Rotation Duty

Lingmu Sect had twelve halls in total.

First was the Ancestor Hall, where the Sect Master True Person nurtured his direct disciples. It had the best conditions of all the halls.

Every disciple selected for the Ancestor Hall had exceptional aptitude and extraordinary comprehension, or had rendered unparalleled service to the sect and possessed extraordinary fortune.

There were generally no more than five disciples in the Ancestor Hall during any given period. Almost every one of those selected went on to achieve remarkable things.

It was said that there were only two people in this generation's Ancestor Hall.

Both were late-stage Golden Core cultivators. While the Sect Master True Person was in seclusion, they had become the so-called acting sect masters of Lingmu Sect.

Next came the halls for inner sect disciples.

They were the Law Enforcement Hall, the Law Enforcement Hall, the Alchemy Hall, the Refining Hall, and the Talisman Creation Hall.

Although conditions in these halls were somewhat poorer, their disciples generally did not leave the sect to take on missions. They could enjoy all kinds of conveniences provided by the sect, and their daily cultivation would not be interrupted by various tasks. These halls were the first choice for disciples who had completed their studies after three years.

After that came the halls for Outer Sect disciples.

They were the Special Service Hall, the Gathering Treasure Hall, the Supervision Hall, the Four Seas Hall, and the Scattered Leaves Hall.

Disciples in these Outer Sect halls were sent out on missions year-round, facing all kinds of dangers. Not only could they not enjoy the sect's many conveniences, but the density of spiritual energy outside was also nowhere near that of Qingming Mountain, greatly slowing their cultivation.

As a result, Outer Sect disciples could not nourish their bodies and extend their lifespans. Their lifespans could even be shortened by the injuries they sustained in their daily duties. They either lived monotonous, tedious lives day after day, or had no choice but to join these halls after failing to complete their studies in three years.

Last came the Advanced Study Hall.

The Advanced Study Hall could be considered both Lingmu Sect's training ground for talent and its logistical base for maintaining the sect's day-to-day operations.

Large numbers of low-ranking disciples worked as porters and cooks at the bottom of the sect, as gatekeeping acolytes, cleaners, repairmen, spirit poultry keepers, lamp lighters, and night watchmen, ensuring that Lingmu Sect ran in orderly fashion.

Through their labor, these disciples could strengthen their sense of belonging to the sect.

They could also earn Spirit Stones and sect contributions, then spend those contributions for the chance to sit in on lectures by high-ranking cultivators.

Three years later.

People in the Advanced Study Hall would be assigned to positions in the various halls according to their cultivation and graduation exam results.

Early one morning.

Li Mo, a first-year disciple of the Advanced Study Hall, went to the hall's main building to collect his rotation duty assignment.

The Advanced Study Hall's tasks were divided into two types: routine rotation duties and temporary commissioned tasks.

Routine rotation duties were mostly fixed assignments given by the sect, involving various kinds of daily maintenance. They were usually not difficult, but took a great deal of time, effort, and physical strength. Only after completing these regular tasks could disciples receive their monthly Spirit Stone salary and sect contributions.

Temporary commissioned tasks, on the other hand, were usually issued on short notice by inner sect disciples or Foundation Establishment cultivators. They were sometimes dangerous, and the rewards were commensurate with the effort required. They also offered a chance to make connections with Foundation Establishment seniors in the sect.

However, commissioned tasks that required leaving the sect generally came with a rule: only disciples who had been in the Advanced Study Hall for over a year could accept them. First-year disciples who had just joined had little chance to take on such tasks.

"Uncle-Master Ding, this disciple Li Mo has come to collect this month's rotation duty assignment."

Lingmu Sect's rotation duties generally changed once a month.

Ding Wei nodded, took out a waist token, and handed it to Li Mo.

"You're assigned to the Gathering Treasure Hall as a gatekeeping acolyte this month. Your shift starts at Weishi every day and ends at Xushi. You'll be responsible for relaying messages for the Gathering Treasure Hall and keeping the place clean."

"Yes!"

Ding Wei nodded and added a few words of advice.

"Since this is your first time taking on a routine sect assignment, you'll get ten free opportunities this month to sit in on lectures by Foundation Establishment cultivators. Once you've finished your duties, you'll receive one Spirit Stone and ten sect contributions at the end of the month."

Li Mo took the waist token and examined it carefully. It was engraved with the words "Gathering Treasure Hall Gatekeeping Acolyte." He immediately bowed to thank Ding Wei, then turned to leave.

There was still plenty of time before Weishi.

Until then, he could stroll around the sect and familiarize himself with Lingmu Sect.

After wandering around for a while, Li Mo discovered that Qingming Mountain was even larger than he had imagined.

There were around a hundred courtyards here. More than twenty were forbidden grounds, and entry to over thirty was prohibited to outsiders and low-ranking disciples. Some other courtyards could only be entered with permission.

Li Mo committed them all to memory.

Besides these, Qingming Mountain had three public gathering areas.

One was Wudao Peak at the back of the mountain, where Lingmu Sect's low-ranking cultivators learned spells. Many Foundation Establishment cultivators had also built cave abodes halfway up the mountain, but they were all protected by formations, so there was no need to worry about accidentally trespassing.

Another was Sacred Tree Plaza in the center of Qingming Mountain, where Lingmu Sect's low-ranking cultivators gathered and socialized in their daily lives. It covered several thousand mu.

The last was Qingming Hall, where Lingmu Sect held important meetings. Low-ranking disciples were not allowed to enter without permission.

Before he knew it, the afternoon arrived and it was Weishi.

After eating an early lunch, Li Mo changed into his gatekeeping acolyte uniform and arrived at the entrance to the Gathering Treasure Hall on time.

Three people were standing in front of the gate.

Two of them seemed to be acolytes who had been waiting there for quite some time.

When they saw Li Mo, they carefully went over the specifics of the job with him and another boy assigned to the gatekeeping duty there, then left.

The boy assigned to gatekeeping alongside Li Mo had a slightly chubby, baby-faced look. He seemed to have just undergone the Hair-Binding Rite, and was around fifteen or sixteen—slightly younger than Li Mo.

So Li Mo took the initiative and greeted him.

"Hi, I'm Li Mo."

The boy replied with a cheerful smile. "Hello, I'm Wang Zhu. My family makes bamboo wares. What about yours?"

Bamboo artisans were craftspeople who wove bamboo strips into all kinds of household and work implements. Bamboo strips were basically thin lengths of bamboo.

"My family are traveling doctors," Li Mo replied with a smile.

At that, Wang Zhu suggested, "How about we start by sweeping up the fallen leaves?"

"Sure."

The two picked up their brooms and began sweeping the paths. Before long, they had gotten to know each other.

Wang Zhu was honest and straightforward, and didn't seem very talkative. But he was diligent and had a tendency to get hung up on little details. He reminded Li Mo a lot of his old self.

The gatekeeping acolytes worked in three shifts. Li Mo and Wang Zhu were on the last shift.

Their shift ended at Xushi. They had time off from Hai Time until Chou Hour, after which the first group of gatekeeping acolytes would start work at Yin Hour.

The Gathering Treasure Hall was huge. Sweeping all its paths took the two of them about half an hour.

As an Outer Sect hall, the Gathering Treasure Hall sent its disciples to markets across the prefectures and counties of Muzhou to oversee business and manage the sect's enterprises, accumulating wealth and treasure for the sect. As a result, few disciples stayed at the hall year-round, and many of them might not return even once in several years.

Those who joined the Gathering Treasure Hall might not have much cultivation or strength, but they were certainly clever. They probably wouldn't accomplish anything major in the future, but they could at least become wealthy landowners somewhere.

So hardly anyone ever visited the Gathering Treasure Hall.

After sweeping the paths, the two returned to the gate and waited for time to pass.

As night fell and boredom set in, they started looking for ways to pass the time. Li Mo decided to try circulating his qi through the Lesser Celestial Circuit while standing.

He had to admit, it was rather difficult.

Standing on two legs changed the flow through his meridians. Li Mo tried for a long time but couldn't get the hang of it, so he had to give up for now. There would be plenty of time later.

Just then, Li Mo realized that Wang Zhu beside him hadn't spoken for quite some time.

He turned to look. Wang Zhu, separated from him by only a gate, was picking his nose, wearing an expression of utter concentration, enjoyment, and rapture.

Li Mo stared in astonishment for quite a while.

Every one of Wang Zhu's movements was incredibly careful, as if he were caressing a precious work of art. Li Mo even found himself getting nervous, wondering if there was a bug in the boy's nose and whether it might crawl deeper if Wang Zhu used too much force.

After a long while.

Wang Zhu let out a long breath and gave a blissful moan.

Li Mo saw a huge booger on Wang Zhu's finger and couldn't help looking disgusted.

"I thought a bug had crawled into your nose."

Wang Zhu lifted his right hand, the booger stuck to his finger, and excitedly showed it off to Li Mo.

"This is a top-quality booger!"

"Huh?"

Li Mo gaped at him, completely baffled.

Wang Zhu eagerly explained.

"A true top-quality booger has to be really dry at one end and very moist at the other!"

"Ha?"

"When you breathe, you can feel it being sucked into your nasal passage, almost choking you. Then you need to gently loosen it with your little finger and let it slowly ease up. After that, use your index finger and thumb to pull and rub it again and again. The whole time, you have to be extremely careful and do everything you can to keep the booger intact. When it slowly slides out of your nose, and the moist end draws out a string of snot, that feeling... it'll make you forget every trouble in the world. And when you see the whole booger on your finger with your own eyes, feel its springiness and stickiness, its warmth and color, the sense of achievement—you'll never understand unless you've experienced it yourself. Try it just once, and you'll never forget it for the rest of your life!"

Listening to Wang Zhu's vivid, never-ending description of every last detail, Li Mo felt as if the boy had shattered his entire worldview.

If the three thousand Great Dao truly existed, then Wang Zhu was surely the foremost cultivator on the Great Dao of Boogers!

This person is pure of heart, earnest, and diligent. He's bound to achieve something in the future.

As Li Mo watched Wang Zhu roll that huge booger between his thumb and forefinger into a ball, his face full of bliss, he hurriedly turned away and stopped looking.

Suddenly, circulating the Lesser Celestial Circuit while standing didn't seem so difficult after all.

The next day.

Li Mo had nothing to do in the morning, so he went to the hall's main building to try his luck and see whether he could get a temporary commissioned task.

After confirming with Uncle-Master Ding that there were no commissioned tasks he could take, Li Mo went to a blackboard and looked over the introductions to the three Foundation Establishment uncles and aunties who would be lecturing at the Advanced Study Hall that day.

Zhang Weib, deputy captain of the Law Enforcement Hall's Geng Squad, specialized in wind-attribute spells, wood-attribute spells, and techniques for restraining and trapping enemies. He would lecture in the Jia Classroom of the Advanced Study Hall at Si Time. Sitting in on the lecture cost one sect contribution.

Chen Rong, captain of the Alchemy Hall's Jia Squad, specialized in refining Blood Replenishing Pills, Qi Nourishing Pills, and Foundation Establishment Pills. She would lecture in the Yi Classroom of the Advanced Study Hall at Wu Hour. Sitting in on the lecture cost one sect contribution.

Wei Cang, deputy captain of the Law Enforcement Hall's Kui Squad, specialized in lightning-attribute spells and flanking ambush techniques. He would lecture in the Bing Classroom of the Advanced Study Hall at Weishi. Sitting in on the lecture cost one sect contribution.

"Alchemy!"

Li Mo remembered Zhang Dongliang's advice. He had never forgotten his goal.

After thinking it over, he found both Chen Rong of the Alchemy Hall and Wei Cang of the Law Enforcement Hall very interesting.

He had once been a traveling doctor, so he believed that learning alchemy would surely let him get twice the result with half the effort.

As for Uncle-Master Wei Cang's lecture, it was on lightning-attribute spell techniques. Li Mo had a Lightning Spirit Root, but so far he had only mastered the Spirit Eye technique that came with his sect's main cultivation method. Naturally, he wanted to learn a low-level lightning-attribute spell to defend himself.

Unfortunately.

Uncle-Master Wei Cang's lecture was at Weishi in the afternoon, when Li Mo had to work the gate at the Gathering Treasure Hall. He simply had no time to sit in, so he had no choice but to give it up for now.

That's fine. This way, I can focus all my attention on learning alchemy.

At Wu Hour.

Li Mo arrived at the Yi Classroom on time and used his free pass to sit in.

By the time the woman named Chen Rong entered, there were only nine people in the classroom, including Li Mo. But Auntie-Master Chen did not seem surprised.

She smiled and greeted everyone. She didn't seem difficult to get along with.

"From now on, you can call me Auntie-Master Chen. The path of alchemy can't be mastered in a day. To learn alchemy well, you need not only to thoroughly understand the properties of all kinds of spirit medicines, but also to develop some skill in controlling flames. So disciples with a Fire Spirit Root have a certain advantage. Of course, those without a Fire Spirit Root can also control spirit-stone fire through extensive alchemy experience, and sense the changes in fire as they do so. From the perspective of comprehending the Dao..."

Chen Rong slowly explained the basic principles of alchemy.

Among the nine students below, some listened in rapt attention, some were confused, and some were filled with regret.

When Li Mo heard that cultivators with a Fire Spirit Root had an advantage in learning alchemy, his heart sank, and he couldn't help feeling regretful.

Why hadn't he been born with a Fire Spirit Root?

At the same time, he realized that alchemy and the medical arts he had studied belonged to completely different systems.

Seated on his meditation cushion, Li Mo listened attentively, pondering as he did so.

Becoming an alchemist after being a traveling doctor wouldn't be as simple as he had imagined. It certainly wasn't something he could accomplish overnight. The resources he would need along the way were far beyond what he could obtain through routine sect assignments, let alone while splitting his attention between studying spells, refining, talisman creation, puppets, and runic formations.

"But none of you should lose heart."

Before leaving, Chen Rong offered everyone a few words of encouragement.

"During your three years in the Advanced Study Hall, there will be a year-end exam every year. Besides the dueling tournament that draws the most attention, the Advanced Study Hall also holds specialized exams in alchemy, talisman creation, refining, and Puppet Technique. If you can make progress in alchemy, the sect will give you special attention too. Once you've become an alchemist and earned some Spirit Stones, you can improve your cultivation with pills, then buy high-quality magic artifacts, master spells, and take part in the graduation exam's spell duel. That's not a bad path to take."

After hearing this, Li Mo was filled with yearning.

It was indeed a good path—just not as easy as he had imagined. He couldn't simply use his medical knowledge to make a seamless transition into alchemy.