46 First Steps into Cultivation

Tall trees, grass, and small bugs; a place full of life.

'The air is revigorating as ever.'

Zhi Rui looked around 'So the outer part it's like this.'

After entering the tower as the tower maiden she did not saw the world outside of the inner sect.

Sighing, Zhi Rui walked through the stone path and reached the Outer manor.

"Elder sister Zun Xuying is so bright!, I have never imagined Wang Lei gu was even capable of doing that."

Zhi Rui heard and looked at her left, near a tree Zhun Xuying was surrounded by five other female disciples, She was smiling elegantly.

Zhi Rui saw as the people around praised and smiled at Zhun Xuying 's braveness.

The position of Wang Lei gu was of an elder sister too, She had the respect of everyone in spite of her low talent because she was the princess of th empire, Now that she went to prison, Zhun Xuying beingthe one who put her down coupled with real talent, and an elder sister appearance , easily usurped that social throne.

Zhi Rui smiled and turned to the outer manor.

A plump clerk wearing a silver robe looked at Zhi Rui, Zhi Rui merely nodded and put her token on the counter.

The pudgy man looked at it, then said.

"Go up the stairs, The first level is the artifact storage. You may take one with you, The level above it is the spells storage, you can choose three from there. And while you choose I'll go get your beginner's gear."

The man turned away, andZhi Rui went up the stairs.

She looked around the wooden racks, there were various artifacts.

Zhi Rui glanced at everything around her. In all her time alive.It's the first really relaxed time she had, all her main problems are solved, there's nothing pressuring her and she can just carefully pick a thing and go rest.

Now she can do things on her time and not worry.

Zhi Rui smiled. 'Mother, I finally managed to free myself of a few chains.'

Zhi Rui sighed and looked at all the kinds of artifacts, some were weapons some have passive abilities. Zhi Rui dazzled her eyes with the shine of each thing.

But when seeing the tags and the attributes her face soured.

The spell to reform her talent came at the cost oflosing aptitude with almost all other attributes. and in turn, it gave immense compatibility with the ethereal attributes. She lost the option to cultivate with anything else. Normally you gather the energy of heaven and earth and refine into your own energy.Then you choose the attributes that suit you and be the best on with them or you can practice various at the same time.

But now, when Zhi Rui gathers energy from heaven and earth it condenses and becomes almost all ethereal inside her core. Drastically reducing her options.

The ethereal or astral energy is primarily used in necromancy and witchcraft, it's the energy of the formless unnatural, invisible and mystic.

Some barbarians and beast tribes call the people who focus on this attribute shamans, witches. It is said that masters of this path are able to manipulate the world to their will. by seeing the future, building death armies or just manipulatin life itself and people's fate. though Zhi Rui thinks of it as an exaggeration, because every cultivator who reaches the extreme apex of their path are able to build and rebuild the world at will.

To keep her reputation, Zhi Rui must choose the least image damaging skill to nurture, Zhi Rui closed her eyes, Ethereal energy has quality focused mainly on the unnatural like curse spells, astral body, and manipulation of spirits, etc..

A spark lit in her mind.

'For now, I can be a beast tamer,as I can subdue the beasts spirits more easily, it's a path that it's not that common but also does not attract attention.'Zhi Rui nodded internally

Zhi Rui opened her eyes came and came back to the present, she looked at the rows of artifacts. As these are only for beginner and she's already a level three she decides to find the most useful.

Walking into the end of the hallway she saw one neutral artifact. She took the small armcrossbow, she looked at the tag

'Charge it with your energy and it'll condense it into an arrow bolt.'

Zhi Rui smiled

'this is useless in the hands of anyone, somebody just made this to gain merit points. it only gives you a bolt, that you have to charge aim and shoot, it has the strength of a common crossbow except it can add the effect of your attribute. but in my hands, the power of lust will double my power. I can send curses through the bolt influencing the enemy's morale while my beasts attacks.'

It combines perfectly with her current beast tamer path.

Zhi Rui nodded satisfied and went up to the spell storage.

There were rows and rows with thin books,Each row had one specific attribute,Zhi Rui walked into the row of physical spells.

all spells were organized in defense, utility, attacks, and etc..

Zhi Rui took one for movement 'lightweight' and one for awareness

'heightened senses'

Zhi Rui went to the utility spells row and took one for taming beasts.

WhenZhi Rui went down the pudgy man was already there.

He delivered a white robe with a black stripe on the shoulder, a symbol of the outer disciples. next was the address for her cave in the mountains and a small storage bag.

Zhi Rui took her things and walked out, after a long while she reached a place slgihtly far away from other disciples.

The man said that she gained a big cave isolated from the ruckus of people because of her merits, but Zhi Rui just laughed.

'They want to keep me away from other disciples, this way I'll be isolated and will not be influenced by friendship keeping my 'fanatism' intact and due to the strict isolation, I would not accept any normal comportment that other disciples did or say making them hate me and in turn making me hate them,Consequently solidifying, even more, my belief on the light god and the light sect.'

Zhi Rui shook her head, 'their take on faith manipulation is so terrifyingly detailed. it isn't strange they dominate the continent.'