Chapter 182: The Newcomer's Cabin

Fortunately, I am the one seeing this game through to the end. If anyone else had a gun pointed at me like that, I would have drawn my weapon long ago, but I couldn't do that just yet.

The guard thought for a moment and continued, "Today is the last day, you two better hurry on in."

With that, he led us inward, chatting as we walked. "These youngsters nowadays, how do they have such good talent? It takes so long of practicing just to reach the Spirit Flower realm..."

Following behind him, I listened and almost burst out laughing. Little did he know, Chen Chen and I had already reached the Spirit Lotus realm.

After leading us inside, the guard turned back to his post. Seeing that the two of us were still lingering, he gave a quick wave of his hand.

I looked around. This place looked almost identical to that black manor.

Everywhere I looked were black buildings, and atop each and every rooftop stood an animal—dogs, tigers, and even eagles.

Most of these large structures were predominantly black, with some tinged in blue. It wasn't quite enough to shock me, but it certainly exerted an invisible pressure.

Just as I was still surveying the buildings, someone over there suddenly called out to us.

"You two over there! Are you here to enter the mountain gate or not? Get over here quickly, I'll be leaving soon!"

This person spoke quite aggressively, sounding as though he wanted to devour people. My brows furrowed slightly, but I held my tongue and turned to look at him.

The man was a middle-aged fellow sitting inside a booth, which was likely the registration desk.

I tugged at Chen Chen's sleeve and hurried over toward him. From quite a distance away, I could already sense the hostile aura emanating from him—he was easily the fiercest person I had ever laid eyes on.

"Brats, what are your names?"

As the two of us stood before him, he picked up a pen and began writing in a ledger. I wasn't stupid; naturally, I had no intention of giving him my real name, so I made one up on the spot.

"Lin Zhu."

The man nodded, glanced briefly at our foreheads, and continued to ask without looking up, "And what about that one?"

Chen Chen blurted out a name right beside me.

"Zhou Yi."

I felt the name sounded a bit too casual and almost laughed, but Chen Chen maintained a completely serious expression as he looked at the man.

The man smiled faintly and muttered under his breath, "It's been a long time since anyone with talent this good has shown up..."

With that, he pulled out two blank wooden plaques—presumably the exclusive identity tallies of the Seven-Colored Sect—and retrieved an awl from his storage ring to begin carving.

I had to admit, the man's handwriting was quite impressive. The carved characters were sharp-angled, dignified, and possessed a grand aura.

In less than five minutes, both tallies were done. As he handed them over, our respective names were now etched upon them. At the same time, the man retrieved two sets of garments from his ring.

"From now on, in our Seven-Colored Sect, you will wear these. Also, because the two of you arrived late and possess decent cultivation, you won't be crammed together with those weaklings. Inside the clothes, you'll find a map and a key—find your own quarters. However! Newcomer training is still mandatory. Now scram!"

Once the man finished speaking, I turned and walked deeper into the sect, pulling out the key and map that had been tucked inside the garments.

It seemed having good cultivation really had its perks. I suppose all the other newcomers must be crammed together in shared quarters. At first, I thought this Seven-Colored Sect accepted anyone regardless of their cultivation level.

Only now did I realize there must be layers of screening; otherwise, they wouldn't truly be designated as "newcomers."

It was currently midday, and the plaza was mostly deserted. A few people passed by occasionally, not even sparing us a glance.

I also noticed a common trait among the disciples here: they were thoroughly unkempt. While not everyone exuded a hostile aura, nearly all of them looked like little beggars.

I glanced at the map and discovered that the Seven-Colored Sect wasn't actually all that large—only about half the size of Tianyang Mountain. Which made sense, of course, since Tianyang Mountain encompassed numerous mountain ranges.

Chen Chen and I were somewhat bewildered since we didn't know which dwelling was ours. However, I noticed a small slip of paper attached to the key, which read: *Newcomer Wooden Cottage No. 2*.

So, I followed the map. This location was situated at the very edge of the sect, bordered by a small patch of woods. Hidden within those woods were just two cottages.

One was our assigned dwelling, Newcomer Wooden Cottage No. 2, and the other was Newcomer Wooden Cottage No. 1.

It seemed that apart from the two of us, everyone else was crammed together in that other building. This Seven-Colored Sect truly practiced the law of the jungle to the absolute extreme.

Along the way, I had spotted many disciples practicing their cultivation, but their methods seemed rather different from ours.

Though they were all channeling spiritual Qi, their postures were quite peculiar. After sitting cross-legged, they needed to gather the spiritual Qi into both hands before resting them flat upon their knees.

There were countless cultivation methods in this world, and today truly broadened my horizons.

There were practically no picturesque sceneries within the Seven-Colored Sect, but they did pay some attention to surface cleanliness, and the ground was quite tidy.

Finally, after searching for quite a while, the two of us reached our little cottage.

To our left stood the other newcomer wooden cottage, where an oversized instructor was currently lecturing the occupants in what looked like a very stern manner.

Without lingering, I walked straight into the courtyard. The perimeter of the yard was enclosed by a wooden fence.

There was also a small well. The place looked rather dirty, but the water appeared clear enough and should be drinkable. There was nothing else of interest outside, so I took out the key and prepared to check out the interior.

From the outside, this little wooden cottage looked significantly better than the one next door. At least ours was standard and proper, whereas the neighboring cabin looked as though it was on the verge of collapse.

I unlocked the door, and a faint fragrance drifted out from within. Following the scent, I saw an aromatherapy burner hanging on the wall. The scent had already faded quite a bit, meaning it must have been burning for quite some time.

Yet, I felt an aversion to such things, fearing it might be some kind of incapacitating substance. So, I took it down and tossed it deep into my storage ring.

Then, I inspected the room. The small wooden cottage was quite tidy, containing only two beds complete with quilts.

Beyond that, there was a table and four chairs, with teacups resting upon the tabletop. It had all the basic amenities one could ask for.

Just as I sat down on a stool to rest for a moment, someone shouted from the courtyard:

"You little brats inside, get out here!"

Looking out through the window, I saw the bulky instructor from the other yard had already arrived and was standing right in our courtyard.

"Let's go."

With that, Chen Chen and I stepped outside together and stood in the yard.

The bulky man glanced at us, nodded with a look of satisfaction, and then warned us, "Don't think that having decent talent means you can skip out on my trials. Around here, dragons must coil and tigers must crouch. Don't try any clever tricks, do you hear me?"

The big man spoke in a booming voice, as if he wanted the entire world to hear. Chen Chen and I dutifully shouted in unison:

"Understood!"