Exchange

"Manuals for alchemy and forging talismans?" Cao Ren listened, nodding readily. "My father seems to have some in his room. If you need them, I'll find them all for you once my shift ends."

Although Cao Ren's father, Cao Shanyue, did not pay much attention to his son's cultivation, he possessed a wealthy collection at home, including many pill recipes and talisman scrolls.

However, most of what Cao Shanyue had collected were merely unranked trifles.

But for a beginner like Shen Mo, they were more than enough.

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

"Yeah, sure."

Cao Ren nodded and said.

Once the two had settled the matter, they began to guard the mountain gate in earnest.

Compared to other tasks within the River-Facing Sect, guarding the mountain gate was a job devoid of danger, being exceptionally leisurely and dull.

The daily workload was minimal; aside from greeting sect disciples entering or leaving and verifying their identities, there was essentially nothing else to do.

It was unlike the disciples sent to guard the spirit fields and cultivate medicinal herbs, who were busy around the clock, terrified that the spirit seeds in the paddies might not grow well or that some mishap might occur.

Unless one encountered a vendetta from a rival sect—a rarity seen only once in a century—guarding the mountain gate carried no consequences, even if one were to slack off or accidentally let a few idlers slip through.

The two remained on duty until midday.

Cao Ren greeted Shen Mo, "Keep watch for me for a while; I'm going to go cook."

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

At the River-Facing Sect, no one would deliver meals to those guarding the mountain gate.

If one wanted to eat, one either had to cook for oneself or purchase food from the dedicated Dining Hall within the sect.

However, while the food at the Dining Hall tasted quite good, the prices were rather steep.

Generally, only inner-sect disciples who were not short on money could afford to eat there.

For outer-circle disciples like Shen Mo and Cao Ren, any spare funds they could scrape together were better spent on cultivation, so they naturally chose to cook for themselves.

Come to think of it, running a food business in the sect would be a decent venture, Shen Mo mused to himself.

If he could replicate the business model of food delivery apps from Earth, he might just dominate the River-Facing Sect and rake in a fortune.

If that were the case, he wouldn't have to worry about lacking the funds to support his own cultivation.

But this thought was dismissed by Shen Mo almost as soon as it occurred.

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

Not to mention that the profit margins in the food sector were already monopolized by the Dining Hall; snatching business from them would easily invite retaliation.

Even if the people at the Dining Hall didn't hold a grudge, he would be run ragged if he encountered sect disciples who refused to pay when he went to deliver their orders.

Doing business required an environment where rules were respected.

Having transmigrated to another world, thinking he could achieve great success simply by pulling out knowledge and wisdom from his past life was, for the most part, wishful thinking—unless he had absolute strength as a backing.

But if one had that kind of strength, who would still be doing this kind of work?

"It's here!"

Just as Shen Mo was lost in his wild thoughts, Cao Ren returned, carrying the freshly cooked meal.

"It smells so good!"

Shen Mo turned around and caught a rich, intoxicating aroma that instantly whetted his appetite.

"Is that spirit rice?" He looked at the fair, translucent grains in the pot with astonishment, then glanced at the two thick deer legs resting atop the rice. "This is... beast meat? Red-Browed Deer?"

"Not bad, you actually have a sharp eye."

"You're being way too extravagant today! To think you'd actually cook spirit rice! And eating beast meat, too!"

This spirit rice was unlike ordinary rice; it was carefully cultivated by practitioners using special seeds. Eating it could increase one's blood and energy, and solidify one's foundation.

As for beast meat, it went without saying.

To a cultivator, a beast was a treasure from head to toe. Beyond the most precious beast core and certain parts that could be crafted into artifacts, the flesh and blood were also quite valuable.

Consuming it long-term was of great benefit to one's cultivation.

However, these were rare items; even inner-sect disciples couldn't bear to eat them every day.

Let alone an outer-circle disciple like Cao Ren.

"My old man sent them to me," Cao Ren explained. "Seeing that my cultivation was nearing the completion of Body Tempering and that I had reached a critical bottleneck, he specifically instructed me to eat well so I could break through sooner."

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

"He manages it in his spare time!" Cao Ren laughed heartily. "Since you've agreed to give me a Qi Gathering Pill today, I'll treat you to a meal."

With Cao Ren being so generous, Shen Mo naturally wouldn't stand on ceremony.

And so, the two sat in the mountain gate pavilion and began to feast.

"So fragrant~"

The spirit rice was sweet upon the tongue, its lingering aftertaste clinging to his teeth. He grabbed a leg of the Red-Browed Deer and tore off a large chunk of meat with a savage bite.

With the rice and roasted meat settling in his stomach, an indescribable sense of satisfaction washed over him.

After wolfing down his meal, he was finally full and content.

Shen Mo patted his belly, feeling comfortable at last.

"I'm truly sick of this life of guarding the gate every single day."

Cao Ren shoveled the last mouthful of rice into his mouth and grumbled, "Outer disciples are truly unloved by their grandmothers and ignored by their grandfathers. If you really want a future, you have to get into the inner sect."

This statement was, in fact, true.

To put it nicely, the outer disciples of the River-Facing Sect were considered registered disciples; to put it bluntly, they were no different from menial laborers.

The threshold for becoming an outer disciple of the River-Facing Sect was not very high.

Ordinary mortal children only needed to possess a modicum of cultivation aptitude, find the mountain gate, and register their names.

Yet, precisely because of this, the River-Facing Sect did not view these people as true sect disciples at all, treating them merely as free labor.

All manner of disciple benefits and monthly stipends had nothing to do with them.

If they wanted to obtain any monthly stipends for their cultivation, they had to perform various grueling chores for the sect.

Furthermore, outer disciples were forbidden from entering vital areas such as the Immortal Arts Pavilion, the Weapon Forging Hall, the Spirit Energy Pool, and the Martial Arts Arena of the River-Facing Sect.

To escape this situation, there was only one way: enter the inner sect, truly leave one's name on the River-Facing Sect's disciple roster, and obtain an identity token.

And the requirement for the River-Facing Sect to admit inner disciples was that one must break through to the Qi Gathering Realm.

"At least I'm almost through the worst of it."

Cao Ren turned to glance at Shen Mo, finding a shred of satisfaction in him.

After all, there were still many outer disciples like Shen Mo who had toiled for years without making any progress in their cultivation and were planning to leave the sect in disgrace.

Though he had suffered through many years, he had kept his patience; at the very least, he would have a chance at promotion sooner or later.

From the look in Cao Ren's eyes, Shen Mo could guess what he was thinking.

However, he did not care how Cao Ren viewed him; hearing Cao Ren's lamentations, he simply pondered in his own heart.

He considered his own plans for future sect advancement and his path of cultivation.

Ever since he awakened his Destiny Panel, Shen Mo no longer harbored any thoughts of leaving.

Instead, he believed that his path to immortality could still be salvaged.