14: Light the Soul Lamp

"You youngsters, can't you let this old man have some peace and quiet? I'm already at this age, how much longer can I live..." The old man sighed and slowly stood up, his cloudy old eyes casting a casual glance at Hong Yu.

That seemingly ordinary and casual glance made Hong Yu feel a chill all over his body. In particular, the hair on his back stood on end, as if he were being stared at by some ferocious beast.

Fortunately, the old man looked away after a single glance. He turned around, carrying a large wine gourd, and said indifferently as he walked slowly, "Follow me."

Hong Yu immediately followed respectfully behind the old man and asked, "May I ask how to address you, Senior?"

Without turning his head, the old man replied, "Too much time has passed, and I can no longer remember things like names. You can just call me Old Man Liu."

"This... addressing you like that might be disrespectful to you, Senior." Hong Yu hesitated. After all, his life over the past ten-plus years had cultivated a cautious character. Especially after sensing that this old man's cultivation was unfathomable, he didn't want to offend him in any way.

"Why do practitioners have so many fussy rules? If I tell you to call me that, then just do it. However, your personality is quite good. The water in the Inner Sect is very deep; it's never wrong to be a bit careful."

Old Man Liu spoke casually while leading Hong Yu to the second floor.

Perhaps due to a Formation, the small building didn't look large from the outside, but the second floor was exceptionally spacious.

There was no furniture or decorations on the second floor. Instead, dense rows of lampstands floated in mid-air, all of them lit. Curiously, the flames burning within were green.

The lampstands were distributed at various heights and made of the same material, but there were clear differences in the green flames. The smallest was like a soybean, while the largest was bigger than a basketball and shone with a piercing light that made it almost impossible to look at directly.

Old Man Liu stood before the lampstands and beckoned with his hand. An unlit lampstand flew from somewhere. After handing it to Hong Yu, he explained indifferently, "Since you were brought here by the Saintess, take a drop of essence blood. Once you light this Soul Lamp, you will be considered part of the Xuan Yun Residence's Inner Sect."

Hong Yu took the lampstand and bit his finger to force out a drop of essence blood. The moment it landed on the lampstand, the blood ignited on its own, producing a green flame identical to those floating in the air. However, the flame on Hong Yu's lamp was even smaller than a soybean.

After asking for Hong Yu's name, background, and birth details, Old Man Liu took out a yellow talisman paper with his right hand. Then, a faint yellow light appeared on the tip of his left index finger. With a stroke across the talisman, Hong Yu's personal information was recorded.

Old Man Liu then stuck it onto the lampstand. With a gentle pat from his withered palm, the lampstand turned into a streak of light and merged into the numerous other lampstands.

"Now that you've entered the Xuan Yun Residence, you are an ordinary Disciple of the Inner Sect." Old Man Liu handed several items to Hong Yu and continued, "As a Disciple, you must always remember to honor your teachers and the Dao, and strictly abide by the sect rules. You can read this book of sect rules for the specific regulations."

Hong Yu took the items and looked at them closely: an extremely thick scroll with the words "sect rules" written on it, a token of unknown material engraved with his name, a map, a palm-sized paper crane, and a small yellow cloth bag.

Old Man Liu continued, "This is your identity token and Storage Pouch. Be sure to keep the identity token safe; it is your essential credential for moving around Inside the Mansion. You should know that Formations are everywhere Inside the Mansion, and they only recognize tokens, not people.

The Storage Pouch can be opened by inputting spiritual power. The paper crane is a means of transportation for new Disciples; it also works by inputting spiritual power. The map is for ordinary Disciples; you need to look at it carefully. Ordinary Disciples must never enter the areas marked in red.

Finally, there are the sect rules. You must memorize them thoroughly. Without rules, there is no order. Within the Xuan Yun Residence, the sect rules are paramount."

Old Man Liu coughed and then added, "Sigh, as I get older, I've unknowingly become a bit talkative. If you've remembered everything, go report to the Internal Affairs Office. They will arrange your residence then."

Hong Yu gave a respectful bow and said, "Thank you for your guidance, Senior."

Old Man Liu waved his hand and slowly went downstairs.

Squeezing the sect rules in his hand, Hong Yu felt much more at ease.

For a Cultivator with sharp ears and keen eyes, memorizing a book of sect rules was not difficult. On the contrary, the more detailed and strict the sect rules were, the better the management of the Xuan Yun Residence was. He no longer had to worry about disaster falling from the sky at any moment, as he did when he was in the Outer Sect.

After leaving the building, Hong Yu quickly became familiar with how to use the Storage Pouch. After putting all the items he didn't need into the Storage Pouch, he solemnly tucked it into his robe, leaving only a scroll of the map in his hand.

Hong Yu opened the map and took a look. Surprisingly, eighty percent of the vast map was marked in red. Recalling Old Man Liu's words, he couldn't help but click his tongue. It seemed the permissions for an ordinary Disciple were much lower than he had imagined, with so many places off-limits.

Once he found the location of the Internal Affairs Office, he oriented himself, took the paper crane out of his Storage Pouch, and slowly began to infuse it with spiritual power.

Instantly, a sense of mental connection arose, and Hong Yu immediately understood how to use the paper crane.

As spiritual power was infused, the paper crane gradually grew larger, soon becoming several times larger than Hong Yu.

Hong Yu flipped himself onto the paper crane. Under his control, the paper crane slowly floated into the air and began to fly forward leisurely.

Although the speed was slow and there was no protection during flight—the strong wind stinging his face—it was completely different from the comfort and speed of riding a multi-story ship.

Yet, Hong Yu felt that flying like this was even more exhilarating. A sense of heroic pride welled up in his chest, and he felt like letting out a long howl: "I come riding the wind, wandering freely between heaven and earth." But thinking that this would be too chuunibyou and high-profile, he abandoned the idea.

Just as Hong Yu was concentrating on controlling the paper crane, a flying boat suddenly flew toward him from ahead. The flying boat was extremely fast and came crashing toward Hong Yu head-on.

Hong Yu tried to maneuver the paper crane to avoid it, but it was too late. In the next moment, the bow of the flying boat smashed a large hole in the paper crane and then collided with Hong Yu. Hong Yu was sent flying along with the paper crane, falling to the ground.

Fortunately, the paper crane's flight speed wasn't fast, and it wasn't very high off the ground. Additionally, Hong Yu had circulated his spiritual power throughout his body in time to protect himself. So, although he looked a bit disheveled, he wasn't injured.

The flying boat also shook a few times due to the impact, then stopped in mid-air and slowly descended. A woman and three men stepped off the boat. The woman was beautiful, but her eyes were too narrow, giving off a mean impression.

The woman glanced at Hong Yu and immediately began to scold him, "Are you blind? Of all the places you could fly, you just had to crash into my Flowing Cloud Boat! Let me tell you, this flying boat of mine is precious. Looking at your pathetic state, I doubt you could afford to compensate me even if you were sold."

Hearing this, Hong Yu's anger flared up instantly. With a highly aggressive look in his eyes, he scanned the four people in front of him.