Following the directions of Elder Li, the 20 of them proceeded to leave their residential area and go meet with the Zhao family as they passed by many other students on the way. 

They were new faces, attracting the attention of many of the older outer court disciples from prior years. Still, they didn’t bother doing anything. Things in the outer court was pretty quiet and most tended to themselves. Additionally, the sect was rather large and there were all sorts of things happening. 

After about 15 minutes, they arrived near the entrance of the inner court zone where there were three people waiting for them. 

‘Those two have a black cincture tying it at the waist,’ Qian Yu immediately noticed a difference in their own robes. Obviously, they must be the inner court disciples from the Zhao Family.

‘The old man must be an elder as his robe has a black star on it like Elder Li’s. However, his robe also has a black sash which is different,’ Qian Yu made another observation. 

As he was thinking, the elder finished the headcount, making sure everyone was here. “Hello new disciples, I’m Elder Zhao, an inner court elder and from the Zhao family. As you know, you guys were handpicked from us and as such we expect your absolute loyalty and cooperation while you guys are outer court disciples. For example, during the annual winter hunt in half a year or when there are missions, you guys are expected to work in tandem with us. Hmph, if you don’t it’s not hard for us to find some people to break your legs. Now, your two leaders are going to introduce themselves,” the Elder used some scare tactics to intimidate the freshly recruited disciples.

The guy was the first to go and confidently walk up from behind the man. He was obviously older than the 14-year-old Qian Yu and was over a head taller than him. He had long and neat black hair tied at the top and exuded a lot of confidence. Naturally, he was also very fit and was without a doubt more healthy and well than all the village plebeians.

“I’m Zhao Xun, 17 and at the 7th stage of the qi gathering realm,” he smirked as he saw the villagers open their mouths in awe. “Just listen to me and obey my instructions otherwise I’ll introduce you to my fist,” he laughed as he stepped back. 

As he walked back, the girl started walking forward and Qian Yu finally managed to make out her face better. She was shorter than Zhao Xun but still a few inches taller than Qian Yu. She had black hair that extended to below her neck. Round and expressive black eyes, cherry red lips with fair white skin. As for her body, Qian Yu didn’t bother criticizing it as she looked a little young and was still developing. He only had one thought in his heart, ‘A gorgeous beauty!’ 

He finished observing just as she started to speak, “Hello everyone, my name is Zhao Xieren. I’m 16 and currently at the 6th stage of the qi gathering. I hope all of you guys can give us your respect and listen to what Elder Zhao and my cousin Xun said earlier.” Her voice was soft, but audible. Compared to the two males, she was much nicer and more elegant. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll do anything for you!” “Your wish is my command,” shouted out a few eager disciples from the group as they openly started simping. Clearly, all the males adored the noble beauty.

The girl smiled back at them before she walked back to where Elder Zhao and Zhao Xun were at. She left a good impression on Qian Yu from the way she acted and her tone. Although she seemed a little shy, she didn’t seem like a completely sheltered and naive person despite her age. 

Elder Zhao nodded happily and soon walked up to finalize everything. “One last thing, I had earlier mentioned that you guys will be under our control during sect missions and what not. Inner court sect disciples are responsible for leading you outer court disciples during special and required missions every two to three months. These missions are group assignments and we have already registered the groups with the sect yesterday. 10 outer court disciples per inner court disciple. Ok, listen up, I will say this once.”

Elder Zhao started calling names one by one and Qian Yu was the last one to be called. He had already started counting who was being assigned to where and he couldn’t help but smile even before his name was called. The 19th person was assigned to Zhao Xun and as such, he was assigned to Zhao Xieren. As he looked at the boys in Zhao Xun’s group, he saw some that were bitterly frustrated. Qian Yu chuckled inwardly. 

Looking around, he also realized that he was in the same group as Wu Jing and Chen Ya. ‘I’m not completely alone,’ he was delighted.

“Ok, these groups will be meeting on the first Tuesday of every month which is in two weeks. Also make sure to attend the opening ceremony in two days and go to your class on Monday,” Elder Zhao said before he waved his hands, dismissing everyone.

After the group returned to the residential area, they saw another elder waiting for them. 

‘A star with nothing else so probably an outer court sect elder’ Qian Yu was waiting for the elder to confirm his theory.

“Alright you new young lads, I’m Elder Wu and I’m in charge of managing you guys. Our Ice Arts sect is very large and has about more or less 5,000 outer court sect disciples. Each outer court sect elder is responsible for a certain number of disciples depending on where these disciples live. If you guys have any problem you will go to where I live over there,” he pointed at the large and obviously more expensive and well furnished building behind his shoulder. 

“Additionally, you guys will meet there once every two weeks for lectures. I will now also give you guys your identity badge that you will need to use for everything such as your meals, getting missions, and many other activities. I will prick your finger as you need a drop of blood to activate and bind these badges,” He started calling out names and as they walked up, he would prick one of their fingers with an ice blade before calling the next student. 

When it was Qian Yu’s turn, he binded the badge and looked at the magical item astonishingly. 

‘What a cool item,’ he thought. It was a small and thin but a well refined piece of wood with his name engraved on it with intricate markings on the back side. While he didn’t know what the  markings meant exactly, he could guess that the inscriptions were needed for the various uses of the card.