Chapter 3: Transparent Door
"Come closer." Quhiyn looked around before whispering into her ear.
"They aren't familiar with the Arcane Land. We are being sent there to explore and assess the danger for them and the Sect Disciple Examination is in four months."
He kept it short and simple. It wouldn't raise any suspicion, even more so because of his calm smile. Meanwhile, Liyin couldn't contain her shock. But she was quick to cover with a stiff smile. She became nervous as her heart tensed up.
"What should we do?" She whispered.
"Prepare." Quhiyn said. If they suddenly quit going now, it would be problematic and they couldn't do it. Elder Meifa had given a chance at the start. Well, not much of a chance when there was not much information.
"Mm. Do we need to head to our places and get all the necessary items?" Liyin said, only a few inches of gap between their bodies.
"We could have done that but they aren't letting the disciples leave." Quhiyn gestured toward the Elders guarding the entrance.
Liyin got even more nervous. This was strange. They couldn't even leave to get more of their items. Her eyes darted around the area before landing on some people. They were far from the messy crowd with wooden tables in front of them. Various items were on display.
"Quhiyn, look. We can buy the necessary items from them." Liyin gestured with her head. Quhiyn wasn't sure about it at first but now that she mentioned it, he was willing to spend money.
"Mm. Let's go." He nodded and they walked toward them diagonally. They were quite far from them. It took around 3 minutes to reach them.
"Quhiyn, what pills do you think we should get? I am thinking of the ones which can heal common injuries and major injuries, the latter being more costly and some replenishing pills." Liyin muttered, looking at the side of his pondering face.
"Mm. We will take the ones you suggested. I was thinking of pills that can at least act as a guard at the entrance of the injury to stop the blood flow, reduce pain, and poison antidotes." Quhiyn said.
"Hm, let's get them too. We don't know what we will have to deal with." Liyin mumbled with a thoughtful expression. She brought out her Blue Disciple Card that had a blue phoenix engraved on a corner. Blue represented their status as the Outer Court disciples.
"How many Sect Coins do you have?" Liyin asked.
"52 Sect Coins." Quhiyn said. Liyin was surprised. She didn't expect him to have anywhere close to her amount.
"That's a lot. I have 61 Sect Coins." She said in a proud tone.
"Rich young ladies have it easy." Quhiyn had a bitter smile. He had to go through so many hardships to build this small fortune.
"Hah! I had to work for it." Liyin gently punched his abdomen. She had an irritated expression.
"I wasn't serious. I know you worked hard for it." Quhiyn said in a sincere tone.
"Stalker," She mumbled in silence as her smile returned. Quhiyn still heard her but didn't say anything about that.
"So, how should we do the purchase?"
"30 Sect Coins from each of us to buy the items." Quhiyn looked at her. Although it was expensive, Liyin nodded.
"How about per 10 Sect Coins: 2 Life-Guardian Pills, 10 Strength-Replenishment Pills, 5 Minor-Heal Pills, 5 Blood-Chain Pills, 5 Misery-Quench Pills, and 5 Poison-Subdue Pills. Other than the 2nd Grade Life Guardian Pills, rest will be 1st Grade pills." She told him with a bitter heart.
Quhiyn thoughtfully listened to her and nodded with a stiff smile. How was he supposed to smile when he was going to be losing almost all of his hard-earned Sect Coins? He yelled inwardly.
"We-We can sell them back after returning," Quhiyn tried to reassure.
Liyin agreed and they moved onto buying all of the necessary pills in a short time. There was no crowd in front of the tables. Almost no one felt the need and the ones who did buy forgot to bring their items.
"We should get more food too, Quhiyn," Liyin said after moving away with Quhiyn from the Pill Seller.
"Mm. We got a slight discount from buying that many pills, we can use that." Quhiyn said.
They moved toward the Food Seller and bought foods with the long term in mind. Later on, they divided the items equally and arranged them neatly in their pouches.
They heard a loud cough coming from the platform. Elder Meifa coughed a few mores times to get all of their attention.
"All of you pay attention." He emphasized. "Those of you who have got their token and found your partner start coming through either of these paths," He waved toward the path on both side of the platform.
"An Elder will guide you to the Arcane Land entrance in groups."
Soon, hundreds of disciples started moving through the paths with loud shouts. They didn't dare to rush under the stern gaze of the Elders on the side.
"Quhiyn," Liyin said in a tense voice. Now that the time had come, she was even more anxious. Even more so after what he revealed. It was hard to comprehend but she didn't have many reasons to doubt it. She hoped it wasn't as dangerous as his words made it out to be.
"Look at me." Quhiyn stared at her eyes with a bright smile. "I am nervous too but we will be fine. We are more prepared than everyone and we also have a better understanding of the place. And, if we don't take some risks, how would we grow as great cultivators."
"Mm. Let's do our best." She straightened her back and let out a deep breath before she gazed with resolute eyes and firm fists. Quhiyn's relaxed expression gave her more confidence.
They started walking alongside other pairs of disciples. They kept walking under the guidance of an Outer Court Elder, leading them through the meters wide stone-paved road. Many disciples were behind him. The excitement was high like their loud chit-chats.
Liyin would occasionally look to her left, making sure Quhiyn was there. After around 10 minutes of walking, a shout came from the Elder infront.
"Halt."
The disciples looked at their Elder with curious gazes. The Elder walked toward a meter tall stone pillar with a square stone on top. Meters away from their group, they heard the shout of another group's Elder who moved to a similar stone pillar.
The Elder took out a key and dug into the hole in the stone tablet and turned. The disciples waited with questions and anticipation. Moments later, the air started whirling beside the stone pillar before a transparent door appeared with a wooden frame. It was blurry and the grass behind it looked indistinguishable.
"You will reach the Arcane Land after going through this. There will be similar doors for returning to the sect." The Elder said aloud. He didn't have much of an expression.
"Now, start moving into it!" He shouted once more.
"We will go first!" A disciple shouted with an excited smile. He rushed into the door with his co-partner. Their figures vanished, surprising some of the disciples.
"Hahaha! I can't wait to get all the treasures!" Another disciple shouted with a greedy expression before going in. His partner nervously followed behind. More and more disciples rushed inside.
Quhiyn let out a deep breath and looked at the furrowed eyes of Liyin. She nodded and they started moving toward the door. Their figures disappeared.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone