After Tiger Sun finished explaining, Evan Yang was determined to learn those spiritual formulas—he refused to be a cultivator with only cultivation but no arts.
So he asked, "Where do outer disciples usually go to listen to teachings?"
In the Rising Sun Sect, 'listening to teachings' meant a Foundation-Building stage elder would explain spiritual formulas and cultivation difficulties to outer disciples. From his two years in the sect, Evan knew every month there were a few days when outer disciples could attend. Having never gone, he was eager to try and see if he could pick up any spiritual formulas.
Tiger Sun saw Evan's interest and explained, "There are five days each month when the big shots come to teach the disciples. I'll take you then."
"Oh? About when is it?" Evan asked excitedly.
"Let me see... tomorrow, the day after... looks like it's the day after tomorrow," Tiger Sun said after thinking for a moment.
"Great, then let me know when it's time," Evan said, unable to hide his excitement.
"No problem," Tiger Sun nodded.
Filled with anticipation, Evan spent the next two days stabilizing his cultivation, not pushing further into the third layer of the Rising Sun Scripture.
On the third day—the day of the teachings—Evan got up early and had Tiger Sun take him out. When Logan Luo saw them, he blocked their way and said unhappily, "Kid, how are your herbs doing?"
"Steward Luo already replanted them. They'll be fine in a few days, but you'd better not let anyone disturb them—I don't want them to die again." Evan knew Logan was only being polite because two plots of herbs suddenly died, leaving him at a loss. Logan could only hope Evan would manage to regrow them successfully.
"Hmph." Logan Luo snorted unhappily, then let them go.
"Evan, you really have some tricks. I've been here for years, and this is the first time I've seen the Demon act so polite to an outer disciple," Tiger Sun said, amazed at Logan Luo's sudden change in attitude toward Evan.
"It's just that the sect needs more herbs this time, and I happened to kill two plots. So he's anxious, but worried no one else can grow them as well as I can. That's why he's tolerating me for a few days. Once the herbs are handed over, he'll probably start yelling at me again," Evan said, laughing it off.
"Yeah, with his temper and narrow mind, it's a miracle if he doesn't give you trouble," Tiger Sun sighed about Evan's future.
"Let's not talk about this. Let's hurry up and go," Evan said, already impatient to learn techniques, afraid he'd miss his chance.
Seeing Evan so excited, Tiger Sun sped up. Soon they reached the cliff edge, halfway up the mountain, where a small stairway led up to a two-man-tall stone stele carved with blood-red characters: 'Lecture Cliff.'
"That's a pretty unusual name," Evan muttered when he saw the characters.
"They say a mysterious expert carved it, but no one really knows. Some say it's fake, maybe just something someone scratched in by accident," Tiger Sun explained.
"I see." Actually, the first time Evan saw those characters, he felt a stir inside his body, but forced himself to suppress it. He didn't know why, but it was definitely connected to the words on the stele.
When Evan and Tiger Sun climbed the stairway to the cliff platform, many outer disciples were already crowded outside, while a large area inside remained empty.
"Why don't they go in?" Evan asked, puzzled as he watched the outer disciples scramble for a small patch of space, some even arriving early to claim seats.
"Shh, keep your voice down. Let me explain. There are lots of outer disciples, but only a few inner disciples. The sect puts a lot of effort into training the inner disciples, so that whole empty area is reserved for them. We can't go in, or we'll cause trouble." Tiger Sun hurriedly whispered to Evan, afraid they'd attract attention.
Evan looked inside and saw that the empty area was clearly much larger than the crowded outer section. If the lecturer stood at the very front, the inner disciples would benefit the most, while outer disciples sitting farther out would barely be able to hear.
Faced with these rules, Evan could only sigh inwardly, "This is the distance between people."
Seeing Evan's expression, Tiger Sun patted his shoulder and said with a smile, "That's the cultivation world—cruel as can be. I've heard people outside kill over grudges all the time; that's even scarier."
"Killings? I bet there are plenty here too," Evan said coldly, thinking of Joel Qiao, who had pushed him off the cliff.
Seeing such a harsh expression on someone so young, Tiger Sun asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
"Just remembered something," Evan quickly said, forcing a smile and hiding his emotions. He silently warned himself, "Man, it's so easy to lose control." He reminded himself to always keep a normal attitude.
Once Evan seemed fine, Tiger Sun led him to a cramped spot packed with people and sat down. "We'll have to make do," he said.
Evan didn't mind at all. He smiled, "It's fine."
The two of them, along with the other outer disciples, waited for the lecturer and the so-called inner disciples to arrive.
Sitting there, Evan scanned the crowd. Most faces were unfamiliar, but he spotted a few outer disciples who had entered the sect with him. To his surprise, Ryan Li wasn't there.
Over the past two years, Tiger Sun and Ryan Li were probably Evan's closest friends, both from the same village. He'd already been wondering why Ryan hadn't been around lately, and now he wasn't here either.
Just then, the so-called inner disciples began arriving. They acted like rich young masters, each with an arrogant attitude, looking down on the outer disciples. The outer disciples were furious but powerless—their cultivation levels were clearly worlds apart.
Evan noticed that the inner disciples each took up three or four spots, enjoying plenty of space. He finally understood just how big the gap was between outer and inner disciples.
As Evan mourned for the outer disciples, he spotted some familiar faces—Leon Wong, and Joel Qiao, whom he'd never forget. How could Joel be here? He was supposed to be an outer disciple; how did he end up among the inner disciples?
Thinking of the day Joel pushed him off the cliff, Evan felt a surge of anger and wanted to confront him. But reason calmed him—though he had many questions, he held back. Was Evan's near-death the price for Joel's promotion to inner disciple?
Joel and the others hadn't noticed Evan among the crowd. If they had, they'd surely be shocked—a boy who fell off a cliff, now standing here.
Evan kept a low profile—without strength, he didn't want to court disaster. It was a lesson he'd learned since childhood.
"Hey, Evan, those people up front are the ones who were looking for you last time," Tiger Sun whispered suddenly.
"Oh? Which ones?" Evan was curious about who had been searching for him.
Tiger Sun pointed them out—two of them were Leon Wong and Joel Qiao.
"No wonder they haven't made a move lately—they must think I'm dead," Evan thought. Ever since Tiger Sun mentioned someone was looking for him, he'd been on guard. Now he realized it was those two, so he relaxed a bit. As long as he stayed out of their sight, he wouldn't be discovered.
Tiger Sun had no idea what Evan was thinking. He just noticed the lecturer had arrived—a white-haired, white-bearded old man stood at the front, looked over the crowd, and said, "For the next five days, I'll be teaching you. If you have any questions, feel free to ask."
Seeing the lecturer arrive, Evan put aside his worries and focused on listening to the man's insights about cultivation and common pitfalls.
The lecture also covered some cultivation arts. After a whole day, Evan felt his understanding deepened. As he absorbed the teachings, he heard the elder recite a spiritual formula: "Ninety-Ninefold Purefire is the most profound formula in our Rising Sun Mystic Art. It has nine layers—if you master all nine, you can burn anything to ashes."
"Senior, has anyone ever mastered it?" an inner disciple asked, curious.
"Good question. The Nine-Nine Pure Fire produces a unique flame, with each level a different color and power. But so far, no one's fully mastered it—even the big sects who've studied it haven't reached the top." the lecturer said proudly.
"How many levels has our sect managed?" someone couldn't help but ask.
"Due to cultivation limits and difficulty, even the elders have only reached the third level," the lecturer said, sounding a bit disappointed.
"How powerful is it?" someone asked, unwilling to give up.
"It's very powerful. Even just the third-level flame can burn cultivators of the same stage badly—unless they have some special defense," the lecturer said with a click of his tongue, as if he possessed the third-level flame himself.
"Wow, that's amazing! Senior, please teach us the Nine-Nine Pure Fire—we want to learn it," an inner disciple said eagerly.
"Ahem, cultivating this kind of spiritual formula is strict. I only have the first layer here—the rest require higher cultivation to obtain. If your cultivation is too low, forget it." The old man thought most outer disciples wouldn't be able to practice it, but he didn't say so openly, just phrased it gently.
Some inner disciples quickly caught on. One laughed, "Senior, just teach us the mantra for the first level—we should be able to handle it."
"Alright, since you're so eager, I'll teach you the first-level mantra today. After that, it's up to you." The old man looked at the inner disciples—they were the sect's future, after all. As for the outer disciples, whoever could understand it was welcome to try.
Some outer disciples were already disappointed—without enough cultivation, even the best techniques were useless. But Evan didn't think so. He listened carefully as the old man explained the first-level mantra, memorizing it deeply.