Chapter 3: The Style of the Demonic Sect

When Lu Yang stepped out of the quiet chamber, he discovered someone had already been waiting outside the door.

Lu Yang's heart immediately leaped in alarm; the visitor wore a black Daoist robe and bore a sinister expression—it was none other than the black-robed Daoist Priest who had previously assigned him to the Joyous Union Hall!

"Greetings, Senior Brother," Lu Yang hurriedly bowed.

"You are quite impressive; you are a talent."

The black-robed Daoist Priest said with a smile: "I originally heard that Yu Suzhen had dragged a very capable young man into her room, and that his breakthrough to Qi Refining was imminent."

"But I never expected that poisonous woman to fail."

Speaking thus, the black-robed Daoist Priest looked at Lu Yang with an expression full of peculiarity.

Three days; a full three days!

Yu Suzhen's cries could even be heard outside the quiet chamber; even though the black-robed Daoist Priest considered himself well-traveled and knowledgeable, he could not help but feel a measure of admiration at this moment.

If this youth does not die, he will surely become a pillar of the Holy Sect in the future!

"Follow me."

The black-robed Daoist Priest was named Liu Xin, a formal disciple of Buhua Peak, one of the four inner sect peaks, responsible for guiding promoted outer disciples and explaining sect matters.

"The four outer halls and the four inner peaks correspond to each other."

Along the way, Liu Xin introduced to Lu Yang with great interest: "Apart from the Holy Fire Cliff where the Sect Master resides, our Holy Sect revolves primarily around the four inner peaks."

"Since you came from the Joyous Union Hall, you naturally belong to my Buhua Peak; I will first take you to update the registry."

With someone to guide him, Lu Yang was naturally delighted: "Thank you, Senior Brother Liu."

"It is merely my duty."

Liu Xin said indifferently: "After updating the registry, I will take you to the other three halls; the benefits for formal disciples are considerable, considered a welfare distribution from the Holy Sect."

"According to the rules, each formal disciple can only claim these once." Speaking thus, Liu Xin's expression turned somewhat wistful: "Once you enter the inner sect, if you wish to obtain items of the same tier, you must complete tasks issued by the Holy Sect to earn contribution points for exchange."

Lu Yang frowned: "Contribution points?"

"They are the currency issued by the Holy Sect," Liu Xin explained: "After you update your registry, Junior Brother, you should be able to view them through your disciple token."

Curiosity arising in his heart, Lu Yang immediately followed Liu Xin to update the registry.

The process was extremely simple; it merely involved moving the life lamp he had ignited upon entering the sect from the outer sect area to the inner sect area.

Subsequently, Lu Yang infused a strand of true qi into the token at his waist, and a line of text immediately appeared upon it:

"Formal Disciple, Lu Yang."

"As a formal disciple, the Holy Sect freely grants you 50 contribution points; contribution points can be used to exchange for spirit stones, cultivation methods, magic treasures, cultivation caves, and so on."

"After entering the inner sect, you must pay contribution points to rent a cultivation cave; the rent is 30 contribution points per month. Of course, you may also choose to purchase a cultivation cave; as a newly promoted inner sect disciple, you may enjoy a 20% down payment discount if you purchase a cultivation cave within ten years."

—Introductions such as these filled over ten pages.

After reading carefully, Lu Yang drew a conclusion: "This inner sect only cares about money!"

With contribution points, one could roam the world freely, with cultivation methods, elixirs, and magic treasures available in abundance; without contribution points, one could not move a single step, unable even to afford a cave dwelling.

At the same time, Lu Yang also understood what Liu Xin had meant by "welfare."

Every outer disciple, upon promotion to formal disciple, could use their disciple token to select one magic treasure from the Treasure Refining Hall, one elixir from the Elixir Refining Hall, one companion spirit beast from the Beast Taming Hall, and one dual-cultivation cauldron from the Joyous Union Hall, all without paying any contribution points.

"Looking at it this way, it truly is a welfare benefit."

With a thought, Lu Yang used the disciple token to open the list of items exchangeable for contribution points, and rows of corresponding text immediately appeared.

Cultivation methods, magic treasures, elixirs, spirit beasts, and cauldrons all required at least 100 contribution points, even for the cheapest ones.

In contrast, the rewards for tasks within the Holy Sect were pitifully small, all consisting of single-digit contribution points, with very few reaching double digits.

From this, it was evident that the free four-piece set received after promoting to formal disciple was worth at least 400 contribution points, constituting a huge sum for a formal disciple.

While pondering this, Lu Yang had already followed Liu Xin to the Treasure Refining Hall.

The person responsible for receiving them was named Chen Hao, an administrator of the Treasure Refining Hall; rumor had it he was also a formal disciple, and serving as the hall's administrator was his assigned task.

According to Liu Xin, such fixed-post tasks were the most profitable in the inner sect; not only did they yield many contribution points—often enough from a single task to support a formal disciple—but they were also stable, akin to an iron rice bowl. Unfortunately, there were too many monks and too little gruel; without connections, one could never obtain such a task.

"Senior Brother Liu? It has been a long time."

Upon entering the Treasure Refining Hall, Lu Yang noticed Chen Hao first glanced at him, then turned to Liu Xin and said warmly: "Bringing new disciples again?"

"Indeed."

Liu Xin grinned, his words carrying a hidden meaning: "Since you know, why not quickly bring out the finest magic treasures in the Treasure Refining Hall for Junior Brother Lu to inspect?"

"Got it!"

Chen Hao nodded eagerly, then led the group into the inner courtyard of the Treasure Refining Hall; however, as they walked, Lu Yang surprisingly furrowed his brow:

"This place... isn't this a disciple's cultivation quiet chamber?"

Shouldn't retrieving magic treasures happen in a warehouse or similar location?

Hearing this, Chen Hao first looked confused, then suddenly realized, laughing loudly: "Junior Brother Lu does not know; the finest magic treasures are all located here."

Before his voice had faded, the three stopped before a cultivation room.

"The junior brother in this room has seniority; he served as an outer disciple for three years, but unfortunately, he was a bit stubborn and took a wrong path in his cultivation method."

Having finished speaking, Chen Hao directly pushed open the door.

Lu Yang then saw in the center of the room, upon a meditation cushion, a Daoist Priest with eyes tightly closed, muttering to himself, seemingly trapped in a delirious dream.

"Success... I am about to succeed..."

Immediately after, Chen Hao formed a hand seal, and the Daoist Priest in the room suddenly opened his eyes, his previously dull face instantly flooding with ecstatic joy:

"Haha! This Daoist has succeeded!"

Boom!

Before his voice could fade, his entire body exploded with a crash, flesh and blood scattering everywhere, only to curl back and merge entirely into the skeleton remaining in place.

In moments, a living person vanished.

In his place, a "bone sword," crystal clear like jade and segmented in orderly fashion, gently landed upon the meditation cushion, radiating dazzling magic treasure light.

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

Lu Yang: "."

Looking at the Bone Jade Sword in Chen Hao's hand and recalling his experiences from his previous life, Lu Yang felt a bone-chilling coldness, and his understanding of the Primordial Saint Sect's style deepened.

To summarize, it boiled down to eight words: the weak are meat for the strong, and everything must be used to its fullest!

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

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

If you cannot break through, the sect cannot support you for free forever; naturally, it must recover the resources spent on you to ensure the sect does not suffer a loss.

Therefore, in the eyes of the Primordial Saint Sect, some disciples in the sect are clouds, and some are water; they simply do different things. All are talents; there is no trash.

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

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

"Junior brother has such a good disposition; indeed, he is a remarkable talent!"

On the other side, seeing Lu Yang calm 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 Alchemy Hall and the Beast Taming Hall in turn, receiving one "Qi-Replenishing Pill" and one "Human-Faced Owl" respectively. The former, when swallowed, can nourish true qi, while the latter acts like a homing pigeon; formal disciples generally use it to transmit messages.

It was not until the last item, the cauldron furnace, that Liu Xin encountered a difficulty.

"Junior brother, you broke through too quickly."

Liu Xin shook his head and said, "You have only just joined the Outer Sect, achieving Qi Refining in a single day; the speed is too fast. The cauldron furnaces reserved by the Union of Joy Hall have not yet arrived."

"Why does junior brother not wait a few days?"

As for what cauldron furnace, Lu Yang naturally did not care; he immediately cupped his fists and said, "I leave it entirely to senior brother's arrangement."

Liu Xin burst into laughter at once, then took out a jade slip and stuffed it into Lu Yang's hand: "This is the secret true technique of Heaven Mending Peak; take it back and cultivate it well."

Lu Yang took the jade slip and immediately circulated his spiritual sense to examine it.

The next second, an extremely complex cultivation method was reflected in his mind.

"Primordial Dao Scripture"

(End of Chapter)