This Food Pavilion and That Thatched Hut

Before long, a bamboo pavilion came into view.

The two large characters "Food Pavilion" were written above the door.

Outside, there were small bridges, flowing water, and a touch of worldly life; inside, waves of fragrance drifted through the air.

Yet in Su Ling'er's eyes, none of this was so simple.

Were they trying to use all this to conceal the evil truth within?

She absolutely did not believe that a demonic sect would have such a normal place to eat.

Seeing his junior sister stop at the entrance to think once more, Lin Qingfeng helplessly waved a hand in front of her eyes.

"Junior Sister, Junior Sister? Snap out of it!"

Was this supposed to be a highly intelligent NPC?

A highly intelligent one who could get stuck after taking two steps?

Su Ling'er suddenly came back to her senses and hurriedly cupped her hands toward her senior brother.

"Your junior sister grew up in the mortal world and has seen all manner of life, but I have never seen such an elegant eatery. I was struck speechless for a moment. Please forgive me, Senior Brother."

Lin Qingfeng inwardly grumbled, Why did that sound like something she just made up?

Could the program have generated it just now?

Still, he nodded, accepting her explanation.

"Junior Sister, there is no need to mind it. You will come here often in the future."

Thus, the two crossed the threshold of the Food Pavilion.

Beyond the door, a wave of heat mixed with cooking fumes and the clamor of boiling voices rushed at them.

Underfoot lay the most chaotic Mortal Food Area, where hundreds of disciples crowded together, using mortals' iron pots and firewood to cook grains and vegetables tainted with the turbid aura of the mundane world.

Turbid aura!

Cultivators did not entirely abstain from the five grains, but after eating them, they had to expend Spiritual Power to expel the turbid aura from their bodies.

If it accumulated over time, it would harm cultivation rather than benefit it.

Those disciples with excellent aptitude or wealthy families had long begun taking Bigu Pills and cutting themselves off from the five grains.

Yet here, eating mortal food was actually the norm.

Did they not find it troublesome to expel turbid aura every time?

Su Ling'er's gaze passed through the screen and fell upon the Spirit Food Area.

The disciples there cooked strange flowers and exotic herbs, along with the flesh and blood of certain demon beasts.

The prices on the wooden plaques along the wall made her shrink back.

One serving of [Steamed Dragon Saliva Fish] cost eighty low-grade spirit stones!

This was daylight robbery!

At Qing Xu Temple, her monthly allowance had only been three spirit stones. She would have had to work without eating or drinking for more than two years just to afford one dish here.

As her gaze shifted deeper inside, she saw several private rooms carved from Evil Dispelling Divine Thunder Bamboo.

Just then, one of the doors opened, and a disciple hurried out.

In the instant the door swung open and shut, she caught sight of the guests' luxurious attire inside. They were clearly not ordinary Gui Xi Sect disciples.

Could these be the sect's lackeys?

Or perhaps members of Cultivating Great Clans colluding with Evil Sects?

And how was this an ordinary Food Pavilion?

This was clearly a beast-taming ground!

The "Mortal Food Area" was a mire meant to wear down the Dao paths of low-ranking disciples, forcing them to spend energy every day expelling turbid aura so that the older disciples would not have to worry about being surpassed by newcomers.

Meanwhile, the "Spirit Food Area" was bait dangling over their heads, using outrageous prices to entice the disciples in the Mortal Food Area.

It forced them to slave away for the sect like donkeys, all for a single bite of spirit food that could improve their cultivation!

She recalled how, back at Qing Xu Temple, she had had nowhere to turn when she needed a single stalk of Blood Condensing Grass.

For inner disciples, they only needed to complete a mission to obtain it. But for outer disciples like them, those missions might mean certain death.

Besides, the sect would never assign such missions to outer disciples with poor aptitude like them.

Not only might they die on the spot, but spiritual plants were not something people with such poor aptitude could even use.

Giving them to outer disciples would be a complete waste.

They could only use the spirit stones they had painstakingly saved to buy them at cultivation markets, or privately from inner disciples.

Thinking of this, she actually felt that even if the disciples of this demonic sect were donkeys lured along by carrots, at least they had something to strive for.

By comparison, Qing Xu Temple could not even be bothered to hang out that carrot...

But without question, no matter where they were, newly initiated disciples like them stood at the very bottom of the exploited hierarchy.

Just as her emotions churned, a scream came from a corner.

A disciple suddenly fell stiffly to the ground, frothing at the mouth as his entire body convulsed.

Rather than panicking, the cook beside him rushed over excitedly.

While recording his fellow disciple's miserable state, he took out several spirit stones and tossed them over.

"Thank you, Junior Brother. This is your payment. When I have new dishes next time, I will come find you again."

The fallen disciple accepted the spirit stones while convulsing, muttering all the while.

"Thank you. Please come find me next time too."

Su Ling'er stared in shock.

Were they using living people to test the effects of poisonous food?!

And that fallen man had actually sold his dignity and life for a mere few spirit stones?

If he died, how could he still cultivate?

Did this sect have no bottom line at all?

Lin Qingfeng looked around at everything, quietly calculating in his heart.

This NPC's aptitude was too poor. If he invested too many spirit stones and failed to recoup the cost, he would suffer a huge loss.

The Mortal Food Area was cheap and good value. Perhaps it might even bring an unexpected surprise.

Thus, he smiled at Su Ling'er.

"Junior Sister, look. Our sect is just this carefree and unrestrained.

Fellow disciples can discuss the Dao, compete, and exchange insights here as well.

Though accidents occasionally happen, they can be considered part of cultivation."

Cultivation?

You called this cultivation?

Using fellow disciples as disposable materials for poison testing counted as cultivation too?

Su Ling'er screamed inwardly, but she forced an admiring expression onto her face and respectfully said,

"So that is how it is. Your junior sister has learned much. Thank you for your guidance, Senior Disciple Brother."

Senior Disciple Brother, please, for the sake of my terrible aptitude, do not use mortal food to suppress me too.

But reality was often this cruel.

Lin Qingfeng led her around the Spirit Food Area, ignoring those luxurious private rooms.

He headed straight for the Mortal Food Area, where someone had just "collapsed from poisoning"!

Even someone with aptitude as poor as hers had to be targeted like this?

This demonic sect was far too ruthless!

"Come, Junior Sister. There are the most dishes here. Order whatever you want. Your senior brother is treating you."

Su Ling'er understood. This was Senior Disciple Brother making an example of her!

Before everyone's eyes, he wanted to force her to eat mortal food full of turbid aura and ruin her own Dao path!

He was clearly using her to establish rules for all the low-ranking disciples!

If someone could break the rules simply because their aptitude was poor, then what would happen to the other disciples who willingly suffered here?

A moment later, a plate of glossy braised pork was placed before her.

Though it looked appetizing, in Su Ling'er's eyes, it was no different from pig slop.

She pressed her lips together and did not move.

Seeing her like this, Lin Qingfeng was somewhat puzzled.

Did she think that now that she had entered an Immortal Sect, she was above mortal food?

Though that was understandable, he could not possibly spend a fortune treating an NPC with such poor aptitude to spirit food, could he?

What if she could not withstand the medicinal potency of spirit food and something went wrong?

After thinking it over, he turned toward the tasting station in the Mortal Food Area to better guide her, then returned carrying two trays.

On the tray to the left was a small white jade bowl containing a pool of translucent soup. It seemed ethereal and immortal, and was called [White Jade Dew Broth].

On the tray to the right was a lump of something that was still faintly wriggling, resembling the brain of some creature. It was called [Abyssal Wriggling Brain].

[White Jade Dew Broth]

[This food's BUFF is Ice Heart Art (Beginner), lasting 10 minutes. Its effect is to increase mental focus.

However, if one's cultivation is low, it may be accompanied by certain side effects.]

Su Ling'er understood instantly.

This was not a treat. It was naked coercion and temptation!

The [White Jade Dew Broth] was the reward for obedience, while that wriggling poisonous thing was the warning for disobedience!

She tentatively reached for the white jade bowl on the left, only to glimpse Lin Qingfeng's faint frown.

He did not want her to eat this?

Su Ling'er's heart trembled, and she moved her hand toward the plate of dark cuisine that looked incomparably evil.

This time, she saw that Senior Disciple Brother's face had actually... revealed a satisfied smile!

He smiled!

He had actually smiled?!

Was he going to force her to eat that plate of highly poisonous stuff before everyone, so he could enjoy watching her struggle in agony before death?

At that moment, all her fear turned into overwhelming grief and indignation.

I am a cultivator of the Righteous Path, born between heaven and earth with clarity in my heart. How can I suffer such humiliation?

Even if I die, I must die with dignity!

At the very least, I have to taste spirit food before I die!

That bowl of broth looked so ethereal. Even if it was not true spirit food, it had to be an exquisite mortal delicacy. I have never eaten anything like it in my life!

Thus, under Lin Qingfeng's stunned gaze, she grabbed the plate of [White Jade Dew Broth] and pulled it in front of herself.

Then, with the tragic resolve of one heading to certain death, she scooped up a spoonful of the crystalline broth and brought it to her mouth.

As soon as the broth entered her body, a burst of stabbing pain and chill erupted from her dantian!

Su Ling'er's face instantly turned deathly pale.

She understood!

Both were poison!

One killed at the sight of blood, while the other eroded slowly!

No matter which one she chose, she could not escape his clutches!

"Junior Sister, why did you stop eating?"

Seeing that she had only taken one bite and then stopped, Lin Qingfeng pushed the plate of [Abyssal Wriggling Brain] closer to her.

"This one may look... well, a little challenging. It does not have much going for it in color, aroma, or flavor, but it will definitely benefit you!"

Su Ling'er was extremely unwilling to look at that terrifying wriggling thing.

To prove that she only wanted to idle away her life and would never pose a threat to them, she pointed at the original plate of braised pork and began wolfing it down!

"Mmph... It is so good, Senior Brother! Thank you, Senior Brother!"

She spoke unclearly through her mouthful of food.

"These are enough for me. I really... cannot live without them!"

Lin Qingfeng was utterly baffled by her antics, but in keeping with the principle of not wasting a Buff, he stuffed that wriggling black mass into his mouth under Su Ling'er's watchful gaze.

In an instant, a faint glimmer flashed across his body and vanished.

His aura, as Su Ling'er sensed it, instantly rose another level!

He ate something so poisonous without suffering the slightest harm, and his cultivation even improved?!

Was he telling me that before him, I am nothing more than an ant he can crush at will?

Lin Qingfeng looked at the NPC, who seemed to have fallen into deep thought again, and felt quite helpless.

So he looked up a few inspirational sayings from the player forums and said gently,

"Junior Sister, you must understand: the past is but a prelude, and the future is an open road.

Only by staying in my Gui Xi Sect will your Dao path become smooth and free of obstacles. In the future, you will be able to eat food this good every day.

Think it over carefully. Staying here will be the most correct choice of your life."

The past was but a prelude, and the future was an open road?

Was he saying that only by remaining in this Demon Den, becoming a walking corpse at their mercy, could she have any chance of survival?

That meal had left her terrified, and she could no longer endure it. Trembling, she asked,

"S-Senior Disciple Brother, I... I am somewhat tired. Could you take me somewhere to rest?"

After thinking briefly, Lin Qingfeng nodded. "Very well. Your senior brother will settle you in first. There will be time to familiarize yourself with everything tomorrow."

He led her out of the noisy Food Pavilion.

Outside, the moon hung high in the sky.

The evening breeze brought a faint chill.

The two walked along a bluestone path. From time to time, Gui Xi Sect disciples flew past on the wind. Whenever they saw the new junior sister, they stopped to look.

"Senior Disciple Brother! Is this the junior sister who just joined the sect?!"

"Our sect truly has great prospects of flourishing!"

Faced with all these enthusiastic greetings, Su Ling'er merely lowered her head even further.

They passed through an area of jade palaces and splendid towers, with magnificent cave residences half-hidden among emerald bamboo and spirit trees.

Su Ling'er's thoughts quietly began to stir.

Perhaps... this Demon Den was not filled with torment everywhere?

She recalled the simple disciples' quarters at her own Qing Xu Temple. Though clean, they had only been ordinary stone houses.

Any one of the cave residences here was likely a hundred times more luxurious than the Sect Master's residence at Qing Xu Temple.

Though she had only just joined, Senior Disciple Brother had personally brought her in. Her lodgings surely... would not be too bad, right?

A faint, fragile expectation rose in her heart.

But Lin Qingfeng did not stop before any of the magnificent cave residences.

He led her through that immortal mist-shrouded district and straight into the heart of the sect.

The bluestone pavement beneath their feet vanished, replaced by bare earth.

Lin Qingfeng came to a stop.

He stood before a patch of wasteland that was clearly separate from the luxurious cave residence district.

And in the middle of that wasteland stood a solitary... thatched hut.

It was simply a shack haphazardly built from withered yellow straw and several crooked pieces of wood.

Wind leaked through all four sides, while large patches of mud plaster had fallen from the walls, exposing the uneven branches beneath.

Su Ling'er stood there in a daze.

She looked back at the distant cluster of immortal cave residences, still brightly lit.

Then she turned back to look at the dilapidated thatched hut before her.

The enormous disparity made her face burn with humiliation.

[NPC Initial Residence]

[Description: The lowest-grade residence automatically generated by the sect for newly initiated local NPCs. It only provides basic shelter.]

[Upgrade Requirements: NPCs may complete sect missions, increase Contribution Points, or improve their own cave residences.]

Lin Qingfeng looked at the sect interface before him, then at Su Ling'er's bewildered pretty face, and sighed.

The first local NPC recruited by the sect guild had been assigned the shabbiest possible thatched-hut template. This was far too damaging to the sect's image!

Meanwhile, us players lived in such fine cave residences. How was she supposed to develop any sense of belonging toward the Gui Xi Sect?

No, he had to make it up with some smooth talk!

"Ahem, Junior Sister, do you feel that this place... is overly simple?"

"There are three thousand Great Daos. What is true nature?"

"The world chases after magnificent cave residences and dense spiritual energy, yet forgets that cultivation tempers the heart, not external things."

He pointed toward those luxurious cave residences in the distance, his expression compassionate and detached.

"Look at them.

They dwell amid warm jade and sit beside spirit springs, immersing themselves every day in the comfort brought by worldly things.

Their Dao hearts have long been bound by extravagance. They have lost their edge and forgotten their true nature.

If the heart is covered in dust, then even a jade palace is no more than a beautiful cage."

"But this place—"

He turned around and solemnly pointed at the dilapidated thatched hut.

"This place is no mere thatched hut. It is the 'Place of Returning to True Nature' specially established by our Gui Xi Sect for its disciples!"

Place of Returning to True Nature?

Are you sure?

Su Ling'er blinked.

Lin Qingfeng said earnestly:

"Although you are not especially gifted, Junior Sister, you are still an uncut piece of jade.

The sect does not wish for you to be corrupted by comfort too early.

It hopes that you will wash away all ornament here and temper your Dao heart.

Within this small space, comprehend the profound meaning of 'the Great Dao is simple; return to simplicity and true nature.'

Only when you achieve success will you understand the sect's painstaking intentions today!"

Place of Returning to True Nature, my ass.

As if I'd believe that nonsense!

This is clearly telling me that those nice places are for you 'insiders' to live in.

And an outsider like me is only fit to live in a pigsty, right?!

From the mountain gate to the contract, from the Food Pavilion to my residence, every step was a trap, each link connected to the next!

This demon sect's display of dominance was truly meticulous!

But she knew she absolutely could not resist now.

She took a deep breath and suppressed the turmoil churning in her heart.

When she raised her head again, she was already smiling.

"Senior Brother's teachings are correct!"

"This disciple was foolish and nearly failed to appreciate the sect's painstaking care!"

Seeing her look as though she had suddenly awakened, Lin Qingfeng nodded in satisfaction.

"Very good. Junior Sister, the fact that you possess such insight shows that your Dao heart is clear.

Do not underestimate this small patch of land.

Go.

Your path of cultivation will begin here."

After drawing her another grand empty promise, he finally turned around, humming an off-key tune as he disappeared around the bend in the path.

Only after his figure had completely vanished did the smile fade from Su Ling'er's face.

She turned to face the broken door, which did not even have a bolt.

After a long silence, she still walked inside.

The room was completely empty.

A pile of straw lay in the corner, giving off a moldy odor and barely qualifying as a bed.

She began drawing spiritual energy into her body, intending to use it to cleanse the impurities left behind by the mortal food she had eaten earlier.

Yet when she examined herself inwardly, her spirit sea was utterly calm, without the slightest trace of mundane impurity.

The mortal food here did not actually taint one with impurities?

Had she misunderstood Senior Disciple Brother?

Was that Senior Brother truly kind or evil?

A thousand tangled thoughts filled her heart, but they could not overcome the heavy call of her physical body. She no longer had the strength to hold on, letting herself sink into the straw until she finally drifted into sleep.

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Gui Xi Sect, Qingfeng Xulai Residence.

Lin Qingfeng pushed open the doors to his cave residence, and dense spiritual energy flooded the room.

With a contented leap, he plunged into the spirit spring. Steam rose around him as he let out a long sigh.

"Ah, in order to guide this little Junior Sister onto the 'right path' and help her understand the true meaning of cultivation, I have truly gone to great pains."

Leaning against the edge of the pool, he picked up a spirit fruit and took a bite.

"If I do not enter hell, who will?"

"To help Junior Sister return to simplicity and true nature, I can only live tearfully in this 'cage' corrupted by extravagance!"

"Only by personally experiencing such 'decadence' can I criticize it properly!"

Thus, he closed his eyes to rest, allowing the hot spring to corrupt his soul.

A moment later, lying on the bed carved from ten-thousand-year cold jade, a thought crossed his mind.

[Do you wish to log out of Jintian?]

"Yes."

The aura of the figure on the bed fell silent.

Only wisps of spiritual energy continued to seep into his organs and bowels, nourishing this shell of a body...