Cast Aside

When they woke the next morning, everyone lined up to collect Steamed Buns.

The man handing them out was Wu Qingfeng, the steward of Thousand Bamboo Ridge.

Wu Qingfeng was over fifty and slightly stout, with graying hair. Yet his face was rosy, and his skin looked as tender as a baby's.

This time, Fang Chen finally received fair treatment: four piping-hot Steamed Buns. He knew, though, that once he returned to Dragon Tiger Mountain, that treatment would disappear.

Steamed Buns in hand, Fang Chen sat in a distant corner and ate slowly. He was afraid someone would snatch his food if he sat too close to the others.

After eating, Fang Chen went up the mountain with everyone else to keep chopping bamboo.

With yesterday's experience behind him, he took his time, chopping Bamboo and Stone alike.

And so the days passed. Fang Chen's strength steadily grew, and his once painfully thin frame filled out a little.

Though the change was obvious, no one was particularly surprised, especially the people from Dragon Tiger Mountain. They knew Fang Chen had almost never eaten his fill there. Now that he was eating well at Thousand Bamboo Ridge, it was only natural for him to grow sturdier.

A month later.

Fang Chen and the others had just finished breakfast and were preparing to head up the mountain.

Just then, a streak of Rainbow Light descended from the sky and stopped above the dining hall.

Everyone looked up. Two figures stood on a long sword glowing faintly white. Runes shimmered across its surface. The man controlling the sword wore a white robe and cut a dashing figure. Behind him stood a shifty-eyed man in a brand-new Servant Robe, carrying a bundle on his back.

At the sight of them, everyone immediately knelt, including Cao Bin, the servant steward of Dragon Tiger Mountain, and Wu Qingfeng, the servant steward of Thousand Bamboo Ridge.

Though they were stewards, neither had entered the Qi Refining Realm.

In the eyes of Cultivators, anyone who had not entered the Qi Refining Realm was a mortal.

And in the eyes of mortals, Cultivators who had entered the Qi Refining Realm were Immortal Masters.

The man controlling the sword was Xu Yi, an Outer Sect Disciple from Azure Cloud Peak. He had reached the third level of the Qi Refining Realm.

He slowly lowered the Flying Sword to the ground, and the young man behind him jumped off at once.

Xu Yi's face was as still as water. He turned to Cao Bin and said, "Cao Bin, this is a newly recruited servant. I'm assigning him to Dragon Tiger Mountain!"

"Yes. Thank you, Senior Brother Xu!"

Cao Bin spoke to Xu Yi with deep respect.

Wu Qingfeng, however, looked aggrieved. "Senior Brother Xu Yi, this isn't fair, is it? Dragon Tiger Mountain already has its full complement of servants. Why give them another? Thousand Bamboo Ridge has been short-handed for ages. I've submitted request after request, and you haven't sent us a single person!"

Xu Yi frowned slightly. Wu Qingfeng had hardly ever sent offerings to his superiors, so they paid little attention to Thousand Bamboo Ridge's requests.

Cao Bin of Dragon Tiger Mountain, on the other hand, sent plenty of offerings and knew how to stay in their good graces. Whenever something good came along, his superiors thought of him first.

This new servant had a Spiritual Root, no less—a Three-Element Mixed Spiritual Root. He had enormous potential and a bright future, and might well become a Qi Refining Realm Cultivator one day.

That was why Xu Yi wanted to assign him to Dragon Tiger Mountain.

But when Xu Yi had brought the young man there, Cao Bin had been away. That was the only reason he had brought him to Thousand Bamboo Ridge.

Now that Wu Qingfeng had challenged him, Xu Yi could hardly explain all that.

He looked at Wu Qingfeng and said, "These are orders from above. I'm merely carrying them out."

Wu Qingfeng refused to let it go. "That won't do. If Dragon Tiger Mountain takes someone in today, someone else will have to make room. One way or another, they must give me a person today, or I'll go to Elder Hu myself!"

Xu Yi nodded slightly and turned to Cao Bin. "Cao Bin, the newcomer stays at Dragon Tiger Mountain. Transfer one of your people to Thousand Bamboo Ridge."

"Yes!"

Cao Bin agreed at once.

Xu Yi looked at the shifty-eyed servant. "Zhang Tieniu, this is Cao Bin, the steward in charge of Dragon Tiger Mountain's servants. You'll be under him from now on."

"Yes!"

Zhang Tieniu nodded vigorously.

Xu Yi flew away on his sword.

Zhang Tieniu cupped his hands respectfully toward Cao Bin. "Greetings, Steward Cao. Here are my records."

With that, he handed Cao Bin a Scroll.

Cao Bin took the Scroll and unrolled it. The moment he saw the information on it stating that Zhang Tieniu had a Three-Element Mixed Spiritual Root, his eyes lit up.

He put the Scroll away and smiled at Zhang Tieniu. "Ha! From now on, you're one of us at Dragon Tiger Mountain!"

Wu Qingfeng walked up to Cao Bin. "Steward Cao, who are you giving me?"

Cao Bin glanced around, then fixed his gaze on Fang Chen. "Fang Chen, get your ass over here!"

Fang Chen immediately walked up to him.

Cao Bin shoved Fang Chen toward Wu Qingfeng. "Here. This brat belongs to Thousand Bamboo Ridge from now on!"

"This brat?"

Wu Qingfeng frowned as he looked at Fang Chen.

He had seen Fang Chen at work over the past month. The boy ate a great deal but worked worse than anyone else, cutting down only one stalk of Exquisite Bamboo a day on average.

"What? Don't want him? Fine, forget it!"

Cao Bin smiled at Wu Qingfeng.

"I'll take him!"

Wu Qingfeng answered at once. Fang Chen might be useless, but Thousand Bamboo Ridge truly needed the hands.

"Good. Let's settle the transfer!"

Cao Bin told Fang Chen to take out his Identity Token. He pried the characters for Dragon Tiger Mountain off it and affixed the emblem of Thousand Bamboo Ridge.

After the emblem was attached, Fang Chen rubbed the token to activate it, and the information on it updated immediately.

"Hahaha... At last, we won't have to look at that useless wretch anymore!"

The other Dragon Tiger Mountain servants laughed right in front of the Thousand Bamboo Ridge servants.

Wu Qingfeng's expression darkened, but there was nothing he could do.

He patted Fang Chen on the shoulder. "From now on, you're one of us at Thousand Bamboo Ridge!"

"Thank you, Steward Wu!"

Fang Chen bowed slightly to Wu Qingfeng, his manner respectful.

During his time at Thousand Bamboo Ridge, Fang Chen had learned that Wu Qingfeng was a good man, far better than Cao Bin. He neither docked his servants' wages nor bullied them.

But there was little profit to be made at Thousand Bamboo Ridge. Compared with Dragon Tiger Mountain, it was terribly poor.

As a result, few servants wanted to come here. Those who remained were mostly old, weak, sick, or disabled.

To Fang Chen, though, Thousand Bamboo Ridge was far better than Dragon Tiger Mountain. At least Wu Qingfeng was a good man. True to his name, he was a breath of fresh air among servant stewards, never squeezing or exploiting those under him.

"Everyone, get to work!"

Cao Bin turned to the Dragon Tiger Mountain servants behind him.

"Time to work!"

"When we get back to Dragon Tiger Mountain, we won't have to look at that useless wretch anymore!"

"Shame. No one will wash my clothes for me now!"

"Right, and no one will rub my back, either!"

The Dragon Tiger Mountain servants burst out laughing, then headed up the mountain in groups.

"Those bastards have gone too far!"

The Thousand Bamboo Ridge servants watched them go, gritting their teeth in anger.

Most of them were old, weak, sick, or disabled. Thousand Bamboo Ridge received little work in the first place, and what work it did get was grueling and poorly paid.

Any servant with a bit of ability had used their connections to leave.

When the price of Exquisite Bamboo soared, the Thousand Bamboo Ridge servants had thought they could finally make some money. Instead, the higher-ups sent people from Dragon Tiger Mountain, calling it "help." In truth, they had come to snatch food from the tiger's jaws.

Wu Qingfeng was furious, but there was nothing he could do.

He beckoned to the Thousand Bamboo Ridge servants. "Come over and meet him. He's one of us from now on!"

"Hello, young brother! I'm Old Hu!"

"Hello, young brother. I'm Old Deng!"

The Thousand Bamboo Ridge servants greeted Fang Chen warmly.

After the introductions, Wu Qingfeng had someone bring Fang Chen two good blades. "Take these. I hope you can cut down a few more stalks of bamboo today!"

Wu Qingfeng knew Fang Chen had been using a sword to chop bamboo for the past month. But Fang Chen had belonged to Dragon Tiger Mountain then, so Wu Qingfeng had not been in a position to intervene. Even if he had given Fang Chen blades, the Dragon Tiger Mountain servants would surely have taken them.

Now Fang Chen belonged to Thousand Bamboo Ridge. Wu Qingfeng would not let him keep chopping bamboo with a sword that was worse than trash.

"Thank you, Steward Wu. I'll work hard!"

Fang Chen accepted the blades without protest and headed up the mountain with the other Thousand Bamboo Ridge servants.