When Lü Yang walked out of the quiet room, he was startled to see someone already waiting outside.
His heart jumped in shock as he saw a man dressed in a black Daoist robe, with a dark and gloomy expression. It was the same black-robed man who had assigned him to the Hehuan Hall earlier!
"Greetings, Senior Brother," Lü Yang quickly bowed.
"You're pretty good, a talent," the black-robed man said with a smile. "I heard that Yu Su Zhen brought in a capable young man and was about to break through to the Qi Refining stage..."
"Then I didn't expect that the poisonous woman would mess it up."
At this point, the black-robed man looked at Lü Yang with a strange expression.
Three days... Three full days!
Even though the black-robed man had seen many things, hearing Yu Su Zhen's cries from outside the quiet room still left him somewhat impressed.
This kid won't die—he's bound to be a pillar of the sect in the future!
"Come with me."
The black-robed man introduced himself as Liu Xin, a formal disciple from the inner sect's Bu Tian Peak. He was responsible for guiding newly promoted named disciples and handling sect affairs.
"Each of the outer sect's four halls corresponds to one of the inner sect's four peaks," Liu Xin explained with interest as they walked. "Apart from the Sheng Huo Cliff, where the Sect Leader resides, the inner sect's four peaks are the heart of the sect."
"You came from the Hehuan Hall, so naturally, you'll be assigned to Bu Tian Peak. I'll take you to change your registration."
With someone guiding him, Lü Yang was eager to follow. "Thank you, Senior Brother Liu."
"It's nothing," Liu Xin replied indifferently. "Once we change your registration, I'll take you around the other three halls. There are plenty of benefits as a formal disciple; it's essentially a welfare package from the sect."
"According to the rules, every formal disciple can only receive these benefits once." Liu Xin's expression turned a little wistful. "Once you enter the inner sect, if you want to get items of the same level, you'll need to complete sect tasks and earn contribution points to exchange for them."
Lü Yang furrowed his brow. "Contribution points?"
"They're the currency distributed by the sect," Liu Xin explained. "After you change your registration, you should be able to see them through your disciple token."
Lü Yang was curious and followed Liu Xin to change his registration.
The process was simple; it was essentially moving the lamp of life he had lit when he first joined the sect from the outer sect area to the inner sect area.
Afterward, Lü Yang infused a strand of true energy into the token at his waist. Immediately, the following words appeared on the token:
"Formal Disciple: Lü Yang."
"As a formal disciple, the sect grants you 50 contribution points for free. These points can be used to exchange for spirit stones, cultivation methods, magical artifacts, cultivation caves, and more."
"Once you enter the inner sect, you'll need to pay contribution points to rent a cultivation cave, which costs 30 contribution points per month. Of course, you can also choose to buy a cultivation cave. As a new inner sect disciple, you'll get an 80% discount on the down payment for the next ten years."
—There were more than ten pages of information like this.
After reading it thoroughly, Lü Yang concluded, "The inner sect is all about money!"
Having contribution points meant you could get anything—cultivation methods, elixirs, magical tools—while without them, even a cultivation cave would be out of reach.
Meanwhile, Lü Yang also learned about the "benefits" Liu Xin had mentioned.
Every named disciple, upon becoming a formal disciple, could choose one magical artifact from the Refining Artifact Hall, one pill from the Alchemy Hall, one beast companion from the Beast Mastery Hall, and one Dual Cultivation Furnace from the Hehuan Hall—without paying any contribution points.
"That does sound like a real benefit," Lü Yang thought as he opened the disciple token's list of exchangeable items. Immediately, rows of options appeared before him:
Cultivation methods, magical tools, elixirs, spirit beasts, and furnace items... the cheapest of them cost 100 contribution points.
In contrast, the task rewards within the sect were pitifully small—mostly single-digit contribution points, with very few tasks offering double digits.
Clearly, the free four-piece set given to formal disciples was worth at least 400 contribution points. For formal disciples, that was a considerable amount.
Lost in thought, Lü Yang followed Liu Xin to the Refining Artifact Hall.
They were greeted by a man named Chen Hao, who was an elder of the Refining Artifact Hall and, supposedly, also a formal disciple. His job was to manage the hall and carry out his duties.
According to Liu Xin, fixed-position tasks like this one were the most profitable in the inner sect, not only offering a large number of contribution points, but being very stable as well—essentially, a "iron rice bowl." Unfortunately, there were many people vying for such positions, and one needed connections to land a spot.
"Senior Brother Liu! Long time no see," Chen Hao greeted after briefly glancing at Lü Yang. He then turned to Liu Xin with enthusiasm. "Bringing over a new disciple?"
"Yes," Liu Xin smiled and seemed to hint at something. "You know what to do. Take out the best magical artifact from the Refining Artifact Hall for Lü Shidi to see."
"Got it!"
Chen Hao nodded in agreement, then led them into the inner courtyard of the Refining Artifact Hall. As they walked, Lü Yang raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"This... isn't this a cultivation room for disciples?" he asked.
Shouldn't they be going to a storage area or something to pick out a magical artifact?
Chen Hao looked momentarily confused, but then seemed to realize something and laughed. "Lü Shidi, you don't know? The best magical artifacts are kept here."
Before Lü Yang could respond, the three of them stopped in front of a room.
"This disciple here has been a named disciple for three years in the outer sect. Unfortunately, he's a bit stubborn and took the wrong path in cultivation..." Chen Hao said, pushing open the door.
Inside, Lü Yang saw a man sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion in the center of the room, eyes tightly closed, muttering to himself as if in a trance.
"I made it... I'm going to make it..." he mumbled.
Suddenly, Chen Hao made a hand gesture. The man's eyes snapped open, and a wild joy spread across his previously dull face.
"Haha! I did it! I've made it!" he laughed.
Boom!
Before the laughter could even end, his body exploded with a loud bang, scattering blood and flesh in all directions. The pieces then rolled back and merged into the skeleton that had been left behind.
In no time, a living man had disappeared, replaced by a translucent, bone-like sword that gently landed on the cushion, radiating brilliant magical light.
Chen Hao walked up and picked up the "Bone Jade Sword" before handing it to Lü Yang. "This artifact is considered top-tier in the Dongzhen Baobao Book. This disciple was indeed talented—he'd been practicing for so many years, and his cultivation was exceptional. Otherwise, the spiritual light of the artifact wouldn't be so pure."
Lü Yang was speechless.
Looking at the Bone Jade Sword in Chen Hao's hand and recalling his past experiences, Lü Yang felt a cold shiver run through him. He was beginning to understand the way things worked in the Sheng Sect.
It all boiled down to eight words: Survival of the fittest, use everything to its fullest!
The sect spent resources cultivating these named disciples, so they needed to create value for the sect. If they didn't, the sect would make sure to extract the cost from them.
If you broke through and became a formal disciple, that was great. If not, the sect wasn't going to waste resources on you for your whole life. They would make sure to recover the cost.
To the Sheng Sect, disciples were either clouds or water, their roles differing only in name. In the end, everyone was talent—there was no such thing as useless trash.
"This really is... a sect by its name," Lü Yang thought, closing his eyes and exhaling deeply. Then, remembering that he still had the Hundred Lives Book as a safety net, he reopened his eyes and regained his composure.
"Shidi has a good temperament. Truly, a fine talent!"
On the other hand, Liu Xin noticed Lü Yang's swift return to calm, his eyes flashing with surprise before his smile grew even brighter.
Lü Yang then followed Liu Xin to the Alchemy Hall and the Beast Mastery Hall, where he received a "Qi Recovery Pill" and a "Human-Faced Owl"—the former restored his true energy, while the latter acted as a messenger, typically used by formal disciples to send messages to each other.
Finally, at the last stop, Liu Xin was stumped.
"Shidi, you've progressed too quickly," Liu Xin shook his head. "You've only just entered the outer sect, and you've already reached the Qi Refining stage. The Dual Cultivation Furnace we had reserved for you hasn't arrived yet."
"Why don't you wait a few days?" he suggested.
Lü Yang wasn't concerned about the furnace and immediately cupped his hands. "I'll follow Senior Brother's arrangements."
Liu Xin burst out laughing and handed Lü Yang a jade slip. "Here's the secret technique of our Bu Tian Peak