Waste Pill Room

"Here, this is your token. Hold on to it."

A low-level cultivator of around forty tossed a waist badge into Lin Xuan's hand. His expression was cold as he gave the somewhat dull-looking youth a sidelong glance. Waste Pill Room steward—this was the most worthless post, without a single scrap of profit to be had. This boy had surely been duped by Steward Feng.

Lin Xuan pretended not to notice the contempt in the man's eyes. He was carrying a great secret now, so naturally he had to keep a low profile. Playing the fool was best.

"Thank you, Senior Brother."

Lin Xuan examined the waist badge in his hand. It was half the size of a palm, neither metal nor wood. The words "Waste Pill Room" were engraved on its front, while "Steward" was carved on the back.

This was the token that represented his identity. With it, he could break through the Restrictions on the first level of Danxia Mountain, travel without hindrance, and freely enter and leave the Waste Pill Room.

As an important site of the sect, Danxia Mountain was divided into three levels.

The second level contained dozens of Alchemy Chambers connected to Earth Vein Fire. The third level stored all manner of finished pills and medicinal ingredients. Both were extremely important places, layered with Restrictions and countless checkpoints, open and hidden alike, making them exceedingly difficult to enter.

The first level contained the Waste Pill Room, reception rooms, and places for handling various miscellaneous affairs. Its Restrictions were fewer. With this waist badge, Lin Xuan, as a low-level steward on the outskirts of Danxia Mountain, could travel unhindered throughout the first level.

Holding the waist badge, Lin Xuan felt delighted, yet his face still wore a foolish expression as he bid the low-level cultivator farewell.

Once he left the room and reached a deserted place, Lin Xuan gripped the waist badge. The air of a newcomer who knew nothing vanished from him without a trace. He suddenly seemed shrewd and mature, and a faintly mocking smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

The position of Waste Pill Room steward was finally his. He had achieved his goal by paying only the price of a Spirit Stone fragment, securing a supply of pills for the future without arousing anyone's suspicions. He had killed two birds with one stone.

After falling silent for a while, Lin Xuan took a Jade Slip from his robes and poured his divine sense into it. It did not contain a cultivation technique, but a map of Danxia Mountain's first level, along with certain precautions—where he could go and which places were strictly forbidden.

After briefly looking through it, Lin Xuan found the location of the Waste Pill storage room and strode toward it.

"To other cultivators, these Waste Pills really are nothing but trash. There were more or fewer Restrictions along the roads to other places, yet this Waste Pill storage room had nothing at all." Lin Xuan muttered to himself as he walked. But the more it was like this, the more it benefited him. The less importance Waste Pills received, the easier it would be for him to act.

After walking for roughly a quarter of an hour, Lin Xuan finally arrived at the Waste Pill storage room. It was a small courtyard compound. The largest room was the warehouse, while the others were quarters for the steward and his servant boys.

It was rather crude, though fairly spacious. Lin Xuan looked it over, nodded in satisfaction, then stepped directly into the courtyard.

Several servant boys of fifteen or sixteen were basking in the Sun in utter boredom. Apparently, no one had come here in a long time, so they were startled at the sight of Lin Xuan. But once they saw clearly that he wore the robes marking him as a sect cultivator, they immediately showed respectful expressions, ran over, and bowed. One boy who looked older, apparently their leader, respectfully asked, "Immortal Master, may I ask what brings you here?"

"What is your name?"

"This one is called Zhao Ming." Though Lin Xuan had answered a question with another question, the boy showed no dissatisfaction. Instead, he replied with utmost deference.

The other servant boys did not even dare breathe loudly. This gave Lin Xuan a full taste of the superiority of standing above others. In the eyes of ordinary people, cultivators stood high above them. As one in a position of power, the feeling was quite pleasant.

"You are their leader?"

"Yes!" Zhao Ming answered truthfully. "This one is the acting steward here."

"Acting steward?" Lin Xuan was taken aback. Though it was a miscellaneous post, stewards in the sect had always been cultivators. Yet he, an outer sect disciple...

As if he had seen Lin Xuan's confusion, Zhao Ming gave a bitter smile. "To be honest with you, Immortal Master, the position of Waste Pill Room steward has been vacant for a long time. Since those above have never assigned a new Immortal Master here, this one has been filling in temporarily."

"I see." Lin Xuan nodded. To other cultivators, being steward of the Waste Pill Room brought no profit, so none of them were willing to come.

Once he understood this, Lin Xuan said grandly, "I am the new steward assigned by the sect. From today onward, the Waste Pill Room is under my management. Here is the token waist badge. Take a look."

Zhao Ming was not stupid and had evidently guessed as much already, so there was no surprise on his face. He accepted the waist badge and, after confirming it was genuine, led the other servant boys in a bow. "This disciple greets Lord Steward."

"Enough." Lin Xuan waved a hand. "Go about your own business."

He dismissed the other servant boys, leaving only Zhao Ming behind. "Show me around."

This would be his territory from now on, so Lin Xuan naturally needed to understand the situation first. Zhao Ming nodded and respectfully led the way.

Creak!

A heavy door slowly opened, and countless motes of dust fell from overhead. Lin Xuan looked somewhat stunned at the disorderly heaps of bottles and jars before him. "Th-this is the warehouse where the Waste Pills are stored?"

"Yes, Immortal Master."

"Why does it look as though no one has cleaned it in ages? Nothing has been sorted out either. It is all piled up in such a mess. Where are the account ledgers? How many Waste Pills are there here?"

"Th-this..." Zhao Ming was tongue-tied. After a while, he cautiously said, "Immortal Master, this one does not know exactly how many Waste Pills there are. No account ledgers have been made in a very long time."

"How could that be? Aren't you the steward here? How do you know nothing?"

"Immortal Master, it is like this..." Zhao Ming secretly glanced at Lin Xuan's expression and carefully chose his words. "As you know, Waste Pills contain too many impurities and are utterly useless to cultivators. Taking them even harms the body. Though they have not been discarded, they are truly like chicken ribs—tasteless to eat, yet a pity to throw away. They are piled here, so naturally the management is extremely chaotic. Who would still make accounts? It is not that this one neglected his duties while acting as steward; it has always been this way. Floating Cloud Valley has a history of over a thousand years, and this has been the rule of every Waste Pill Room throughout the generations. These Waste Pills are trash anyway. No one would ever come to steal them, so what is the point of counting them?"