Receiving the Grain Abstinence Pill

Xu Chunniang made up her mind, pretending not to see the disdain on Steward Zhang's face.

Ever since that day she was inexplicably scolded by that young girl, she knew that although the world of immortals was very different from before, some things remained the same.

For example, they all detested her because of her ugly appearance!

But she didn't care at all.

When she was little, all the children in the village called her Ugly Girl and threw stones at her. But after she dealt with them with a reckless attitude, they all became incredibly obedient, not even daring to speak loudly in front of her. At most, they would curse her behind her back.

So what if she had a birthmark on her face and was ugly? The leading senior brother before had said that in the Cultivation World, strength spoke louder than anything else – whoever had the bigger fist was the boss!

She would definitely cultivate with all her might in the future and teach these people who looked down on her a lesson, letting them know how detestable it was to judge others by their appearance.

A hint of impatience flashed across Zhang Donglai's face. "I'm talking to you, are you deaf or mute? Hurry up and pay the Spirit Stones."

"I'm not paying."

Xu Chunniang gritted her teeth and made a bold decision.

Everyone else's dormitories had already been arranged, and she was the last one, so there weren't many good options left.

"What? You're not paying?"

Zhang Donglai narrowed his eyes. "Have you thought it through?"

He had already pocketed a large sum of Spirit Stones, so he didn't necessarily need these last six.

But if she dared to challenge his authority, he would let this ugly girl know that this was not just about a few Spirit Stones.

Having made her decision, Xu Chunniang felt a sense of calm. "That's right. I won't pay the Spirit Stones. Please, Steward senior brother, assign me a dormitory."

Once the Spirit Stones were in her possession, it was impossible to take them out again!

"Truly unappreciative."

A cold glint flashed in Steward Zhang's eyes. He opened a map and pointed to the most remote location on it.

"Since that's the case, then you can go to this dormitory near the back mountain. I'll kindly remind you, although the back mountain is said to be safe, it's possible there are demonic beasts lurking around. If you get eaten by a demonic beast, hehe!"

Xu Chunniang's face turned a little pale, but she didn't say anything in the end. She took the key and clenched it tightly.

The others who saw this felt a lot more at ease, thinking their Spirit Stones had not been spent in vain.

They had clearly seen that the location Steward Zhang pointed to was not only close to the back mountain but also on another peak. There was only one independent dormitory in that area, which was definitely the most remote and dangerous. It seemed inconvenient just thinking about it.

The attendant disciple on the Flying Ship had mentioned that new disciples had courses to attend right after entering the sect. Living so far away, the round trip would likely take up a significant amount of time.

If this continued, their studies would definitely fall behind.

The disciples who paid first felt even more fortunate. Because they paid first, they were assigned the best locations, which were very convenient for going to the Lecture Hall, Dining Hall, or Merit Pavilion, and so on.

After receiving the key, Xu Chunniang didn't look at the gloating expressions of the others and strode out of the main hall.

For her, a longer journey was nothing. Well... at most, she would just walk a bit longer.

However, she had offended Steward Zhang right after arriving...

Xu Chunniang shook her head, suppressing the unease in her heart. Anyway, he already had a bad impression of her, and even if she had paid the Spirit Stones, her situation wouldn't have improved much. It was more worthwhile to keep her Spirit Stones.

Xu Chunniang put these matters aside, took out a map from her Storage Bag, and glanced at the dormitory's location. It was indeed remote!

If it were any further out, it would probably be outside the Carefree Sect's boundaries.

She hesitated for a moment and decided to go to the Dining Hall first, as she was a bit hungry. She wanted to eat something before heading to the Lecture Hall.

On the way to the Dining Hall, Xu Chunniang couldn't contain her excitement. From today onwards, she was officially an Outer Sect Disciple of the Carefree Sect!

For the first three years as a new disciple, places like the Dining Hall and Lecture Hall were open to new disciples for free. After three years, Contribution Points would be charged.

Her biscuits and water had been finished days ago. The attendant senior brother had handed out a dark-looking pill, which he called Grain Abstinence Pills. Eating just one a day would prevent thirst and hunger.

At the time, she was very skeptical. How could such a small pill satisfy her hunger?

To her surprise, when she was starving and ate one, she really didn't feel hungry at all.

For the past few days on the Flying Ship, everyone had been eating Grain Abstinence Pills. Although eating the Grain Abstinence Pills made her feel not hungry, Xu Chunniang always felt an emptiness in her stomach and was a little unaccustomed to it.

She wondered what good food was available in the Dining Hall. Surely it wouldn't still be those dark-looking Grain Abstinence Pills, right?

There were usually very few people in the Dining Hall, but occasionally people passed by, all wearing the same uniform Green Robe, looking like they were in a hurry.

Xu Chunniang patted her head and, belatedly, took out the uniform Green Robe distributed by the sect from her Storage Bag, preparing to change into it.

Although this set of clothes looked oversized at first glance, she was now an Outer Sect Disciple of the Carefree Sect, and it was best to wear the uniform. Otherwise, if someone mistook her for not being a member of the sect and kicked her out, she would have nowhere to cry.

A miraculous thing happened. As soon as she put on the green robe, the clothes gradually shrank, finally fitting her perfectly, as if tailored for her.

Xu Chunniang was astonished. She hadn't expected such a small piece of clothing to be able to change size automatically. It seemed that in the world of cultivation, there were indeed all sorts of wonders.

Immortals who could fly by stepping on swords, ships that could fly without wings, pills that could prevent hunger and thirst by eating just one, small Storage Bags that could hold many items, and clothes that could automatically change size...

Xu Chunniang instantly fell in love with this magical world. She took a deep breath, suppressed her surging excitement, and walked into the Dining Hall.

The Dining Hall was not large, with dozens of tables set up, but no one was dining there. A plump old man sat at the counter.

Xu Chunniang glanced around and saw nothing edible, which was quite different from what she had imagined the Dining Hall to be. She had thought the Dining Hall would be like the restaurants in town.

The plump old man glanced at the newcomer. Seeing a new face, he asked, "New here?"

He'd seen plenty of people in this Dining Hall, so he'd dismissed the ugly birthmark on the newcomer's face as ordinary.

Xu Chunniang nodded. "I'm here to collect my food. Is this the place?"

The fat old man lifted his eyelids slightly. "New disciples can collect Grain Abstinence Pills for free for three years. You can collect them once a month, one bottle per collection, with thirty pills in each bottle. After three years, you'll have to purchase these Grain Abstinence Pills with Spirit Stones. One Spirit Stone can buy two bottles."

Xu Chunniang secretly clicked her tongue. It seemed these Grain Abstinence Pills weren't cheap either. Half a Spirit Stone per bottle meant six Spirit Stones a year!

Fortunately, new disciples got them for free for the first three years. Otherwise, half of the twelve Spirit Stones the sect provided would be spent just on food.

The fat old man tapped the table. "Give me your Disciple Token."

Xu Chunniang's heart fluttered. She quickly placed her Storage Bag on her forehead and took out the black token from within, handing it over. "Is this it?"

The fat old man took the token and fiddled with it for a moment. He soon returned the token, and at the same time, handed over a white jade bottle. "This is a month's supply."

Xu Chunniang took the token and bottle, curiously examining the token. The front of the token had two strange Runes, and the back had three slightly smaller Runes.

She belatedly remembered something and quickly checked her Storage Bag. Her sharp eyes spotted the same three Runes on the bottom right of the Storage Bag. Flipping the Storage Bag over, she saw two Runes on the other side that were identical to the ones on the front of the token.

Seeing her examining the token and Storage Bag, the fat old man suddenly realized. "You can't read?"

These strange Runes were characters? No wonder she didn't recognize them. Xu Chunniang shook her head. "I can't read."

Let alone an eight-year-old Ugly Girl like her, even in the entire Xu Family Village, only the Village Chief could read.

The fat old man wasn't bothered; many people couldn't read.

"The Lecture Hall has a place specifically for teaching literacy. Those Inner Sect Uncle-Masters don't teach this. If you can't read, you must learn the characters first before you can attend the Uncle-Masters' lectures. Otherwise, listening would be in vain, as you wouldn't understand anything."

Xu Chunniang's heart tightened. It seemed she had to learn to read first. Otherwise, she wouldn't even understand the lectures, let alone cultivate.