Receiving Grain Abstinence Pills

Xu Chunniang made up her mind and pretended not to see the disgust on Steward Zhang's face.

Ever since that little girl had inexplicably cursed her out that day, she had understood that although the immortals' world was vastly different from before, some things had not changed at all.

For instance, they all loathed her because of her ugly appearance!

But she did not care in the slightest.

When she was little, all the children in the village called her Ugly Girl and threw stones at her. But after she had taught every last one of them a lesson with her reckless, life-or-death ferocity, they had all become obedient beyond measure. None of them even dared speak loudly in front of her, at most cursing her a few times behind her back.

So what if she had a birthmark on her face and looked ugly? That leading senior brother had said it before: in the Cultivation World, strength did the talking. Whoever had the bigger fist was the boss!

She would cultivate desperately in the future and properly teach those people who looked down on her a lesson, so they would know how hateful it was to judge people by their appearance.

Impatience flashed across Zhang Donglai's face. "I'm talking to you. Are you deaf or mute? Hand over the spirit stones, now."

"I won't."

Xu Chunniang gritted her teeth and made a bold decision.

Everyone else's dormitories had already been assigned. She was the last one, and there had not been any good locations left for her to choose from anyway.

"What? You won't pay?"

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

He had already received a great many spirit stones, so it was not as though he absolutely needed these last six.

But since she dared challenge his authority, he would let this Ugly Girl know that this was not merely a matter of a few spirit stones.

Having made her decision, Xu Chunniang instead felt settled. "That's right. I won't hand over any spirit stones. Please assign me a dormitory, Senior Brother Steward."

Once spirit stones reached her hands, there was no chance she would take them back out!

"What a fool who does not know what is good for her."

A chill flashed through Steward Zhang's eyes. He opened the map and pointed to the most remote spot on it.

"Since that is the case, you can go to this dormitory near the back mountain. Let me kindly remind you: although the back mountain is said to be safe, who knows whether demon beasts might appear there? If one eats you, heh heh!"

Xu Chunniang's face turned somewhat pale, but in the end, she said nothing. She took the key and gripped it tightly.

Seeing this, the others felt considerably comforted, believing that their spirit stones had finally not been spent in vain.

They had seen clearly just now that the location Steward Zhang pointed out was not only near the back mountain, but on another mountain peak altogether. There was only that one isolated dormitory in the entire area. It was absolutely the most remote and dangerous place, inconvenient just to think about.

The Attendant Disciple on the Flying Ship had said that new disciples had classes to attend upon entering the sect. With her residence so far away, going back and forth would likely waste quite a few hours.

Over time, she would surely fall behind in her lessons.

Those disciples who had paid first felt even more fortunate. They had been the first to hand over their money, so the locations assigned to them were the best. Whether they went to the Lecture Hall, Dining Hall, Merit Pavilion, or elsewhere, it would all be quite convenient.

After taking the key, Xu Chunniang did not look at the others' gloating expressions. She strode out of the main hall.

To her, a longer journey was nothing. Well... at worst, she would just walk a little longer.

It was only that she had offended Steward Zhang the moment she arrived...

Xu Chunniang shook her head and suppressed the unease in her heart. In any case, he had never thought well of her to begin with. Even if she had paid the spirit stones, her situation would not have improved much. Keeping the spirit stones was still the better bargain.

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

A little farther out, and it would probably be beyond the boundaries of the Carefree Sect.

She hesitated for a moment, then decided to go to the Dining Hall first. She was a little hungry. She wanted to eat something before going to take a look at the Lecture Hall.

On the way to the Dining Hall, Xu Chunniang could not suppress the excitement in her heart. From today onward, she was officially an Outer Sect Disciple of the Carefree Sect!

For the first three years after becoming new disciples, places such as the Dining Hall and Lecture Hall were open to them free of charge. After three years, Contribution Points would be required.

Several days ago, she had finished the flatbread and water she had brought. The Attendant Disciple had distributed a kind of black pill, called Grain Abstinence Pills, saying that one pill a day would keep a person from feeling hungry or thirsty.

She had been deeply suspicious at the time. How could such a tiny pellet possibly fill her up?

Yet when she had been starving and swallowed one, she had truly stopped feeling hungry at all.

During these days aboard the Flying Ship, everyone had eaten Grain Abstinence Pills. Although taking one made her feel no hunger, Xu Chunniang always felt that her stomach was empty, and she was somewhat unused to it.

She wondered what delicious things the Dining Hall had. It could not possibly still be those black Grain Abstinence Pills, could it?

There were usually very few people around the Dining Hall, but the occasional passerby all wore identical Green Robes and hurried back and forth.

Xu Chunniang slapped her forehead. Only then did she realize that she should take out the sect-issued Green Robe from her Storage Bag and put it on.

Though the outfit was obviously too large at a glance, she was now an Outer Sect Disciple of the Carefree Sect. It would be best to wear the standard clothing. Otherwise, if someone mistook her for an outsider and drove her out, she would have nowhere to cry.

Something miraculous happened. The moment she put on the green robe, it gradually shrank until it fit her perfectly, as though it had been tailored specifically for her.

Xu Chunniang was astonished. She had never imagined that a mere piece of clothing could automatically change size. It seemed that the cultivation world truly contained all manner of wonders.

Immortals who could fly while standing on swords, ships that could fly without wings, pills that could banish hunger and thirst with a single swallow, tiny Storage Bags that could hold countless items, and clothes that could automatically change size...

Xu Chunniang nearly fell in love with this magical world at once. She took a deep breath, restrained the surging excitement in her heart, and entered the Dining Hall.

The Dining Hall was not large. Several dozen tables stood inside, yet no one was eating there. A plump old man sat by the serving window.

Xu Chunniang swept her gaze around but did not see anything edible. This was far different from the Dining Hall she had imagined. She had thought it would be like the restaurants in town.

The fat old man glanced at the newcomer and saw an unfamiliar face. "New here?"

He had seen countless people in this Dining Hall, and he treated the ugly birthmark on her face as nothing unusual.

Xu Chunniang nodded. "I came to collect food. Is this where I collect it?"

The fat old man lifted his eyelids. "New disciples may collect Grain Abstinence Pills free of charge during their first three years. They collect them once a month, one bottle at a time, with thirty pills in each bottle. After three years, these Grain Abstinence Pills must be bought with spirit stones. One spirit stone can buy two bottles."

Xu Chunniang secretly clicked her tongue. These Grain Abstinence Pills were not cheap either. Half a spirit stone per bottle meant six spirit stones a year!

Luckily, new disciples could collect them free for the first three years. Otherwise, half of the twelve spirit stones issued by the sect would be spent just on food.

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

Xu Chunniang's heart stirred. She hurriedly pressed the Storage Bag to her forehead, took out the black token inside, and handed it over. "Is this it?"

The fat old man accepted the token and fiddled with it for a moment. He quickly returned it, while also handing her a white jade bottle. "This is one month's allotment."

Xu Chunniang took the token and bottle, curiously studying the token. On its front were two strange Runes, while three slightly smaller Runes were on the back.

Only then did she recall something. She hurriedly examined her Storage Bag and, with sharp eyes, spotted the same three Runes at its lower right corner. Turning the Storage Bag over, she saw two Runes on the other side that were exactly identical to those on the front of the token.

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

These strange Runes were writing? No wonder she did not recognize them. Xu Chunniang shook her head. "I can't."

Not to mention an eight-year-old Ugly Girl like her, even in the entire Xu Family Village, only the village head could read.

There were plenty of people who could not read, so the fat old man did not think much of it.

"There is a place at the Lecture Hall specifically for teaching people to read. Those Inner Sect Uncle-Masters do not teach such things. If you cannot read, you must learn first before attending the Uncle-Masters' lectures. Otherwise, listening would be useless. You would not understand anything at all."

Xu Chunniang's heart tightened. It seemed she had to learn to read first. Otherwise, she would not even understand the lessons, let alone cultivate.