Chapter 209: A Disciple of Storm Sky Manor
Outside the room where Shui fought the golem, he reached the exit with Serina and came out to a beautiful flower field that made one forget that this was inside a city. Waiting there for him was an inner sect elder, and two male inner sect disciples who were new faces to the pair. When the three saw the two of them come out of the hardest path unscathed, their eyes were wide open in surprise. While the two inner sect disciples only showed surprise when Shui and Serina came out, the elder was surprised before that since he was the one who cast the golem spell.
There were supposed to be three inner sect elders waiting here to welcome those that passed the final basic test, but the other two elders heard about a black pass holder overestimating himself and immediately went to find him where the failures would be brought. He wanted to go as well, but since he summoned the four golems at the end of the four paths they basically forced him to stay even though they knew that there would be no change in the golems if he left. The elder had reluctantly stayed behind but now he felt as if he was being rewarded for this choice.
Furthermore, as the one who cast the golem spell, he could tell that it was destroyed. He didn't know how he managed to destroy the golem, but it was definitely proof that he was an excellent seed.
'He really did make it here while bringing that girl. Fred called him stupid but it seems like he wasn't overconfident.'
When they saw the middle-aged inner sect elder with a gentle expression approach them, both Serina and Shui appeared wary. Even though he had a smiling face, Serina was worried that he would be scary while Shui wondered what he wanted. The elder stopped in front of him and nodded with approval.
"Well done, I'm Elder Rong. You are the first to pass the test. What's your name?"
Shui looked up and down at the elder before responding, "...Shui."
Serina could read the mood well enough to figure out that the elder didn't care about her, so she stayed silent. However, everyone but Shui was surprised by the way he responded. For a moment, the elder glared at this youth and his disrespectful attitude but it didn't faze Shui.
'Hmph, well I suppose all geniuses will be arrogant.'
The elder relaxed his facial muscles before continuing to talk in a friendly manner.
"With your results, it's possible for you to become a core disciple, but I recommend that your friend here doesn't try to apply for this opportunity. There will be a strict process to choosing a core disciple."
The elder finally mentioned Serina, but it was just to remind her that she was weak and irrelevant. Shui had nothing to say regarding this so he only looked back at her.
"What do you think?"
"Yes, being in the inner sect is more than good enough for me."
Shui slowly nodded at her answer and returned to face Elder Rong. He didn't say anything but everyone could tell what he was thinking from the look on his face.
'Is there anything else?'
Veins appeared on the elder's forehead, but he still managed to keep a smile. He looked back to the inner sect disciples and signalled them to bring him something which he then presented to Shui. It was a blue silk coat like he saw the inner sect disciples wear along with a space expansion bag with various resources.
"You may wear this until you inevitably climb the ranks and become a core disciple."
Shui looked at the elder and then took the items from him, "Thanks."
Serina was also given a coat by one of the inner sect disciples and politely accepted it.
"Is that all?"
After both of them got their coats and put them on, Shui asked the question that was constantly showing on his face. The elder clenched his fist so hard it trembled, but the smile stayed on his face. He then snapped his fingers and an inner sect disciple went to each of them.
"Yes, please follow these two to your assigned quarters."
Even though they were the first and second ones to finish the last test, they would still be given any random free spot among the inner sect disciple residences. However, with Elder Rong's authority he could give him the best among what was there. But that wasn't his plan.
To the two inner sect disciples, the elder sent an intent message. It would only be possible for people in the Soul Realm with strong souls, but as long as the receiver was nearby, it was easy for Earth Realm and above cultivators to use intent communication provided they had the right spell.
"I don't care where you send the girl, but make sure the boy gets sent to the same residence as Ryan's group."
Both of the disciples furrowed their brows, but they didn't dare raise any complaint. With how disrespectful Shui was, this was bound to happen so the disciples could only internally shake their heads.
As he watched the disciples lead Shui and Serina away, the elder snickered.
'Once he suffers in their hands he'll be begging me to change his residence. Hehehe.'
However, neither the elder nor the inner sect disciples knew that Shui had picked up on their intent communication. If he eavesdropped on the message then he might be found out, but he was still able to detect the objective of the elder.
'This damn old fool is already plotting against me. Hmph, not that it matters.'
Even if the old man who confronted the beast lord appeared in front of him, he would still stand firm, so a peak Earth Realm elder was of no importance.
After splitting up from Serina, Shui was led to a clean, white house with two shared rooms and four personal rooms, with only one being unoccupied. The nature energy was much more concentrated than at the outer section of the sect, but it was still but a drop in the bucket for Shui. Luckily, poor was one of the last words that could be used to describe him so he wouldn't have a problem getting his own resources for now. Although it was a shared space, the house was big enough for everyone to live by themselves without interacting unless they needed to use the kitchen. The inner sect disciple left soon after bringing him here and he sensed no one else in residence, so Shui went to the free room and started meditating. There was nothing but a hard wooden bed in the room but it was good enough for him to rest on.
Once he sat down and closed his eyes, Shui began reviewing his fight against the golem. That was the first time he used the Ethereal Blade Method, so he knew that there was much tweaking and adjustments to be done. He would have a lot of studying and practising to do before it became a proper technique, but he was excited for what it would become.
For now, he decided on the four forms that would make up his blade technique. Power Form, Control Form, Speed Form and the Perfect Form. The Ethereal Blade Method was meant to fit with all bladed weapons, not just a sabre so he would have to learn how to make each stance of the different forms suit the weapon he was using.
Even though he came up with four forms, he still only thought of one stance. However, he was sure that with time his mastery over the blade would grow to allow him to complete this technique. Nevertheless, before refining his technique, he recognized the need to find a balance in his powers.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone