What was the principle behind the system's Enlightenment?
Turning trash into treasure!
It only needed a base object it could recognize, and it could Enlighten and upgrade it.
So why had he insisted on using that damned beast blood, which was both expensive and hard to control?
Why couldn't he just draw with cinnabar?
Use the most ordinary cinnabar on the most ordinary talisman paper, sketch the shape of a talisman, and make a completely useless talisman with not a trace of spiritual energy in it.
Then let the system Enlighten it and imbue it with spiritual energy!
The moment the idea came to him, it was like a bolt of lightning, instantly splitting apart every cloud of confusion in Zhou Xuan's mind!
"I'm such a fucking blockhead!"
Zhou Xuan slapped his thigh. How had he not thought of this from the start?
First he'd reinforced the spiritual energy, then tried to control the beast blood. It was like taking off his pants to fart—completely unnecessary!
"What a huge loss! Those talismans and my spiritual energy—I've lost a fortune!"
Zhou Xuan grimaced at the thought, but excitement and elation soon overwhelmed his regret.
He immediately tossed aside the bottle of beast blood, mixed the cinnabar with clean water, picked up his brush, and started furiously printing talismans onto the paper.
This time, there was nothing to hinder him.
Swish, swish, swish!
One sheet after another, covered in red, ghostly scrawls, quickly piled up.
His drawings were still ugly, but he was working more than a hundred times faster than before!
After an hour, more than a dozen finished scrap talismans lay piled in front of Zhou Xuan.
He picked one up and thought to himself.
[Useless doodled talisman paper. Can be Enlightened into a first-tier Sharp Metal Talisman. Requires 1 Gold Touch Value.]
It worked!
Zhou Xuan was ecstatic. He looked at the pile of scrap talismans as if they were a heap of glittering Gold Touch Value.
He was about to press on, finish drawing the rest of the dozens of sheets, and Enlighten them all in one go so he could make a killing at the Marketplace tomorrow, when—
"Everyone out! Get the hell out here!"
A sudden commotion rose outside, followed by Chief Steward Wang's sharp, grating voice.
Zhou Xuan's heart tightened. Almost instinctively, he willed everything on the ground into his Universe Bag in an instant.
Only after that did he straighten his clothes, put on a bewildered expression, and open the door.
Outside, the little square was already packed with Chore Disciples. Everyone wore a look of fear and unease.
Wang Fugui, the Chore Servant Courtyard's chief steward, stood smugly atop a large rock.
Hands on his hips, he swept his triangular eyes over the crowd below, his face full of spite and schadenfreude.
"Listen up!"
Chief Steward Wang cleared his throat and announced in a shrill voice, "By order of the higher-ups, our Spirit Sword Pavilion is a proper sect of immortal cultivators. We don't keep idlers or useless people!"
"Starting today, the Chore Servant Courtyard will be dismissing some of its disciples!"
"Anyone over thirty who hasn't broken through to the fifth level of Body Forging, anyone afflicted with incurable Pill Poison, anyone so badly injured they're crippled, and anyone judged to have a ruined Spirit Root and no future in cultivation—all you useless trash!"
"You're all being kicked out of the Sect!"
Chief Steward Wang's words crashed over the Chore Disciples like a thunderclap!
The crowd erupted in an instant.
"What? You're sending us down the mountain?"
"Chief Steward Wang, please, no! I've done odd jobs for the Sect for ten years. Even if I haven't earned merit, I've certainly worked hard!"
"I'm poisoned, but I can still work! Please, have mercy, Chief Steward!"
Crying, pleading, and desperate curses rang out all at once.
For these low-level disciples, who depended on the Sect as their only refuge, being expelled from the mountain was tantamount to a death sentence.
Standing in a corner of the crowd, Zhou Xuan watched this scene, a living hell, with cold eyes.
His gaze swept over Zhou Ye, whose face had gone ashen, and the familiar faces wailing and crying out in despair.
At last, Liu Ruyan's cool, beautiful face from their recent encounter at Yunlai Market surfaced in his mind, along with her words: "Why haven't you left yet?"
Dismissing the useless?
Why had this policy come now, of all times?
And why had they specifically included those whose Spirit Roots were ruined and who had no future in cultivation?
Wasn't this tailor-made for him, Zhou Xuan?
Zhou Xuan slowly narrowed his eyes. A bone-deep chill rose within him.
Liu Ruyan, you moved fast—and you hit hard!
Standing high above, Wang Fugui looked down at the Chore Disciples as if they'd just lost their parents. The satisfaction inside him swelled almost to the bursting point.
"Shut the hell up!"
Wang Fugui shrilled, amplifying his voice with spiritual energy. It instantly drowned out all the weeping.
"Do you think a bunch of useless trash like you can question the Sect's decision?"
He paused, watching the crowd's terrified faces, and the spiteful smile on his face grew even wider.
"Still, the Sect isn't denying you a chance."
He slowly raised three fingers.
"The Sect is giving you three months!"
"Three months from now, anyone over thirty in the Chore Servant Courtyard who hasn't reached the fifth level of Body Forging is out!"
"Anyone with Pill Poison who can't dispel it on their own within three months and whose condition affects their work is out!"
"Anyone so badly injured they're crippled is out too!"
As he spoke, his gaze swept through the crowd like a venomous snake, finally settling, almost imperceptibly, in Zhou Xuan's direction.
"As for those whose Spirit Roots have been judged ruined by the elders..."
Wang Fugui deliberately drew out his words, his schadenfreude impossible to hide.
"That goes without saying. Useless trash that does nothing but waste the Sect's food will be the first to go!"
At those words, the crowd fell completely silent.
If they'd been in an uproar before, now they were utterly despairing.
Break through to the fifth level of Body Forging in three months?
For young people in their teens or twenties with some talent, there might still be a sliver of hope.
But for those nearing thirty, who had spent more than a decade languishing in the Chore Servant Courtyard, it was simply impossible!
And that was nothing compared to the unlucky ones afflicted with Pill Poison at the Miscellaneous Affairs Department or injured elsewhere.
This order wasn't giving them a chance at all. It was a clear-cut death sentence!
In a corner of the crowd, Zhou Xuan watched it all without expression.
He saw Zhou Ye's already withered face, now ashen as a corpse.
He also saw several other Chore Disciples he knew. Some had collapsed to the ground; others stared blankly ahead.
Some clenched their fists so tightly their nails dug into their palms, yet they couldn't muster even the slightest courage to fight back.
This was the misery of the lowly ants.
But if he thought carefully about this policy, Zhou Xuan slowly narrowed his eyes. An absurdly familiar feeling began rising from the depths of his heart.
This tactic was fucking familiar!
Dismissing the old, weak, sick, and disabled; cutting the bottom performers.
Wasn't this—
Zhou Xuan's pupils suddenly contracted!
Wasn't this the very scheme he'd used back in the day?
Before you continue