Chapter 23 - Outer Disciple

"That should be the last newcomer, and my job is finally done!"

Ling Kunlan laid his back against the chair, and stared deeply at the ceiling. With his cultivation prowess, seeing through beyond the ceiling is nothing but a simple feat. He felt a calming flow of energy revolve around his body, while the mesmerizing view of the sky entranced him.

"Third Elder, how is today's result?"

Out of nowhere, a middle-aged man with extraordinary demeanor appeared behind him. Lightning sparks flickered across the man's eyes, carrying enough power to instantly make weaker individuals tremble.

"Fourth Elder, we accepted a genius today. His name is Gu Long, and he could skip 3 realms."

"Mm. Good, but is that all?"

"Well, that is all…"

The middle-aged man's eyes flashed in playfulness, as he stared at Ling Kunlan with a stare that made the latter uncomfortable.

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Did someone break the Heaven Aptitude Measuring Crystal?"

"You… how did you know?"

The moment Ling Kunlad said his last statement; a smile appeared on the middle-aged man's face, which made the former feel confuse. After all, the Fourth Elder suddenly appeared, and somehow knew his previous experience.

"Based on your expression, looks like that young man was arranged to be an outer disciple, huh."

"Why don't you just get direct to the point, Ji Man?"

"Third Elder, that young man is a monster… You placing him on the outer region are a big mistake, yet it made things more interesting for us."

Recalling the indifferent expression on Tatsuya's face, Ling Kunlan's confusion gradually vanished, and was replaced with surprise, and shocked emotions. He finally placed the last piece into the puzzle, as the confusion he once had vanished.

"I see… You guys can't really blame me about such thing! How could you expect me to believe someone actually possesses enough talent to surpass the 10th stage of skipping realms?"

"Well, he's the living proof of such thing. Everyone from the upper echelons is already aware of his existence. Even some core disciples are already putting their attention on him."

"If he has that much talent, even core disciples are useless before him…"

"Indeed, let's just observe how things will develop."

…

After Tatsuya had received his outer disciple badge and wardrobe, he was guided into the outer region by some honorary elder. He could notice the disdain of everyone around him. Despite that, his face remained the same, emotionless as usual.

(In the past, they would also look at me like that. This is not new at all.)

Tatsuya thought to himself, as he found himself arriving before his assigned room. He was previously reminded that he would be living together with someone else.

(Elder Ling Kunlan and Elder Ji Man…)

Through his innate ability, Elemental Sight, he could detect and sense their conversation from afar. Not a single bit of their exchange of words escaped his ability. Knowing that the future will become troublesome, he felt quite helpless about such thing.

"Excuse me…"

Grabbing the doorknob while turning it clockwise, he was greeted by a new yet unfamiliar room. He instantly stepped inside, while not bothering to check the room itself. After all, he had longed inspected this room through his sight.

"Hm. Based on the faint energy around this room, my roommate should possess at least 1st stage of Spirit Profound Realm cultivation. I could also sense a bit of Yin, together with the abundance of Yang."

Tatsuya's eyes had gradually become accustomed to this world. His eyes had undergone changes that Tatsuya already predicted since the beginning. Just like how his Elemental Sight was adapting into this world, his eyes were too.

Even without his innate ability, Elemental Sight, being active, his eyes itself are already special enough to detect things that could be noticed through n.a.k.e.d eyes. It was also the reason why his perception is out of ordinary even without his innate ability being active.

(Still, the ninjutsu that I used to fight them was too powerful.)

Thinking back to the recent fight that Tatsuya had experienced personally, he could still feel the unfamiliar flow of strength that was always hidden within his body. Even though, he was trained to become an unordinary existence, he still couldn't help but feel astonished by this world's standard of power.

(My profound veins consists of a trinity; Xia Qingyue's, Xia Yuanba's, and Chu Xin's. The first could skip 3 stages easily because of the oddity within her body. The second could skip 7 stages, considering the tyrannical attribute of his veins. And lastly, Chu Xin could skip at least 1 realm without fighting at full force.)

Tatsuya knew that he could fight someone at 5th stage of Spirit Profound Realm without using the tyrannical attribute. This sense of power already made him felt quite burdened. After all, his talent is too eye-catching.

(Well, if worse comes to worse, I'll just eradicate this whole Heavenly Sword Villa.)

To keep his life out of danger, Tatsuya would do anything, regardless of cost. He had already experienced the despair back then, and he wasn't willing to experience that again.

(We, human beings, are really intriguing.)

Tatsuya said to himself, as he sat on the soft cushion bed. It was the bed that was arranged for him. Another bed lied just across his bed, and different stuffs were placed on the drawer beside the bed.

(When we aren't paying enough attention, the feeling that should exist would automatically hide at the depths of our heart. We could never know when that feeling would burst out, but the moment it does, it will create a havoc in your heart that will become unrepairable.)

Tatsuya then lied down on the bed, gradually closing his eyelids. The exhaustion that he experienced while travelling finally overwhelmed him. He left a sliver of his awareness on the outside, as he gradually descended into the rest.

His sleeping figure felt ethereal, as the sunlight just so happened to graze his face. The atmosphere within the room felt calm and peaceful, with the help of the chirping birds.

*Clack*

Suddenly, the sound of door unlocking itself echoed across the room. A head popped from the opened door, while gazing around suspiciously. The individual noticed Tatsuya sleeping on the bed, as his gaze involuntarily moved into the outer disciple badge of Tatsuya.

"An outer disciple? Aren't I supposed to be arranged with a core disciple today?"

A dignified yet confused voice appeared, as the one who spoke finally stepped into the room. The moment he stepped into the room, he immediately fell into a stunned state. Despite being a man himself, he still felt quite shocked by the sight before him.

Everything just fit so perfectly, even the sun itself seemed to be siding with Tatsuya. After a few seconds, he was able to recover himself from the daze. He went forward to his own bed, and lied down too. He looked at the sleeping Tatsuya with interest in his eyes.

"How will this young man fare in this world of cultivation? He is just an outer disciple that doesn't even have the chance to become a core disciple any sooner. It might not be that obvious but the discrimination in this place is wild…"

"Even I, an inner disciple, still would get ridiculed by someone better than me. Well, this path is destined to be cruel and painful…"

The young man still didn't stop his statements, feeling very energetic yet nostalgic. He continued his sentences till he also descended into sleep. His body voluntarily revolved the profound energy in the surroundings, as he cultivated while sleeping.

…

"Intriguing profound cultivation technique…"

Tatsuya softly said to himself, while staring at the youth before him. He could sense the voluntarily revolution of the profound energy on the young man's body.

"Still, I didn't expect that I will meet someone this kind-hearted despite the pressure of cultivation. His future doesn't seem so bright…"

The sliver thread of awareness that he left before sleeping, allowed him to sense everything within a certain range. Obviously, the youth's statement of sympathy towards him was no exception. Tatsuya heard everything…

"Mmm."

A faint and tired voice leaked out of the young man's mouth, as Tatsuya looked over from his bed. As time passes by, the young man gradually opened his eyelids. His face filled of energy and excitement.

"W-wha!"

However, upon landing his gaze on Tatsuya, shock rippled across his eyes. He didn't expected to wake up, and just suddenly finding someone staring at him. He felt awkward, while waving his hand at Tatsuya in a forceful manner.

"H-hello."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Shiba Tatsuya. We'll be roommates from now on."

"Likewise, my name is Ling Quan."

Still feeling awkward, Ling Quan quickly rose from his bed. He swiftly left the room, while stealing a glance at Tatsuya's way, once.

"…"

A wry smile appeared on Tatsuya's face, as he stared at the slowly closing door. He then recalled the profound cultivation technique that Ling Quan was using.

(If I could recreate that, sleep will become more convenient. It would boost my cultivation speed.)

Tatsuya thought to himself, while slowly rising from his bed. Right now, as an outer disciple, he had two objectives today; which is to tour himself around the outer region, and also trying to find the most plausible way of sneaking into the White Tiger God's inheritance location.

(Since it had appeared just behind their backyard, I don't believe that the Heavenly Sword Villa hadn't noticed its presence yet. They might have already begun their exploration towards the location.)

It is simply impossible for someone to not notice the strange things happening on his own backyard. Tatsuya is pretty confident that they might have already made their move to acquire the inheritance itself.

(However, that location is not someone a mere Emperor Profound Realm could explore. I would try to find a peaceful way of obtaining the inheritance in the next few months. If I deemed it impossible to be tackled peacefully, I'll force my way into the location.)

Tatsuya reached the conclusion, as he found himself already standing on the outside. Different disciple wore outer disciple garbs, as they stared at the former with a curious gaze. After all, they could sense that Tatsuya is someone new here.

"Hey, are you new?"

"…"

Facing the bulky man that suddenly approached him, Tatsuya just kept quiet. He instantly see through the bulky man's motive, and it is nothing good. The best action here is to keep quiet before making a move.

"Are you deaf, newcomer? I talked to you!"

"…"

"You leave me no choice. Let me tell you, but every newcomer must give me 1 purple profound coin every month!"

"…"

"…"

Seeing that Tatsuya still kept quiet, the bulky man felt anger rushing towards his head. He gripped his fist while preparing to punch forward, aiming at Tatsuya's head.

However, Tatsuya's emotionless eyes suddenly emitted a dangerous intent that made the bulky man tremble. He felt confused and shocked by the fact that he could feel that his life was no longer in his hands.

"Hmph. I'll deal with you later."

He tried to keep his cool, as he quickly dispersed from Tatsuya's eyes. Only Tatsuya knew the reason why the bulky man ran away. Meanwhile, the crowd around him erupted into murmurs, as they stared at Tatsuya with interest and curious gazes.

"Hm. So that's him, huh?"

A woman with purple gown sat on a tree from afar. Despite being far from Tatsuya's location, every single thing that happened in that provocation was recorded through her eyes. The interest that she had for Tatsuya only intensified.

"A monster that could skip more than 10 sta-"

Before she could even finish her statement, she felt a gaze land on her. The hairs on her arms stood, together with the chills that ran throughout her spine. She quickly returned the gaze back, and noticed that the one who looked at her was Tatsuya.

"Really… Elder wasn't joking…"

She said to herself, as she stared at the smiling Tatsuya from afar. The chills that she felt were no joke, as someone of herself that already reached the boundary of Earth Profound Realm shouldn't have felt threatened by some True Profound Realm cultivator.

(Hm. Molecular structure of someone at Earth Profound Realm.)

Tatsuya said to himself, as the woman who once spied on him, didn't even knew that she made Tatsuya even stronger now. Now that Tatsuya already has the molecular structure of someone at Earth Profound Realm, he's already undefeatable beneath the Emperor Profound Realm.

(I spent more than a minute at observing her, before I physically gazed on her.)

Tatsuya didn't knew the havoc of emotion that was happening on the woman's mind. Oblivious to such thing, Tatsuya went forward and decided to check out the Library Hall of the villa, with the objective to learn some profound techniques that he could modify into formation diagrams…