After replying to Mu Yong, the steward stopped paying him any heed and began reciting the usual spiel about being grateful for the sect's cultivation and grateful for the sacred virtue of Founder Ancestor Xuan Qi.
Yet inwardly, he was shaking his head.
Seedling-rank disciples were the sect's property, and also "new shoots" that needed careful tending.
Other than having a portion of their cultivation taken away each day by the Xuanxiang Heavenly Track, they did not need to pay the sect any additional fees.
The drawback was that they had no autonomy whatsoever and had to obey every arrangement issued by the sect.
This was also why quite a few Seedling-rank disciples, despite clearly having saved enough spiritual power to buy their own freedom, still maintained their status as Seedling-rank disciples.
Yet once they became Leaf-rank disciples, they could enjoy a certain degree of autonomy.
When the sect assigned tasks, it also had to take the Leaf-rank disciples' own wishes into account and provide corresponding rewards.
But as the price... Leaf-rank disciples had to hand over resources equivalent to one-twentieth of their total cultivation every month as spiritual energy circulation fees, sect maintenance fees, and so on.
After all, the sect gave you cultivation techniques and gave you opportunities to earn resources. Shouldn't you repay the sect?
If you did not have enough resources, then use your flesh and blood, cultivation, or even your divine soul to make up for it.
Do not think the sect was exploiting you.
It was spurring you on, pushing you to become a more useful cultivator.
If you did not believe it, go out and ask around. In the entire Xuanxiang World, among righteous and demonic sects alike, which sect offered such generous conditions?
After droning on at length for quite a while,