The Quartermaster returned a moment later carrying a heavy bundle, grunting as he tossed that heavy bundle of folded black cloth onto the counter. "Here. Last one we got that'll fit a walking slab of meat like you."
He scratched his brand, the Penance Mark on his forearm as his eyes went to the shoulder of T-800's 20 strokes Penance Mark.
"Reinforced with Blackvein Spider Silk. Good enough for a sloppy knife, but don't get any heroic ideas. The grey wolf pelt on the shoulders is an added bonus, I have nothing else of your size."
Lin Feng nervously gathered the robes. "Thank you, Honorable Quartermaster! Master Tie Yuan, Lets find your room!"
"Oi…where are you going?"
Lin Feng got confused at the Quartermaster call.
"Is this charity or what?"
"Isn't Sect Robes are free?"
"Not for his size, that wolf pelt isn't standard issue, boy. That's from a Grey-Spine Alpha. That'll be three Spirit Stones, or he can fight naked for all I care."
Lin Feng's jaw dropped. "Three?! But... but Master Tie Yuan just received his stipend…we haven't even found his room yet!" he stammered, panicking. Losing a third of their resources on day one was a terrible start.
The T-800's expression didn't change. He simply opened the pouch, tipped three dull, grey stones onto the counter, and turned away. Acquiring necessary equipment was a logical step. The cost was an irrelevant variable.
Although he could walk naked, it doesn't matter but that would make him stand out, make him more out of touch with humanity. He would have to act his part that he is a human and have human base desires.
The Quartermaster swiped the stones away as he smirked.
Lin Feng could tell that they just got scammed but the T-800 expression was still expressionless as he turned to leave.
Lin Feng just followed with a defeated expression. He thought to speak his mind but believed this Master Tie Yuan knows already so him being assuming would be offending.
So he stayed silent and guided T-800 towards the residential block.
"...and this would be your courtyard."
"Courtyard? This is a cave…" Lin Feng was questioning the Caretaker and his enthusiasm at showing this cave as courtyard.
Although this cave do had a courtyard which leads to three more smaller caves which looked like rooms.
"What were you expecting, boy? Some fancy wooden house? Those are for the Elders. If you want better ones then…"
Lin Feng understood the meaning behind what was left unsaid.
T-800 walked inside without any word so Lin Feng too.
Seeing that neither of them bothered to offer him a farewell greeting, the Caretaker frowned and walked away, muttering curses under his breath about disrespectful newcomers.
The air in the cave was cool and damp. A large open opening served as the entrance, with no door or barricade for anyone to stop, leading into a central courtyard-like space that was open to the sky.
From this central area, three smaller cave openings led into what would be their rooms. Even rooms had no doors or anything for privacy.
It was basic, crude, and offered minimal comfort.
Lin Feng dropped the bundle of new robes on a flat stone that might have been a table. He sighed, a little defeated by their humble new home.
"Well... it's not a wooden house, Master Tie Yuan, but it is private. No one will bother us here. It is…safe?" Lin Feng tried to find a positive way to look at their situation.
The T-800 stood in the center of the open area, its head tilting slightly as its sensors scanned every crack and crevice in the rock walls.
Then he would take a deep breath. His internal nano bio mesh, the living tissue would absorb every thing.
[Analysis: The concentration of that unknown energy is higher here in the air…need more data.]
T-800 would turn and look at Lin Feng. Lin Feng felt like he was getting stared down by a beast.
"What is it, Master Tie Yuan?" He looked down like a scarred rabbit.
"Tell me everything," the T-800 gave a flat command.
Lin Feng blinked, confused. "Everything about what, Master? About the sect? About Greenwater Town?"
The T-800 held up the pouch of Spirit Stones.
"These... stones. What is their... function?"
Lin Feng got even more confused, his brain stumped at that question. For a moment, he thought his new master was playing some kind of joke with him.
"Master... you don't know what Spirit Stones are?" He saw the T-800's unchanging expression and felt like he was getting pressed down by Tie Yuan's suffocating silence.
"Ah! I understand, you must be testing my knowledge, Master Tie Yuan. Of course. Well, Spirit Stones are... everything here. They're currency, first of all. You can buy food, weapons, information, anything. But their real use is for...Cultivation."
The T-800's processor whirred. It was a new word, not one he had parsed from the crowd chatter before. It sounded important.
"...Cultivation? What is that?"
For a split second, he stared at the giant man, convinced he was being made a fool of instead of this being a test.
A man with a twenty-stroke Penance Mark, who could break a Strength Stone and crush a Core Formation Elder with his bare hands, asking what cultivation was? It was like the sun asking what light was.
Then, he shook his head. Why would a person like Master Tie Yuan would play a prank with him?
This is still a test! Master Tie Yuan, with his mysterious Northern ways, was testing his fundamental knowledge to see if he was worthy of being his servant. His expression changed from confusion to eager reverence.
"Yes, Master Tie Yuan! I will explain! Cultivation… It's the path to power, the path to get stronger! We absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth… the Qi… into our bodies."
The T-800's internal processor whirred, creating a new file for this term. It correlated the word "Qi" with the energy signature it had been tracking.
"Qi?"
"It's pronounced 'Chee,' Master. Qi."
"Tell me more." T-800 demanded.