Life on the Back Mountain

Most of the people stuck in this Bamboo Lodge living area probably weren't very talented.

Many were like Li Qingyun—idle disciple status in the temple, just from families with money and connections who'd gotten their hands on a "Dao Affinity Token," entering the temple to secure a backing or coast through life in comfort.

Of course, everyone still nursed a sliver of hope for cultivation.

What if they just happened to cross that threshold and step onto the path of immortality!

Li Qingyun didn't see any disciples here with the kind of presence Lin Wanjin had. It was obvious that everyone living in this rear-mountain East Lodge was basically trash.

Anyone with a decent Dao Bone Spiritual Root either got taken as a direct disciple by a Dao master like Lu Nanling or went straight into the real Lingbao Sect's main mountain gate.

"Junior Brother He, how about we keep discussing the Dao over drinks tonight?"

"So this is the new Junior Brother Li Qingyun? Handsome enough, but he looks a bit frail!"

"I heard over at West Lodge, a very elegant little junior sister arrived this afternoon—direct line of the Fufeng Lin family..."

The maple leaves were dark red, lantern shadows swaying. On the way to the Dining Hall, the well-connected He Xiao kept stopping to chat with enthusiastic fellow disciples.

He also introduced Li Qingyun to everyone.

His status as the third young master of Marquis Qinghe's Estate carried some weight. Everyone seemed warm and friendly.

Coming fresh to Lingbao Temple, making more friends was necessary. It would make it easier to ask around for information.

Night settled in, lights flickered on, illuminating a rather lively building.

The rear-mountain Dining Hall of Lingbao Temple was set in a mountain hollow.

It was specially opened for disciples who hadn't yet reached the stage of abstaining from food and breathing qi.

During their conversation, Li Qingyun also learned that the elite disciples who'd achieved success in cultivation all had private, secluded residences. They rarely showed themselves and almost never appeared in the Dining Hall.

"Those senior brothers—they've already condensed the rudiments of a Precious Furnace in their Qi Sea, with profound dharma power. They spend their days holed up in their quarters, training hard. They're all gunning for the few precious spots to enter the sect at year's end!"

"Ah, isn't that the truth. Comparing people only drives you mad. With our limited talent, we can only take it slow..."

When mentioning those accomplished senior brothers and senior sisters, He Xiao and the newly acquainted Yin Huan and the others couldn't hide the envy—and a trace of jealousy—in their expressions.

But that "year-end sect entry quota" made Li Qingyun's heart stir. He filed it away for now.

It confirmed his earlier guess: Lingbao Temple indeed had a powerful sect backing it.

He grabbed utensils with He Xiao and the others and started getting food.

The Dining Hall had a rich variety of food—all kinds of meat and vegetables laid out in abundance, fragrant and appetizing, with perfect color, aroma, and taste.

In Li Qingyun's view, a lot of it counted as true earthly delicacies that ordinary people couldn't afford or even come into contact with.

There were even a few types of genuine spirit food, like Spirit Rice Porridge and Red Deer Meat.

But the prices were staggering!

If the cost of living were a bit more reasonable, Li Qingyun really would have thought this was a great place to lie low and retire.

At the counters, those "earthly delicacies" cost several taels of silver per serving, and the most expensive ones could only be bought with gold.

Those two or three types of spirit food required spirit stones to purchase.

Additionally, Li Qingyun noticed a counter offering free food. The meals there were about the same as an ordinary commoner's home cooking—just coarse grains and vegetables, with no meat in sight.

And in his observation, very few people visited that free food counter.

The disciples who showed up in this Dining Hall mostly came from families with money. They'd obtained Lingbao Temple's "Dao Affinity Token" through various channels.

Before entering the temple, they'd all lived comfortable lives. Why would they stoop to eating rough, bland free food?

That free food counter was prepared for the worst-off people in the temple.

Li Qingyun saw the occasional Daoist in worn-out robes, humbly lowering their heads, quickly scooping up free food, then leaving without lingering.

Amid the jeering chatter of others, he heard that these disciples who took free food had once spent freely too. But their mortal families had suffered misfortune one after another—fallen into decline or even been wiped out—and could no longer support them.

In a world where Ghostly Creatures and monsters roamed, anything could happen. Even Marquis Qinghe's Estate could suddenly decline with one misstep.

"The mortal world is unfathomable, ever-changing. In this world, life is undoubtedly fragile..."

Li Qingyun thought to himself, then spent ten taels of silver to order a serving of "earthly delicacies" to match He Xiao and the others' meal standard—doing as the locals did.

The few of them, newly acquainted Dao companions, sat at one table, chatting in low voices as they ate and drank.

On his first visit to the Dining Hall, Li Qingyun wanted to maintain the persona of the Marquis's third son and didn't want to "show weakness" in front of He Xiao and the others.

In his heart, though, he was calculating how long his meager private funds could sustain this "doing as the locals do" lifestyle.

"Two thousand silver notes, fifty taels of gold, and some pearls and jewelry..."

This was the last bit of savings he'd barely managed to keep.

Maybe Yin Xunshan had noticed something odd about the bundle but, knowing the inner workings of Lingbao Temple's money-driven ways, had disdained to take it.

As things stood now, it really wasn't enough to spend freely.

At this rate of spending, if he didn't find a way to increase income and cut expenses—find some livelihood within Lingbao Temple—he wouldn't last more than a few good years on this money alone.

Lingbao Temple lived up to its name: everything cost money.

Living cost money, cultivation required resources. Money brought every convenience; without it, everything was difficult.

Take He Xiao, this roommate of his. Li Qingyun could tell that the other party had already cultivated some magical power and might specialize in the talisman path in the future.

Even if his cultivation was hard to advance later on, with his skill in drawing talismans, descending the mountain into the mortal world could still earn him a considerable fortune.

With the shadow of demons and monsters looming over the common folk, the people needed large quantities of talismans like House Soothing Talismans and Evil Warding Talismans to ward off ghosts and evil.

But for He Xiao to achieve anything, the yearly expenses on talisman paper, gold powder, cinnabar, and the like would certainly be no small sum.

According to He Xiao's boastful revelations, he had also cultivated two spells, but he had yet to truly comprehend and master them. To reach the point of smooth spellcasting, he would need to keep pouring in resources.

Without spirit stones or pills to quickly replenish his energy, relying solely on meditation and guidance to recover, He Xiao would take ages to hone his spells to proficiency!

In Li Qingyun's view, the foundation of the Lan Shan He Family was even weaker than that of Marquis Qinghe's Estate.

Even if He Xiao was a direct descendant of the family, and they were willing to spend a fortune and grit their teeth to invest in his training, without at least five or six years, He Xiao might still not even reach the entry-level standard of one cauldron's worth of magical power!

"Senior brothers, since we've all entered the temple to cultivate, we can't rely entirely on our families' support. Might any of you know of good opportunities to earn a living, to give Qingyun some guidance?"

"Haha, Junior Brother Qingyun, feeling the pressure already just after coming up the mountain? Marquis Qinghe's Estate is vast and powerful—you're the esteemed third young master. The estate will surely provide for your cultivation needs in the first few years!"

"Hehe, don't panic, junior brother. The temple has all sorts of ways to open up income streams. Let us explain them one by one..."

Li Qingyun was troubled, so during the meal and chat, he subtly steered the conversation from time to time, asking about the ways to get by within the temple.

Only then did he learn that the temple also offered various avenues for its disciples to earn money.

For example, miscellaneous chores on the back mountain, various jobs at the front temple, and so on.

If one's cultivation was accomplished, they could also take on tasks from the temple's External Affairs Hall, descend the mountain to conduct rites, catch ghosts, slay demons, and pacify the people, earning rewards of gold, silver, spirit stones, and contribution points.