—as for inner sect disciples, that’s another realm altogether, which we won’t discuss now.
These three months of selection and cultivation allow the sect to assess the talents, dispositions, and various qualities of these prospective disciples.
If they don’t qualify, they can leave the sect and find their own path, having no further relation to the sect.
Of course, those who are willing to stay become miscellaneous workers within the sect.
In the sect, menial tasks need someone to fill the roles; it’s impossible to have cultivators do chores like laundry, cooking, and cleaning.
Besides, many places within the sect require manpower.
For instance, farms and medicinal fields below the mountain, many industries need workers. Even tending spiritual fields and herbs aren’t tasks ordinary people can manage.
Those who are eliminated are, after all, entry-level cultivators—even if they lack talent and have no hope of promotion, remaining as First Realm cultivators, they’re most suitable for these menial roles.
The Celestial Demon Yin Yang Joyful Sect is a sect inheriting from Saints, among those considered... hmm... leaders of orthodox sects!
It is also quite renowned in the Domain Realm.
Zhao Wuji mentioned to Chen Yan that below the sect, there are over ten thousand miscellaneous sect members, though most are scattered across various sect industries.
Officially counted as sect disciples, there are only a thousand outer disciples and a hundred inner sect disciples—these are the ones within the establishment.
·
Zhao Wuji led Chen Yan into a courtyard in the outer area—it’s structured like a courtyard house, with three-story buildings surrounding it, each floor having four rooms. In total, it can accommodate thirty-six people.
After Zhao Wuji brought Chen Yan here, he casually pointed to an empty room for Chen Yan to stay in, and simply handed Chen Yan a token emitting a faint wave of Primordial Qi.
According to the rules of the sect, whether it’s outer disciples or prospective disciples, you can’t leave the mountain gate without a token—even if you want to, you can’t, as there are arrays isolating the area.
Holding the token Zhao Wuji gave—the token of a prospective disciple—
allows movement within certain areas of the outer sect.
Chen Yan vaguely understood that even in the grounded outer sect area, prospective disciples can only access one-third of the regions.
Which includes practice rooms, seminar halls, morning and evening classes, and residences—equivalent to dormitories.
This batch of prospective disciples reportedly numbers in the hundreds—though according to tradition, less than one in ten can eventually remain.
Chen Yan isn’t a prospective disciple, just temporarily arranged to stay here; Zhao Wuji couldn’t bother explaining too many rules to him, only mentioning that meals will collectively be delivered by servants to each residence courtyard daily, one meal a day, delivered in the evening. Then he hurriedly left.
Chen Yan sat in the room assigned to him, which was decently spacious, clean and tidy, with a bed, two meditation mats, a desk, and two lamps.
What surprised Chen Yan more was that on the bed there was a brand-new sect prospective disciple’s robe—pale yellow long robe, even shoes and socks had two pairs prepared.
"Not bad treatment," thought Chen Yan, who decided to settle down and stop worrying.
There were even a few books in the room, which he flipped through, not any cultivation techniques, but merely guides on meditation and mental concentration, helpful for focusing the mind.
He didn’t go out, instead, he leaned on the bed to meditate and circulate Primordial Qi.
Given it’s a Saint’s sect, even in the grounded outer sect area, the density and concentration of Primordial Qi here was the best environment Chen Yan had encountered in the Domain Realm!
Meditating and cultivating here was more abundant in Primordial Qi than any paid cultivation room’s Qi array!
He didn’t leave the room, but unbeknownst to him, his arrival had caused quite a stir among many prospective disciples in the courtyard.
Some whispered, guessing at Chen Yan’s background.
Someone speculated in a low voice: "This outer courtyard disciple selection and cultivation period’s three months is already ten days past. Suddenly, someone joins halfway; either this newcomer has outstanding talent causing the Outer Sect elder to make an exception, or they have some extraordinary background. Fellow brothers and sisters, let’s not act rashly, let’s be friendly, cultivate good will, and avoid hostility!"
As a result, when Chen Yan came out of his room at night, timing the delivery of meals, and reached the courtyard, the many prospective disciples who were busy moving the food boxes and buckets delivered by servants into the courtyard suddenly stopped when they saw him.
After a few seconds of silence, someone started first, and everyone bowed and saluted to Chen Yan.
"Greetings, Fellow Daoist!"
Chen Yan: ???