The next day.

Inner Sect.

“Junior Brother Qi, congratulations on your promotion to Inner Sect Disciple. I have been ordered by Elder Yang to take you to select your residence. Please follow me.”

After receiving the identity token representing his status as an Inner Sect Disciple, Qi Yuan was led out of the Internal Affairs Pavilion by a disciple from that hall, arriving before a mountain peak roughly five to six hundred zhang high.

The place was lush with vegetation and abundant in spiritual energy, its conditions far surpassing those of the Outer Sect.

Seeing this, Qi Yuan was very satisfied. Although it was nowhere near comparable to his luxurious cave abode back at the Supreme Mystery Sanctuary, at the very least, the environment was quiet and secluded, unlike the crowded and noisy Outer Sect.

After this Grand Competition, he had thoroughly offended many Outer Sect Disciples; calling him the public enemy of the Outer Sect wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

But Qi Yuan didn’t care in the slightest. After all, he was now an Inner Sect Disciple of Falling Cloud Valley.

In terms of status, Inner Sect Disciples completely overshadowed ordinary Outer Sect Disciples. Even if some people held grudges, they wouldn’t dare do anything to him. In future encounters, they would still have to obediently step forward and pay their respects, calling him “Senior Brother Qi.”

However, it was predictable that in this situation, that certain Lin who had publicly called Qi Yuan ‘brother’ would likely suffer again. After all, that Child of Destiny still had to continue muddling through in the Outer Sect…

Thinking about how Lin Zhen basically hadn’t had a single peaceful day since entering Falling Cloud Valley—either being framed or ostracized by fellow disciples—if not for the system’s certification, Qi Yuan would truly suspect whether that kid was a Child of Destiny or a Child of Misfortune.

Of course, Qi Yuan didn’t feel guilty about this.

Guilty? Not a chance. He wasn’t Lin Zhen’s babysitter.

Reject mental exhaustion!

At that moment, the Internal Affairs Pavilion disciple took out a map from his sleeve marked with numerous courtyards and handed it to Qi Yuan, saying warmly:

“Junior Brother Qi, you can choose a courtyard on this Thousand Verdant Peak as your cave abode. However, you can only pick unoccupied courtyards without names marked beside them.”

After this dramatic Outer Sect Grand Competition concluded, Qi Yuan’s name had spread throughout Falling Cloud Valley. As the only man since the sect’s founding to single-handedly force the sect to change the competition rules, he had become the most talked-about figure these past two days.

Therefore, even though the cultivation level he outwardly displayed was merely the fifth layer of Qi Refining—making him arguably the lowest-cultivation Inner Sect Disciple in history—this Internal Affairs Pavilion disciple still didn’t dare neglect him and remained very polite.

“Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother.”

Qi Yuan gave the map a general glance and soon took a liking to a small courtyard located in a rather remote spot.

This courtyard was situated on the mountainside, surrounded by dense forest with almost no foot traffic. The nearest courtyard was over ten li away, perfectly suiting his own low-key and unassuming personality.

Having decided, he pointed at that courtyard and asked:

“Can I choose this one?”

The Internal Affairs Pavilion disciple looked at the location Qi Yuan indicated and said with some hesitation:

“You can… but that place used to be an abandoned courtyard. It’s fallen into disrepair over the years and might require some time to clean and tidy up.”

Qi Yuan smiled and said without concern:

“It’s fine. I happen to prefer peace and quiet.”

The Internal Affairs Pavilion disciple nodded and continued.

“Alright. Since you’ve decided, I’ll fill in your name now. From now on, that will be your residence in the Inner Sect.”

Not long after, Qi Yuan sent off the Internal Affairs Pavilion disciple and stood alone surveying the small courtyard surrounded by green moss before him.

The courtyard wasn’t large. Besides a dedicated quiet room for cultivation, there was also a front hall and two side rooms. The front hall contained a stone table and three stone stools—nothing else.

After doing a bit of cleaning to tidy up the mess in the courtyard, Qi Yuan sat down in the front hall and silently summoned the system interface.

Apart from the side quest in the lower left corner, the area representing the main quest had refreshed again. It read:

[New Quest: After the Outer Sect Grand Competition, you have finally shed your identity as a Servant Disciple and entered the Inner Sect for cultivation. Your outstanding performance has attracted special attention from Falling Cloud Valley’s Sect Master Bai Qingwu and Senior Sister Bai Xirou. Meanwhile, a sudden crisis is about to descend…]

[Quest Difficulty: Four Stars (Difficult)]

[Quest Objective: Please survive this crisis and investigate all Demonic Sect spies hidden within Falling Cloud Valley.]

[Quest Reward: Eight hundred Counterattack Points; increased favorability from Senior Sister Bai Xirou towards host; Heaven-grade Dual Cultivation Method Scripture of Yin-Yang Metamorphosis.]

What in the…

After reading it, Qi Yuan was momentarily speechless.

He now just wanted to ask one thing: Is this ‘Scripture of Yin-Yang Metamorphosis’ legitimate?

It was originally a simple survival quest; he’d done them before. But what was up with this string of rewards?

This damn system putting beautiful Senior Sister Bai Xirou’s favorability together with a Dual Cultivation Method gave him a vague feeling that something wasn’t quite right.

The quest on the interface wasn’t marked as “Abandonable”, meaning this quest must be completed. If not completed, no further main quests would refresh!

Even Dual Cultivation Methods are showing up now. If this continues, will my two-lifetimes-single persona not hold up…

Realizing this, Qi Yuan’s expression instantly turned strange.

Without even thinking, he knew this newly refreshed main quest was definitely connected to the ongoing side quest; most likely it involved Ji Chan’er running into trouble.

After all, in this idiotic system’s view, he was still just a rookie at the Qi Refining realm with no qualifications to confront a Nascent Soul realm Demonic Cultivator head-on.

Even so, the system still issued a quest to rescue the Phantom Star Herb.

This proved that the system determined he had a chance to complete this seemingly impossible task; otherwise, wouldn’t it be deliberately sending its host to his death?

And under close surveillance by a Nascent Soul realm cultivator, a Qi Refining realm cultivator couldn’t even get close to the Phantom Star Herb—let alone rescue it.

Therefore, the only possibility for a “Qi Refining rookie” to snatch something from under a Nascent Soul True Lord’s nose would be if that True Lord were either lured away or entangled—in short, a variable occurred.

The “crisis” mentioned in the main quest most likely related to this variable.

“According to the quest description, the Demonic Sect spies within Falling Cloud Valley definitely aren’t limited to Ji Chan’er alone. Finding all spies is required to pass.”

“It seems before things become clear, I really can’t act rashly lest I alert them and affect quest completion.”

Qi Yuan inwardly complained, “Small sects are so unreliable. They’ve been infiltrated like sieves by Demonic Sects, yet they don’t even notice.”

Meanwhile.

Inner Sect.

Enlightenment Hall.

“Junior Niece Bai. What brings you here today?”

Looking at Bai Xirou who had arrived uninvited, Elder Yin Qingyuan of the Enlightenment Hall showed a flicker of surprise before stepping forward with a gentle smile to greet her.

Bai Xirou smiled faintly. “Elder Yin, Xirou has come today to review archival records of all newly entered disciples in recent years. I ask for your convenience.”

Hearing this, Yin Qingyuan’s heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained unchanged. He pretended difficulty, saying:

“So that’s it. The information you mention isn’t classified, but according to regulations, a visit requires approval from Sect Master Bai. How about you tell me their name, and I’ll go find it for you?”

“No need. I’ll look myself.”

Bai Xirou shook her head, taking out from her sleeve an ornate token glowing brilliantly. “This is the Sect Master’s personal order. I trouble Elder Yin to help open the restrictions outside the Archive Repository.”

Seeing this, a trace of wariness flashed deep within Yin Qingyuan’s eyes but quickly returned to normal. He said:

“Alright. Follow me then.”

“My apologies for troubling you.”

Bai Xirou replied politely.