The following day, Ling Xu woke up after hours of studying the Formless Qi Breathing cultivation technique.
After comprehending every aspect in the manual, he had a general grasp as he felt that he would be able to start practicing it by the end of the day.
"Now that I have become an outer disciple, I wonder what the sect has to offer." he wanted to know more about the outer sect and find the different places that were listed by elder Zhao that would benefit him.
"I still haven't given an use to the countless blood tempering pills I have in my spatial ring…"
…
After coming out from his room, Ling Xu walked for a while until he found a signboard that had written on it the name of the place he wanted to go to first.
Countless disciples were entering and leaving the Treasure Pavilion since it was much bigger than the one he had found at Lesser Crimson Town.
"Amazing!" he had a surprised face as he entered and observed a space several times larger and full of items that belonged to the Qi Refining Realm.
"There are very few first grade pills and semi treasures, I hope they accept the ones I have or else I will have to start from scratch."
Coming to one of the workers that he saw free, Ling Xu asked, "Do you accept items that belong to the Blood Qi Realm?"
"Greetings, junior brother." the worker saluted to him, feeling his aura which was from someone in the first stage of Qi Refining.
"In our Treasure Pavilion we accept any pills, equipment and materials that belong to the Blood Qi Realm and Qi Refining Realm. The only condition is that they meet the quality we have as standard."
"That's good to hear!" he said with excitement as he realized that he could finally exchange the items that he had previously postponed to sell.
"May I ask my junior brother what kind of items he wants to sell?"
Ling Xu looked at the worker and as he was about to tell him he realized that he was surrounded by several people so he became pretty hesitant.
Noticing his expression, the worker realized that he was hesitant to tell and he knew why so he suggested, "We have a private room where we can talk if it is to your liking."
After he agreed, they headed to a passage where he saw several private rooms where the outer disciples could trade with the Treasure Pavilion outside of the public eye and then he entered the first one that was available.
"Now that we are here, could you show me what you are planning to sell?"
With the spatial ring already in his finger, since he could now officially show that he had one without standing out, his energy moved and the items he had planned to sell were shown on the table.
"So many!" the worker was surprised as he saw him take out almost a dozen bottles containing the hundred and one high grade blood tempering pills he had, another one containing the nine high grade blood replenishing pills and the equipment he hadn't used since he arrived at Skyless Realm.
"Give me a second, fellow brother." his tone changed having realized that Ling Xu's status wasn't normal. After all, it was pretty rare to see someone who was barely in the first stage of Qi Refining to have such an amount of wealth.
…
Several minutes later, the worker returned after assessing the value of the items that Ling Xu had given him.
"Fellow brother, these are the spiritual stones that I can offer you for the items you are planning to sell." he took out a small mountain of low grade spiritual stones from his spatial ring, making Ling Xu's eyes shine full of joy.
"Although the total value from the pills was of a hundred and ten low grade spiritual stones, counting the blood tempering and blood replenishing pills, I can only give you a hundred of them since the Treasure Pavilion charges ten percent from any item they buy since they need to make profit."
"That's understandable." he said, still admiring the mountain of spiritual stones that didn't look less attractive just because ten of them were lost in the process.
Ling Xu thought of something and then asked to the worker, "What about the equipment I gave you?"
He wanted to know their value, having handed over nearly everything he had in his spatial ring, keeping only the Formless Qi Breathing cultivation technique, a small pouch containing ten low-grade spiritual stones, and the spoils taken from the night assailant he'd killed.
Aside from that, he handed over the middle-grade luminous stone he'd never needed to use, the low-grade small dagger, the middle-grade wind blood shoes and heavy bracers, as well as the high-grade refined short sword, spider silk shirt and tough boar chestplate, all of which were considered semi-treasures.
"About that... aside from the middle-grade luminous stone, the rest of the semi-treasures you gave me were damaged, some in terrible condition." the worker said awkwardly, clearly uncomfortable delivering bad news. "The low-grade dagger and the high-grade chestplate were the worst. The dagger is nearly beyond repair, and the chestplate has a massive dent right in the center."
"I already expected them to have no value so it's alright." he thought, waiting to hear the value from the items.
"Aside from those, which I could only take for their materials, the rest of the equipment can only be valued as lower-grade items, since the Treasure Pavilion will have to take in the cost of repairs. The only one that was almost in perfect condition and could be taken like new was the high-grade refined short sword."
Adding up the numbers, Ling Xu estimated the total after hearing how each item would be valued
"You'll only get forty-eight low-grade spiritual stones for the equipment," the worker explained. "So, including the amount from the pills, the final amount will be a hundred and forty-eight low-grade spiritual stones."
Taking out the rest of the spiritual stones, the worker waited for Ling Xu's answer.
"This is great! I wasn't sure how much I'd get for the pills and equipment, but the final amount of spiritual stones is actually a bit higher than expected," he thought, having assumed the worst case scenario, that his equipment would be nearly worthless and the pills would be exchanged with a twenty percent fee, just like he had back at Lesser Crimson Town.
Looking at the worker, he nodded and said, "I believe the total value for the items is fair."
"That's wonderful. Then you can take the spiritual stones on the table and I will take this," the worker said, while moving his hand as the sold items disappeared into his spatial ring, "Take your time counting the spiritual stones." he added before turning and leaving the room, leaving Ling Xu alone inside.
…
Leaving the Treasure Pavilion, Ling Xu looked visibly pleased. He had gained a substantial sum of spiritual stones, more than what the average cultivator in the Qi Refining Realm typically possessed.
"Where should I go next?" he pondered, strolling absentmindedly while relying on his senses to avoid bumping into others.
"Ugh!" bumping into him, a girl gasped while falling to the ground. She had been moving quite hurriedly and Ling Xu, lost in thought, didn't react in time.
Observing the girl, Ling Xu saw a woman with a delicate face, dressed in a red robe which couldn't hide her graceful figure.
"I'm sorry, senior sister. May I help you?" he offered his hand politely, being surprised when she brushed it aside.
"Watch where you're going! Can't you see me?" she snapped, being irritated.
"She's so fiery..." he muttered without thinking, taken aback by her reaction, especially since she had been the one who ran into him.
"What did you just say?" she asked, looking even more irritated.
Ling Xu froze, realizing too late he had said it aloud.
"Where do you get the guts to talk back? A first-stage Qi Refining disciple daring to challenge someone in the third stage?"
"You're mistaken, senior sister. It was just an accident. Please, calm down."
"Don't call me senior sister," she said, not able to calm down at all "Let's settle this in the arena!"
A small crowd had started to form, wanting to see what the commotion was about.
"It's sister Sun, what did that junior do to anger her?"
"I'm not sure, but he must've done something, after all she is usually very calm."
Hearing the people talking about her, Ling Xu understood that she was quite known in the outer sect.
"Show me the way." he said calmly.
"What?" her eyes widened slightly at his unexpected composure which didn't belong to someone who had just become an official disciple, "What gives him the confidence to stand against me?"
"Are you sure that you want to fight against me?" she said in doubt, now that she had calmed down a little from the surprise.
"This works in my favor. That way, I'll get to see the sect's arena and learn just how much stronger I've become since stepping into the Qi Refining Realm." he thought and then answered, "What, is there a problem?"
Hearing the slight provocation from Ling Xu's tone, senior sister Sun was angered once again, "Very well, let's go."
…
Later, in the outer sect's arena where official disciples settle their disputes as a form of practice, Ling Xu stood at one side with a calm expression.
Even though he had felt that her cultivation level was a stage higher than the one from the person who visited him at night.
"What is going on here?" several disciples who had just arrived asked from within the crowd, their attention drawn to sister Sun, a well-known figure in the outer sect especially for her beautiful appearance.
Inside the arena, Ling Xu asked ready to fight, "Shall we start?"
"I'll make the first move," senior sister Sun declared, fire energy flaring beneath her feet as she shot forward with incredible speed.
"She's much faster than the night assailant," Ling Xu realized, sensing the difference in cultivation stage.
"That's the Firefly Dance. It combines the explosiveness of the fire element with the elegance of a firefly drifting through the night."
"That's right. She must have reached the proficient level, otherwise she wouldn't be able to move with such refined elegance."
"Let's see if you can react to my Firefly Dance." she shouted, saying that if not he wasn't worthy of fighting against her.
Ling Xu's energy flowed smoothly through his thirteen acupoints as he raised the low-grade treasure sword he had gotten, just in time to block her strike.
"You actually managed to react?" she said, surprised. Then her expression hardened, "Try blocking this, Red Autumn Leaves!"
Just like the leaves drifting to the ground in autumn, her sword danced with refined elegance hiding an extreme lethality.
Ling Xu's body moved instinctively. With only the Three Purities Sword Technique, he parried and deflected each strike, his movements fluid and uninterrupted, as though the sword had become an extension of his body.
"What?!"
"How can this be?!" the spectators outside the arena gasped, watching in disbelief as Ling Xu, a disciple two stages below, not only withstood her technique but held his ground.
Before they could process what was happening, Ling Xu's next move stunned them even more.
"Her cultivation is higher, but after reaching the Qi Refining Realm her strength can't compare to mine." he thought calmly.
With a subtle move, he redirected her sword to the side, causing her to lose balance.
Then, he smoothly changed the direction from his sword, bringing it to her neck the next instant. Leaving her frozen in place as it stopped an inch short of touching her skin.
"I… surrender," she said in shock, taking a step back and looking at him with wide eyes. "You're a monster, junior brother… how can you be so strong and have such an exceptional sword technique?"
She said after seeing that he was only displaying the Three Purities Sword Technique and nothing else, making her even more shocked.
The crowd stood in silence for several seconds, stunned by the result of seeing the senior sister they dreamed about getting defeated by someone two stages below her.
"Am I seeing things?" someone finally whispered.