Gu Refining Peak

"When handling a Tiger-Striped Green Snake, you must nail its head down first."

"Then make a light cut near its throat with a small knife, and you can remove all its organs in one piece."

"Remember, the gallbladder must stay intact!"

"And don't damage the skin too badly."

"If anyone still can't remember, the men will be sent to the mountains to forage, and the women will be sent to serve as cauldrons!"

"Got it?"

"Got it!"

"Come on, let's shout our slogan!"

"To cultivate immortality, first go crazy!"

"Today a menial, tomorrow a personal disciple!"

"Work hard, work hard, work hard!"

"Very good. Get to work!"

The Heavenly Demon Sect.

Bai Yu stood beside a workbench. He casually grabbed a Tiger-Striped Green Snake and, with practiced ease, pinned it to the cutting board. He slit its belly open and placed the gallbladder in a large basin.

With a light turn of his right hand, he peeled away the skin in one perfect sheet.

After three months of killing Tiger-Striped Green Snakes here, he'd long since become an old hand at it.

He glanced at the new menial disciples. Three months ago, the people who'd arrived here with him had looked just the same.

But by now, hardly anyone from his group was left.

In the Demon Sect, people died as easily as they ate or drank. No one gave it a second thought, especially when it came to menial disciples like them. They were little more than consumables.

When Bai Yu woke up, he found himself inside a sack. Once it was opened, he was forced to join the Heavenly Demon Sect.

No one knew whether his predecessor had been scared to death during transport or had suddenly fallen ill and died on the way.

No one knew. Apart from this handsome face, Bai Yu hadn't inherited a thing from him.

After three months here, he'd learned quite a bit.

The Eternal Continent was a place where one could cultivate immortality.

And the Heavenly Demon Sect was one of the mightiest sects in the lower reaches of the Heaven-Piercing River.

Before transmigrating, Bai Yu had been an ordinary person, so he'd been somewhat afraid when he first arrived.

Especially when he was assigned to Gu Refining Peak and had to handle all those poisonous insects. He'd been utterly lost about what the future held for him.

But now, he'd long since settled down.

After all, menial disciples at Gu Refining Peak had a high attrition rate, but the ordinary disciples obsessed with refining Gu were mostly tech geeks.

Unlike the neighboring Joyous Union Peak, where there was also the risk of being drained dry.

Gu Refining Peak, Medicine Refining Peak, Artifact Refining Peak, Blood Corpse Peak, Joyous Union Peak, Ghost Refining Peak, and all the other peaks made up the vast Heavenly Demon Sect.

It was like a miniature society. Aside from the consumables, menial disciples were at the very bottom.

But that didn't stop Bai Yu from quietly growing stronger here.

For instance, after he finished preparing a Tiger-Striped Green Snake just now, a few lines of tiny text appeared before his eyes.

[Technique: Qi Drawing Art (Minor Mastery) 800/3500]

[Skill: Cutting (Beginner)]

[Progress: (623/1000]

[Yin-Yang Mystic Dragon Gu (Natal Gu) (Unformed)]

[Dragon Qi Progress: 23/500]

[Yin-Yang Qi: 50/500]

That's right. Bai Yu had a cheat after transmigrating. Simply put, it rewarded him for grinding!

As long as he diligently repeated an action, he could make progress. He might even extract something from the things he worked on, then fuse the two together into a new item.

The Yin-Yang Mystic Dragon Gu, for example, had formed from a trace of Dragon Qi he'd extracted while cutting up Tiger-Striped Green Snakes, combined with the Yin-Yang Qi produced when the fat supervisor took them out for a good time as a reward for being excellent menials.

As long as he filled both progress bars, the Yin-Yang Mystic Dragon Gu would naturally be born. With a Natal Gu, he could activate his Spirit Root and have a chance of becoming a formal disciple.

Thinking of this, Bai Yu's heart filled with hope. After all, the path to immortality held an irresistible allure for ordinary people.

So what if it was the Demon Sect? As long as he could live forever, he didn't care what cultivation method he used.

After all, having been given another life, he had to see just how exciting this world could be!

With that thought, Bai Yu's hands moved even faster. The progress bar before him began to climb.

[Cutting +1]

[Dragon Qi +0.01]

[Cutting +1]

[Dragon Qi +0.02]

"Arghhh!"

A wretched scream rang through the Cutting Room. A newly arrived menial disciple had been bitten on the finger by a Tiger-Striped Green Snake. His entire body turned black before their eyes, and after a few breaths, he was dead.

The scream made all the newcomers tremble with fear. Some of the more timid ones wanted to run, but they didn't have the nerve. All they could do was stand there, shaking.

"Damn it, what rotten luck!"

The fat supervisor hurried over with several people. Seeing the dead disciple, he cursed.

"Carry his body out. Tonight, send it to Blood Corpse Peak and trade it for some food!"

"Lost another one. What rotten luck!"

The fat supervisor waved his hand dismissively.

Things like this happened every day in the Cutting Room. Though Tiger-Striped Green Snakes were low-grade demon beasts, their terrifying venom was more than people like them could withstand.

Bai Yu felt nothing about it. He continued busily working on what was in front of him.

Soon, night fell.

[Technique: Qi Drawing Art (Minor Mastery) 800/3500]

[Skill: Cutting (Beginner)]

[Progress: (699/1000]

[Yin-Yang Mystic Dragon Gu (Natal Gu) (Unformed)]

[Dragon Qi Progress: 26/500]

[Yin-Yang Qi: 50/500]

Looking at the panel before him, Bai Yu smiled faintly, then took his token and went over to the supervisor to collect his pay for the day.

"Bai Yu, you handled two hundred and thirty-seven Tiger-Striped Green Snakes. That's 23.7 contribution points today!"

Looking at the piles of gallbladders and skins, the fat supervisor smiled with satisfaction and announced the amount.

"What do you want to exchange for today?"

"Same as usual?"

"One Body Forging Pill and one Flower Stone from Joyous Union Peak?"

He knew Bai Yu quite well. Not only was he quick and nimble, he was also a hedonist. Most people saved their contribution points to exchange for Body Forging Pills or cultivation materials.

But Bai Yu was different. Every time, he exchanged for a Flower Stone from Joyous Union Peak, then headed there for a good time after work.

That was why the fat supervisor remembered him so well.

"Yeah, same as usual. Exchange the remaining 3.7 for Tiger-Striped Green Snake venom."

"Good. I'll give you a little extra venom. With you around, I won't have to worry about meeting my Cutting Room quota!"

"Heh heh heh!"

Bai Yu handed over his jade token and registered his exchange. Then he collected his pay.

The cultivation lofts for the disciples at the foot of Joyous Union Peak.

The place was ablaze with lights. Compared with the mostly taciturn disciples of Gu Refining Peak, the disciples of Joyous Union Peak were especially enthusiastic.

He was in luck tonight. He'd run into a pure-hearted senior sister who was willing to lower her standards.

Flower arranging and jade fondling...

[Yin-Yang Qi +2]

Bai Yu realized his little body couldn't take all that exertion...

It wasn't until the third watch that Bai Yu slowly made his way back to Gu Refining Peak. Beyond the woods at the foot of the mountain lay the menial disciples' quarters. In the moonlight, stone rooms stood in neat rows across an open patch of land, like tomb mounds.

Anyone who didn't know better would have thought it was a graveyard.

Menial disciples darted between the stone rooms, looking unusually busy.

Bai Yu had no intention of striking up a conversation. He took out his token and tapped it against the door of his stone room. Once his identity was confirmed, the door opened.

The stone room wasn't large. Two beds, a table, four chairs, and a few household items filled the whole space.

Ever since his roommate had died last week, Bai Yu had lived here alone for a week.

But tonight, someone new seemed to have moved in.

The token hanging beside the bed showed her identity.

[Gu Refining Peak, Menial Disciple, Yu Linglong, No. 10086.]

Yu Linglong seemed to have been badly shaken. Her face was pale, and her expression held the relief of someone who'd narrowly escaped death.

The pungent smell of medicine in the room and the black substance on the head of the bed opposite made Bai Yu frown.