(Lian Li POV)
I opened the door to the disciples' room within Master's courtyard, letting my sisters inside after me.
"This will be our room, just pick a free bed and settle in." I gestured towards the unoccupied beds within the room. "Master's room is the building past the inner courtyard. Don't even think about it, Manami."
Manami huffed at me but said nothing as she placed her things down on the bed beside mine.
Cai Hong tugged at my sleeve, "Lian Li big sis, can Cai Hong take any bed?"
"Mmm, of course."
"Cai Hong wants Papa's bed."
"Except that one."
"Muuu~~ Lian Li big sis meanie," the girl pouted while claiming the bed beside Manami's.
Eris dived into the bed beside mine, "Huuaaah~~ Finally a bloody proper bed! I'm tired of sleeping on those damn sleeping bags!"
"Fufufu. And I'm tired of Lian Li constantly stopping me from attempting to copulate with Master," Manami commented from the side. "Let this big sis have her mating time won't you?"
I ignored her.
I sat down on my bed, smoothing the wrinkles out of the sheets fondly. It felt so long ago that I first became Master's disciple after he pulled me away from the entrance test.
If he hadn't reached out to me that day, I don't know what I might have done.
I reminiscenced on those wonderful days, the times when Master would patiently guide me on exploring my untapped potential. I never knew it was this wonderful to have someone who believed in you.
I would sit outside in the courtyard while listening to his lessons. His strong, powerful visage a guiding light for my lost soul.
Ah, it was also in this very room where I had first started pleasing myse…
"Hey, hey, Master gave us free time now, so what'cha guys thinking of doing?" Eris asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.
She was laying down on the bed with one leg in the air, her arms supporting her head.
"Cai Hong wants to play with Papa!" the little dragon girl exclaimed, leaping up from the bed.
Manami patted her head, "Ara… Master said he would be busy so we can't disturb him."
"Muu… If Papa said so… Ok."
Eris brought her leg down and sat up properly on the bed, "Might this one humbly suggest a tour of Master's Sect?"
The three of them turned to me, since I was the only one who had been here before.
"Mmm… I can guide you guys a bit, but I didn't stay here long enough to actually be familiar with the place. I had followed Master on his journey a month after my first initiation as his disciple."
Manami waved my concern away, "That's fine, we can explore together then."
Eris frowned, "Must not trouble Master."
"We are Master's disciples, it would not do well to shame him in his Sect," I agreed.
Manami tapped a finger on her chin, "What about the test next week? Do we know what is it about?"
I turned to my left, opening my cabinet beside the bed and pulling out a small book.
"Master told me about them and I wrote them here before we left the Sect."
The three of them immediately converged around me, peeking over my shoulder.
"'Inner core disciple test consists of a theory and practical test on their knowledge of Elemental Quarks. Disciples must first pass the theory test before proceeding to the practical test'," I read aloud.
Manami's eyes lit up, "A theory test? No wonder Master spends the time after training to teach us about Quark fundamentals. I never thought he had already thought ahead to have us inducted as Inner Sect Practitioners."
"Papa's teaching is fun!"
"Teaching?! We having another sword lesson?" Eris asked suddenly, all excited.
"No, Master is busy, go back inside. And stop making so much noise," I admonished.
"Cheh, you guys are no fun," the girl stuck her tongue at us before returning to her previous spot behind me.
Manami continued reading the next line, "'The theory test consists of testing the Practitioner's knowledge of their own Quarks and Cultivation, it will be an oral test in front of a group of teachers. The teachers will ask several questions and the student will answer to the best of their abilities'."
That made her frown a little, "Ara? Master isn't the one testing us?"
I shook my head, "He will be one of the teachers, but there will be other teachers there with him."
"It's like they don't trust Master," Eris clenched her fist.
"Muu? Bad people?" Cai Hong asked, sucking on a finger.
I shrugged, "Master had explained to me that at the Sect's founding, a student would have three teachers and they would gather to discuss the student's progress together in the past. It turned into a tradition for their tests after more people joined the Sect and it became impractical to do the discussions."
"As long as Master is there I suppose, I wouldn't be able to stand a couple of old fogies staring at me the whole time," Manami sighed.
"The Practical..." Eris asked.
"Umm… 'Practitioners will demonstrate their Quark manipulation abilities as instructed by their tutor, the testers would then decide if they have passed or not.'"
Manami stretched herself, "Mmm… Sounds simple enough, I don't think either of us have a problem with the test next week."
I nodded in agreement, Master himself had already said we were beyond qualified to be admitted as Inner Core Practitioners, but he didn't want us to draw too much attention to ourselves.
Though we were confused as to why he didn't want us to show off and bring more glory to him at first, we came to the conclusion that Master never sought for these kinds of attention.
I worry sometimes that Master's humbleness might draw unsavoury people's attention.
"Speaking of which, how is the group at Jin city?" Manami asked me.
I took a moment to think, "I believe it should be going well, Alpha should be taking over me for now at the base, Beta is in charge of the administration and Gamma is in charge of security."
"This one humbly suggests Delta to take over the conversions, she is the most charismatic one we have now."
"Cai Hong likes Delta's prea… Pea… Peaches!"
"Preaches," Manami corrected. "But I agree, Delta was very devoted in memorising the scriptures, she can take up the responsibility."
"I will tell them that," I nodded.
Eris tilted her head to me, "What about the Xi Family, Master has mentioned he wishes to make use of them."
"Our people have already infiltrated them, it's only because we're not strong enough that we have yet to make a direct confrontation. The insect has already been converted, however," I recounted.
"Arrghh! If only I was stronger!" Eris yelled out in frustration. "I wanna do something!"
I frowned at the girl that was currently rolling around on the bed, "Why are you back out again? Just stay inside."
"But I'm bored! The other three are fine sitting around but I'm not!"
"Cai Hong play?" the little girl prodded.
"I guess we can go with the original idea of exploring the Sect, as long as we keep out of trouble," I relented.
I was curious about the Sect myself, Master only brought me out once or twice before since we had no need of outside contact.
The other girls agreed as well, it was better to know what the place Master has deemed well enough to grace with his presence was like.
With that said, the four of us left our room, taking the time to explore the Sect that we are now currently part of.
