Shen Yuan finally settled his gaze on the female disciple when he heard her asking, ‘Hmm…they seem welcoming enough to me even though I am a male disciple.’ He inwardly thought while observing the disciples. Explore more stories at freewebnovel
“I want to visit the training grounds.” He answered her politely with a smile on his face.
The surrounding younger disciples blushed a little looking at his charming smile, seemingly seeing someone as handsome as him for the first time in their life.
The guard disciple’s cheeks also turned a little rosy as she replied, “Yes, you can use spirit stones to use the spatial gate.”
She told him after pointing at the prices at the side, Shen Yuan nodded and handed her the spirit stones before heading inside the portal leading toward the training ground.
Shen Yuan felt the familiar spatial fluctuations once again, this time much clearer than before as if the Space intent was already in his grasp.
But before he could grasp it completely, he felt his feet touching the solid ground as he reached the training grounds. The spatial gate behind him closed as he looked around to see several guard disciples observing him curiously.
But they didn’t come forward to question him as the word about his presence in the sect had already spread around.
Shen Yuan also didn’t mind them and walked out of the spatial portal, walking on the path toward the training ground of the outer sect.
He could see a few pagodas standing at the center of the training grounds from quite some distance away. Disciples were entering and leaving the training ground, casting curious glances at him.
Shen Yuan made his way towards the training grounds, his gaze still fixed on the few pagodas standing in the center, wondering what use they have since their design was quite similar to the Ancestral Pagoda’s design.
He soon entered the training grounds, it had an impressive layout, private rooms for disciples to choose from, sparring rooms for training sessions, and a guidance hall where senior disciples share their experience or guide the younger disciples. Sometimes even outer elders come to guide the disciples there.
This was the perfect place for growing as it had that unique atmosphere of improvement around it. The place buzzed with activity as Shen Yuan strolled around.
As he observed his surroundings for a while, he noticed something– or rather someone off to the side. A small figure was sitting alone under a tree, away from all the active disciples who were either training together or chatting.
It was a young female disciple, seemingly an outcast among all the outer sect disciples as she sat there all alone. Her long green hair framed her delicate face, she sat there quietly, her hands resting on her chin as she watched the other disciples train.
She seemed quite naive and innocent even among the other young disciples, as if she had left her home for the first time. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
Shen Yuan also wanted someone to ask a few questions as she seemed to be the perfect choice, he walked slowly towards her, his deliberate slow steps making little to no noise.
The young disciple also didn’t notice him at first, seemingly lost in daydreaming while watching the other disciples sparring matches.
He stopped a few steps away from her, observing her for a moment before speaking softly, “Enjoying the view?” he asked with a gentle tone in order to not startle the young disciple.
“Enjoying the view?” he inquired with a gentle smile, his tone friendly.
The girl nearly jumped in surprise, her eyes widening in surprise as she realized someone was standing right next to her. Her cheeks flushed pink with embarrassment as she quickly stood up and bowed slightly, “Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t hear you approach…”
Shen Yuan chuckled sightly and waved off her apology “No need to apologize. I didn’t mean to startle you like that.”
The young disciple raised her head as she finally saw that it was a male disciple, her eyes widened again but this time she wasn’t that surprised as she had already heard rumors about a male disciple joining the sect after passing the pagoda trial.
“Y-y-you are that guy who completed the pagoda trials?” She spoke with a voice filled with hesitation and excitement, making Shen Yuan amused as she answered her with a chuckle.
“I’m indeed that guy,” He paused, looking at her excited expression, “You seem quite excited to meet me, is there any particular reason for this?” Shen Yuan asked with a hint of amusement in his eyes.
The young disciple’s face flushed with a pink shade as she shyly nodded her head and answered him, “I heard rumors about how you completed the trials which no other disciple in the history of the sect has been able to pass. I have been looking forward to meeting with you ever since then. But I as well as many others thought that you would join as a core disciple.”
She paused as she raised her head a little to take a peek at his face before continuing, “That’s why I was surprised when the elders announced that you joined as an Outer Sect disciple instead of a Core disciple.”
Shen Yuan smiled lightly, “That’s because I wanted to become an outer sect disciple first. I want to experience the life of a normal sect disciple.”
The Young disciple raised her head and looked at him in confusion, “The life of a normal sect disciple?”
“Indeed.” Shen Yuan nodded confidently.
“The life of a normal sect disciple as the only male outer sect disciple of an all-female sect?” She innocently questioned him, making his eyes twitch.
“…Close enough.” He chuckled softly, then cleared his throat to change the subject, “Anyways, my name is Shen Yuan. We will be meeting a lot from now on.”
The young disciple hurriedly nodded her head, “Ah yes, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Wan Ling. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” She formally introduced herself.
Shen Yuan’s face turned a little nostalgic hearing her name, “Ling, hmm.”
“Is something wrong with my name?” She asked him curiously looking at his weird expression.
“Ah, no, it’s nothing,” Shen Yuan smiled softly, his eyes flashing briefly with nostalgia. “Just… some old memories.” He shook it off. “Anyway, it’s nice to meet you, Wan Ling,” he spoke with a gentle tone.
Wan Ling nodded her head politely while her cheeks turned a little pink from feeling flattered.
“Oh, by the way, do you know the purpose of those pagodas? They seem somewhat like the Trial Pagoda which I took to enter the sect.” He finally asked for what he approached her.
Wan Ling nodded her head and replied, “Those pagodas are indeed an imitation of what you went through. But they are far too inferior compared to that from what I heard as other Sect’s disciples also underwent these trials.”
She continued, “They were made by our sect ancestors a long time ago, trying to mimic the trials of the pagoda. But because they never went inside the pagoda, they could only create it by what they heard about it from the disciples who underwent the trial.”