Two Orders

After nodding in acknowledgment, Zhou Zhiruo stepped forward and handed Gu Shaoan a sheathed Wooden Sword.

"Junior Brother has only just arrived at Emei and does not yet have a suitable weapon. Eldest Senior Sister said that we are still too young and not suited to using the bladed swords in Emei, lest we hurt ourselves. Third Senior Sister previously made two Wooden Swords for me herself. I'll give this one to you, Junior Brother."

As she spoke, Zhou Zhiruo kept her eyes fixed on her toes rather than looking at Gu Shaoan.

Gu Shaoan was not surprised by this.

At present, Zhou Zhiruo was merely a boatman's daughter who had lost her family and been sent to Emei. She was not exactly introverted, but she was somewhat lacking in confidence.

Looking at the Wooden Sword Zhou Zhiruo offered him, Gu Shaoan accepted it with a smile. "Thank you, Fourth Senior Sister."

Seeing that Gu Shaoan had not refused, Zhou Zhiruo's brows brightened with delight, and her expression relaxed considerably.

Taking in their reactions, Zhao Jingxuan smiled and led Gu Shaoan and Zhou Zhiruo toward the front mountain.

As they walked, Zhao Jingxuan continuously told Gu Shaoan about the Emei Sect and the current state of the martial world.

Zhou Zhiruo, beside them, also occasionally took the initiative to speak.

Emei had seventy-two peaks, including Heavenly Pool Peak, Flower Adornment Peak, Jade Maiden Peak, and Stone Shoot Peak, as well as the four mountains of Mount Emei, Second Emei, Third Emei, and Fourth Emei.

The several thousand Emei disciples and servants generally lived across these four mountains.

The outer sect disciples were distributed among places such as Heavenly Pool Peak and Flower Adornment Peak.

Aside from Mount Emei, the other three mountains each had sect elders responsible for instructing the disciples in their daily cultivation.

"Furthermore, ordinary outer sect disciples do not receive a monthly stipend. Inner Sect Disciples can receive a fixed five taels of silver every month, along with one Qi-Gathering Pill refined by the sect."

Judging solely from the money the sect provided, it was not much.

But one had to know that in the Great Wei Kingdom, a single tael of silver was enough for an ordinary family of four to cover a month's expenses.

When traveling outside, earning anywhere from ten to fifty taels was already considered quite a lot.

Not to mention that Inner Sect Disciples could receive even more money.

Gu Shaoan asked, "What about us?"

Zhao Jingxuan replied, "We are the Sect Leader's Personal Disciples. Our fixed monthly stipend is ten taels of silver, while everything else is the same as for Inner Sect Disciples."

After a pause, Zhao Jingxuan continued, "If you wish to earn money, you can go to the Task Hall on Xuan Nü Peak and accept sect assignments."

"The Task Hall?" Gu Shaoan turned to look at Zhao Jingxuan.

Seeing this, Zhao Jingxuan sighed and explained, "Our Emei Sect oversees Jiading Prefecture, Yu Prefecture, and Xuzhou Prefecture. We collect tribute from these three regions, and we must also maintain order there, protecting them from harassment by other people of the martial world."

Considering that Gu Shaoan had only just joined the Emei Sect and did not know much about either the martial world or the imperial court, Zhao Jingxuan explained in greater detail.

Any place generally had two kinds of order.

One was the order in the open.

The other was the order in the shadows.

The order in the open was the imperial court.

The order in the shadows was naturally the martial world.

There were some matters that were inconvenient to resolve even when the imperial court intervened.

Thus, over hundreds of years, the martial world and the imperial court had formed a unique system in this world.

Every city and even every village divided its annual commercial and civilian taxes into two portions.

Eighty percent of it was handed over to the imperial court.

The remaining twenty percent was divided among the martial world's forces.

Though it was only twenty percent of the tax revenue, it was no small sum.

It was more than enough to support several martial sects.

At this point, Zhao Jingxuan sighed. "Within Emei's jurisdiction alone, there are more than a hundred other forces of varying sizes, and countless independent Martial Artists. Conflicts arise between these forces and Martial Artists almost every day."

"Furthermore, if some shops offend someone, they will come to Emei and offer 'Peace Silver' in exchange for Emei sending disciples to assist them or mediate disputes. Emei itself also has some businesses outside the mountains."

"There are countless scattered, trivial matters. If all of them had to be handled by the sect elders or the Sect Leader, how could they possibly manage them all?"

"That was why Grandmaster established the Task Hall. First, it resolves these problems. Second, it allows disciples to gain experience, so they do not remain in the mountains for too long and become ignorant of the dangers of the martial world."

"After accepting a task, you can directly receive the corresponding payment from the sect. Depending on the task, outer sect disciples can receive anywhere from ten to fifty taels. In addition, they can obtain sect rewards, which may be money or contribution points."

Zhou Zhiruo suddenly spoke up. "Contribution points can be used to exchange for Emei Sect martial arts, weapons, and pills. However, the most profound martial arts cannot be exchanged for with contribution points."

Zhao Jingxuan nodded. "The Emei Sect's martial arts are broad and profound. Grandmaster Guo Xiang was also a genius of her generation and learned extensively. To prevent the sect's disciples from spreading themselves too thin and mastering nothing, contribution points were established. Aside from Personal Disciples of the Sect Leader like us and disciples of the elders, all other inner and outer sect disciples must use contribution points if they wish to cultivate other martial arts."

Though Gu Shaoan showed nothing on his face at Zhao Jingxuan and Zhou Zhiruo's words, he sighed inwardly.

He had not known any of what Zhao Jingxuan had said before this.

Yet after giving it some thought, it made sense.

Heroes who wielded martial arts defied the law, and Martial Artists were far stronger than ordinary people.

At higher levels of cultivation, they could even take an enemy general's head amid an army of thousands.

If Martial Artists spent all day causing trouble everywhere, the imperial court would also be hard-pressed to deal with them.

Now, merely using twenty percent of the tax revenue in exchange for the martial world handling its own affairs and staying out of the imperial court's business was an exceptionally worthwhile deal no matter how one looked at it.

The three set out in the morning and did not return to Mount Emei until evening.

After the three had dinner at the front mountain of Mount Emei, they returned one after another to the back mountain.

Before parting, Zhao Jingxuan looked at Gu Shaoan and said, "Now that you have toured Emei today, you must cultivate diligently from here on. Once your Qi Foundation grows strong enough to condense your first thread of inner force, Master will be able to teach you more profound Emei martial arts."

After a pause, Zhao Jingxuan patted Zhou Zhiruo's head and said to Gu Shaoan, "Fifth Junior Brother, you and Fourth Junior Sister are close in age, so you two can spend more time together in the future. Zhiruo joined Emei half a year before you and knows many things about Emei. If there is anything you do not understand, she can answer your questions."

Gu Shaoan smiled. "As long as Fourth Senior Sister does not mind, this Junior Brother will have to trouble you often in the future."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhiruo quickly waved her hands to show that she did not mind.

Zhao Jingxuan, Ding Minjun, and Bei Jinyi had all reached the age of maturity and were much older than Zhou Zhiruo. The three were also all Miejue's disciples and were usually stern and unsmiling, making Zhou Zhiruo afraid to grow too close to them.

As for Miejue, Zhou Zhiruo was even less daring to speak much in front of her.

Now that Gu Shaoan had arrived and was close to Zhou Zhiruo in age, she naturally wanted to be closer to him, lest she become too lonely within the Emei Sect.

After the two left, Gu Shaoan also dragged his exhausted body back to the bamboo house.

Lying on the bed, Gu Shaoan recalled what Zhao Jingxuan and Zhou Zhiruo had explained today about the martial world.

The matters the two women had described were basically all things Gu Shaoan already knew.

At most, there were a few minor changes, all of which remained within Gu Shaoan's range of acceptance.

After thinking for a while, Gu Shaoan shook his head and suppressed the thoughts in his mind.

Since the broader direction had not changed, the rest was not something Gu Shaoan needed to worry about right now.

For the moment, the most important thing was still building up his own strength.

With that thought, Gu Shaoan forced himself to sit cross-legged despite the exhaustion from walking all day, calmed his mind, and began cultivating the Emei Breathing and Meditation Technique once more.