Being a beast of burden in my past life, and still being a beast of burden after transmigration, then I transmigrated for nothing?

The next afternoon.

Inside the lobby of an inn.

Fang Hong was quietly enjoying the martial artist's cuisine.

He had to admit, the Star River Sect's territory and the outside regions like Fenshui Town were like two different worlds.

Outside was the world of ordinary people.

And this was the world of martial artists.

Of course, it wasn't that there were no ordinary people here.

It was just that everyone's daily life here was related to martial artists and martial arts cultivation.

The ordinary people engaged in work that served the martial artists.

For example, the food Fang Hong was savoring at the moment.

The ingredients and taste were clearly more precious and delicious than ordinary food.

Especially the nutritional energy obtained from digesting these foods, which was also greater than ordinary food.

Of course, the corresponding price had also directly skyrocketed many times over.

At this moment, Fang Hong, while enjoying the delicacies, was also listening to the conversations of the other patrons at their tables.

"Did you hear? A few days ago, the moonlight was exceptionally bright that night, shining directly on several peaks of the Star River Sect for several hours. It was caused by the first True Disciple of Bright Moon Peak advancing to the Heaven Realm."

"Advancing to the Heaven Realm? I remember that True Disciple was only thirty years old. He's already broken through to the Heaven Realm?!"

"Tsk, it's truly hard to imagine. The world of these geniuses is truly beyond what us mortals can comprehend."

"Otherwise, why would they be the number one True Disciple?"

"But if that's the case, the first True Disciple of Blazing Sun Peak probably won't be too happy."

"Heh heh, I have a friend who is an Inner Disciple of Blazing Sun Peak. I heard that True Disciple threw a huge tantrum that day."

"For a full half-month, even now, everyone on Blazing Sun Peak is a bit on edge, not daring to smile too broadly when out and about."

"I heard that True Disciple was stuck at the peak of the Earth Realm for several years, but still, the one from Bright Moon Peak broke through to the Heaven Realm first."

"So, just watch. The Star River Sect will definitely be lively during this period."

"It's not just us onlookers now; the people within the Star River Sect are also watching the excitement."

"Hahaha, indeed, it's lively. Let's drink!"

Fang Hong listened to the drunken gossip from the people at the other table, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.

As for the Earth Realm and Heaven Realm they spoke of, those were cultivation realms after the Organ Refinement stage.

Fang Hong only learned about them from others after arriving here.

After Organ Refinement, the vital energy and inner strength within the body would fuse into one, transforming into internal energy, which was the Earth Realm.

With abundant internal energy, a martial artist's strength would undergo a massive leap.

As for the Heaven Realm, internal energy would erupt and spread into the heavens and earth, interacting with them.

The strength would undergo a complete transformation, entering the extraordinary level, beyond what mortals could imagine.

However, these two realms were still quite far from Fang Hong at the moment.

After all, he had only reached the great success of Bone Refinement, nearing perfection, and hadn't even reached the Marrow Refinement stage yet.

He was still three major realms away from the Earth Realm: Marrow Refinement, Blood Replacement, and Organ Refinement.

As for the matters discussed in their idle gossip, Fang Hong had also heard some rumors in the past two days.

On a certain night some time ago, the moon in the night sky directly cast a large area of moonlight, covering a certain part of the Star River Sect.

The moonlight shone directly for a full several hours before gradually dissipating.

According to them, this was an anomaly caused when the first True Disciple of Bright Moon Peak broke through to the Heaven Realm.

The Star River Sect was a very large sect organization.

Based on the fundamental cultivation techniques practiced, it was divided into three branches: Blazing Sun Peak, Bright Moon Peak, and Myriad Star Peak.

Blazing Sun Peak had always produced the most Sect Masters and was the strongest.

The current Sect Master of the Star River Sect was the former Peak Master of Blazing Sun Peak.

However, now, the first True Disciple of Blazing Sun Peak was still stuck at the peak of the Earth Realm.

And the first True Disciple of Bright Moon Peak had already broken through to the Heaven Realm first.

What did this represent?

The next generation of Bright Moon Peak might surpass Blazing Sun Peak.

At that time, the position of Sect Master might very well fall to that True Disciple of Bright Moon Peak.

And the so-called True Disciple was a personal disciple of each Peak Master, someone who would be cultivated with substantial resources.

After arriving here yesterday and finding an inn to stay in, Fang Hong went out to gather information about the Star River Sect.

As expected, the Star River Sect's organizational structure was a pyramid.

At the very top was a Grand Elder who hadn't been seen in years; no one even knew if he was alive or dead.

Below him was the Sect Master, and then the three Peak Masters, whose status was only slightly inferior to the Sect Master's.

Further down were the True Disciples and Inner Elders of each peak.

Then came the Inner Disciples and Outer Elders who had joined the various peaks.

Actually, between the Inner Disciples and True Disciples, there was a somewhat invisible hierarchy.

These were the personal disciples of the Elders of each peak.

Their status was higher than that of ordinary Inner Disciples who hadn't taken a master, but they couldn't compare to True Disciples.

Whether Inner or Outer Disciples, no one in the Star River Sect was assigned a master.

To take on a disciple, someone had to take a liking to you and be willing to accept you as their student.

And the last tier of the Star River Sect was the vast number of Outer Disciples.

They had the lowest status and were assigned all sorts of tedious, time-consuming tasks.

Speaking of which, Fang Hong couldn't help but smile wryly.

At first, he thought that after joining the Star River Sect, his main activity would be cultivation.

After inquiring around, he realized that Outer Disciples had to perform all sorts of tedious daily tasks.

For example, mining, planting, growing herbs, guarding the gate, and so on.

In a word.

Pure laborers!

When he first found out, Fang Hong felt like his illusions had been shattered.

Damn it, in my previous life, I was a programmer in a big company, working like a laborer.

Now that I've transmigrated, I might still be working like a laborer.

Wasn't my transmigration in vain then?

Fortunately, Fang Hong wasn't depressed for long, as this was something he could easily figure out.

If you only cultivate every day and do nothing else.

The sect provides you with shelter, cultivation techniques, resources, and so on, for free, for no reason.

What were you thinking?

The sect recruits disciples, not pampered lords!

After figuring this out, Fang Hong no longer dwelled on this matter.

So what if he was a laborer.

With his golden finger, the stage of being a laborer shouldn't last too long.

And below the Outer Disciples, there was another tier called Servant Disciples.

But in the eyes of the people in the Star River Sect, they didn't count at all; they were basically slaves of the Star River Sect.

At most, they had some hope and opportunity for further advancement.

Besides this information, Fang Hong had also inquired about the most important matter to him: how to join the Star River Sect.

There were roughly three ways.

The first was naturally the large-scale recruitment tests that the Star River Sect held every year or two.

The second was disciples taken in by Star River Sect members who were out and about.

The third was for those with backgrounds or connections, who joined the sect with tokens or similar items.

Fang Hong naturally fell into the third category.

After learning this yesterday, he had already paid someone to deliver a message to the Outer Elder who had given the Zhou Family a token.

Just now, he had received a message from Elder Xu Wenfei, asking him to go up the mountain tomorrow morning, and he would have someone guide him through the admission process.

Of course, Elder Xu Wenfei was only providing him with an opportunity to join the sect.

Whether he could successfully join still depended on passing a test.

Looking at his age, aptitude, strength, and other factors.

If he failed the test and insisted on joining, he could only become a Servant Disciple.

Fang Hong could tell from the message sent by Xu Wenfei that he was being perfunctory and dismissive.

Fang Hong didn't have any particular feelings about this.

He wasn't some Dragon King protagonist.

Who are you to expect an Outer Disciple of the Star River Sect to give you face?

The fact that they're willing to give you a chance is already them keeping their promise.

Moreover, don't underestimate this chance; it's incredibly precious.

Outside, countless martial artists yearn to join the Star River Sect but are unable to.

Hmm, this reminded Fang Hong of the big companies he worked for in his past life.

If you don't do it, plenty of others will!

Damn it!

There's nothing to be done; this is the reality when supply outstrips demand.

Night fell, and Fang Hong lay on his bed.

He turned his head to look out the window. In the distance, the horizon marked the direction of the Star River Sect.

One could clearly see the night sky above the Star River Sect's area.

Stars twinkled, making it several times brighter than the surrounding night sky.

Seeing this, a glint flashed in Fang Hong's eyes.

He slowly clenched his fist, sensing the terrifying power within his body.

A smile appeared on Fang Hong's lips.

"The door to future cultivation has opened for me. I'll be able to join the Star River Sect tomorrow."

Fang Hong was very confident in his own strength.

Even with ordinary bone structure, he was confident he could pass the test.

He'd at least become an Outer Disciple.

Thus, filled with this confidence, Fang Hong slowly drifted off to sleep