Exchange

"Alchemy and talisman-forging manuals?" Cao Ren listened and readily nodded. "I think my dad has some in his room. If you need them, I'll find them all for you after my shift."

Although Cao Ren's father, Cao Shanyue, didn't pay much attention to his son's cultivation, he had a rich collection at home, including quite a few pill recipes and talisman manuals.

However, most of what Cao Shanyue had collected was low-grade stuff.

But for Shen Mo, who was only just starting out, it was more than enough.

"Then it's a deal," Shen Mo said.

"Sure."

Cao Ren nodded.

After they'd settled things, the two of them began seriously guarding the mountain gate.

Compared to the other sect missions at the River-Facing Sect, guarding the mountain gate was a job that was neither dangerous nor demanding, just extremely dull.

The daily workload was minimal. Aside from greeting the sect disciples coming and going and checking their identity tokens, there was basically nothing else to do.

It was nothing like being assigned to guard Spirit Fields and grow spirit herbs, where disciples had to toil from dawn to dusk, afraid that the spirit seeds in the fields might grow poorly or something might go wrong.

Unless they encountered a hostile sect seeking revenge—a rare occurrence that might not happen even once in a century—there was little risk in guarding the mountain gate.

Even if they slacked off and let a few random people in, there wouldn't be any consequences.

The two of them kept watch until noon.

Cao Ren called out to Shen Mo. "Keep an eye on things for me for a bit. I'm going to cook."

"Sure, go ahead." Shen Mo nodded and watched him leave.

The River-Facing Sect didn't send meals to those guarding the mountain gate.

If they wanted to eat, they either had to cook for themselves or go to the Dining Hall inside the gate and buy a meal.

The Dining Hall's food was delicious, but the prices were steep.

Usually, only Inner Sect disciples who weren't short on money could afford to eat there.

For peripheral disciples like Shen Mo and Cao Ren, every spare coin went toward cultivation. Naturally, they chose to cook for themselves.

"Come to think of it, running a food business in the sect would be pretty lucrative."

As he thought, Shen Mo quietly turned the idea over in his mind.

If he copied Earth's food-delivery app business model, he might be able to dominate the River-Facing Sect and rake in a fortune.

Then he wouldn't have to worry about not having enough money to support his cultivation.

But Shen Mo dismissed the idea moments later.

After all, this was the cultivation world, not Earth, where everyone was a law-abiding citizen.

The Dining Hall already had a monopoly on the profits to be made from food. If he tried to take its customers, he could easily invite retaliation.

Even if the Dining Hall didn't hold it against him, he'd still be in for a rough time when delivering orders if sect disciples refused to pay.

Doing business required an environment where people played by the rules.

He'd crossed over to another world, but thinking he could take a few scraps of knowledge and wisdom from his previous life and achieve great success was pure wishful thinking—unless he had overwhelming strength to back himself up.

But if he had that kind of strength, why bother with this sort of work?

"Here!"

Just as Shen Mo was lost in thought, Cao Ren returned with a pot of cooked food.

"That smells amazing!"

Shen Mo turned around and caught a rich aroma that made his mouth water.

"Is that spirit rice?" He stared in surprise at the gleaming white grains in the pot, then at the two thick deer legs on top. "And that's beast meat? Red-Browed Deer?"

"That's right. You've got a pretty good eye."

"You're really going all out today. You even cooked spirit rice! And you've got beast meat!"

Unlike ordinary rice, spirit rice was grown from special seeds, carefully cultivated by cultivators. Eating it could boost one's vitality and strengthen the body.

As for the meat of demonic beasts, its benefits went without saying.

To cultivators, a demonic beast was a treasure from head to toe. Aside from the precious demon core and certain parts that could be made into tools, even its flesh was valuable.

Eating it regularly did wonders for cultivation.

But such things were rare. Even Inner Sect disciples couldn't afford to eat them every day.

Cao Ren, a peripheral disciple, certainly couldn't afford to.

"My dad brought it to me," Cao Ren explained. "He saw not long ago that my cultivation was nearing the peak of body tempering, and that I'd reached a crucial point where I was about to touch the bottleneck. So he specifically told me to eat more good food and break through as soon as possible."

"Doesn't your dad usually leave your cultivation alone?" Shen Mo asked casually.

"He checks in when he has the time!" Cao Ren laughed. "And since you agreed to give me a Qi Gathering Pill today, I'll treat you to a meal too."

With Cao Ren being so generous, Shen Mo naturally wasn't about to turn him down.

So the two of them sat down in the mountain gate pavilion and tucked in.

"Delicious!"

The spirit rice tasted sweet, its flavor lingering on the tongue. Then Shen Mo grabbed a Red-Browed Deer leg and tore off a huge bite.

With rice and roasted meat filling his belly, he felt an indescribable satisfaction.

After wolfing down the food, they were finally full and content.

Shen Mo patted his belly, feeling much better.

"I'm so sick of guarding the gate every day."

Cao Ren shoveled down his last mouthful of rice and grumbled, "Peripheral disciples are neglected by everyone. If you want a future, you have to get into the Inner Sect."

He wasn't wrong.

The River-Facing Sect's peripheral disciples were, to put it nicely, registered disciples. To put it bluntly, they were little different from servants.

The bar for becoming a peripheral disciple of the River-Facing Sect wasn't high.

Ordinary children only needed a little aptitude for cultivation. They could find their way to the mountain gate and register their names.

But for precisely that reason, the River-Facing Sect didn't consider them true sect disciples. It treated them as free labor.

The sect's various benefits and monthly stipends had nothing to do with them.

If they wanted a monthly stipend to help with cultivation, they had to do all kinds of hard jobs for the sect.

What's more, peripheral disciples weren't allowed into important places like the Immortal Arts Pavilion, the Weapon Forging Hall, the Spirit Energy Pool, or the Martial Arts Arena.

There was only one way out of that situation: enter the Inner Sect, have their names truly recorded in the River-Facing Sect's disciple register, and receive an Identity Token.

To be accepted as an Inner Sect disciple, they had to reach the Qi Gathering Realm.

"Good thing I'm almost through the grind."

Cao Ren turned to look at Shen Mo, finding a little comfort in him.

After all, there were plenty of peripheral disciples like Shen Mo who had spent years grinding away without making any progress in their cultivation, and were preparing to leave the sect in dejection.

He'd endured many years of hardship, but he'd been patient. At least he still had a chance to rise, sooner or later.

From Cao Ren's expression, Shen Mo could guess what he was thinking.

But he didn't care what Cao Ren thought of him. Hearing Cao Ren's reflections merely got him thinking about his own plans for advancement in the sect and the path of cultivation ahead.

Ever since awakening the Destiny Panel, Shen Mo had no intention of leaving anymore.

Instead, he felt there was still hope for his cultivation journey.