Chapter 3: The Demon Sect

When Lu Yang stepped out of the meditation chamber, he found someone already waiting outside.

Lu Yang's heart jolted—he saw a man clad in black Daoist robes, his expression dark and cruel: it was the black-robed Daoist who had assigned him to the Joyful Palace!

"Senior brother, I pay my respects," Lu Yang quickly bowed.

"You're quite impressive. A true talent."

The black-robed Daoist smiled warmly: "I heard Yu Suzhen had taken in a remarkably capable young man, and that his breakthrough to Qi Refinement was imminent."

"Turns out that poisoness failed."

At this, the black-robed Daoist's gaze toward Lu Yang turned peculiar.

Three days! A full three days!

Yu Suzhen's screams could be heard even outside the meditation chamber; even the black-robed Daoist, who prided himself on his vast experience, couldn't help but feel a flicker of admiration.

If this boy doesn't die, he will surely become a pillar of the Holy Sect!

"Come with me."

The black-robed Daoist was Liu Xin, a full disciple of Baitian Peak, one of the Sifeng of the Inner Sect, tasked with guiding newly promoted associate disciples and conveying Sect matters.

"The Four Outer Palaces and the Four Inner Peaks correspond directly to one another."

On the way, Liu Xin enthusiastically explained to Lu Yang: "Aside from the Holy Flame Cliff where the Zhang Sect resides, our Holy Sect is centered on the Four Inner Peaks."

"Since you came from the Joyful Palace, you must enter my Baitian Peak—I'll take you now to update your name registry."

With guidance at hand, Lu Yang was more than willing: "Thank you, Senior Brother Liu."

"It's merely my duty."

Liu Xin said coolly: "After updating your registry, I'll take you to the other three Palaces. Full disciples get many benefits—consider it a gift from the Holy Sect."

"By regulation, each full disciple may claim this only once." Here, Liu Xin's expression turned wistful: "Once you enter the Inner Sect, if you want items of similar value, you must complete missions issued by the Holy Sect to earn Contribution Points for exchange."

Lu Yang frowned: "Contribution Points?"

"They're the Holy Sect's currency," Liu Xin explained. "After updating your registry, you'll see them on your disciple token."

Intrigued, Lu Yang immediately followed Liu Xin to update his registry.

The process was simple: it merely involved relocating the life lamp he had lit upon joining—from the Outer Sect zone to the Inner Sect zone.

Then Lu Yang sent a thread of true qi into the token at his waist; instantly, a line of characters appeared:

"Full Disciple, Lu Yang."

"As a full disciple, the Holy Sect grants you fifty Contribution Points free of charge. These may be exchanged for Spirit Stones, cultivation techniques, artifacts, cultivation chambers, and more."

"Once inside the Inner Sect, you must pay Contribution Points to rent a cultivation chamber—thirty per month. Alternatively, you may purchase one; as a newly promoted Inner Sect disciple, you receive a twenty percent down payment discount on any chamber bought within ten years."

—Such details filled over a dozen pages.

After reading carefully, Lu Yang concluded: "The Inner Sect runs on money alone!"

With Contribution Points, you can obtain anything—techniques, pills, treasures. Without them, you can't even afford a chamber.

At the same time, Lu Yang learned what Liu Xin meant by "benefits."

Every associate disciple promoted to full disciple may use their token to select one artifact from the Artifact Refining Palace, one pill from the Pill Refining Palace, one companion spirit beast from the Spirit Beast Taming Palace, and one dual-cultivation furnace from the Joyful Palace—all free of Contribution Points.

"So that's the benefit."

Lu Yang activated his token and opened the list of exchangeable items; immediately, rows of text appeared.

The cheapest techniques, artifacts, pills, spirit beasts, and furnaces each required one hundred Contribution Points.

Meanwhile, the rewards for missions within the Sect were pitifully low—mostly single-digit Contribution Points, with very few reaching double digits.

Clearly, these four free items were worth at least four hundred Contribution Points—a substantial sum for any full disciple.

As he pondered, Lu Yang followed Liu Xin to the Artifact Refining Palace.

The attendant who received them was Chen Hao, an official of the Artifact Refining Palace—also a full disciple, and this posting was his assigned mission.

According to Liu Xin, such fixed posts were the most profitable in the Inner Sect: they yielded abundant Contribution Points, often enough to support a full disciple on a single mission, and were stable—truly a lifetime guarantee. Too bad there were too many disciples and too few such posts; without connections, you couldn't land one.

"Senior Brother Liu? Long time no see."

Entering the Artifact Refining Palace, Lu Yang noticed Chen Hao first sized him up, then turned to Liu Xin with warmth: "Bringing another new disciple?"

"Yes."

Liu Xin grinned, his tone implying something: "Don't you think you should show Lu Junior Brother the finest artifacts in the palace?"

"Of course!"

Chen Hao nodded eagerly, then led them into the inner courtyard of the Artifact Refining Palace—but as they walked, Lu Yang frowned in surprise:

"This… isn't this a disciple's meditation chamber?"

Shouldn't artifacts be kept in storage?

Chen Hao first looked puzzled, then suddenly understood, laughing heartily: "Junior Brother Lu, you don't know—the finest artifacts are right here."

Before he finished speaking, the three stopped before a meditation room.

"This disciple has been here a long time—three years as an associate disciple in the Outer Sect. But he's stubborn, and his cultivation path went astray."

With that, Chen Hao pushed open the door.

Lu Yang saw a Daoist seated on a meditation cushion in the center, eyes tightly shut, muttering softly as if in a dream.

"I've… succeeded. I've succeeded."

Instantly, Chen Hao formed a hand seal; the Daoist's eyes snapped open, his previously vacant face twisting into ecstatic joy:

"Ha! The Dao Master has succeeded!"

Boom!

Before the words faded, his entire body exploded into a spray of blood and flesh, which then reversed and surged back, all merging into the skeleton left behind.

In moments, a living man vanished.

In his place lay a delicate, jade-like "bone sword," its segments orderly, glowing with brilliant artifact aura.

Chen Hao stepped forward, picked up the "Bone Sword," and handed it to Lu Yang, then said with satisfaction, "The magical artifact 'Bone Jade Sword' is considered superior even in the 'Hundred Treasures Book of Cave Truth.' This junior brother is indeed a talent; after cultivating bitterly for so many years, his skill is exquisite. Otherwise, the spiritual light of the artifact would not be so pure."

Lu Yang: "..."

Looking at the Bone Jade Sword in Chen Hao's hand and recalling the experiences of his past life, Lu Yang felt bone-chilling cold, understanding the conduct of the Initial Saint Sect even more deeply.

To sum it up, it comes down to eight characters: The strong devour the weak, and everything is put to its fullest use!

The sect consumes resources to cultivate you registered disciples, so you must create value for the sect. If you cannot create value, the sect will create it for you!

If you break through and advance to a formal disciple, then naturally everyone is happy.

If you cannot break through, the sect cannot possibly feed you for a lifetime for free; naturally, it must recover the resources invested in you from your person, ensuring the sect does not lose money.

Therefore, in the view of the Initial Saint Sect, some disciples in the sect are clouds, some are water; they simply do different things. All are talents; there are no useless ones.

"This truly is... The sect lives up to its name."

Lu Yang closed his eyes, exhaled a deep breath of turbid air, and thinking again that he had the Hundred Lives Book as a safety net, when he opened his eyes again, he had already regained his composure.

"Junior brother has a good temperament; indeed, you are a man of outstanding talent!"

On the other side, seeing that Lu Yang had calmed his emotions so quickly, a flash of surprise first passed through Liu Xin's eyes, followed by an even brighter smile on his face.

Immediately after, Lu Yang followed Liu Xin to the Pill Refining Hall and the Beast Taming Hall in turn, receiving a "Qi-Replenishing Pill" and a "Human-Faced Owl" respectively. The former, once swallowed, can nourish true qi, while the latter is like a carrier pigeon; formal disciples generally use it to transmit messages.

It was not until the last cauldron that Liu Xin encountered difficulty.

"Junior brother, you broke through too quickly."

Liu Xin shook his head and said, "You have only just joined the Outer Sect; one day of Qi Cultivation is too fast. The cauldrons reserved by the Harmony Joy Hall have not yet arrived."

"How about junior brother waits a few days?"

As for what cauldron, Lu Yang naturally did not care; he immediately clasped his hands and said, "I will follow senior brother's arrangements entirely."

Liu Xin immediately laughed heartily, then took out a jade slip and stuffed it into Lu Yang's hands: "This is the secret transmission true art of my Sky-Mending Peak. Take it back and cultivate it well."

Lu Yang took the jade slip and immediately activated his spiritual consciousness to examine it.

The next second, a cultivation method of extreme complexity flooded his mind.

"Book of the Innate Dao"

(End of this chapter)