The foot of Gu Refining Peak could only be considered the outer perimeter, where menial disciples and all manner of workshops were located.
Only official disciples who had passed the tests could step onto the true Gu Refining Peak.
Yet official disciples, too, were ranked. The gap between ordinary disciples, inner sect disciples, and true disciples was like a Milky Way between them—impossible to cross.
Just as disciples could only move about on the mountainside of Gu Refining Peak, there was also a main hall here. From time to time, certain core figures would come to expound the Dao to the disciples.
As for the summit, only inner sect disciples and official disciples could set foot there.
Though Pang Tong and Zhao Lan were ordinary disciples, they also served as stewards of their respective halls. Their status was therefore somewhat higher, and many ordinary disciples had once worked under them.
Some were grateful to them, while others hated them, but no one here dared provoke them.
After all, the Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivation of the two was their greatest backing.
"Old Zhao, get out here! Give my brother an official disciple token!"
Upon arriving at a side hall on the mountainside, Zhao Lan shouted without the slightest courtesy. Before long, a bleary-eyed old man slowly emerged from behind a stone pillar. The instant he saw Zhao Lan and Pang Tong, he burst into curses.
"Are you two looking to die? Fuck, newly initiated disciples naturally have people leading them to collect their things. What are you doing coming to me? The items were distributed ages ago."
The old man pointed at Zhao Lan and shouted. What place was this?
The Artifact Storage Hall. Though the tokens were issued from here, who would dare come here and directly demand one from him?
Bai Yu studied the old man. The patterns on his black robes indicated that he was likely the steward here.
Judging from the way the three interacted, they seemed quite familiar with one another.
"Pah! Everyone knows the things handed out are all new, and their quality is lousy."
"I'm not wasting words with you. Bring out something good, or tomorrow I'll expose your damned kickback scheme."
Zhao Lan said coldly in a low voice.
"Kickbacks?"
At those words, the old man's eyes abruptly widened.
"Among the eighty-one halls of Gu Refining Peak, am I the only one taking kickbacks?"
"You, Zhao Lan, don't take them? Pang Tong doesn't take them?"
"Come on, come on, pretending to be saints here."
"Hehe, I've got people above me!"
"So do I!"
Hearing Zhao Mingzhu's questioning, Pang Tong and Zhao Lan chuckled disdainfully.
"You bastards..."
Zhao Mingzhu's eyes bulged, and he nearly passed out from anger.
He shot Bai Yu an irritated glance, then walked to the rear of the hall. Before long, he returned with three sets of black uniforms and a crystal-clear token.
Bai Yu nodded and accepted the clothes and token. At the same time, the information on his menial disciple token was erased and reprinted onto the new token.
"Bai Yu, official disciple of the Heavenly Demon Sect."
"There's more."
"I fucking know!"
Zhao Mingzhu rolled his eyes at Pang Tong, then took out a black ring and a Bronze Coffin...
"This token proves your identity. It is also linked to the sect's Soul Jade, which can tell whether you are alive or dead when you go out to gain experience. Your usual contribution points are stored within the token as well; no one but you can use them."
"If you unfortunately die, the contribution points inside will be voided."
"That is a Spatial Ring, one of the benefits for ordinary disciples. It may not be large, but twenty cubic meters is enough to hold quite a few things."
"Pang Tong, bullshit! Ordinary disciples only get high-grade storage pouches. Who gets rings? I gave it to the boy because he looks like a fine young man!"
At Pang Tong's explanation, Zhao Mingzhu glared with tiger eyes and shouted.
What he received, however, were the two men's eye rolls.
"Thank you for your gift, Senior Brother Zhao."
"I know about all these things, but this coffin..."
Bai Yu naturally would not be as unreasonable as the two of them. From Zhao Mingzhu's words, a Spatial Ring was something that could be given or withheld after joining the sect, entirely depending on Zhao Mingzhu's mood.
But what was this Bronze Coffin?
A magical artifact?
"Hehe, Junior Brother Bai, everything before this was merely an appetizer. This is the grand gift I'm giving you."
At that, Zhao Lan smiled sinisterly.
"Look. Gu Refining Peak has more than thirty thousand official disciples. There are plenty of houses around, yet don't you find it strange that we met so few people along the way?"
Zhao Lan's reminder made Bai Yu frown. Indeed, on the way here, he had hardly seen any official disciples.
"Though there are residences in the mountains, their privacy is insufficient for people like us!"
"Gu Refining Peak takes Gu refinement as its Dao."
"And Gu are the essence of Heaven and Earth. What we must do is combine all kinds of materials and restore them to their original forms."
"Beyond the Gu recorded in the texts, what Gu Masters should do is create!"
"Take your Centipede Gu. It is the crystallized lifeblood of those before us, but we must also create our own Gu!"
"We must refine the powerful Gu recorded in the texts. At the same time, after cultivating our techniques, we must create Gu belonging to ourselves and walk our own paths."
"Therefore, a secret environment is essential."
"This Bronze Coffin is actually a small Cave Heaven. Only by living inside it will you have enough sense of security, enough energy, to walk your own road."
Zhao Lan spoke slowly.
Though small Cave Heavens were not rare, they were still extremely expensive within the sect. Unless one had joined long ago, one simply could not come into contact with them.
Clearly, though Zhao Lan was somewhat cold, he possessed a forthrightness that none of the others had.
"Hahahaha, listen to you. Junior Brother will come into contact with such things in the future. Don't make it sound so profound, or you'll scare him."
"Only cultivators who possess their own Cave Heaven can be considered true cultivators. Otherwise, they must brave the wind and sleep beneath the dew while being watched by others. How unpleasant."
"And there's something else. For our cultivation, you can think of yourself as a cavalryman!"
"You have to know that in an army, raising a cavalryman is difficult. Moreover, a fully developed cavalryman needs at least many horses and soldiers to support him!"
"Our cultivation is the same. In the future, you will need more attendants, furnace cauldrons, and slaves dedicated solely to serving you. As your numbers grow, you can't possibly bring them all to live in the mountains, can you? Even if Gu Refining Peak were vast, it couldn't accommodate everyone."
"But with a Cave Heaven, you can carry them with you at any time, and they can serve you every moment."
"Understand?"
Compared with Zhao Lan, Pang Tong seemed cruder, but the meaning of his words was easier to understand.
In short, this Cave Heaven was a place for him to live, a precious land for gathering attendants, furnace cauldrons, slaves, and refining Gu.
Hearing the two of them, Bai Yu nodded.
"Thank you both for your kindness, Senior Brothers."
"Hm? Boy, aren't you going to thank this old man too?"
Bai Yu: ...
"Thank you as well, Senior Brother Zhao, for looking after me!"
As the sun sank in the west, Bai Yu slowly arrived at the mountain gate. Yu Linglong stood there holding a bundle, looking around anxiously. The golden sunlight seemed to have laid a filter over her.
"Perhaps it is time to try awakening the Heavenly Fox Bloodline within her."
Looking at the greenish Bronze Coffin in his hand, Bai Yu silently thought.
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