Within the Baohu Mountain Range, each of the nine sects also had their own mottos and specialties.
There was of course the Jade Clouds Sect, specializing in producing graceful immortal cultivators with refined temperaments with this motto: Ice three feet thick is not frozen in a single day. They focused on a slow and gentle means of cultivation that took longer than some other sects' methods, but resulted in great strength and knowledge.
Then there were the other eight sects--of course, Fan Yao Peak, specializing in alchemy with the motto: Don't fear bodily harm; pull the lord off his horse!, meaning to take every risk in searching for new potions and substances. There was a martial peak called None Left Mountain (A hundred battles, a hundred victories--win every single time! No enemies left!), an artistry peak (Twelve Inks Sect; One and only one, nottwo--every work of art is unique!), a peak of scholars who studied day and night (Shi Li Peak; To learn is to row upstream--if you don't study, you'll go backwards!) and various others.
Qiu Yunru filed these away in his head for later reference. In an allyship like Baohu Mountain Range, it was likely there would be cross-sect events that involved these other peaks. It would be wise to remember information about them.
After spending a week studying, eating at the Li Hua Mountain dining hall, and exploring the grounds with Pan Fa, Qiu Yunru also had a good idea of who the most important staff of the sect were.
At the head of it all was, of course, He Yongliang. Graceful, handsome, and refined, he was an immortal master who had taken up the Jade Clouds Sect from his predecessor a few hundred years ago. He oversaw cultivation and sword training, as well as the general wellbeing of his disciples.
Then there was the Accounting Guy. Qiu Yunru bumped into him while staying late at the sect library. He had been reading up until his eyes felt red and dry. When he finally packed up to leave, he'd bumped into a thin young man with dark bags under his eyes and a monocle. The young man was muttering to himself: "He Yongliang, you...Unexpected expenses...Can't believe this..." He was so distressed that he'd walked right past Qiu Yunru without seeing him! This was Qiao Jingguo, the Jade Clouds Sect accountant. What a fate, to have a name meaning Administrator of the Country, and then to be reduced to a distressed mess handling the affairs of a small, spoiled, over-expensive cultivation sect!
There was also the sect's head janitor, Tian Peng. Qiu Yunru had the misfortune of bumping into him while searching through the herb storages to see everything the sect had. A tall, burly man with eyebrows thicker than rivers stalked up to him with hate in his eyes. "Change even one label, and I'll have your eyes on a stick! Waste herbs on the ground, and you'll be on a skewer! Put them in the wrong drawer, and you'll be drowned by morning!" Qiu Yunru had hurried out of there like his feet were on fire.
Lastly, there was the head cook, Cai Mingzhu. Occasionally, she appeared in the dining hall to check on the quality of the food and loudly tease and cajole her favorite students. Qiu Yunru hadn't spoken with her directly, but it was clear that she was boisterous and good-natured. She admittedly seemed a little lazy, spending most of the day playing Go behind the kitchens with subordinates and betting money. Qiu Yunru caught a rumor that she had a personal relationship to their Shizun, so he would never fire her. He thought this wasn't so bad; at least she was a kind person! It would be a different story if she was wanton and cruel and fed students poison!
In this way, over the course of a week, Qiu Yunru started to truly settle in at Li Hua Mountain. He had become comfortable in the library; he knew where to find food and ingredients; he knew a few people personally; and he knew who was running the place. He had always been the curious type. How could he feel comfortable without knowing how a place worked?
The only thing that bothered him was this: every night as he lay in his room on his soft, comfortable bed, his game menu would periodically glitch. It would wake him up with its blinking.
"Go away," He would groan, closing it. A moment later, it would pop up again. "Really?" Yes, he knew that he didn't need to sleep...But he'd gotten comfortable doing so. Therefore, it was still very annoying to have a bright blue light sear his eyelids every five minutes! "Just one night of peace!"
When he had finally given in and sat up to see what the menu was on about, he couldn't find anything different about it. No new notifications, no new objects. The only thing that was strange was that it kept opening up to the inventory menu and selecting that one thing: Entry Pass to the Li Mansion. After tapping countless times, the menu would leave him alone for the night, only to do the same the following night! What a nightmare! At least he wasn't tired in the mornings because of the no-sleep-needed mechanic--only annoyed out of his mind and tearing out his hair!
After that first week was up, He Yongliang announced to the disciples that cultivation and martial studies would begin again. And so, at dawn one morning, Qiu Yunru awoke to a sharp knock on his door.
"Qiu-shidi! Up! We're all going for laps! Be ready in five minutes!"
"Wha...?" Qiu Yunru groaned, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He reached for his glasses on the nightstand, then froze. Ah! That's right. He was dead--his past body, at least. He didn't use glasses anymore. After a great effort, he managed to drag himself out of bed and dress himself in sect robes. His stomach turned and turned again as he opened the door and headed out to join the others. It turned and turned so much that he though he might expel his guts right there on the floor...
The one thing Qiu Yunru hated more than having a body that was always sick, was hardcore exercise!