As Yuan approached Elder Shan and the other two figures, he noticed these four-legged objects sitting on the ground in front of them, and they were pretty large as well.
'What are those things? They look like pots… And there is even smoke coming from them…' Yuan thought to himself as he got closer and closer to them.
"Senior Shan!" Yuan called out to her once he was close enough.
"Hmm?" Elder Shan turned around with raised eyebrows, wondering who would dare to enter her territory without making an appointment, as she wasn't expecting any visitors today.
However, when she saw Yuan's innocent face, a smile immediately appeared on her face, and she said, "Disciple Yuan! You've arrived much quicker than I'd anticipated. I wasn't expecting to see you until tomorrow, after all."
The other two figures also turned to look at Yuan after they saw Elder Shan's reaction, acting like she was delighted to see him or something.
'An Outer Court disciple…?'
These two disciples raised their eyebrows after seeing Yuan's uniform, as they have never seen an Outer Court disciple appearing in this sacred place before.
"Hello, Senior Shan. I hope I'm not bothering you, but Senior Xuan told me to come here," Yuan said to her.
"Don't worry, you won't bother me even if you tried!" Elder Shan laughed gracefully before she pointed to the two dumbfounded figures sitting not far away from her.
"Let me introduce you to my disciples."
Elder Shan's disciples then stood up and introduced themselves despite feeling that Yuan should've been the first one to introduce himself since they were more senior.
"Qian Qi, Inner Court disciple."
"Bei Bei, Core Disciple."
They gave a simple and direct introduction.
Yuan nodded and said, "Hello, I am Yuan."
After their brief introduction, Elder Shan turned to look at her disciples and said, "Anyway, the two of you can continue concocting pills. I'll be right back."
"Follow me inside," Elder Shan said to him before entering the building.
Yuan nodded and followed her.
Once they were inside, Elder Shan pointed to the couch and said, "Go ahead. Take a seat."
After Yuan sat down on the couch, Elder Shan also took a seat, even deciding to sit directly beside him.
"First and foremost, allow me to congratulate you again for getting first place in the zither competition, exceeding my expectations." Elder Shan said to him with a somewhat serious look on her face, and she continued, "Even though you've already received a reward from the competition, the Dragon Essence Temple has decided to also reward you for your contribution since your results greatly increased our reputation."
"Let me see your identification badge."
Yuan nodded and showed her his bronze identification badge.
[You have received 10,000 contribution points from Shan Shang]
"Ten thousand contribution points!" Yuan mumbled in a surprised voice.
"10,000 contribution points may be a lot, but compared to the next reward, it's almost worthless," Elder Shan said with a smile on her face.
"There are more rewards?" Yuan raised his eyebrows.
Elder Shan nodded and said, "The Sect Master has decided to let you go to the Dragon's Peak."
"Dragon's Peak? What's that?" Yuan asked.
"It's one of the most sacred places in the Dragon Essence Temple beside the Dragon Temple. After all, it used to be our Ancestor's peak."
"What's so special about this place?" Yuan continued to ask.
"Well, I have only been there once, but the spiritual energy there is extremely dense for some reason, which will greatly boost your cultivation speed. Furthermore, legend has it that the Ancestor had hidden a treasure in that place before he disappeared, but nobody has been able to find it despite looking through every nook and cranny."
"I see…"
"One more thing, we want you to participate in the Inner Court disciple examination next week and become an Inner Court disciple," said Elder Shan after a moment of silence.
"Eh? Inner Court disciple? I thought we can only do that once we've spent enough time as an Outer Court disciple."
"Indeed, but there are always special occasions. As long as you have the Sect Master's permission, a disciple can partake in the Inner Court— even Core Disciple examination regardless of their time in the sect."
After a moment of silence, Yuan nodded, "Okay. If the Sect Master wants me to become an Inner Court disciple, I'll participate in the examination."
"Thank you, Disciple Yuan. Once you become an Inner Court disciple, you'll be able to enter the Dragon's Peak. After Dragon's Peak will be the start of the Mystic Realm, so you'll be quite busy."
"It'll be a great experience," Yuan said with a smile.
"Do you have anything else for me?" He then asked.
"No, that's all for now." Elder Shan said.
"Then I won't linger around and disturb your lecture with your disciples."
"Don't worry about it. I am only going through previous lessons today."
"I'll see you later, Senior Shan," Yuan said as he stood up.
"Wait a second."
Elder Shan suddenly grabbed his robes.
"Hmm?"
Just as Yuan turned around, Elder Shan stood up and moved with lightning-quick speed, giving him a gentle kiss on the forehead.
"E-Elder Shan?" Yuan stared at her with a dumbfounded look on his face.
"That was my reward to you. I'll give you something even more intense if you manage to achieve first place for the Mystic Realm as well." Elder Shan winked at him with a smile on her beautiful face.
Yuan was speechless and didn't know how he should respond to such words. Therefore, he only nodded at her words in a dazed manner.
Meanwhile, Xiao Hua nearly left the necklace on an impulse after seeing Elder Shan's quick and sly action, but she'd somehow managed to resist herself and remained inside the necklace.
Sometime later, Yuan left Elder Shan's house, but right as he closed the door, he could hear a painful cry suddenly coming from Elder Shan.
Bonk! Bonk! Bonk!
"Ah!"
"Are you okay?" Yuan asked her, who was almost in tears from the pain.
"Y-Yes… I am…" Elder Shan said with a stiff smile on her face.
Author's Note: Check out my new novel 'Inferior Cultivation System' if you like OP MC, smart MC, knowledgable MC, Systems, and face-slapping. Don't worry, it won't affect my release rate for Cultivation Online or Dual Cultivation.