Waste Hall

Li Ping'an hugged the large bundle of scorching-hot discarded pills, a treasure tucked in his heart, and even his steps grew much lighter.

He hummed a little tune all the way, crossed several mountains, and before night had fully fallen, found the deep valley wedged between the main peak's ridges.

Before he even drew close, a strange stench mixed with scorched metal, rotting herbs, and unknown substances wormed its way into his nostrils.

Anyone else would probably have covered their nose and taken a detour long ago.

But when Li Ping'an smelled it, not only did he feel no discomfort, his spirits rose instead.

To him, this smell was the smell of spirit stones—the smell of treasure!

The entrance to the Waste Hall was not large. Two battered wooden doors hung crookedly from their hinges, while heaps of discarded ore and broken weapons lay piled outside, glinting with a faint, cold sheen beneath the moonlight.

This place truly looked rather shabby, even more dilapidated than the servant quarters where he had once stayed.

Still, it was fine. Though the air was thick with the scent of waste materials, it lacked the violent, unstable spiritual energy fluctuations of the pill room. Most of it was material damaged during artifact refining, perfectly safe for him.

Just as Li Ping'an reached the door, an elderly man with graying hair came out to greet him, leaning on a cane.

"Are you the newly arrived Junior Brother Li Ping'an?" The old man's face was covered in wrinkles, but his smile was kind.

"That would be me."

Li Ping'an hurriedly set down the treasures in his arms and cupped his hands in greeting.

"Oh, I've been waiting for you!"

The old man enthusiastically grabbed Li Ping'an's hand.

"This old man is He Lü, the steward of this Waste Hall. Come, come in. It's cold outside."

This was the first time Li Ping'an had felt such pure warmth since entering the inner sect, and a trace of warmth stirred in his heart.

He followed He Lü into the Waste Hall, filled with curiosity about everything inside.

But the moment he stepped through the door, Li Ping'an froze.

He stared at the sight within in astonishment, rooted to the spot.

This... what was going on?

The interior of the small Waste Hall had been arranged in perfect order, utterly unlike the filthy mess outside.

Most eye-catching were three long conveyor belts made of wooden boards and rollers, stretching from one end of the hall to the other. Their design was extremely crude and crooked-looking, but... but this layout, this structure...

Was this damned thing... an assembly line?

Memories from his past life began savagely assaulting Li Ping'an.

Before transmigrating, he had lived in a place known as the world's factory. He was more familiar with this thing than anyone!

"Hehe, Junior Brother Li, startled, were you?"

Seeing Li Ping'an's stunned expression, He Lü wore a faintly proud smile. He patted the conveyor belt beside him, his tone plainly that of a man introducing his own child.

"Our Waste Hall mainly handles the leftover materials from the sect's artifact refining. They may be called waste, but quite a few valuable things within can still be recycled and reused."

"Back then, everyone had to sift through it pile by pile with their hands. It was slow, exhausting, and easy to injure your hands."

As he spoke, He Lü walked to the beginning of the conveyor belt and placed a chunk of blackened iron ore upon it.

"Later, this old man wondered whether there might be a less laborious method. So I tinkered away and came up with this sorting station."

He pointed at the conveyor belt and continued explaining. "Look, I only need one person at this end, constantly putting waste materials on it. Then this belt carries everything all the way to the other end."

"I arrange three people in the middle, each responsible for sorting. The first picks out usable refined iron; the second picks out copper ore mixed inside; the third picks out the remnants of rare ores."

"That way, everyone performs their own duties without interfering with one another. Anything that truly has no use follows the chute and falls into the collection baskets over there."

He Lü looked at Li Ping'an with a beaming smile.

"So, Junior Brother Li, wouldn't you say this old man's method can greatly increase the sorting speed?"

As Li Ping'an listened to He Lü's explanation, his heart was already churning like storm-tossed seas.

More than merely similar!

Wasn't this damned thing the most primitive form of assembly-line production?!

Could this guy... also be a transmigrator?

A bold thought surfaced in Li Ping'an's mind.

He watched He Lü without revealing anything, testing him with a voice that had gone slightly dry.

"Imperial Jade Liquor?"

He Lü had been speaking with great enthusiasm, but Li Ping'an's abrupt question left him blankly stunned.

"Liquor? What liquor?"

He blinked in confusion.

"Junior Brother Li, do you want a drink? Conditions here are simple, but we have some ordinary sorghum liquor. As much as you want!"

Li Ping'an's heart sank halfway.

Still unwilling to give up, he switched to another classic code phrase and spoke again.

"When the odd changes, the even remains unchanged?"

This time, He Lü looked even more bewildered. He scratched at the few white hairs he had left and stared at Li Ping'an in puzzlement.

"Chicken? What chicken? Oh, oh, I understand!"

He Lü slapped his thigh, suddenly realizing something.

"Don't worry, Junior Brother Li! To welcome you, I specifically had the boys prepare a celebratory feast. There'll be liquor, and roast chicken too! As much as you want!"

Li Ping'an was completely speechless.

He silently shook his head. It seemed he had overthought it.

This fellow was simply a pure, homegrown inventor!

Li Ping'an could not help feeling emotional. The world was vast; there truly was nothing too strange beneath heaven.

He Lü did not notice the change in Li Ping'an's expression. He smiled and patted Li Ping'an on the shoulder.

"Junior Brother Li, to be honest, we old fellows have long heard of your deeds!"

"Sixty years of forging iron in the servant quarters, and you hammered open the gates of the inner sect through sheer effort alone. Amazing! Truly amazing!"

"Rest assured, our Waste Hall, to put it plainly, is a place for disciples like us with no talent and no backing to muddle through our days."

"They call us inner sect disciples, but really, we're just slightly higher-ranking servants."

He Lü sighed and continued.

"Once you're here, just treat it as coming home. There's usually nothing much to do. Think of it as a place to retire. And if you have the time, give these disappointing juniors some guidance."

He pointed at several disciples sitting beside the assembly line, staring eagerly in their direction.

"They're like you—people with perseverance."

"Unfortunately, their talent isn't good, and they have no background either. They can only muddle through their days in this Waste Hall."

"If you can teach them a few real forging skills and help them save up a little more, perhaps one day they can become proper artifact refiners with their heads held high?"

Li Ping'an looked in the direction He Lü indicated.

The older disciples appeared to be around fifty, while the younger ones were only in their early twenties.

He swept his gaze over them. The highest cultivation among them was merely the seventh level of Body Tempering.

In the cultivation world, there was an unwritten iron law: before reaching Foundation Establishment, one could not be considered to have truly stepped through the gates of immortality.

Although artifact refining did not demand such strict cultivation, these fellows had not even reached the Qi Refining realm. Their futures would most likely be spent slowly aging to death within this Waste Hall.

How similar they were to his former self.

Li Ping'an nodded, his heart somewhat stirred.

Teaching a few disciples was not something he could not accept.

The moment Li Ping'an nodded, the disciples who had been sitting there instantly erupted with excitement!

They hurriedly rushed over from the assembly line, scrambling to crowd around Li Ping'an, each calling him Master with such warmth and affection.

"Master! You've finally come!"

"Master, please accept this disciple's bow!"

"Master, my name is Wang Erniu. From now on, I'm your little brother!"

The spectacle gave Li Ping'an a fright.

He hurriedly waved his hands, signaling everyone to quiet down.

"Everyone, everyone, this won't do, this won't do!"

"I can't bear the title of Master. If you don't mind this old man, calling me Teacher Li from now on will be more than enough."

Li Ping'an's expression was somewhat complicated.

Thinking of his own experiences only made him feel more helpless.

So what if he had rung the Heaven-Ringing Bell? Hadn't the entire sect still cast him aside as a joke?

If he had not unexpectedly obtained the Heaven-Tempering Hammer, his fate would likely have been no better than those before him.

To be a teacher, one had to point others toward a clear road.

But even his own path ahead remained shrouded in fog.

Even after Li Ping'an said this, the disciples remained overjoyed, calling out "Teacher Li" one after another, their faces filled with smiles that had not been seen for a long time.

Looking at them, Li Ping'an's heart warmed as well.

So be it. He would help where he could.

He was just about to head over to the crude assembly line himself, to see what quality of waste materials had been delivered today and perhaps find a few treasures to give the Heaven-Tempering Hammer an extra meal.

At that moment, a strange, mocking voice drifted in from the entrance of the Waste Hall, shattering the brief warmth.

"You old man, are you the one called Li Ping'an?"

A young disciple dressed in an inner court steward's robes strode in with his hands clasped behind his back, chin raised high and arrogance written all over his face.

"This supervisor has matters to instruct you on."