When Lu Yang walked out of the meditation chamber, he discovered that someone was already waiting outside.
His heart immediately tightened.
The visitor wore a black Daoist robe, his expression cold and sinister—it was precisely the black-robed Daoist who had previously assigned Lu Yang to the Hehuan Hall.
"Greetings, Senior Brother."
Lu Yang hurriedly bowed.
"You're quite impressive. A real piece of talent."
The black-robed Daoist said with a smiling expression:
"I heard that Yu Suzhen dragged a very capable young man into her room, and that her breakthrough to Qi Refining was just around the corner…"
"But I didn't expect that vicious woman to actually fail."
At this point, the black-robed Daoist looked at Lu Yang with a strange expression.
Even someone as experienced as him couldn't help but feel a trace of admiration.
If this child does not die, he will surely become a pillar of the Sacred Sect in the future!
"Come with me."
The black-robed Daoist was named Liu Xin, a formal disciple of Patch-Heaven Peak, one of the Inner Sect's Four Peaks.
He was responsible for receiving newly promoted registered disciples and explaining sect matters to them.
"Outer Sect Four Halls, Inner Sect Four Peaks—each corresponds to the other."
Along the way, Liu Xin introduced things with interest:
"Other than the Sacred Fire Cliff where the Sect Leader resides, the Sacred Sect mainly revolves around the Inner Sect's Four Peaks."
"You came from the Hehuan Hall, so naturally you'll enter Patch-Heaven Peak. I'll first take you to amend the sect registry."
With someone guiding him, Lu Yang was more than happy.
"Thank you, Senior Brother Liu."
"It's merely my duty."
Liu Xin said calmly:
"After the registry is updated, I'll take you to the other three halls.The benefits for formal disciples are quite generous—sect welfare, you could say."
"According to the rules, each formal disciple can only receive them once."
At this point, Liu Xin's expression turned somewhat wistful.
"After you enter the Inner Sect, if you want items of the same level again, you'll need to complete sect missions and earn contribution points to exchange for them."
Lu Yang frowned.
"Contribution points?"
"The currency issued by the Sacred Sect," Liu Xin explained.
"After your registry is updated, you should be able to see it through your disciple token."
Curious, Lu Yang followed Liu Xin to update the registry.
The process was extremely simple.
It was merely moving the life lamp he had lit upon entry into the sect—from the Outer Sect area into the Inner Sect area.
After that, Lu Yang sent a strand of true qi into the token at his waist.
Immediately, a line of text appeared:
"Formal Disciple: Lu Yang."
"As a formal disciple, the Sacred Sect grants you 50 contribution points free of charge."
"Contribution points can be used to exchange for spirit stones, cultivation techniques, magical artifacts, cultivation caves, and more."
"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'll enjoy a 20% discount on the down payment if you purchase one within ten years."
—And so on.
The explanations alone spanned over ten pages.
After reading everything carefully, Lu Yang reached a conclusion:
"This Inner Sect… only cares about money."
With contribution points, one could go anywhere—techniques, pills, artifacts, everything was available.
Without contribution points, one couldn't move an inch.
You couldn't even afford to live in a cave dwelling.
At the same time, Lu Yang also understood what Liu Xin meant by "welfare."
Every registered disciple who advanced to formal disciple status could, for free, use their disciple token to select:
One magical artifact from the Artifact Refining Hall
One pill from the Alchemy Hall
One companion spirit beast from the Beast Taming Hall
One Dao companion from the Hehuan Hall
No contribution points required.
"By that logic… it really is welfare."
Lu Yang's thoughts stirred.
Using his disciple token, he opened the list of exchangeable items.
Rows of information immediately appeared.
Techniques, artifacts, pills, spirit beasts, Dao companions…
Even the cheapest ones cost 100 contribution points.
Meanwhile, sect missions paid pitifully little—mostly single-digit contribution points, rarely reaching double digits.
From this, it was clear that the free four-item package given upon promotion was worth at least 400 contribution points.
Even for a formal disciple, that was a massive sum.
As he pondered, Lu Yang followed Liu Xin to the Artifact Refining Hall.
The person in charge was named Chen Hao, an Artifact Hall steward—also said to be a formal disciple.
This steward position itself was his assigned sect mission.
According to Liu Xin, fixed-post missions like this were the most profitable in the Inner Sect.
Not only did they yield a large number of contribution points—often enough to support an entire formal disciple—but they were also stable.
A true iron rice bowl.
Unfortunately, there were too many people competing for too few positions.Without connections, it was impossible to get one.
"Senior Brother Liu? Long time no see!"
Upon entering the Artifact Refining Hall, Lu Yang noticed that Chen Hao first glanced at him, then turned to Liu Xin and greeted him warmly.
"Bringing another new disciple?"
"Yes."
Liu Xin grinned meaningfully.
"Since you know that, why don't you quickly bring out the finest artifact in the Artifact Refining Hall for Junior Brother Lu to examine?"
"Got it!"
Chen Hao nodded enthusiastically and led them into the inner courtyard of the hall.
However, as they walked, Lu Yang frowned in surprise.
"This place… isn't this a disciple's cultivation chamber?"
Shouldn't artifacts be stored in a warehouse or something similar?
Hearing this, Chen Hao first looked confused, then suddenly understood and burst out laughing.
"Junior Brother Lu doesn't know—top-tier artifacts are all here."
Before his words even finished, the three of them stopped in front of a cultivation room.
"The junior brother inside has quite senior qualifications," Chen Hao said.
"He was a registered disciple in the Outer Sect for three years.Unfortunately, he was a bit stubborn and went astray in his cultivation path…"
With that, Chen Hao directly pushed open the door.
Lu Yang then saw a Daoist sitting cross-legged on a cushion in the center of the room.
His eyes were tightly shut, and he was muttering to himself, as if trapped in a dream.
"I've done it… I'm about to succeed…"
Then Chen Hao formed a hand seal.
The Daoist suddenly opened his eyes, and ecstasy instantly appeared on his previously dull face.
"Hahaha! I've succeeded!"
Boom!
Before the words even finished, his entire body exploded violently.
Blood and flesh scattered everywhere, then reversed direction and flowed back, completely merging into the skeleton left behind.
In just a short while, a living person vanished entirely.
In his place, a crystal-clear, jade-like bone sword, jointed and orderly, gently fell onto the cushion—radiating dazzling artifact light.
Chen Hao stepped forward, picked up the bone sword, and handed it to Lu Yang.
Satisfied, he said:
"Artifact: Bone Jade Sword.Even in the Dongzhen Hundred Treasures Record, it's considered top-tier.
"That junior brother truly was a piece of talent.After years of bitter cultivation, his foundation was solid—otherwise the artifact's spiritual radiance wouldn't be this pure."
Lu Yang fell silent.
Looking at the Bone Jade Sword in Chen Hao's hand, and recalling his previous life's experience, Lu Yang felt a bone-chilling cold.
His understanding of the Primordial Sacred Sect's style deepened even further.
In summary—eight words:
The weak are devoured by the strong. Everything is used to its fullest.
The sect invests resources to nurture registered disciples.
Then those disciples must create value for the sect.
If they can't create value—the sect helps them create it.
If you break through and become a formal disciple, everyone is happy.
But if you fail?
The sect will never raise you for nothing.
It will naturally reclaim the resources invested in you—ensuring the sect never takes a loss.
Thus, in the eyes of the Primordial Sacred Sect,
Some disciples are clouds, some are water.
They simply perform different roles.
All are talent.
There is no such thing as waste.
"So this really is… a sect worthy of its name."
Lu Yang closed his eyes and exhaled deeply.
Remembering that he still had the Book of a Hundred Lives as his safety net, he reopened his eyes—his composure fully restored.
"Excellent temperament, Junior Brother. Truly outstanding!"
Seeing how quickly Lu Yang regained calm, surprise flashed through Liu Xin's eyes.
Then his smile grew even brighter.
After that, Lu Yang followed Liu Xin to the Alchemy Hall and the Beast Taming Hall, respectively receiving:
One Qi-Replenishing Pill, which nourishes true qi after consumption
One Human-Faced Owl, used by formal disciples much like carrier pigeons to transmit messages
Finally, when it came to the Dao companion, Liu Xin hesitated.
"Junior Brother, you advanced too fast."
Liu Xin shook his head.
"You joined the Outer Sect and reached Qi Refining in a single day.That's too fast—the Dao companions reserved by the Hehuan Hall aren't ready yet."
"Why don't you wait a few days?"
Lu Yang naturally didn't care about Dao companions.
He immediately cupped his hands.
"I'll follow Senior Brother's arrangements."
Liu Xin burst out laughing.
Then he took out a jade slip and stuffed it into Lu Yang's hands.
"This is the secret transmission of Patch-Heaven Peak.Take it back and cultivate properly."
Lu Yang accepted the jade slip and immediately sent his spiritual sense into it.
In the next instant, an extremely complex cultivation technique flooded into his mind.
"The Innate Dao Scripture"