Menial Servant

Menial Disciples

Divine Sword Sect.

The triennial disciple recruitment had officially concluded.

Outside the Chore Hall.

Hundreds of menial disciples, dressed in standard-issue gray robes, stood in neat, square formations.

A middle-aged man in blue robes held a roster, reading aloud.

This man was a deacon of the Chore Hall, currently assigning tasks to the newly admitted menial disciples.

Menial disciples were disciples of the Divine Sword Sect in name only; in reality, they were recruited specifically to perform labor.

Their martial arts talent was mediocre.

Those who met the talent requirements had all entered the inner sect.

Even so, people scrambled to squeeze into the Divine Sword Sect, even if it meant becoming a menial disciple.

Even if one couldn't become an official disciple of the Divine Sword Sect, menial disciples still had the right to cultivate.

After serving as a menial disciple for a few years and honing some skills, one could still make a name for themselves upon leaving.

If one were lucky enough to achieve success in cultivation and pass the Divine Sword Sect's examinations, there was a chance to enter the inner sect and become an official disciple—that would be a leap to the heavens.

"Li Gan."

"Here."

A plain-looking, thin youth quickly stepped out from the formation.

"Report to Chenzhong Terrace now," the middle-aged man in blue robes said.

"Yes."

Li Gan accepted the order.

However, he was stunned inside.

He was a transmigrator from Earth. After realizing this was a world where martial arts reigned supreme, he had made up his mind to cultivate martial arts and become someone superior to others.

Unfortunately, his martial arts talent was average. It was only after intense competition that he had luckily passed the Divine Sword Sect's examination to become a menial disciple.

He knew that as for the assignments for menial disciples, the best path was undoubtedly to serve as a menial disciple on the seven main peaks of the Divine Sword Sect. This was because one could come into contact with the peak masters, elders, and true disciples of the Divine Sword Sect, and the treatment was the best, offering a greater chance to obtain cultivation resources.

If you were lucky enough, you might even receive some guidance or a reward.

The next best option was to enter one of the various halls.

Some halls managed the Divine Sword Sect's extensive external industries and required a large number of menial disciples. While the chances of obtaining cultivation resources in these places were lower, the treatment was better and the perks were plentiful.

The worst assignments were the menial tasks on the fringes of the Divine Sword Sect, such as the laundry room, the cleaning department, or the night fragrance room. Not only were they dirty and exhausting, but there were no perks to be found.

These places were also the most understaffed. Many menial disciples could not endure such a life and eventually gave up their status as disciples and left.

The Chenzhong Terrace where Li Gan was headed could not be considered particularly dirty or exhausting, but it was certainly a place with absolutely no perks whatsoever.

Speechless. I spent so much money, and they assigned me to such a trash job.

Li Gan felt indignant.

He had bribed the deacon of the Chore Hall in advance.

That money had been his entire life savings.

The only silver lining was that he hadn't been assigned to one of those dirty, exhausting jobs.

Perhaps the bribe had at least done that much.

It seems those who got the good jobs paid even more than I did.

Li Gan sighed with deep emotion.

In any place, human relationships and worldly wisdom were the main themes.

Even within a powerful martial arts sect like the Divine Sword Sect, they still existed.

Li Gan left the Chore Hall, holding the token that represented his status as a menial disciple of Chenzhong Terrace, and headed toward the terrace.

After winding through many paths and passing several checkpoints, Li Gan finally saw Chenzhong Terrace.

Chenzhong Terrace was just an ordinary bell terrace, situated on a high mountain peak.

The scenery was quite beautiful, at least.

On top of a massive boulder stood a bell tower, housing a giant bell.

"Clang!"

Suddenly, a dull, resonant bell toll rang out.

It traveled far into the distance.

It could be heard clearly throughout the entire mountain range of the Divine Sword Sect.

Li Gan vaguely caught sight of a figure on the bell tower.

Someone was ringing the bell.

Dang!

Dang!

With a few seconds between each strike, the bell rang three times, then fell silent.

Three rings of the chen bell—does that signify the si hour?

Li Gan thought to himself.

There were no clocks or similar timekeeping devices in this world, so they relied on the chen bell and watchman gongs to tell the time.

He arrived at the base of the bell tower.

An old man in gray robes with a hunched back walked out from the tower.

"Li Gan greets you, senior."

Li Gan hurriedly bowed.

This gray-robed old man was likely a menial disciple as well. Given his advanced age, he was undoubtedly a veteran among the menial disciples of the Divine Sword Sect.

More than ninety-nine percent of menial disciples would leave after a few years, but there were exceptions. Those without homes, wives, or children would often stay in the Divine Sword Sect forever.

They spent their entire lives working and contributing to the Divine Sword Sect, and in return, the sect allowed them to spend their twilight years within the mountain gates.

It seemed this old man belonged to that category.

"I've been grumbling for so long; the Chore Hall has finally sent someone over."

The old man revealed a smile.

He was getting on in years, and ringing the bell to mark the time punctually every day was becoming a bit much for him to handle.

Now that a new menial disciple had arrived, he could finally retire in peace.

"Follow me."

The old man said as he stepped into the bell tower.

The bell tower was divided into two levels: the bottom was where the bell-ringer lived, and the top housed the chen bell.

Li Gan hurried to follow him inside.

As soon as he entered, Li Gan saw a dozen hourglasses of various sizes lined up against the opposite wall, each one steadily dripping fine sand.

The old man pointed to the hourglasses and began to explain.

These hourglasses were all timekeeping devices.

The reason there were so many was primarily to ensure greater accuracy through comparison.

After listening to the old man's explanation, Li Gan basically understood.

It was just too complicated.

If only there were a clock that could also provide timed reminders; how wonderful that would be.

"The first strike of the morning bell must begin at the start of the Mao hour. The margin of error must absolutely not exceed ten breaths. By the Chen hour, you must strike it twice, and finally, by the start of the You hour, you strike it seven times to conclude the day's bell tolling. As for the time period from the Xu hour to the Yin hour, that is handled by the gengluo room; it has nothing to do with us at the chenzhong terrace."

The old man continued, "Because hourglasses have a certain margin of error, we also need to observe the celestial phenomena and constellations to make adjustments and corrections. I will teach you these things slowly."

Li Gan listened attentively.

He would be working at the chenzhong terrace from now on.

This was his livelihood at the divine sword sect, and it was tied to his future path in martial arts.

His martial arts talent was average, but heaven rewards the diligent. Even if he couldn't become an official disciple of the divine sword sect, he still wanted to learn a skill so that when he eventually left the sect, he could make a living and stand on his own feet in the outside world.

Over the next two days, Li Gan followed the old senior to learn the ropes.

Since the old senior's surname was Song, Li Gan respectfully addressed him as Elder Song.

Elder Song was nearly eighty years old.

If he were an ordinary person, he would have been lying in a coffin for many years by this age.

At the same time, Li Gan also began his martial arts training.

However, he had yet to feel any qi.

Elder Song would occasionally offer some guidance on his cultivation.

"You have only just begun to practice; it is perfectly normal not to feel any qi yet. Back in my day, it took me a full three months before I finally found the sensation of qi."

Seeing the frustrated look on Li Gan's face, Elder Song said with a smile.

"Elder Song, does it really take that long just to develop a sense of qi? The official disciples must be much faster, right?"

Li Gan asked curiously.