Demonic Sect Conduct

When Lu Yang emerged from the meditation chamber, he discovered that someone had already been waiting outside.

Lu Yang's heart jolted. The visitor wore a black Daoist robe and had a sinister expression. It was none other than the black-robed Daoist who had assigned him to the Joyous Union Hall.

"Greetings, Senior Brother." Lu Yang hurriedly bowed.

"You're quite good. You're a talent."

The black-robed Daoist said with a smiling face, "I heard Yu Suzhen had lured a very capable young man into her room, and that breaking through Qi Refining was just around the corner."

"I never expected that poisonous woman to actually fail."

As he spoke, the black-robed Daoist's gaze toward Lu Yang was full of strangeness.

Three days—three whole days!

Yu Suzhen's cries could even be heard outside the meditation chamber. Even though the black-robed Daoist considered himself well-traveled and experienced, he could not help feeling a few traces of admiration.

If this child did not die, he would surely become a pillar of the Sacred Sect in the future!

"Come with me."

The black-robed Daoist was named Liu Xin. He was an official disciple of Mending Heaven Peak, one of the Four Inner Peaks, and was responsible for receiving promoted provisional disciples and explaining sect matters to them.

"The Outer Sect Four Halls and the Four Inner Peaks correspond to one another."

Along the way, Liu Xin introduced things to Lu Yang with great interest. "Other than Sacred Fire Cliff, where the Sect Master resides, our Sacred Sect is centered around the Four Inner Peaks."

"You came from the Joyous Union Hall, so naturally you will join Mending Heaven Peak. I'll first take you to have your name transferred in the registers."

With someone to guide him, Lu Yang could not have asked for more. "Thank you, Senior Brother Liu."

"It is merely my duty."

Liu Xin said calmly, "After we transfer your name in the registers, I'll take you to the other three halls. Official disciples receive quite a few benefits—consider them welfare granted by the Sacred Sect."

"According to the rules, every official disciple may only claim them once." At this point, Liu Xin's expression turned somewhat wistful. "Once you enter the inner sect, if you want things of the same level again, you'll have to complete tasks issued by the Sacred Sect and earn Contribution Points to exchange for them."

Lu Yang frowned. "Contribution Points?"

"They are currency issued by the Sacred Sect." Liu Xin explained, "After your name is transferred in the registers, you should be able to see them through your disciple Token."

Curious, Lu Yang immediately followed Liu Xin to have his name transferred.

The process was very simple. They merely moved the Life Lamp he had lit when he first entered the sect from the outer sect area into the inner sect area.

Afterward, Lu Yang sent a thread of true qi into the Token at his waist, and a line of text immediately appeared upon it:

"Official Disciple, Lu Yang."

"As an official disciple, the Sacred Sect grants you 50 Contribution Points free of charge. Contribution Points can be used to exchange for spirit stones, cultivation methods, magical artifacts, cultivation caves, and more."

"After entering the inner sect, you must spend 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, if you purchase a cultivation cave within ten years, you may enjoy a 20% down payment discount."

—There were more than a dozen pages of introductions like these.

After reading them carefully, Lu Yang came to a conclusion. "The inner sect only cares about money!"

With Contribution Points, one could travel the world unhindered—cultivation methods, pills, and magical treasures were all available. Without Contribution Points, one could not even take a single step, unable to afford even a cave abode.

At the same time, Lu Yang also learned what the benefits Liu Xin had mentioned were.

After every provisional disciple advanced to become an official disciple, they could use their disciple Token to select one magical treasure, one pill, one bonded Spiritual Beast, and one dual-cultivation Cauldron from the Treasure Refining Hall, Alchemy Hall, Beast Taming Hall, and Joyous Union Hall respectively, without paying a single Contribution Point.

"Looking at it this way, these really are benefits."

With a thought, Lu Yang opened the exchangeable items list for Contribution Points through his disciple Token. Lines of corresponding text immediately appeared.

Cultivation methods, magical artifacts, pills, Spiritual Beasts, and Cauldrons—the cheapest of each all required 100 Contribution Points.

In contrast, the rewards for tasks within the Sacred Sect were pitifully small, all single-digit Contribution Points. Very few reached double digits.

From this, it was clear that the free set of four items received upon becoming an official disciple was worth at least 400 Contribution Points. Even for an official disciple, it counted as a huge sum.

While thinking, Lu Yang had already followed Liu Xin to the Treasure Refining Hall.

The person responsible for receiving them was called Chen Hao. He was a steward of the Treasure Refining Hall and, according to rumor, an official disciple as well. Serving as a steward in the Treasure Refining Hall was his assigned task.

According to Liu Xin, fixed-post tasks like this were the most profitable in the inner sect. Not only did they provide many Contribution Points, but often a single task could support an official disciple. Better still, they were stable—an iron rice bowl. Unfortunately, there were many monks and little gruel. Without connections, one could not obtain such a task at all.

"Senior Brother Liu? It has been a long time."

After entering the Treasure Refining Hall, Lu Yang noticed that Chen Hao first examined him before turning to Liu Xin and warmly saying, "Brought another new disciple over?"

"Yes."

Liu Xin grinned, his words carrying a hidden meaning. "Since you know, why don't you hurry and bring out the finest magical artifacts in the Treasure Refining Hall for Junior Brother Lu to inspect?"

"Right away!"

Chen Hao nodded eagerly, then led them into the inner courtyard of the Treasure Refining Hall. But as they walked, Lu Yang furrowed his brows in surprise.

"This is... a disciple's cultivation chamber, isn't it?"

Shouldn't they be going somewhere like a warehouse to collect magical artifacts?

Hearing this, Chen Hao first looked puzzled, then suddenly understood and laughed loudly. "Junior Brother Lu does not know—the finest magical artifacts are all here."

Before his words had faded, the three stopped before a cultivation room.

"The junior brother in this room has considerable seniority. He spent three years as a provisional disciple in the outer sect. Unfortunately, he was a little too rigid-minded and went down the wrong path while cultivating his cultivation method."

After saying that, Chen Hao directly pushed open the door.

Then Lu Yang saw a Daoist sitting cross-legged on the cushion in the center of the room, his eyes tightly shut as he muttered to himself, seemingly trapped in dreamlike ramblings.

"It's done... I'm about to succeed..."

Immediately afterward, Chen Hao formed a hand seal. The Daoist in the room abruptly opened his eyes, and wild joy instantly appeared on his once-dull face.

"Ha ha! This Daoist master has succeeded!"

Boom!

Before his words could finish, his entire body exploded with a thunderous blast. Flesh and blood scattered through the air, then swept back in a reverse torrent, all of it merging into the skeleton left standing in place.

Before long, a living person had vanished completely.

In his place, a crystalline "bone sword," as lustrous as jade and jointed in neat segments, gently fell onto the cushion. It still radiated dazzling artifact light.

Chen Hao stepped forward, picked up the "bone sword," and handed it to Lu Yang. Then he said with satisfaction, "The magical artifact, Bone Jade Sword, is considered top-grade even in the Book of Hundred True Treasures. This junior brother truly was a talent. He cultivated bitterly for so many years, and his cultivation was profound. Otherwise, the artifact light would not be so pure."

Lu Yang: "..."

Looking at the Bone Jade Sword in Chen Hao's hand, then recalling what had happened in his previous life, Lu Yang felt a chill pierce him to the bone. He understood the conduct of the First Saint Sect even more clearly now.

In summary, it was nothing more than eight words: the weak were prey for the strong, and everything was put to use!

The sect spent resources raising provisional disciples like them, so they had to create value for the sect. If they could not create value, the sect would help them create it!

If they broke through and advanced to become official disciples, then naturally everyone rejoiced.

If they could not break through, the sect could not possibly support them for nothing for an entire lifetime. Naturally, it would recover the resources it had invested from their bodies, ensuring that the sect did not suffer losses.

Thus, in the eyes of the First Saint Sect, some disciples were Cloud, while others were water. They merely did different things. All were talents; there was no such thing as worthless trash.

"This really is... a sect worthy of its name."

Lu Yang closed his eyes and deeply exhaled a breath of foul air. Remembering that he still had the Hundred Lives Book as a safeguard, he had regained his composure by the time he opened his eyes again.

"Junior Brother, you have such fine temperament. You truly are an outstanding talent!"

On the other side, seeing Lu Yang calm his emotions so quickly, surprise first flashed through Liu Xin's eyes, after which the smile on his face became even brighter.

Afterward, Lu Yang followed Liu Xin to the Alchemy Hall and Beast Taming Hall in turn. He received a Qi Replenishing Pill and a Human-Faced Owl respectively. The former could nourish true qi after being swallowed, while the latter was like a carrier pigeon. Official disciples generally used it to transmit messages to one another.

Only when they reached the final Cauldron did Liu Xin encounter a problem.

"Junior Brother, you broke through too quickly."

Liu Xin shook his head. "You only just joined the outer sect, yet you reached Qi Refining in a single day. Your speed was too fast—the Cauldrons reserved by the Joyous Union Hall have not even arrived yet."

"Why not wait a few days, Junior Brother?"

Lu Yang naturally did not care about any Cauldron. He immediately cupped his hands and said, "I will follow Senior Brother's arrangements in all things."

Liu Xin immediately burst into laughter, then took out a Jade Slip and stuffed it into Lu Yang's hand. "This is the secret true formula passed down by Mending Heaven Peak. Take it back and cultivate it properly."

Lu Yang accepted the Jade Slip and immediately circulated his spiritual sense to inspect it.

The next second, an incomparably complex cultivation method entered his mind.

"Primordial Dao Scripture"